"But—"
His phone rings.
We both freeze.
He swears under his breath, pulls it out. Looks at the screen. His expression hardens.
"I have to take this."
"Now?"
"Now." He stands, adjusts himself—and oh God, I can see how hard he is, straining against his pants. "Don't move."
He steps into the bathroom and closes the door. I hear his voice, low and clipped, speaking in what sounds like Russian.
I lie on the bed, naked and frustrated, and still buzzing from the orgasm. My body's alive in ways it's never been, every nerve ending singing, and I want more. Want him inside me. Want to know what it feels like to have him take me, claim me, make me his for these few stolen days.
The bathroom door opens. Axel's face is tight, controlled.
"I have to go."
"What? No—"
"I'm sorry." He's already buttoning his shirt, looking for his jacket. "Something came up."
He crosses to me, cups my face, kisses me hard enough to bruise.
Then he's gone.
The door closes.
I'm alone, naked, sexually frustrated, and more alive than I've ever been in my life.
I roll onto my side, press my thighs together, and try not to scream.
4
AXEL
I'm hard.
Again.
I've been hard since I left her hotel room six hours ago, and no amount of cold showers or self-control is making it go away. Every time I close my eyes, I see her—naked, trembling, coming apart under my hands. Hear her moaning my name. Feel her clenching around my fingers.
Fuck.
I adjust myself for the tenth time in as many minutes and try to focus on the reports Viktor spread across my desk. Shipmentmanifests. Territory maps. Financial statements that need my signature.
None of it matters.
All I can think about is Aurora.
The way she kissed me first, bold as hell, like she wasn't afraid of the danger rolling off me in waves. The way she looked at me when I told her about prison—not scared, not disgusted, just interested. Like my past made me more appealing instead of less.
You're losing your mind.
Maybe. Probably. Seven years of celibacy, and suddenly an inexperienced twenty-six-year-old virgin kisses me, and I'm acting like a teenager who just discovered what his dick is for.