He kissed his way up her body, running his lips over her neck, making her shiver as he undid the buttons on her blouse. She clutched at the sheets. At her hair.
‘Just like this,’ he whispered in her ear, only to draw away and remove the rest of her clothing with the same teasing slowness until her pupils had swallowed up most of the turquoise in her eyes. ‘And then I kissed you.’
He brushed his lips over hers, then took her mouth hungrily. Teasing Helia like this had unleashed a firestorm of want within him, but he didn’t care about his need for release because he craved seeing Helia come apart for him. The sight was addictive.
He broke the kiss, pulling away, and he chuckled when Helia tried to follow. He kept her down on the bed, saying, ‘But not here.’
‘Where?’
He grinned as he settled between her legs, seeing her slickness on her golden skin, and lowered his mouth to her mound. His tongue slid through her folds as he kissed her deeply. He became lost in her taste and her scent and the symphony of her moans as he made her soar further, higher, until she reached her release with a keening cry, sobbing his name.
He kissed every inch of her body, sucking her nipples into his mouth, marking her perfect skin with his teeth, drawing out her pleasure until she calmed, and then he kept going until she was panting once more.
Vasili shucked off his clothes and reached into a drawer, retrieving a foil square. He saw Helia’s eyes follow him.
‘Vasili, I’m on birth control.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ he said, brushing his fingers through her caramel curls.
He truthfully was glad, but accidents did happen, and even though he wanted nothing more than to feel Helia around him, he was determined that they would never have heirs. He couldn’t. So he ripped open the packet and rolled the protection along his length.
And then he had Helia’s hips in his hands, spreading her thighs apart so he could see himself sinking into her. A hurricane of pleasure consumed him. Stealing his breath. Grabbing his heart in a fist.
She felt like heaven. Like everything he had known she would and so much more.
He cursed on a breath. ‘Helia...’
This was so much more overwhelming than Vasili had anticipated. It felt too good—and not just in the way the pleasure rolled over him in unending waves. It felt too much like home. As if being with Helia like this was fated.
Vasili had crossed a boundary he knew he shouldn’t have. Because he would never want to stop doing this with her. It was exactly as he had feared.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
VASILIHADMADEher wait for this and it was worth every minute. With him sliding in and out of her, Helia’s voice flowed from her in unintelligible moans. None of her fantasies compared. She hadn’t ever felt current like this in her body, this heat in her veins and a coiling deep in her core. And then there was Vasili. The sheen of sweat on his sculpted torso. The look of ecstasy on his face. There was also vulnerability there. Something he would normally cover up. But he couldn’t now.
‘More...’ she begged, and he obliged.
Wrapping his arms tightly around her body, he fused them together. His thrusts were growing harder. Faster. His breaths were coming in a constant rapid rush. She had thought it couldn’t possibly feel better than it had when he’d had his mouth on her, butthiswas all-consuming.
She lost her whole heart to him. Feeling utter pleasure. Treasured. Protected.
His rhythm was growing erratic as he drew close to release and Helia was right there with him. Stretching. Coiling. Reaching for her peak. And as he slammed his hips into her, tensing as he spilled, she shattered around him. Calling his name as he dropped his head into the crook of her neck and they rode out their pleasure together.
‘Helia...’
Everything had changed. She felt it. Heard it in his voice. They had crossed over to somewhere new. Except she didn’t know where that was. What it would mean for them. For her and this new, pulsing love that thrummed faster than her heart.
‘Don’t move.’
Vasili kissed her forehead, then disappeared into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. She heard running water and he returned with a warm towel that he used to clean her up. Then he tossed it aside and drew her into his arms.
By now Helia had lain in his arms numerous times, but this time it was so different. She turned towards him and Vasili held her against his hard body. She kissed the base of his throat, knowing that her heart was his. She loved him, but she couldn’t say it.
Helia looked into his face and saw that every one of the barriers he had erected around him had come crashing down. She didn’t know how long it would last, but for the moment at least he was hers.
So she settled into his embrace and looked at their surroundings. At the modern room and the books and the art.
‘I’ve finally found a place in this palace that looks like you belong in it,’ she said.
