Page 160 of Ruthless Rustanovs

He’d never heard her curse before, even at her angriest. And the filthy word following from her bowed mouth did something to him.

Turned him on so bad, he had to close his eyes against the sight of her.

Close his eyes and think of the most boring things possible: opera, winding sports tape around his hands, burpee drills.

He’d been dead inside for so long before this moment, but now he was dangerously aroused and having to resort to the tricks of his youth to keep from coming too quickly.

As she ground herself on top of him, he could do little more than lie there, his whole body tense with the fight to stay there with her and not come too soon.

However, his white-knuckled fight was abruptly lost when she arched forward and kissed him.

Control became impossible then, and every part of his body rushed to fulfill his own greedy desire.

His hands found her silky curls, his hips rolling up into her faster and faster with a mind of their own.

And his mouth…he inhaled her, swallowing her kiss whole, as he entwined her tongue with his.

Thank God their first kiss unhinged her, too.

She soon became like a maniac on top of him, hips grinding and grinding, until just a few moments later when she came with a helpless scream as his hard mouth plundered her much softer one.

Her pussy milking him so wet and hot, he immediately flooded the condom with the load he’d been holding back for days and days.

From the very first moment he’d met her.

She giggled against his lips as they came down from the orgasm together.

“Ohhhh, that was even better than I thought it would be, Ivan,” she told him in a soft sing-song voice. “So fucking good…”

She rubbed her face into the ruined side of his, like a cat saying thank you. Then she said, “My feet are warm now. Good night.”

With that, she climbed off of him and left the room without another word, the door clicking closed behind her. If not for the distinct smell of sex in the room, he would have thought she’d been a dream. Maybe even a hallucination.

But he could still smell her on his skin.

Still feel her there, too. Even after he showered the next morning, reluctantly washing off her scent.

He’d been lackadaisical about his hygiene regimen in the years since the bomb.

But that morning, his desire not to smell the next time he saw her won over his desire to capture what had happened between them.

However, he needn’t have bothered with a morning shower. Like the rest of the town, she didn’t come out of her room all morning. He found himself lingering in his vodka chair, pretending to read a book about Nikola Tesla while he waited for her to emerge.

But she never did, and finally he retired to the study, deciding he needed a drink of vodka even earlier than usual. Just a few moments after his first pour, Hannah showed up at his study door with a large bandage.

“Sola said you might be in need of this, sir. I had the town nurse look for one and bring it up to the house as soon as I heard.”

“It was only a small scratch,” he answered.

But he took the bandage from Hannah, who continued to eye him warily, despite the fact that he’d nearly forgotten about the scratch in the first place.

He’d removed that silly bandage Sola had made for him less than a minute after going up to his own bedroom, and he hadn’t thought much about the wound since.

“You saw her?” he asked, curious to hear news of the woman who’d come to him last night but hadn’t come out of her room all day.

“Yes, I just checked in on her and she told me all about the wolf attack.” Hannah wrung her hands. “Are you sure you’re all right, sir?”

He shrugged. “Yes, I am fine.”

“And it was just a scratch?” Hannah asked worriedly. “Not a bite? You’re sure?”

“Da, just a scratch, but thank you for the bandage. Was Sola okay—I mean, after the attack?”

Hannah frowned at the change of subject. “She seems fine, sir. Tired, and she mentioned being hungry, but then she said I should check with you first. Something about you banning her from the kitchen?”

His brows pulled low. Did she really believe that ban was still in place after what they’d shared last night? The thought of her not eating all day tore at his heart.

“No, I did not mean—it was a misunderstanding between us. You can bring her a meal. That is fine. Of course it is fine. ”

Hannah started to go, but then turned back to tell him, “And by the way, my mate—I mean, Gregory—is feeling a little under the weather today. I hope you don’t mind him taking a sick day. I know we never discussed that before…”

“It is fine,” he answered, before she could continue.

But still Hannah fretted in his study doorway.

“Are you sure you’re fine, sir? Maybe you should let me take a look at that wound...”

“I am fine,” he insisted, voice brooking no argument. “But I am hungry.”

Hannah looked like she wanted to say something more, but at the last second, she demurred. “Yes, of course, sir. I’ll go whip something up. Right away.”

Presumably Hannah brought them both dinner, but Sola remained in her room, nothing but the sound of opera streaming out of it to let him know she was still there.

He thought about knocking on her door, asking her…

That’s where his mind stuttered. What exactly did he want to ask her about?

The fact that they’d had sex last night and she’d yet to come out of her room to—do what, exactly?

Acknowledge it? Kiss him? Reassure him, like he was a weak, insecure man?

He thought of all the good girls he’d claimed, tentatively asking, as he sat on the edges of their beds, if they would see him again.

If this was more than a one-night stand.

He’d had a standard response for questions like that back then: “We had fun tonight. We will see about tomorrow.” Even though he’d already known the answer to their timid questions.

Da, this was definitely a one-night stand.

There were too many girls in this world in need of fucking to end up stuck with just one.

That had been his reasoning back then, but now…

Now… it felt like he’d give anything to have Sola come out of her room and tell him last night had meant something to her. That what they’d done together had not only taken over her body, but also her heart. Even if only a little.

That she felt the same way he did. That she couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d done together, how well they’d fit together, moved together…he wanted to hear her say what happened last night had felt like a miracle to her, too.

But she never left her room. And he’d ended up right back in the pool that evening.

Swimming off his frustration. Followed by another session of tossing and turning in his bed.

Trying to convince himself not to beat off to the memory of her, since apparently it really had only been a one-night stand.

He’d almost given up on ever falling asleep again, when his door opened.

“Hi, my feet are cold,” Sola said in the doorway. “Can we have sex?”

The answer to that was yes. Of course.

He welcomed her back into his bed, throwing off the covers as she climbed on top of his body. All the while wondering what a monster like him had done to deserve a miracle like her.