He laughed. “A no pants rule?”
“No pants in bed. Ever.”
“Baby, I’m afraid that if I get into bed not wearing any pants, I am going to do very unspeakable things to you.”
Ohmygod.
“Now be a good boy and eat something. If you drink that full pot of coffee without any actual food, you're in trouble.”
“Coffee is—” I sprang to my feet, eyes wide. “How did you know about the coffee pot? Are you… here?”
An ache filled my chest, and the only explanation I could muster was that it was longing. For him.
“I’m close enough,” he said. “Don’t forget, Solnyshko, I know all your routines. Hide from me, and I’ll find you.”
Promise?
ChapterEight
Ivan
My bloody little butterfly…
Fuck.
I’d missed him.
“Hi,” he said, drawing his bottom lip into his teeth. Small hands gripped the ends of the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing, and he swayed a little as he stood outside my front door.
Big, brown eyes stared up at me, wide and waiting. Swear to god, they’d bring me to my knees someday.
Blue glitter was dusted beside their corners and over the curve of his eyelids.
“I chose blue for you. For your eyes.”
Hell.
Tangling my fingers in the front of his shirt, I yanked him into my chest with a growl. A keening sound escaped him when I brought our foreheads together and then dragged the tip of my nose through all his sparkle.
“I can’t believe how much I missed you. It’s only been a day.” He sank his nails into the muscles covering my shoulder. “You smell good. Your muscles are warm. Did you mean it when you said you were going to keep me?”
“Run and find out.”
I wouldhunthim down, one goddamn step at a time.
“I don’t wanna run. I’m tired. Are you going to feed me?”
“Yes, Solnyshko, I am going to feed you.” I lifted him then, and he pushed his face into my neck, wrapping only one leg around my waist the way he did yesterday.
Kicking the door shut, I carried him through the entryway. The backpack he wore was half his size, hanging on his shoulders roughly. One hand under his ass, I used the other to tug it from his body and dropped it to the floor with athud.
“Excuse you, you big Russian brute. How do you know there isn’t something breakable in there?”
I chuckled.
He was a bit paradoxical, my boy. Needy, but also a bit of a brat. I liked how desperately he clung to me, but I also liked his fire, and the way my skin buzzed when he touched me with his flame.
“Isthere something breakable in there?”