Chapter 20
Georgi
It takes me longer than usual to shower, but once I’m dried off and wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, I leave my bedroom barefoot.
Coming down the stairs, I don’t see Nina anywhere, and check the kitchen before I head down the hallway. When I reach the doorway to my office, I find her standing by my desk, a wistful expression on her face as she stares at one of the photos.
Lifting my right hand to the top of the doorframe, I slowly stretch the aching muscles in my arm and shoulder, my eyes locked on the tiny woman who’s taken my life by storm.
Tonight went much better than I expected. Nina opened up to me, and I feel we covered a lot of terrain.
But getting her to trust me is only step one. Now she needs to become comfortable in my space while I hunt for Boris and Anton. Once I make them pay for what they did to us, I’ll be able to offer Nina the vengeance she needs to find some kind of healing for the hell she survived.
Only after that, she might be able to form a relationship with me. I’m hoping for friendship.
As soon as I think the thought, a disgruntled expression settles on my face.
That’s the biggest fucking lie I’ve ever told myself.
I’ve been shoving my attraction toward Nina way fucking back because of the rape, but it hasn’t lessened.
No, it’s multiplying by the second.
Seeing how strong she is for her child. The way she keeps getting up after every brutal blow. The hope in her eyes.
It all makes my feelings for her grow rapidly.
But what really made a difference was when she looked for comfort in my arms. She wanted my arms around her, and that shifted things.
I’ll give Nina all the time she needs, but once she’s ready, all bets are off.
Right now, I’ll be what she needs, but the time will come when I’ll push for a romantic relationship.
Nina’s body jerks hard, her head snapping up, a startled gasp bursting over her lips. “Oh…uhm…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–”
I shake my head to silence her, and lowering my arm, I gesture down the hallway. “I said you can explore. You did nothing wrong.”
The expression on her beautiful face eases as she comes toward me.
Wanting to see if she tenses up, I don’t move out of the way, and Nina has to brush past me. I’m surprised when she actually stops close to me and lifts my shirt to look at my ribs.
“God, it looks even worse, Georgi. You should get professional care.” The worry in her tone warms a spot deep in my heart that’s never been touched by a woman who’s not related to me.
I don’t have issues, I’m just very selective about who I let in because in the past, Raya tried to get to know whoever I was fucking, and that didn’t sit right with me at all.
She’d get attached, and it would hurt her when I dropped the woman.
Since I bought this building and moved my sister into the apartment beneath mine, I haven’t brought any women home.
I either fuck them at their place or a hotel.
And it’s always just fucking.
My eyes drift over Nina’s delicate features, and I know with dead certainty that it will never be the case between us. With my attention locking on her mouth, especially the scab on her bottom lip, I think of something that’s never been my thing.
A kiss.
Growing up, my mom was very affectionate, peppering my cheeks and forehead with kisses. I loved every single one. When Raya got older, she also started giving me a kiss on the cheek to thank me for something.
To me, a kiss means love, so it’s the one thing I’ve never given a woman.
Christ, this is uncharted territory for me. I’ve done just about everything sexual with a woman, and I have a very high sex drive, but for once, it’s not at the forefront of my mind.
Shoving the thoughts away, I walk down the hallway, Nina following close behind me.
When I sit down on a couch, Nina asks, “Do you have a first aid kit?”
“In the kitchen. The cupboard above the microwave.”
She hurries away, and a moment later I hear the scraping of a stool.
Fuck!
I move fast, shooting up and jogging toward the kitchen. Just as I rush in, I see Nina grabbing hold of the cupboard handle and standing up on the stool.
I don’t think, and coming up behind her, I wrap my arm around her waist and lift her off. While she gasps and twists in my hold, I open the door and grab the first aid kit.
Nina’s right hand lands on the side of my neck while her left clutches my shoulder.
The position I’m holding her in puts her at eye level with me, and when our gazes lock, something explodes between us.
It’s so intense that we both react. As I quickly set her down, she glances away, a very nervous expression tightening her features.
We step back from each other, then stand like idiots while scrambling for a way to handle what just passed between us.
Nina is the first to move, and with a flash of panic in her big brown eyes, she scurries in the direction of the living room.
I take a deep breath before I follow her, and pretend nothing happened when I take a seat and hand the black bag to Nina. While she zips it open, I grab hold of the hem of my shirt and drag the fabric over my head before dropping it beside me and relaxing against the back of the couch.
Her eyes flit over my chest, and this time a blush creeps into her cheeks.
Nina steps between my thighs and braces her hand on my shoulder so she can lean in close to clean the cut across my chest.
My eyes roam over every inch of her face, noticing how the bruises on her cheek have changed color. The red is gone, and only blue marks remain.
Lifting my hand, I brush my thumb over them, and it has Nina’s eyes darting to my face. She goes very still, watching me and trying to anticipate my next move.
I keep our gazes locked as I lean forward. Nina’s breaths instantly speed up, and panic returns to her face, but I push through and press a kiss to the marks that fucker left on her skin.
Her breaths stall, and she remains frozen like a deer in oncoming headlights.
I inhale the scent that’s uniquely hers, and process how right it feels to kiss her, even if it’s just on the cheek.
It should scare me how natural it feels to show her such a level of intimacy, but it doesn’t.
Relaxing back again, I smirk at her. “I just wanted to kiss it better.”
To my surprise, Nina’s lips twitch as if she wants to smile, but then suppresses it. Tearing her eyes away from mine, she moves out from between my thighs and begins to check the wounds on my left arm.
After a while, she murmurs to herself, “It’s going to leave scars.” The sigh coming from her sounds unhappy, and it makes the corners of my mouth lift again.
Nina cares about me…more than she knows.
I’m thrown back to our time in the basement, when she was the only light in that dark room. Nina’s healing touch moves over my body while I stare at her, memorizing every inch.
She clears all the soiled gauze to the coffee table before digging around in the kit.
“Yes!” Suddenly, a smile bursts over her face, and when she holds up a tube of salve, as if she found some kind of treasure, my jaw drops.
Christ Almighty.
Nina is smiling because she found something to help relieve my pain, and the realization hits with a staggering force. It means more than I can put into words.
An emotion so powerful, it rivals anything I’ve felt before this moment, shoots through my very being, changing something fundamental inside me.
What I feel for Nina changes into deep, all-consuming love.
It’s instant and overpowering, obsessive and relentless, leaving me shocked out of my fucking mind.
The most profound moment of my life happens in mere seconds, and when Nina’s gaze lifts to my face, I see tiny sparks of happiness flickering in their depths.
A desire to make those sparks ignite into full-blown flames surges through me. I want to make this beautiful creature so fucking happy that she’ll forget her gruesome past.
“What?” she asks, panic lacing her tone as the smile dies away and shadows return to her face. “Did I do something wrong?”
Shaking my head, I clear my throat. “You have such a beautiful smile, it stunned me for a second.”
“Oh.” My compliment makes her self-conscious, and she climbs onto the cushion beside me before asking, “Can you scoot forward so I can get in behind you?”
I move to the edge of the seat and rest my right forearm on my thigh. While Nine shifts in behind me on her knees, I glance down at my wounds.
Usually, I would be impatient to heal, but not anymore. The longer my wounds need tending to, the more I’ll have Nina fussing over me.
A grin tugs at the corner of my mouth, and when Nina’s hands settle on my shoulders and she begins to massage the salve into my muscles, there’s no way I can stop myself from groaning.
Just like previously, she pauses for a moment before continuing. Her fingers work magic on my body, easing the deep ache left behind by being strung up like a puppet.
“Fuck, Nina,” I groan when she digs into a knot of muscles.
“I don’t know where you learned to massage like this.
..” My sentence is cut off by the long moan escaping me, and I lose track of my thoughts.
“It’s so fucking good.” Dropping my chin, my eyes drift shut as the pleasure weaves a spell around me.
By the time she finishes turning my body into jello and she moves out from behind me, I can only slump back and look at her through hooded eyes.
Not even the wildest sex I’ve had has given me this much pleasure.
A pleased smile threatens to form, but before it can, her eyes land on my lap, and they widen with panic.
It’s only then I realize my cock is rock hard and tenting my shorts.
Fuck.
I quickly sit up and grabbing one of the decorative cushions, I cover my hard-on. “Ignore it.” I clear my throat, then add, “Thanks for taking care of me.”
Nina gets up from the couch and closes the first aid kit. “It’s the least I can do.”
Tilting my head, my eyes narrow. “Do you feel it’s your duty? Because if that’s the case, I’d rather you stop.”
Her head snaps up. “No!” She realizes her voice is sharp and lowers it.
“Maybe in the beginning it was my duty, but not anymore. I want to make sure you heal. I have to make sure…” her words trail away, and something dangerously close to embarrassment turns her cheeks pink.
“I want to be of use to you.” When I begin to frown, narrowing my eyes, she quickly shakes her head and hurries to kneel on the couch beside me.
“Please give me a moment to try to explain.”
I relax my features. “Okay.”
“I’m not doing it because I feel I have to or I’ll be punished.” Frustration flattens her mouth into a line as she tries to find the right words. “I want to, Georgi. If you need me, it will make me feel less worthless.”
Lifting my hand, I wrap it behind her neck and pull her closer as I lean down until only an inch separates our faces.
“Don’t tie your self-worth to what you can do for me, Nina.
Never do that. You are an amazing mother who has sacrificed everything for her daughter.
You’re a strong woman who has survived evil motherfuckers.
You’re a good person who showed the enemy kindness in the middle of hell. You. Are. So. Much. More.”
I watch as my words knock the air from her lungs, while she looks at me as if I performed a miracle.
Her lips part as various emotions ripple over her face. Everything from shock to hope to awe.
“Is that what you see when you look at me?” she asks, her tone fragile as if one wrong word from me will undo all the progress I’ve made.
“Yes, Nina.” I brush my thumb over her soft skin. “I see you.”