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  How he was able to walk and kiss her at the same time was beyond her. She didn’t question it. She just enjoyed it—a little too much—because when they reached her room and he lowered her feet to the floor, she sighed her disappointment into his mouth.

  Misha pulled back, breaking the kiss in the process, then swooped down and slipped his hand beneath her knees and picked her up.

  “What?” The word was barely out of her mouth, before Misha sent her sailing backward onto the bed. Tionne laughed as she bounced on the mattress. “Well, that works too.”

  Misha looked around the candlelit room and smiled. “Looks as if someone was busy. Were you so sure I was going to cave?”

  “Sure? Not at all. But I was hopeful.” She leaned over and opened the nightstand next to her bed and extracted a condom. After closing the drawer, she rose to her knees and waved it like a prize for him to see. “Very hopeful.”

  “I’m not sure whether I should be alarmed at how prepared you are or happy.”

  “Happy,” she said as she made her way to the foot of the bed on her knees to where he was standing. “Very, very happy. I’ve had plenty of time to stew over this moment.”

  “You’re not alone.”

  “No?”

  “No.” Misha shrugged off his jacket and let it fall to the floor. “Sometimes it feels as if I’ve been waiting all my life for this, moja draga.”

  “You would never have known it from my end.” Tionne dropped the condom on the bed, then went to work on the buttons of his shirt.

  “We have a lifetime to make up for my mistake.”

  A lifetime. Tionne liked the sound of that. “Yes, we do.”

  Finally reaching the last button, Tionne noted Misha had taken out his cuff links, allowing the shirt sleeves to hang loose. She pushed the material off his broad shoulders to expose his chest. She briefly heard the clunk of metal as Misha dropped the links where they fell as the shirt slipped off his body. Tionne didn’t care where his clothing landed, because her gaze was locked on him. Only slightly dusted with a smattering of hair, his hard-earned muscles were visible to her naked eye. She reached out and ran her hands over his chest, lightly flicking over his nipples, surprised when she received a groan of reaction. She glanced up to his face, wide-eyed at the leashed desire she saw there.

  “Did you think your hands on my body would leave me unmoved?”

  “I want to see all of you, touch all of you.” Tionne grasped his belt buckle. “Now.”

  Misha pushed her hands away but made quick work of the last barrier between them. He lowered his zipper and pushed his pants, along with his boxers, down his hips and legs in one fell swoop, leaving him blessedly bare. Tionne wasn’t sure when he’d lost his shoes, and at this point she wasn’t going to ask; she was too busy staring at the prize jutting out in front of him.

  Tionne let out a soft gasp as she got her first glimpse of his shaft. She wasn’t a novice by any means. Lord knew she’d seen her fair share of porn, but none of the men on-screen compared to Misha in living color. His cock was long, thick, and hard, and it was standing at attention as if it was just begging to be touched.

  It was a plea Tionne was more than happy to oblige. She reached out and took him in hand. Her touch was tentative at first, but Tionne had waited way too long to let nerves slow her down now. She leaned forward to take him in her mouth, eager for her first taste of him. To her disappointment and surprise, Misha placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.

  “Don’t you want me to—”

  “Me first. Lie back, moja draga.”

  Well, when he put it like that, who was she to argue? Tionne sat back on the bed and scooted back a bit before laying her head down on the pillow. She lifted her legs until her knees were bent and her heels were flat on the mattress. Misha climbed up after her and picked up one of her legs. He pressed her knee toward her and took her shoed foot in hand.

  “Love the shoes.”

  Tionne thought back to Nicholi and smiled. “They’re a real crowd-pleaser.”

  “Trust me. I know.” He slipped the pump off her left foot, then tossed it over his shoulder before doing the same to her right. When he was done, he spread her legs wide and lay between the vee of her thighs. He leaned down until they were eye to eye. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve dreamed of this.”

  “I hope reality isn’t a letdown.”

  “Impossible.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips, then continued running his lips down her body, stopping only when he reached the top of her bare mound. He let out a soft growl of approval before parting parted her lips with his thumbs.

  Tionne held her breath as he leaned forward and ran his tongue from the bottom of her slit to the tip of her clit, causing her to tremble and exhale raggedly at the sensual touch. He pulled back and smiled seductively at her. “It’s better than my wildest fantasies.”

  “Then have at it.”

  “I think I will.” With that, Misha buried his face between her legs.

  Tionne whimpered as she pressed herself up to his waiting mouth. She gripped the quilt beneath for dear life as Misha showed her just what his wildest fantasies entailed.

  Tionne surged against him as he flicked her clit with his tongue in rapid succession before finally taking the heated button in his mouth and sucking it. Tionne arched her back and dug her heels into his flanks.

  “Please, I need…” Twisting from side to side, Tionne tried to pull back, but Misha held her tight, keeping her in place as he drove her to a fevered pitch. The intense pleasure felt as if it would burn her alive. It was too much and not enough all at the same time.

  “Misha, please, I can’t take anymore. I…I…” Tionne begged as she tugged at his hair. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stop or never to stop. All she knew was she was going mad, but Misha didn’t relent. Instead, he grabbed her hands from his head and held them down by her sides as he licked her into a mind-blowing orgasm.

  “Yes…yes…” The shattering intensity of her release made her head ring. His mouth put all her years of self-pleasure to shame.

  As Tionne trembled in the aftermath of her orgasm, Misha rose to his knees and quickly tore into the condom wrapper. She watched through hooded eyes as he readied himself, then held her breath as he moved into position. The thought of what they were about to do had her pussy pulsating and thighs quivering.

  “Tell me again,” he ordered hoarsely.

  Tionne knew what he wanted without him specifying. “I love you.”

  “Again.”

  “I love you. I love—” He pressed forward in the midst of her speaking. Gasping, she closed her eyes and pushed down, wanting it to be over as quickly as possible.

  “Moja draga,” Misha whispered as he joined her body with his.

  “Oh…oh.” The pain was sharp and immediate but nowhere near what she’d built it up to be in her head. Tionne let out a shaky breath, trying her best to relax. She imagined her first time being painfully awkward, but she should have known that with Misha, that would never be the case. It was a little painful as her body stretched around him; that was to be expected, of course, but it wasn’t awkward. It was beautiful and perfect, much like the man deep inside her now.

  After a few seconds, Tionne found herself relaxing, and when she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw the man she’d waited her entire life for staring back at her with love shining in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

  She was better than okay. She was his, and he was finally hers. Smiling, Tionne tightened her knees around him. “Love me.”

  “Always and forever,” he said as he started slowly to move inside her. Her body was tingling from head to toe, and she felt fuller than she had ever felt before. But it was a good fullness she welcomed with open arms.

  He was careful at first. Not too deep, not too fast, but soon the slow and steady rhythm began to pick up until every plunge into her narrow depths was harder and more powerful than before. So powerful the bed creaked unde
r their newfound rhythm.

  The bed wasn’t the only thing making noises, though. Every pump of his hips caused a guttural, pleasure-filled moan to slip from her lips, which only seemed to spur Misha on further until he was pumping into her at full speed.

  Sliding his hands under the small of her back, Misha pulled her against him, forcing her to give as good as she was getting. Misha twisted his hips, moving into her at a different angle, and Tionne gasped. She shut her eyes, arching in pleasure as he pulled out and pressed in again. For every thrust he gave her, she pushed back into him, dancing on his cock as he rode her into the mattress. Misha worked his hand from the outside of her thighs and over to her aching clit. He rubbed it in circles as he powered into her. The double sensation was exactly what she needed to take her over the edge.

  “Misha…Misha…” Bowing her back, she cried out in pleasure at the top of her lungs as her climax caught her in its powerful grip, stealing away all rhyme or reason from her mind. Tionne dug her heels into the firm flanks of his ass while rolling her hips against his, riding out the pleasure crashing over her like a tidal wave.

  Misha kept going, though, pushing past her own release several more seconds before finding his own. He came with a roar, jerking violently inside her for a few gratifying seconds before coming to a slow end. He stayed inside her, breathing harshly for a few seconds before lifting up and pulling out of her tender body.

  Tionne winced a bit as Misha withdrew slowly, but the pain was just a reminder of how far they’d come. Exhausted but happy, Tionne sighed and settled back into the mattress, limp and satisfied. Her muscles quivered, and her body ached all over. In short, she felt thoroughly loved, from the inside out.

  After a few blissful moments of silence, Misha murmured softly, “I’ll be right back.”

  Tionne was way too tired to ask where he was going, nor did she really care. She was too busy just being in the moment. A minute or two later, Misha came back in the room and sat down next to her on the bed. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking care of you,” he said as he placed a warm, damp towel between her legs.

  “Oh my.” Tionne knew it was stupid to be shy about this, especially after what they’d just done together, but she couldn’t help it. “I can do it.”

  “Yes, but I want to.” Misha paused midstroke. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

  Tionne couldn’t think of a single thing he could do to her that she would complain about. “No. I mean…if you want.”

  “I want,” Misha said firmly before leaning over and kissing her softly on the lips. Tionne tasted her own essence on his lips, mingled with Misha’s own unique flavor. It was something she could more than get used to.

  Misha broke the kiss. He finished wiping her clean, then went back to the bathroom to drop off the cloth. When he came back in the room, he climbed up in the bed beside her and pulled her against him.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nicholi.”

  Misha abruptly pulled back a bit. “I… Did you say Nic… What?”

  “Calm down,” she said with a laugh. Tionne should have known her answer was going to need a follow-up explanation to go with it. “I’m just thinking I owe him the biggest basket of fruit, or maybe a mini vacation to Vegas, as a thank-you for tonight.”

  “You know part of me wants to rage and demand you tell me what my cousin had to do with this, but a bigger part is warning me to just let this slide.”

  “Do you really think we would have made it here”—she gestured to the room—“without him?”

  “Yes. Maybe.” Misha frowned. “There’s a chance. Still, I don’t see why we need to thank him. It’ll just encourage him to meddle more.”

  “Did you like my outfit?”

  “You mean the heels?”

  “Yes.” She smiled as his voice lowered seductively.

  Misha nodded. “Oh yes.”

  “Then you’re going in half on the fruit basket.”

  “How about this?” Misha pulled her on top of him so that she was straddling him. “I pay for the whole damn thing, and we never discuss my cousin giving you advice on how to get me into bed.”

  “It sounds weird when you say it like that.”

  “It is weird.”

  “But good, right?” she asked a bit nervously. “I mean, you don’t regret this. Us. Do you?”

  “Never. It might have taken me a bit to get here, but I’m right where I want to be.”

  “In my bed,” she teased.

  “With you. Forever.”

  “Good.” Forever sounded just long enough for her.

  Chapter Nine

  For the first time in a long time, Misha felt at peace. The burden he’d carried for so long about the rights and wrongs of loving Tionne no longer weighed heavily on his shoulders. He loved her. She loved him. There was nothing right or wrong about it. It just was, and that was the beginning and end of it.

  Even now, as he lay next to her, watching her sleep, he couldn’t help but wonder why he’d fought this for so long. He’d been a fool. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He’d fucked up, but Misha was going to do everything in his power to make sure he didn’t do that again. For as long as she’d have him, he was hers, and if forever was what she was looking for, even better.

  With a contented smile, Misha eased himself away from Tionne, who was tucked bum and back to his chest and pelvis. His girl was a cuddler, but as much as he would have loved to be her own personal teddy bear for the rest of the day, he couldn’t. Lying about really wasn’t his thing, even when he had someone as tempting as Tionne next to him.

  With the ease of a man used to making swift yet clean getaways in the middle of the night, Misha rose from her bed and made his way over to her bathroom. He made quick use of her facilities before slipping back into her room and silently putting on the slacks he’d worn the night before.

  Dressed only in the black pants, he made his way out of her bedroom, down the hallway, and into her living room. He headed over to her front door and, after unlocking it, pulled it open. As expected, there was a guard stationed outside her entryway, who turned and faced him the second Misha opened the door. It wasn’t the same man he’d ridden over with the night before, but a fellow he was familiar with all the same. “Darby.”

  “Mr. Turković.” If the other man was at all surprised by Misha’s state of undress, he didn’t show it. “Can I help you with something?”

  “Yes. Have someone bring me some clothes from home, something casual, as well as toiletries and the Sunday papers.”

  Darby had his phone out before Misha had even finished speaking. “Breakfast as well, sir?”

  Misha considered it for a second before shaking his head. “No. We’ll eat here but will probably go out for lunch later.” Much, much later, if he and his libido had anything to say about it. “That will be all.”

  “Absolutely, sir.”

  Satisfied, Misha shut the door but left it unlocked, trusting his guard to do his job, then headed to the kitchen for his usual morning-at-Tionne’s ritual. Getting coffee ready in her small yet functional kitchen was second nature to him. It was what he always did when he visited her early in the morning. The only difference was he’d woken up at her place instead of just dropping by. It was a change he liked immensely.

  Misha was just settling down at her table with his first cup of coffee when the cell phone he’d placed in his pocket the night before rang. Misha set his cup down and pulled out his mobile, then grinned when he saw the name that appeared on the screen.

  “Hello, cousin,” he said blandly.

  “Misha, my good man, how goes it?”

  If Misha had any doubts his cousin had called to gloat, they would have gone up in flames at the well-satisfied tone of his cousin’s voice. If there was anything Nicholi liked more than gambling, it was gloating, but Misha had no intention of letting his cousin get in his “I told you so’s” just yet. “Well, and you?”

  “Could
n’t be better,” the other man said far too cheerfully. “I was just calling to see if you had a good night.”

  It took everything in him to keep his voice emotion-free. “I suppose it was all right.”

  “You…” Nicholi paused before continuing cautiously. “Suppose?”

  Misha was happy his cousin couldn’t see his face, because despite his dry tone, he was smiling broadly. “Yes. Just a quiet evening in. I slept long and hard. Jet lag is no laughing matter.”

  “You slept? At home?”

  “Of course,” Misha replied levelly. “Where else would I have slept?”

  “And Tionne? How did she sleep?”

  “I haven’t talked to her this morning,” he said truthfully. “But I assume well. I can’t think of a reason she wouldn’t have. Can you?”

  “You haven’t talked to her?” Nicholi yelled.

  Wincing, Misha pulled the phone away from his ear for a second before going back for more. “Why would I have?”

  “Because…because…”

  His cousin’s fumbling amused Misha no end. His cheeks were hurting from grinning so hard. “After all, it was you who told me that she left with that waiter.”

  “Oh God.”

  “It would have been rude for me to just barge in.” A feminine yawn drew his attention to the entryway of the kitchen as Tionne came into the room. Like him, she wore something from the night before, only it wasn’t hers. It was his. His white dress shirt, to be exact. She’d left the first few buttons undone and rolled the sleeves up past her elbows. The lethal combination of the barely there shirt riding high on her full yet firm brown thighs made her somehow look seductive and sweet all at the same time. It was a look that worked on her almost as well as the fancy dress she’d partied in last night. She looked so gorgeous, he had to clear his throat twice before speaking again. “And I don’t want to be rude.”

  Tionne scrunched her face as she mouthed who are you talking to? at the same time Nicholi screeched, “Now you’re worried about being rude?”

  “Is everything okay, Nicholi?” Misha made a point of stressing his cousin’s name so Tionne knew who he was talking to. “You sound a little out of sorts.”