Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
I exhale the breath I’m holding in when I discover no blood on the liner. However, my thighs still shake when I step out of the floral-printed panties before kicking them to the side of my room, hopeful it will have him missing the embarrassment flooding my cheeks with color.
Leaving me bare to the elements, he picks out the perfect shoes to go with my dress, then pushes me back until the hem of my dress rides as high as the cuffs of his pants when he squats down in front of me to slip on my shoes.
“You prepared for me,” he murmurs as he takes in my buffed skin. I’m sitting as ladylike as possible, but the indecent length of my dress doesn’t allow modesty from a person positioned as intimately close to me as Matvei.
Since I can’t deny his claim that he was on my mind when I spent an hour shaving in the shower, I remain quiet.
“Do you shave or wax your pussy, Natalya?”
My reply is throaty when I snap out, “Does it matter?”
“It matters to me.” I’m desperate to secure a hold on my bedding when he looks at me and says, “Waxing will require a delay. If you shaved, I could touch you immediately.”
My shock is still rampant, but I manage, “I’m on my period.”
My nails scrape the mattress. “And?” Once the buckles on my heels are done up, he stands before offering his hand. “If you think a little blood will stop me, you don’t know me at all.”
“I don’t know you,” I bite back. “That’s the issue.”
His voice is lusciously enthralling. “That’s why I’m taking you out instead of undressing you with my teeth and counting every tiny bump on your areolas with my tongue.”
Good god, his mouth is wicked. It flushes my face with lust instead of embarrassment and has me forgetting my earlier hang-ups.
The rouge coloring of my cheeks deepens as Matvei brushes the back of his hand down my face. “I can’t wait to see how far I can extend your blush.”
In urgency, he stuffs the panties I kicked aside into his pocket, curls his hand around mine, then tugs me toward the fire escape emergency exit, his steps as hasty as his pulse. “I’ll finish dressing you in the car.”
“We can’t go out that way. The hinges are broken…” My words trail off when I notice the stairs are retracted and balanced an inch above the sidewalk.
Matvei peers at me and winks. “I could only sense his urgency to get home. Not the jealousy fueling his speed.”
In other words, he isn’t as confident of Saka’s wish to bed Taylor as he is of his desire to whisk me away for the night.
Being craved in such a way ensures no hesitation fills me as he guides me down the fire exit stairs and into an idling black stretched town car across the street from my building. My nerves only resurface when I spot two gift boxes on the seat across from mine.
8
NATALYA
“Are you opposed to being offered gifts?” Matvei asks, drawing my focus from the gift boxes to him.
A strand of hair falls from my messy bun when I shake my head, so I pull out the elastic and run my fingers through the knots. My mother would have a coronary if she discovered I went out in public without being primed to perfection. “I have an issue with being bought.”
Humor and another expression I can’t make out echoes in Matvei’s tone. “You think I’m trying to buy you?”
“That’s what tonight is about, isn’t it? Collecting services for payment made?”
His honesty is refreshing. “Up until our exchange earlier today, yes, I guess it could have been construed that way.”
“And now?” Curiosity deepens my tone.
He takes a moment to ponder before he yanks on the crotch of his pants. “Now I’m struggling to work out if my cock is hurting from my zipper’s constant bite or because it’s worried I ruined my chance to have you writhing beneath me by announcing how much I crave you.”
I laugh before I can stop myself. It’s either laugh or straddle his lap, so I went for the one less likely to get me in trouble.
“We’ll see who is laughing when your mouth tends to my injuries.”
I snap my mouth closed before working to calm the heat roaring through my body.
Matvei ruins the already pointless endeavor. “Why didn’t you check the gym bag before you tossed it down to him?”
I’m stunned he knows about my foolish mistake until I remember how loose Jax’s lips become around handsome men. “I assumed you had paid the agreed amount. Not many people carry around that much cash.” When he arches a stern brow, I mutter, “Well, none with a squeaky-clean record.”
He shrugs off my assumption that his business activities aren’t legal, like most Kronstadt residents, before asking, “Is your record squeaky clean, Natalya?”