“Not that I’m complaining, but you’re quite the catch, Mr. Petrov. Why so lonely? Are you a serial killer or something?”
I can’t remember when I’ve laughed this much with anyone who isn’t Rod or my brothers.
And I’m not sure how to feel about it. And as far as the single thing goes, she isn’t too far off. I don’t kill for fun or thrills. Only when I need to. And finding someone who won’t call the feds on me isn’t practical in the local dating scene.
Celeste Orlova comes to mind.
My father proposed we get married, unite our families, to increase territory and wealth, a commonplace practice in our world. I said yes, simply to appease him and play the part he expects of his firstborn son. Although I’ve never met her, she’s pretty enough, I suppose.
Pretty enough. I roll those words around in my thoughts as I gaze at the striking beauty of Leah Castellanos.
“I just haven’t found someone who will put up with me. I’m an asshole.” “Well, self-awareness is the first step,” she jokes, playfully patting my thigh. Again, I find myself smiling like a fucking fool.
“And you? I imagine you have someone missing you back in New York. Look at you... You’re beautiful, Leah.”
She suddenly reaches for my arm again, fingers tracing the ink there. My eyes fall on her black nail polish, but I feel the heat of her gaze on me.
“I don’t. There isn’t anyone there that catches my eye. They’re...a little younger than what I like.”
“Is that right?”
A sense of relief followed by dread ripples through me. I’m not supposed to enjoy that she isn’t in a relationship.
Sighing, she lays her head against the seat. “But it doesn’t matter anyway, because I’m not going back.”
“As in, you dis-enrolled?”
“Exactly. School’s just not for me.” She twists and watches me with those alluring dark eyes. “I have other interests.”
Either I’m just an arrogant son of a bitch, or she’s purposely trying to provoke me.
“Your father was so happy when you got accepted. I’m sure that conversation didn’t go over too well.”
“That’s probably true... but I won’t know until I tell him.”
I rake my fingers through my hair and shake my head. Leah is Emilio’s pride and joy, as they say. He has her life mapped out and probably a husband lined up as well. That last thought makes me want to put my fist through a wall—or someone’s face, preferably the future husband.
She deserves better.
You’re no better.
“Let me know if you need a place to hide until things smooth over.”
The moment I speak the words, I realize how they can be interpreted. But I don’t correct myself. Instead, I selfishly wait for a response.
“You and me at your place together, Mikhail.” She leans into my space and whispers, “Just know I won’t be good.”
Fuck. Me.
I grip the steering wheel to occupy my hands and keep from pulling her into my lap like any other woman in her place. But this is fucking Leah.
The girl I watched grow up.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I’m not sixteen anymore,” she says, inching forward, her hand on my thigh.
“Leah... things aren’t like that between us. You know they can’t be.”
Catching her wrist, I stop her strokes and meet the fire in her gaze. Never one to hold back with someone I want as much as I do Leah, I curse and instead use my aggravation to discourage her advances. “You’re Rodrigo’s little sister. I can’t see you as anything other than that.”
“Liar,” she whispers. “Your cock is hard for me, Mikhail. And I’m not that stupid little girl with a crush anymore.” Her lips brush the shell of my ear, sending a tingle down my spine. “Because back then, I would have never told you how wet my pussy is for you right now.”
I suck in a sharp breath. “Oh, fuck.”
Without thinking, running purely on sexually driven instinct, I grasp her hips and toss her onto my lap, her warm little cunt settling over my abdomen. Our gazes collide for just a second, lips a breath away, before we crash into each other. When the taste of her spills onto my tongue, it sets every cell within me on fire.
My fingers tangle in her hair, and she moans into my mouth as I tighten my hold and goddamn nearly devour her whole.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” she pants against my mouth while grinding her hips over my cock.
“Your father will skin me alive,” I say, shoving the hem of her shirt above her bra and biting at the pink lace, coaxing her nipple to a peak.
“I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Her words are like a shock of ice water.
“Leah, stop.” I pry her hands from around my neck and push open my car door, needing some fucking fresh air. Leah slides off my lap, face twisted into a look of disappointment and something else I can’t pinpoint. “What are we doing? This can’t happen between us. You and me... No.”
