Chapter 27
Max
A medicinal scent tickles my nose. Mint? Menthol? Witch hazel? A soft, gentle warmth envelops my chest. I crack open an eye, checking my surroundings before I allow my breathing to change.
I’m on the couch in the front room, my feet propped up on the arm. My mom would’ve beat me half to death for that. Feet belong on the floor.
When I sit up, the warmth spikes into lines of heat and cold.
The unmistakable sensation of half-dried muscle gel itches and stretches my skin.
My body protests, every muscle stiff despite the topical medication.
White-hot agony radiates from my ankle and up my calf.
My forehead pulls tight with the familiar tug of stitches.
Nika.
Does that also explain the blanket smothering my arms? And my half-naked state?
That sounds like her.
My thoughts move like they’re slogging through syrup.
The windows are dark, but considering the recent weather, it could be any time of day or night. Pushing the blanket away, I glance down. I’m covered in weird, jelly-like dots and stripes. I’ve no idea what they are or why, but my skin feels…good.
She took care of me?
The realization weighs heavy in my chest, and I’m not quite sure what to do or how to feel.
The kitchen echoes with the clatter of cabinets opening and closing and dishes clinking. I start to rise, then my pants slide down my hips at the same time I realize I’m barefoot.
Definitely Nika.
What the fuck did she do while I was sleeping? And why is my skin so soft and slippery?
A smile keeps tugging at my lips, though I can’t figure out why. I’m not sure I care, and I don’t bother trying to suppress it. I must have caught something up on the roof.
As if summoned by my thoughts, Nika appears in the kitchen archway.
White hair swings like a tail behind her back. She’s dressed in one of her sweaters and a pair of leggings. Thick, fluffy socks cocoon her feet, and a tray of food rattles in her hands.
The scent hits me before I can process what I’m seeing. Savory beef stew steams in a wide bowl with thick slices of bread smattered in melting butter.
She made me dinner.
The woman I came here to kill cooked for me and tended to my wounds.
More than that, she didn’t leave.
Is this a dream? Some weird nightmare? Did I die on the roof? Succumb to hyperthermia or slip on my fucked ankle and break my skull open? I feel way too cozy to be dead and way too cozy for this to be real.
So what the hell is happening?
“You’re awake.” Nika sets the tray on the coffee table, the locket hanging around her neck.
But…she’s still here.
Why?
“You slept all day yesterday. Today too. It’s already night. I was just about to wake you.” Her voice is lighter. Almost airy.
More relaxed than I’ve ever heard it. Because she finally got what she wanted? Is that why she also stitched me up? No. That can’t be the only reason.
Wait.
Did she say I’ve been out for over a day and a half? She cared for me the whole time?
I clear my throat. “Why?”
Nika shrugs and picks up a washcloth that was sitting in a bowl on the coffee table. I hadn’t noticed it. Another sign of how disoriented I am.
“You were worn out. I told you the other day you looked tired. You’re looking much better today. Sleep debt just keeps piling on until you get caught up on it, you know.”
She leans forward and reaches for my arm. Instinctively, I grab her wrist, holding fast.
She doesn’t even flinch. “You need to wash off the muscle balm. If you don’t want to do it here, you should at least take a shower.” There’s no sign of subterfuge in her eyes. I only read concern in the small lines on her forehead. “Max? You okay?”
I don’t let go, too startled by the weirdness of this whole situation. Under my thumb, her pulse is steady and slow. She’s not hiding anything, or even worried.
I can’t reconcile this person who treated my injuries and soothed my aches with the woman who attempted to kill me just a few days ago. I can’t reconcile the man who got upset at taking her virginity with the man I was when I climbed this mountain either.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I try again. “Why are you doing this? Why didn’t you take the necklace and run?”
She cocks her head and extends her other hand, pushing my hair back off my forehead. This time, I let her. “Why I did this?” Leaning in closer, she brushes her mouth against mine in the barest, sweetest kiss. “Or why I did this?”
Her lips whisper over mine, tantalizing and revitalizing me. Driving away the conflicting emotions warring in my chest and only leaving room for this insatiable, growing yearning.
I’m not good at this sort of thing. Who needs emotional vulnerability in a life like mine?
But I need Nika to know I appreciate that she stayed. And that she…took care of me.
More than anything else, I need her to know I want this. Want her.
I don’t know how or when or why my goals changed. But somewhere over the last few days, as I held her and fed her and fought her, the idea of killing this woman became…unfathomable.
So I do the only thing I can.
I follow her lead and kiss her back. Gently, softly, exploring her mouth instead of taking it.
Her body loosens as her hand slides down my cheek. The wrist in my grip relaxes and pushes to touch my chest. She shifts, kneeling on the couch and straddling me. Her hair tumbles over her shoulder. Silky smooth strands that smell of roses splay out and surround us both in a curtain.
The tresses gleam in the firelight, glowing silver and gold. Almost sacred, instead of just pale.
I’m folded in white light.
An absurdly poetic thought, and one I’d never claim, but it popped up in my head.
I don’t push or pull away. Her mouth drifts over mine with a tenderness I didn’t know either of us possessed. The hard knot that’s lived in my chest since I was a child loosens one thread at a time.
I don’t have words. Only actions.
Slow, delicious ones. No rush to finish and leave. No paid-for time ticking down.
The scorching blaze I’ve grown used to transforms into soothing warmth. I wrap myself in it, tugging her closer. I run my hands up her spine, to her neck, the back of her head. Those sacred strands of silk spill over my skin.
I’ve never done this before.
My whole life, I’ve avoided virgins, lumping them in with innocents. People I try to stay far away from.
Nika may not be innocent in the traditional sense—she’s responsible for death, and I’m relatively certain she’s killed with her bare hands—still, she’s naive and unmarred.
But…she also isn’t. Not really. She’s just as scarred by her past as I am. And as of yesterday, she’s no longer a virgin.
Part of me blames myself for that, but Nika clearly doesn’t.
Maybe now I can at least show her there’s more to sex than fighting and working.
I release her lips and trail kisses down her neck. Twisting, I bring her down on the couch with me.
Then she kisses me again.
I respond by tasting her with my tongue, exploring and learning the shape of her and memorizing every little detail.
The way she moans when I nip gently at her lower lip, her gasps when I suck it between my teeth.
I find the hem of her sweater and pull up. She helps by lifting her arms. Not a passive partner, but an active one. We’re doing this together.
With her assistance, I strip her down, revealing her pale arms and perfect breasts.
She’s breathtaking.
Not in spite of but because of her danger. A weapon clad in creamy skin and white hair. The killer who tends flowers. The woman who saved me when she should have left me to die.
I cup her breast, my thumb brushing over the nipple.
She gasps at the tiny hint of pleasure as if no one’s ever touched her like this before.
Because they haven’t.
She was a virgin before she met me. The reminder is sobering. My teasing and taunting only worked because of her inexperience. If she’d had any real experience at all, she never would’ve let me get away with all that.
Unfamiliar shame floods through me. I don’t want to be her monster.
I pull back to say…I don’t even know what. Sorry? Forgive me?
She stops me by placing her hand over my mouth. “Don’t.” Those fierce dark eyes narrow. “Don’t apologize. Don’t make this something it isn’t.”
I tug her hand down and kiss her palm. I don’t know how to explain this. “You deserve…” Something more than me.
“I deserve nothing.” The emptiness of her voice contrasts with those bottomless eyes, full of flickering emotions I can’t even begin to name. “Neither do you. We both know what we want, what we need. And we’re both here now. That’s all this is.”
I don’t argue.
We can just be humans together rather than weapons pointed at each other.
For now, I can just be a man with a willing woman in my arms.
A woman who’s still wearing entirely too many clothes.
Working together, we fix that and deal with the rest of mine.
I want to take my time, give her what she was missing the first round, but I’m still weak, and she’s too eager to go slow.
Sliding my hands between her legs, I find her wet and ready. She shimmies her hips, trying to get closer.
I shift and roll her onto her back.
Nika bites her lip before peering up at me through dark eyes as I position myself between her thighs.
Could she look any more beautiful? This isn’t a ploy. This is really her.
I’ve never seen anyone more enthralling. She’s an angel or a succubus or…
She undulates her hips, rubbing herself over my hard cock. I groan and grip her thigh. She knows what she wants, and I’m going to give it to her.
Before I can, her hand finds me and starts stroking. “Fuck me, Max.”
Going down on one elbow, I put my lips next to her ear. “I don’t take orders from just anyone.” I buck against her hand. That grip of hers might just undo me.
She sighs against my cheek. “But you will.” Her statement carries a threatening undertone.
She’s not wrong.
I attempt to start out slow, but she jerks her hips against me as I thrust inside her.
Damn. I should have taken more time. Should have done more to prepare her, now that I know she’s so new to this.