Chapter 6 Solnishko #2
"I watched you settle. Watched you finally start to breathe normally." His eyes drop to where my hands still clutch my shirt. "I was going to announce myself when you finished whatever routine helped you feel secure."
"And then?"
"Then you started undressing." The words come out rougher, like they're scraping against his throat. "And my brain stopped working entirely."
"You could have looked away."
"No, Fee." He shakes his head slowly, his gaze never leaving mine. "I really couldn't."
Heat floods my cheeks, but something else floods through me too. Something that makes my pulse race and my skin feel hypersensitive where his eyes have touched.
"I just breached a pretty tough security system." His voice carries exhaustion beneath the steady control. "Knocked more than a dozen soldiers unconscious, got inside this mansion without triggering a single alarm."
My grip tightens on the hem of my shirt. "How long did it take you?"
"Three hours to find all the right entry points, disable the right systems." He pushes off from the doorframe, taking one slow step into the bedroom. "Then another hour to track you through this maze of a mansion without knowing where Lorenzo put you."
Another step closer, his presence filling the space between us. "So I had to be precise and patient."
"You did all that just to..." I swallow hard, my voice barely above a whisper. "To test the security?"
"No, Solnishko. I did it to prove a point to your father and Lorenzo. To show them exactly how easily someone with my skills can reach you. To keep you safe, as I said I will always do."
His eyes drop to where my hands clutch my shirt, then travel back up to meet mine. "When I finally found you and you started undressing..."
He pauses, those gray eyes holding mine with an intensity that makes my pulse race.
"I couldn't look away. And I don't want to."
Heat floods my entire body.
"I told myself I'd announce my presence once you felt safe.
But then you pulled off those pants, and every rational thought in my head disappeared.
" He takes another step, close enough now that I can smell the wood scent of his cologne.
"You're standing there in red silk and bare legs, and I'm trying to remember why I ever thought I could stay away from you. "
My fingers relax slightly on the hem of the shirt. "You're supposed to be protecting me."
"I am protecting you." His voice drops to gravel. "I infiltrated this mansion to prove it's not safe enough. I found every weakness in their defenses. I mapped every entrance and exit." Another step. "And now I'm here, in your room, making sure you're secure."
"In my bedroom. Watching me undress. I thought you were a gentleman."
His hand reaches toward my face, fingertips barely grazing my cheek. "Yes, and I am. I'm also a man who's been thinking about how your lips would feel, how you'd taste, whether you'd pull me closer or push me away. Tell me to leave your room and I will."
"I don't want you to go."
His eyes never leave mine, asking permission even though his body language screams possession.
I can feel the heat radiating from his body, see the way his chest rises and falls with controlled breathing.
His thumb brushes along my cheekbone with devastating gentleness. "You're like the fire of the sun, my Solnishko. And I've been cold for so damn long."
His thumb traces my lower lip, and I feel the tremor in his fingers despite his controlled exterior. "I need to kiss you, Fee."
The doubt is still there, sharp and cutting, reminding me he walked away once before, that he says one thing and does another. But it's no match for this pull I feel toward him, this attraction that drowns out every rational warning in my head.
He's going to break my heart again, and I'm going to let him.
"Then why are you waiting?"
Something shifts in his expression. The careful restraint cracks, revealing the raw hunger underneath. His other hand slides to cup the back of my neck, fingers threading through my hair.
"Because once I start, I won't want to stop."
"Good."
His mouth crashes against mine.
The kiss is nothing like I've imagined. This is claiming, consuming, a man who's been starving, finally allowed to feast. His lips are firm and warm, moving against mine with a confidence that makes my knees weak.
I gasp against his mouth, and he takes the opening like he's been waiting for it. His tongue sweeps inside, and I taste sweetness and something purely Anton. The kiss deepens, becomes hungrier, more desperate.
My hands find his chest, feeling the solid muscle beneath the tactical vest. He's so much bigger than me, so much stronger, but his touch remains achingly gentle even as his mouth devours mine.
He kisses like he does everything else, with complete focus and devastating precision. Each stroke of his tongue is deliberate, designed to unravel me completely. He tilts my head back, angling me exactly where he wants me, and I surrender to it completely.
My injured foot forces me to lean into him for balance, and he catches me instantly, one arm sliding around my waist to pull me flush against his body. The tactical gear is hard and unyielding, but beneath it, I can feel the heat of him, the barely leashed power.
"Fee." He breaks the kiss just long enough to breathe my name against my lips, his voice wrecked. He wants to say something else, but doesn't.
Then he's kissing me again, slower this time but no less intense. His tongue traces my lower lip before sliding deep, and I moan into his mouth without meaning to.
The sound seems to snap something in him, because his grip tightens and he kisses me harder, deeper.
I've never been kissed like this. Never felt this consuming need, this desperate hunger that makes everything else disappear. My hands fist in his tactical vest, pulling him closer even though there's no space left between us.
When his teeth graze my bottom lip, I whimper, and he swallows the sound greedily.
Time stops. There's nothing but Anton's mouth on mine, his hands in my hair, the way he holds me like I'm precious and claims me like I'm his all at once. And I don't want him to stop.