was pointless. I could tell he’d already figured out how aroused I was. Even the scent shared between us encompassed raw lust.
Nikolai’s breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling. When he reached out, I had to fight to keep from flinching. Then he swept his finger through the falling tear, slowly bringing his hand to his mouth. I was in some kind of crazy awe as he slid his finger into his mouth, his voluptuous lips the only thing I could concentrate on. I was in some kind of a daze as I watched him, concentrating on the slight sound he was making as he sucked on his finger.
I realized I’d gripped the counter, digging my fingers into the cheap Formica, wanting desperately to race away from him. But I was frozen, as if all time stood still.
When he finally eased his finger out of his mouth, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then he picked me up in his arms and I knew at that moment he was going to devour me.
But as the man had already done more than once, he simply moved me to one of the counters, tossing the empty bags and boxes into the floor and placing me on top.
“What are you doing?” I asked, although I wasn’t even certain I’d whispered the words.
He ignored me at first, shoving his hand into one of the remaining bags and grabbing the bottle of alcohol he’d purchased. Then he grabbed the roll of paper towels, his eyes never leaving mine as he ripped the package open. Every move he made was methodical, pulling off several of the towels and running them under the kitchen faucet. After he turned to face me, he shook his head.
“You’re as stubborn as they come, Chloe.”
They were the only words spoken before he gently rubbed the wet towels against the deepest scratches. For some reason, I was shocked just how tender his actions were, the brutal man’s touch more like a soft caress. When he grabbed the bottle of alcohol, he took a deep breath.
“Thank you,” I managed.
“This is going to sting a little.” He cracked open the bottle, giving me a hard look before continuing, pouring a generous amount down the length of my leg.
“Ouch!” I was shocked that another series of tears formed in my eyes, the flash of pain more than I would have anticipated.
He waited for a few seconds then pressed the towel against my leg. “You need to take care of this. Don’t fight me on it, Chloe. The last thing you want to do is to have it get infected. I’ve seen what can happen. Trust me. Not something you want to go through.”
“Okay.” Why did the words ‘yes, sir’ almost pop from my mouth? Respect was earned, not forced. And at this point, all the respect he’d gained from his intense prowess as a professor had ceased to exist.
But this was… unexpected.
His breathing remained scattered, the veins on the side of his neck pulsing. There was no denying our attraction, the pull far too strong. He took another look then tossed the towels into one of the bags. “I’m going to make a fire. It’ll be dark soon. We’ll need to eat.”
The statement was so perfunctory, but I could feel his intense draw, could tell what he was thinking. “There’s some meat in the freezer.”
“Whatever you want.”
“What I want is to go home.”
Huffing, he eased me onto the floor, sliding his hands down to my hips. When he kept his hold, the pressure of his fingers sending shooting stars in front of my eyes, I resisted the temptation, swallowing several times then managing to look away.
He seemed to crowd closer, shifting his hips back and forth. There was no doubt he was rock hard, his hunger as significant as mine. I couldn’t believe the heat radiating from his body into mine, the tender moment shared igniting the embers all over again. But the fighter inside of me refused to give in. I pressed my palms against his chest, biting back a moan threatening to give me away.
There was a silent moment shared, but another block of tension crept in and he pulled away, breaking the intense connection.
“We’ll figure it out. Select a bedroom. Let me know if you need anything.” He gave me a nod, his expression blank. After the heated intimacy, the girly side of me would have thought he’d acknowledge our connection.
Oh, who was I kidding? The man wasn’t a romantic. He