Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Win
Katarina’s words rip through me like bird shot. I did do that.
There’s no denying it and I won’t try. “It’s different now.”
She lays her head back down, not responding to my comment. I squeeze her shoulder. She still doesn’t respond.
Letting out a rumble of frustration, I give her a small shake. “What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t want you to say anything, Win.” Her voice is soft, her body still molded to mine. “I was simply acknowledging the fact that our relationship is…complicated. And everything in my life is changing, and I’m…”
I grunt because that is true.
Then again, I’m not a man who was built for easy.
When things are easy, I get…restless. Irritable. My jaw goes hard, as a thought pushes up to the surface, one I’ve hardly allowed myself to acknowledge the last ten years. Rebecca did not suit me in this regard.
She was the love of my boyhood. As I’d grown into a man…
But I always believed in monogamy and in commitment. Rebecca might not have been a woman I still loved, but she’d become mine to care for.
But with Katarina…
I feel the difference deep in my soul. She is both. She can be soft when I need softness, and she can rake her nails down my back and smack my ass as she demands I fuck her hard.
She has the passion and the drive to be my partner, not just my responsibility. “I don’t think it’s complicated at all.”
She lifts her head then, her pretty brow furrowing. “You’re joking.”
“I don’t really joke. We both know that.”
Her brows lift. “Should I repeat the comment that started this conversation?”
I squeeze her tight. “I know what I did, I know why I shouldn’t have done it, and I am…sorry.”
Her eyes go wide. “Hell has frozen over,” she mumbles as she lays her head back on my chest.
But I have the feeling that despite my apology, something has been…lost.
This is a moment where we should be connected and instead, I feel the distance between us.
I don’t like it at all.
I’ve never felt this intensely for another person ever in my life, but I’m not quite certain how to emotionally bring her to where I am.
“I mean the words,” I insist. “I am sorry, and going forward, I will never allow anyone or anything to hurt you.”
She lifts her head again, her chin resting on my chest, and this time, her smile is soft as she reaches up to stroke my cheek. “Thanks, Win.”
A second later, she lays her head back down and falls asleep.
Note to self, there is no point in discussing anything with her after sex. I wrap her tighter in my arms instead and close my eyes.
I must fall asleep just as quickly, and I don’t wake until the sun hits my eyes from the bank of windows.
I jerk awake and then squeeze Katarina.
She’s slid to the side, her body nestled into the crook of mine, her head on my shoulder.
I’ve never slept wrapped around a person like this before and I think it might have been the best sleep of my life.
The two orgasms probably helped.
I look down at her as she stirs, and I stroke a hand down her back, trying to make sure she stays asleep.
I don’t blame her for being suspicious of me.
Not only am I guilty of using her to bait her father, yesterday I lied to her.
The second sin was for her protection, but I still don’t like it. I’m going to have to come clean.
There is a lot that is irritating about me. But those hard edges come with a few benefits, and one of them is usually that I’m honest.
I need to leave soon. I fully intend to canvas the hotel, strategically placing security throughout the premises, and checking every entrance and exit.
Ivan has likely done the same.
But I hold for a few more minutes, just wanting the feel of her skin against mine. I will best Ivan Ivanov. But my reasons have become hazy.
I think my motivation has been revenge, and my guilt, but now…now it’s about Katarina.
I want her to live in a world where she never has to look over her shoulder.
Where her dragon has been slayed.
Finally, I slide out of the bed, crossing the room where I press the call button for breakfast to be brought up.
We ought to start sleeping in my room.
Not only do I have a massive bed, but I’ve also got sweeping views of the sea.
But this room is the birth of the romance that is going to shape the rest of my life.
Katarina lifts her head, pushing her hair from her eyes.
Her back arches as she pushes up on her elbows, giving me a sleepy frown. “Morning already?”
I smile, the tension disappearing for a moment, I cross back to the bed and tuck her hair behind her ear before I lean down and sweep a kiss across her forehead. “I am afraid so.”
She wraps a hand around my neck, and I sit on the edge of the bed, pulling her body out from under the covers, and into my lap.
If I didn’t need to go, and I wasn’t worried about the toll on her body, I’d make love to her again.
She settles in my embrace, her body fitting into mine, as she tilts her chin up to look in my eyes. “You have your meeting today.”
I can hear the change in her tone, the way it flattens.
I harden in response. “Yes.”
She gives a quick nod and then slides from my lap, heading for the bathroom. I watch her go, admiring the view of her body before I follow.
I enter the bathroom to find her stepping into the shower.
I quickly glance at my back in the bathroom mirror. It reveals deep marks all down my skin. I don’t care about the sting, in fact, they’re a reminder of what we did and how amazing it felt.
Which is why I follow her into the shower.
She looks back over her shoulder. “Don’t you have your own shower?”
She’s irritated, though I’m not sure why. “I’ll use any shower I like.”
And then I close the door behind me, stalking toward her.
“That’s right. This is your house, your life, your rules.”
I keep moving toward her, not stopping. She takes a step back, which allows me to cage her against the shower wall. “If you’re trying to tempt me into another round of hard sex, it’s working.”
Her eyes widen and then the sexiest smile curves her lips. “Like it when I’m sassy and difficult?”
“You know I do.” I press my chest to hers, the warm spray washing down on both of us.
Her hands thread into my hair, her body arching into mine. “I thought last night might be a one-off.”
My brow furrows. I’ve promised to protect her. To make her a priority. “It was not a one-off.”
“Oh,” she sighs out as her hands slide down my scraped back, the cuts stinging. “Good.”
Katarina and I are due for a long talk. One where we lay some cards on the table. But right now, I need to focus on her father. So, I give her a long, slow kiss and then I lift my head. “Tomorrow, I’m going to show you the finer points of shower sex.”
“Not today?” I feel her stiffen.
“Today, I need to get to London. Tomorrow, however…” Tomorrow, with any luck, I will have vanquished her dragon.
Her arms slide away from me, and she gives me a light push back. “I’ve never really been a tomorrow person. They aren’t guaranteed.”
That one cuts me. Because she’s partially right. The game I’m engaging in tonight is dangerous.
But also, it’s my job to give her more security.
To help her start believing in tomorrows.
Which is why I pull her tightly to me. “Before I leave, I want you to log into all the accounts I set up yesterday. I’ll also give you the name of the accountant to help you access the funds. Should there be any problems.”
She looks away, her face flushing red. “I still can’t believe…”
“Katarina, understand that I will do everything in my power to give you a bright future. Tell me you trust in that?”
“I do.” She slides her hands up my arms. “I know who you are and what you’re capable of, Win.”
I hold her chin, bending down to kiss her lips. Because even though we’ve only known each other a short time, I think she’s right. She might understand me better than any person I’ve ever known.
I grab the soap and start washing her body.
I likely shouldn’t take the time, but I like caring for her and I can’t get enough of her skin.
She lets me scrub her as she washes her hair.
When she steps out of the spray, I give myself a scrub down, the soap stinging my back even as she starts up the blow dryer to blow out her hair.
I turn off the shower, stepping out to dry off as she arches in the mirror, using a brush and the dryer to style her hair.
For a moment, I just admire the grace of her body, the way she looks when she’s not even aware I’m watching.
The depth of what I feel settles deep in my gut. What I feel for her is beyond anything I’ve imagined possible. And it’s more than the sex, though we are completely compatible in that regard as well. But deeper, I feel understood. Valued.
And it hits me that I’m in love with her. A feeling I had assigned to a folly only young men partake in because they don’t know better.
But it turns out, I’m just…really picky.
Any of my brothers likely could have told me that was true.
It took the exact right woman to remind me that life doesn’t have to be all obligation and duty.
My shoulders expand, my chest broadening.
Now that I’ve found her, now that I understand…there isn’t anything I won’t do to make certain she’s safe, healthy, and happy.
And that fucker, her father...
Tonight, I will end this.