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)
When Saka’s hand almost slips away from his slippery crotch, I gulp down the bile scorching my throat before racing to my room. “I’ll be out of your hair in two minutes.” My reply is gobbled up by me pulling open and slamming shut the multiple drawers in my room.
I could have sworn I left my prescription in my bedside table drawer, but it is nowhere to be found.
No, he wouldn’t have, would he?
The voice of the man I’m accusing of stealing my contraception rumbles through me when he asks, “Are you looking for something?”
“I thought my pills, but now I’m wondering if you’re also missing some. That can be the only reason for your looniness. You stopped taking your medication.” I turn so I don’t miss a smile I am rarely awarded. It is as blistering as expected but can’t harness my anger. “Did you take my contraception pills?”
“Yes,” Matvei answers without pause for thought.
I mentally apologize to my neighbors when my voice comes out with a squeal. “Why?”
“I thought we’d discussed this already.”
It’s hard to stay mad when he opens his trench coat and Sookie sluggishly stretches before leaping out. He looked set to stay cuddled into Matvei’s chest for eternity.
I could do the same if he weren’t being so ludicrous.
“We need protection.”
He instantly discredits my oath. “No, we don’t. You will be my wife and the mother of my children.”
“In time, Matvei. Why do we need to rush?” When an expression oddly similar to fear crosses his face, my heart falls from my chest. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing—”
“Don’t lie to me, Matvei.”
“I’m not lying.” I don’t know if he is mad about my accusation or his next words. “But we’re not given a set amount of time, either. It could be all gone tomorrow.” He lowers his voice. “So I refuse to waste a minute. Especially the ones I get to spend with you.”
“Matvei…” I don’t have a defense. I am defenseless when it comes to this man, so I switch the course of our conversation. “Why did you bring Sookie back? Is he too needy for you?”
Sookie’s purrs fill the room when Matvei scratches under his chin while replying, “I assumed when you requested Haynes to bring you here, we were staying in tonight.”
He arches a brow when I shake my head. “I only came to collect some personal items.” When the filled script from my lunch break burns a hole in my pocket, I say, “Although, I’m not opposed to a pizza and make-out session on the floor of my room. I never had one of them in my teens.”
“Lucky. I’ve got enough admirers on my list.” When I hit him with a glare, he licks his lips before etching them into a crooked smirk. “How many bases are we talking?”
“Depends on if you like anchovies on your pizza.” When his face screws up, I say, “You have a good chance of a bit of boob action.” The lust in the air can’t be denied when I tease him a little longer. “Perhaps more.”
Matvei’s genuine smiles are rare treasures I’ll never stop working for. “Then I better get this show on the road.” I take a mental note to close my curtains when he nudges his head to my bedroom door and asks, “Should I order for them now or wait for them to finish?”
“Mention them again and watch your chance of a nipple slip drop to a cheek peck.” I push him out onto the fire escape before requesting him to purchase a cucumber Sprite from the store next door while waiting for our pizza to cook. “I’m kind of addicted to that stuff.”
Not as much as I am him, but we will keep that between us.
Matvei’s eyes rake my body like he heard my inner thoughts, before he crosses the road, not bothering to check for traffic, and enters the pizzeria.
As Sookie pines for him at the foot of the window, I dig the morning-after prescription out of my pocket. I was adamant ten minutes ago about taking it, but now I’m unsure. Matvei’s belief that we’re not given a set amount of time won’t quit ringing in my ears.
In all honesty, I’ve always thought the same. That’s why I found hiding so hard to begin with. To me, it wasn’t living. It was merely existing.
I don’t see that being the case with Matvei, so instead of washing down the tablet with a large gulp of water, I dump it into the bin next to my bedside table before hotfooting it into the bathroom for a quick sponge bath, mindful Matvei only ever strives for home runs.
28
NATALYA
“So basically, he took what he learned in the military and used it in a private corporation setting?”
I twist my lips at Millie’s question before returning to restocking the winter coats we sold out of earlier this week. “Kind of?” Since I’m unsure how to explain Matvei’s career, my answer sounds more like a question. “Saka did similar.” Just with a heap less violence.