My shoulders slump. “Look, I honestly didn’t know who you were when we met yesterday. I was trying to get over my break up with your asshole brother. I’m just here to enjoy myself for a little bit instead of chopping my hair off and dying it bright pink. I don’t want anything from you; we just happened to be in the same place at the same time. Can we be okay with that? Please? I don’t want any trouble.”
I swallow the horrible thought that springs up—trouble has found me, no matter how much I don’t want it.
Matvei watches me for a moment more, his blue eyes gleaming like a tiger’s might as he decides whether he wants to eat his prey or play with it.
“I have a proposal for you, one that would benefit both of us,” he says.
I’m both intrigued and terrified. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you. The last thing I want to do is get tied up with a Russian crime syndicate.”
“This isn’t about money, Sonya. This is about getting even with Samson for dumping you for someone he deemed better, for the way he treated you.”
“Getting back at Samson?” My voice catches. I have to swallow my surprise before I can speak again. “I don’t understand.”
“Let me take you out. It looks like you haven’t had breakfast yet.”
Matvei’s eyes land on my sweats and the wine stains on them. I flush again, busted.
“Let me take you out to eat, to experience the best of what Prague has to offer. Give me a chance to explain my proposal in further detail. If you don’t want to do it, I won’t be angry, I swear. You can walk away, and I will never bother you again. But promise me you’ll at least listen.”
It takes me a shorter amount of time to consider what the man in front of me is proposing than I wish it would. No matter what I know about his background, I’m still drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
“Okay, fine. But I need to shower first. I feel like death.”
“A shower?” Matvei perks up, his interest piqued. “I could use a shower.”
“I—what?” It takes my brain a moment to catch up to what he just implied. I don’t miss the way his eyes darken and his nostrils flare, as if he’s scenting his prey.
I am his prey.
Damn, if that doesn’t turn me on immediately. There’s no warming up, no gradual play, no way for me to stop it. Matvei must see it, too, because he’s pressed to the opening in the door, his scent enveloping me yet again and making my knees wobble.
“Let me in.” It’s half question, half order, and I don’t need to think about it. I do exactly as he says.
Matvei steps inside, towering over me. I have to close my mouth to keep from drooling—I can’t stop ogling him.
“I, uh, need to brush my teeth,” I manage, running to the bathroom before he can stop me.
I’m spitting out toothpaste when he comes in. He’s removed his suit jacket and vest. He takes off his big, silver watch and lays it on the counter before reaching into the shower to turn on the water. Steam billows against the glass door as he begins unbuttoning his shirt, one slow button at a time.
Oh,holyshit.
We didn’t fully undress yesterday. I can’t make my eyes look away as the starched button-up opens to reveal a chest and stomach dreams are made of—rows of muscles that lead straight down to the sexy V of his hips. Tattoos cover his chiseled chest and run down his arms in full sleeves. Too many for my addled brain to comprehend at the moment.
When his eyes meet mine, I realize I’ve just been standing in place, staring at Matvei’s reflection in the mirror. His eyes crinkle with the return of his enigmatic smile, and he nods his head toward the shower. “I think it’s ready.”
“Okay,” I reply, realizing I’ve barely taken a breath since he entered the bathroom.
As I start peeling off my sweatpants he stops me. “I’ll do that.”
I don’t argue, and I’m not even sure I could if I wanted to, as Matvei gently pulls my tank over my head, then bends to take one rock-hard nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue and making me groan before doing the same to the other.
He takes one of my breasts into his hand and squeezes before brushing the nipple with his thumb. A shiver runs through my body, his answering grin feral as he tugs my sweatpants down around my hips. I step out of them and find Matvei staring at me with what I can only call admiration, fire smoldering in the blue of his eyes.
He steps toward me again, more likeintome, his hands sliding over my skin, leaving a trail of sparks as his palms map my every curve.
“Fucking gorgeous.” His words skitter across my skin and dig themselves deep. I want to believe they’re real, but I know they’re probably just words in the heat of the moment. I feel desired. Wanted. Appreciated. I can’t remember the last time I felt such things. Certainly not with Samson.
My focus turns to raging need as Matvei unzips his pants, letting them and his silk boxers fall to the floor. He’s enormous and standing at stiff attention, causing me to wonder how he fit into me so smoothly yesterday.