Page 40 of Lord of Vice
Laughing, I grabbed a washcloth, eager to spend time soaking under the hot water. When the bathroom door was suddenly pitched open, I had a split second to jerk the towel all the way around me, turning around and ready to launch into the asshole.
“Get out of here, you oaf,” I snapped, loathing the fact a rush of excitement was tingling my toes. I hadn’t paid any attention to the way he’d been dressed before, preferring to launch into him after he’d attacked his employee. Now, as I stared at the tight cobalt blue tee shirt that hugged every curve, the blue jeans that apparently had been made for him, I was floored by how my body responded to him.
When I couldn’t help myself, my eyes falling to the thick bulge between his legs, there wasn’t enough chastising I could do to erase the lurid thoughts I was having.
“You seem to forget that this is my suite and you are my guest.” He swaggered into the bathroom and almost immediately jerked off his shirt from the back, tossing the material on top of my things.
“Why don’t you shoot me then.”
He was caught off guard when I made the statement, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “You’re far too beautiful and tasty to destroy. Did you think about me while I was gone?”
“Hell, no.” I struggled to keep the towel in place, giving him as hateful of a look as possible. Meanwhile, the little voice inside my head was screaming at the top of her lungs I was a liar.
Every square inch of my breath was sucked from my lungs seeing his sculpted chest and abdomen, shoulders so wide he could be a linebacker. I pitched my body against the counter, the fingers of one hand firmly wrapped around both edges of the towel. I was trying desperately to find something snide to say but the words were stuck in my throat.
“Tsk. Tsk. Lying doesn’t become you,malyshka,” he said in such a deep voice I was ready to lose my mind. “You were a bad girl offering my soldier something to drink. It’s against the rules.”
I was strangely even more attracted than before, fighting both nerves and desire as I dared peer down the length of him.
One shoulder and arm, as well as a portion of his chest, were covered in scrolled ink, likely depicting something significant from his Russian culture. The artistry caught and kept my eye for a few seconds as he swaggered further into the room, his heated gaze falling all the way to my toes, sliding ever so slowly back to my face. When his nostrils flared, the man shaking his head as slowly as his gaze had fallen, my tongue was released from the vocal prison.
“That doesn’t give you any right to break into my bedroom, acting as if you…”
“As if what, Red Penny? As if I also don’t own the hotel? As if I wasn’t prepared to change your world?”
“I don’t want my world changed. It was fine by me, thank you very much.” As he inched closer, I tried to scoot away and he wagged his finger at me.
“You’re not going anywhere, Penny. What you have yet to figure out or accept is that you belong to me.”
I’d heard a lot of bullshit from men in my life, even including my father. But the crap that had just flowed from Kraven’s mouth made me burst into laughter. “I told you this before so you must be dense in the head. You can’t own a person, asshole.”
“Do you want to make a bet?”
“Yeah, I do. You try it and you’ll be sorry.” Oh, for the love of God. What was I, ten years old, stomping my feet and threatening my parents if I didn’t get my way?
He snorted, inching even closer. “I’d like to see you try,ideal’naya penni.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Oh, yes.”
When he planted his hands on either side of me, daring to lean over, I shoved him with all I had in me. “Why the hell did you try to kill your employee? And stop fucking call me that. I’m not a thing, a possession. I’m a woman with feelings and a heart, which is completely unlike you.”
“If I’d wanted to kill him, he’d be dead. You don’t understand the importance of rules in my world or any world for that matter.”
“Not your world. One of violence and bloodshed. It’s disgusting. Now, get out before I throw you out.” I pointed toward the door, but knew the instant his eyes flashed, I’d crossed an invisible line.
Wearing the irresistible yet evil grin I’d already seen a few times before, he grabbed the edge of my towel and without hesitationor a single thread of decency, he yanked it away, holding the dense material into the air as if I was going to jump for it.
Not only did I not give him that satisfaction, but I also used the time he was preening from his actions to slap him across the face and punch him hard in the gut.
“Fuck,” he hissed, slapping one arm across his stomach and bending over as if I’d damaged his kidney. I wanted to roll my eyes but smiled instead.
Woof.
Remington was wagging his tail, far too enthused at the fireworks. I was shocked he hadn’t raced out given the explosive heat and the amount of testosterone in the room.
As with all things around the man, my best laid plans weren’t thought out too well. While I was able to snatch another towel, he’d toyed with me, his moans just adding a slice of dramatics to our sparring event.