hurt her. Any more than he would ever desert or leave her. He wanted her to realize that as her mate, he already loved her unconditionally, and that as a man, he was also falling deeply in love with her.
Yes, he wanted her. To possess and claim her. But for the moment, he was happy merely to enjoy the intimacy of showering with her.
Tanya moved as far away as she could and still stay in the hot spray of water and the cover of steam when Vladimir stepped into the shower beside her. The way his size instantly took up seventy percent of the space explained why the shower and bath were so large. None of the six and a half feet tall and built Romanov brothers would have fit inside anything smaller.
“Why the smile?” Vladimir prompted quizzically.
Tanya was surprised she was smiling at all when she was having difficulty breathing with a naked Vladimir standing so close to her. She also felt extremely self-conscious of her own nudity.
Men who were paying customers weren’t interested in seeing any more of the woman they had paid for than what was enough to ensure their own pleasure. If they asked, this had mostly been a baring of Tanya’s breasts. But even that had been done in a clinical way on her part, Tanya’s emotions having shut down for the time it took to give the customer release.
Standing naked in a hot shower with an equally bare Vladimir Romanov, and totally aware of his sensual allure, wasn’t allowing Tanya to shut off any of her emotions.
That tingling beneath her skin had intensified.
Her breasts were hot and swollen and the nipples engorged.
Her chest barely rose and fell, and she found breathing difficult.
There was a wild fluttering in her stomach.
An aching heat between her thighs.
Her legs trembled.
All of them physical reactions Tanya had never experienced before.
The trembling increased when Vladimir, his dark gaze holding hers captive, raised one of his hands to her cheek, lingering there before moving higher to gently caress back her wet hair.
“You are very beautiful,” he murmured approvingly.
Tanya swallowed before speaking, afraid her voice might otherwise break and so reveal her complete nervousness at being with Vladimir in this way. “My paying customers thought so too,” she challenged.
Other than his nostrils briefly flaring, Vladimir showed no reaction to this stark reminder of what she had once been. “Then the bastards were obviously of discerning taste,” he answered evenly, his thumb lightly caressing her temple.
Her laugh lacked humor. “Or men who preferred, for whatever reason, to pay for their pleasure.”
“Tanya—”
“Don’t say it doesn’t matter!” she warned harshly.
“Of course it matters.” He frowned. “No woman should ever have to be so alone and vulnerable that she is forced to sell her body to survive.”
She eyed him scornfully. “Does your dragon have the same opinion?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. “You are our mate, and you were no more than a child when you were forced to sell yourself in that way. If anyone is to blame for your years of suffering, then it’s me for failing to find you sooner.”
She eyed him disbelievingly. “What would you have done if you had?”
“Protected you,” he answered without hesitation. “Cared for you until you were old enough to accept me. Loved you.”
She shook her head, her expression skeptical. “From what you’ve told me, dragon shifters have no choice in who their mate is, which means they have no choice who they love either.”
“On one level that is true,” Vladimir acknowledged. “But I know without a doubt the Pendragon brothers love their mates unconditionally as men too. In the same way I am not only my dragon, but also a man. My dragon has no doubts as to who and what you are to us, and as a man, I already deeply admire and like you for your courage and fortitude.”
“I sold myself,” she persisted.
“You survived the only way you knew how.”
“That doesn’t change—”
“You are a warrior.” Vladimir’s hands framed either side of Tanya’s face as he lifted her chin and forced her to continue looking at him. “More importantly, you are my warrior mate,” he told her gruffly.
“I was a whore—”
Vladimir laid claim to the mouth that was currently belittling his mate.
Tanya’s lips were warm, evidence that the hot shower was working and she was no longer icy cold from being outside in the snow.
They were also sensual and inviting as they parted beneath a light sweep of Vladimir’s tongue before it entered the heat of her