Page 66 of Paved in Venom
He kisses my forehead. “Nothing about you is boring. I want to know every detail, so start talking.”
I dance my fingers along his shoulder, mindlessly playing a melody I’ve been working on while I tell him about my life. I tell him about my mom and dad, and even though the pain is still sharp, his presence dulls it, and I even smile and laugh when I tell him about the time my parents freaked out because I accidentally drank the spiked egg nog at their yearly Christmas party when I was twelve.
Danil laughs. “I see you’ve always been prone to getting your ass in trouble. I’ll have to remember that.”
“Oh please, I was such a rule follower it was pathetic.”
“There’s nothing pathetic about you. Did you have a lot of boyfriends? How many men do I need to visit?”
I can’t tell if he’s joking or not, but just in case he’s not, I don’t mention the few lousy dates I went on and say, “Zero,” and then give him the long, sad story of my matchmaking days and all the time I spent in all-girls schools.
“Where did you live? Where’s your apartment?”
“About six hours from here,” I tell him, but that’s all I say. We can figure out what to do about my apartment later. My rent is still paid up, and we’ve got enough shit to worry about. I don’t want him stressing about this too.
He surprises me by letting it go, and instead says, “I think your surprise is done, baby. You ready to see it?”
I sit up and meet his eyes. “What is it?”
He smiles and kisses me. “Wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I told you.”
We get out of the tub, and when he notices the slowness of my movements and the slight limp in my step, he quickly wraps a towel around me and carries me into the bedroom.
“I can walk,” I say with a laugh, even though I am seriously sore and kind of wishing I’d had a little more self-control this morning, but even as the thought hits me, I know it’s bullshit. I’ll never be able to resist Danil, and I won’t ever want to. A sore pussy is a price I’ll gladly pay.
Instead of setting me down, he carries me into the closet. “Okay, baby, what do you want to wear today?”
“Something comfy.” I point to a pair of yoga pants and a long-sleeve tee. He grabs them and then digs around until he’s holding a pair of panties and a matching bra. “Don’t forget the socks,” I tell him.
He smiles and grabs a pair of socks before carrying me back to the bathroom. When he sets me down and grabs my lotion, I start to laugh.
“I can get myself ready.”
“I know you can.” He squirts out a generous amount of lotion and kneels down. Grabbing one of my legs, he lifts it up and props my foot on his thigh as he starts to massage my legs while he rubs the lotion in. “This isn’t about what you can or can’t do. This is about me wanting to take care of you, sladkaya.”
The look in his eyes has me closing my mouth. It’s not the look of someone who’s doing something just because they feel like they have to. The love and desire in his eyes makes it clear that he’s loving every goddamn second of this, and he’d be hurt if I told him to stop, so I don’t. I let this gorgeous man with nothing but a towel around his sculpted waist rub lotion all over my body until I feel like every cell is humming with need. His touch does something to me on a deep level. I noticed it the very first time he touched me, and it’s only gotten stronger since then.
When he opens my panties and arches a brow at me, I laugh and lift my foot. He’s clearly determined to see this thing through to the very end. He slides my panties up my body, sneaking a quick kiss to my pussy before he pulls them all the way up and starts on my bra. After he pulls my yoga pants on, I lift my arms for my shirt, and after it’s on, he kisses the crook of my neck and whispers, “So beautiful,” against my skin.
While he gets dressed, I run a brush through my hair and examine the bruises around my neck. They’re much darker today, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think some dickhead had tried to strangle the life right out of me. It’s hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I’d wanted this, I’d fucking begged for it, but I had, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’ll do it again. I’m going to need to shop around for some cute scarves.
Danil comes back in with a huge smile on his face. “Ready, baby?”
I laugh at how cute his excitement is, and when I put my hand in his, he pulls me closer and says, “Close your eyes.”
I close them, letting him lead me out of the bedroom and to the room next door, the one I’d looked in that was mostly bare. I hear him close the door behind us, and the room immediately changes. It feels like it grows quieter, like the air around us is a little denser. Danil cups my face and kisses me gently.
“Open your eyes, baby,” he whispers against my lips before stepping back.
I open my eyes and my mouth drops open when I see the gorgeous piano in front of me. My hands come to my face as I turn to look at Danil. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he looks a little nervous. He’s watching me, studying my reaction, and before I can say anything, he says, “I can get you a different one if you’d prefer something else.”
I’m still too stunned to speak. He scrubs a hand over his face and then does something I never thought my tough Bratva boss would ever do. He starts rambling.
“I did a lot of research, and this is supposed to be the best, but I can get you anything you want, baby. Or would you rather not have one? I just thought you might want one, and I really want to know what all that music sounds like that you’re always playing on my arm.”
Before he can keep going, I throw myself into his arms and kiss him. I feel his body relax when he sees how obviously happy I am. He cups my ass with one hand and the other weaves its way into my hair.
“Thank you,” I whisper in between kisses. “I can’t believe you did this.” I cup his face and rest my forehead against his.
