Blair stays quiet as I lay her down in my bed, wrapping the comforter around us. She doesn’t relax, staying stiff until the lights are off and I’m urging her to rest her head on my chest.
I’m sure her head is full of questions, but I don’t push her to voice them. For months—fuck,years, really, everything has been out of her control. I want her to be able to take it back.
But until she can, I’ll let her control this.
She can be quiet. She can choose when to ask her questions and when to bite her tongue.
Eventually her breaths change from panicked, barely suppressed sobs to something slower and more consistent as she falls asleep. I press my lips against the top of her head, taking a moment to appreciate the weight of finally having her in my arms.
Chapter 20
Andrei
As Blair tugs on the hem of her short dress, I have half a mind to tell her to call Nadya and ask her to stay home. Her legs look fucking incredible, and her tight dress hugs every inch of her torso, caressing her curves like it was made just for her.
I want to tear it off her and enjoy everything underneath it.
I don’t want every other man in the club staring at her while I’m not there.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She glances at the new front door warily, but she doesn’t have anything to worry about. There won’t be a repeat of last night.
“It’s a great idea,” I assure her. She deserves a night out, to let go and have fun with a friend.Especiallyafter last night. She hasn’t had a chance to let loose in ages, and Nadya won’t judge her for it.
“And this isn’t too much?” she asks, biting her lip as she gestures to herself. “Or too little, I guess.”
“Fuck no.” I twist a lock of her hair around my finger. “You look divine. If I had any say in it, I’d toss work out the window, take you right back to bed, and you’d be hoarse from screaming my name.” Her cheeks turn an enticing shade of pink, and when I’m done for the night, there’s a real chance I’m going to do exactly that.
“Well, if I’d known that was on the table,” she murmurs, looking at me through her lashes. My cock twitches in my slacks as I run my hand along the curve of her neck.
“Zolotse, if I didn’t have to go to this meeting…” Her bottom lip sticks out in a pout, and I can feel my resolve wavering. “When I’m done, we’ll pick this up again.”
Next time, I tell myself.Next time I’ll throw all plans out the window to spend more time with her.
I hold her hand, lacing my fingers with hers as she goes back to adjusting her dress. “You’ll have fun with Nadya, and I’ll pick you up after I’m done.” She nods but doesn’t meet my gaze. Unease fills me, and I lift her chin, forcing her to look in my direction. Still, she refuses to meet my eyes.
“What’s up? I thought you liked Nadya.”
She nods, pulling away from my grasp and busying herself with looking at everything but me.
“Then what’s wrong?”
I assumed they’d been becoming friends.
They frequently text back and forth, and the few times I’ve seen them together they seemed to get along. So what the hell isn’t she telling me?
If the way she’s refusing to meet my eyes is any indication, Blair isn’t looking forward to tonight.
If she’s having issues with Nadya, then it’s enough to tell me that Nadya, contrary to what I thought, isn’t better than most of the women in our circle and I’m going to have to pivot on the fly.
Blair might hate it, but she could spend the evening with Mila. Things seemed less strained after dinner last week, so maybe it would be a good thing. Or she could spend an evening being ignored while Niko gets frustrated because he doesn’t know what to do.
Either way, it’s less painful option than her going out with someone she doesn’t want to spend time with. At least if she’s with Mila, she’ll be able to retreat to another room and have space to breathe.
It won’t be the relaxing night I want for her, but she’ll still be safe.
I’ll just have to be quick.
“You’re actually working, right?” she finally asks, tentative as she looks at me. “Not just trying to distract me?”