Chapter 37
IVY
“You’re lucky,” Ruslan murmurs against my lips. “If I weren’t confined to this bed, I’d fuck you and make you repeat it until you understand just how important you are to me.”
“Then tell me.” The words write gently across his lips as I kiss his upper and then his lower.
“Tell me and I’ll repeat it.” My hand slides over his chest and covers his heart that beats powerfully beneath thick supporting bandages.
Given his injuries from the crash and the bullet I accidentally shot into his leg during my very terrible shooting, Ruslan’s thankfully on the mend but bedridden until further notice.
“Alright.” Ruslan’s hand cups my face, sliding past my ear until his fingers are buried in my hair.
He keeps me close and we share the same breath as he stares intently into my eyes.
“Before you, all that existed was my work here. A glorified babysitter for the criminal underworld. And then, suddenly, you popped up, and something about you connected with me on such a deep level that I was instantly attached without even knowing it. Making you smile is the highlight of my day. Watching you navigate everything that’s happened is admirable because you do it with a strength and grace I could never achieve.
Your kind heart in listening to me, and giving Moira chance after chance.
Even when you were patching up Raven despite barely knowing us.
And without your sense, we still would have pursued the Russians under the guise of a drug war without even considering we were wrong.
I love all of that. From your soft nature to your gentle intelligence and the little snort you sometimes do when you laugh.
All of it. I want to be around you all the time, I want to be there as you navigate this new life, and I want to ensure I’m the best man I can be for you. I only have one request.”
Tears warm the back of my eyes as Ruslan speaks with such a quiet determination, and it’s almost overwhelming.
Parts of what he says are surreal, considering no one in my life has ever paid me this much attention.
Everything Ruslan lists are things I would never dare think about myself for fear of seeming egotistical, but the fact that he sees me and loves me for all those things makes my heart swell.
“Anything,” I whisper. “I’ll grant you anything.”
“Please don’t ever fire a gun near me with your eyes closed ever again.” A split second of silence follows, then we both break into gentle laughter and I kiss Ruslan hard, intertwining our smiles.
“I promise,” I say against his lips. “Never again.”
Ruslan’s hand tightens a fraction in my hair and the kiss deepens enough for the overwhelming surge of love in my chest to sweep south and settle deep in my core.
The pleasant ache spreads through my lower body as Ruslan’s tongue swipes across my lower lip, then his teeth catch and the following sharp nip draws a gasp from me.
“You’re in no condition,” I murmur huskily, “to be kissing me like that.”
“I’m in the perfect condition.” Ruslan smirks. “Because you’re too chicken to do anything about it.”
“Concern for your wellbeing isn’t me being a chicken,” I scold him softly, kissing the tip of his nose. “You got shot, you got beat to hell, and now you’re trying to kiss me like this has a chance of going anywhere beyond a kiss.”
Ruslan’s eyes flash with mischief as I lean away and his hand slides down until his palm cups the back of my neck. “All the important parts still work.” He smirks. “There’s no way I’ll survive these next four weeks without a taste.”
“Oh, really?” I tease with slight mockery in my tone. “Will your poor little dick fall off if it doesn’t get attention?”
“Exactly.” He smirks, and he uses the grip on the back of my neck to draw me back in for a kiss. “And you know he isn’t little.”
What little resolve I have left melts away at the next kiss and before I know it, our mouths are locked together in a series of heated kisses while I climb on top of him and settle across his hips.
His not-so-little cock is already at half mast even under the blanket, and a pulse of lust crashes through my core as I settle perfectly over the ridge.
“Ivy,” Ruslan gasps, a slight moan tinging his words. “You can’t tease me, I’m not strong enough.”
“Do you really think I would do this?” I ask, cupping his face with both hands and rolling my hips down. “And then just leave you high and dry?”
The kiss breaks as Ruslan’s head presses back into the pillow and one of his hands shoots to my hip. “Yes.”
“You’re right, I would.” I smirk, kissing lazily down his jaw. “But I’m not going to. Not this time.”
Every movement is carefully calculated with Ruslan’s injuries.
Removing his shirt reveals the stiff bandages underneath supporting his broken ribs.
Dark bruising coats what little skin I can see.
He definitely got the worst of it from that crash and subsequent beating.
The blankets fall away, and by the time I pull his soft pants down, his cock is thick and stiff, curved against his thigh and dewy at the tip.
“I haven’t even touched you yet.” I smirk, trailing my fingertips over his lower abdomen while hovering above him.
“You’ve no idea how hot you are to me right now,” Ruslan groans, his cheeks flushing faintly. “I can’t even think—”
“How the tables have turned.” Swiftly removing my shirt, Ruslan’s hands move to my abdomen and he caresses my sides up until he finds a few healing bruises from the crash.
There he pauses, then his thumb slides down to the well-healed surgery scar.
So much has happened since then. The Ivy from back then no longer exists.
“Wow,” Ruslan murmurs. “It’s a little surreal. The first time I saw this scar…”
“You gave me a sponge bath.”
“And you came.” His dark eyes flick up to mine. “Kind of dirty.”
“Don’t lie, I know you loved it. You always like having control, don’t you?”
Ruslan’s fingertips flex slightly against my body.
“Now it’s my turn.” With a gentle grip of his cock, I shed the rest of my clothes, adjust his length underneath me, and then sink slowly down onto his cock with a long, slow moan that bubbles in my chest and escapes with each short breath.
Ruslan’s own moans rise to join mine and both his hands move to grip my hips. I sink down until I’m fully seated on his length, then I clench my muscles around him and Ruslan grunts.
“Holy shit,” he moans softly. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Don’t worry,” I groan, leaning down until my breasts lightly graze his chest. “I’ll keep my eyes open.”
Ruslan becomes a moaning mess beneath me after only two rolls of my hips, and pride swells in my chest. After everything that’s happened and everything that he’s done for me, it’s exhilarating to know I can have this kind of effect on him.
We kiss slowly. I keep one hand placed on the bed near his head to support myself while my hips lift and roll repeatedly, slow and careful.
Each drag of his cock inside me ignites sparks of pleasure through my entire body and if I angle myself just right, his cock grazes my G-spot each time I sink back down.
He cradles my face with one hand and clutches my hip with his other, holding on as I ride him as hard as I dare while being mindful of all of his injuries.
Given how hungrily he kisses me back, I doubt Ruslan gives much thought to his pain when pleasure is to be had.
Within minutes, we’re sharing air and panting softly against each other’s lips, trading moans and languid kisses as pleasure coils low and hot in my gut.
Ruslan groans and his hips thrust upward, then his hand tightens against my hips and his breath hitches.
“Ivy,” he gasps. “I can’t—”
“Do you know how tempting it is to draw this out?” I murmur, kissing him slowly. “You’re lucky you’re medicated.”
Ruslan tries to laugh, but I quickly increase my pace for a few hot seconds and reach my climax before I can even finish a single breath.
Heat washes through me from head to toe, and pleasure surges, sending goosebumps up and down my limbs.
Ruslan follows a few seconds later and I continue riding him, milking him for everything he has.
Once we’re both spent, I collapse down beside him on the bed and he tenderly draws me into his arms. Wary of his ribs, I snuggle in as close as I dare and kiss him slowly.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he murmurs. “Almost as much as I love being the Ace.”
Chuckling softly, I nuzzle against his jaw. “Can I stay here? With you, even though I’m not part of the Suit?”
“If you want to. Although where you go, I go,” he replies. “I’ll be the Ace no matter where we go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I want to give you a home and a safe place that’s just us. You deserve all of that. You deserve a life, and I want to help.”
“That’s so romantic.”
“What can I say, you bring it out of me. Besides…” Ruslan caresses my cheek and kisses my forehead. “It’s about time we had someone normal around here.”
Laughing softly, I briefly tighten my arm around him as peace settles deep in my soul for the first time in months. “I love you, Ruslan.”
“I love you, Ivy. Forever and ever.”