Page 119 of Jump on Three
Chapter Thirty-nine
Ivan
There weren’t many traits I would willingly claim had come from my father, but my fierce protectiveness over my woman was one of them. My dad would shoot a man for trying to touch my mom. And I…couldn’t say I wouldn’t. I’d yet to be tested.
At least, not until today.
Spending ten hours with Evelyn at a music festival had already awakened my protective instincts. Keeping her comfortable and safe had never left the front of my mind, even as we sang and danced together with Bella and Freddie.
It was keeping roving eyes and hands away from her that made me both relieved and regretful I did not carry a gun.
I couldn’t truly blame anyone for looking at Evelyn today. She was beautiful any day, but she and Bella had created matching outfits for the festival that were little more than sheer scraps of mesh over string bikinis. Ass cheeks, tits, thighs, stomach…all of it was on display.
My father would have ordered her to change, but one of my goals in life was to be nothing like Leonid Sokolov.
Being enlightened when my girlfriend was the object of men’s fantasies wasn’t easy.
The only thing that stopped me from asking her to put on some more clothes was the other women walking around the festival in similar outfits or even skimpier. Evelyn had been watching YouTube videos about festivals for months. She knew what to expect. Not me, though.
While she’d been watching her videos, I’d been watching her, so all of it was a surprise to me.
I pushed open the door to our hotel room and carried Evelyn inside. She wasn’t in shutdown mode. My poor angel’s feet hurt from all the dancing she’d done, so she’d asked me to carry her. I liked that she was asking me to take care of her. It puffed my chest up like a proud bird.
“I need a shower,” she mumbled. “I’m so sticky.”
“And stinky.”
She batted my arm. “I am not.”
“No, you smell like sunshine.” I placed her on the bathroom vanity and stepped back. “Sit, I’ll turn on the shower.”
She caught my hand. “Take it with me?”
I brought her knuckles to my mouth, pressing my lips to each of them. “Yes. Of course.”
I got the shower running and returned to her. Her nose was crinkled, and her mouth was smiling.
“Are you going to take this outfit off me now?”
I raised a brow. “You want me to?”
She plucked at the bow between her breasts. “I’ve seen you looking at me all day. You want this off—and not because you want to see me naked.”
Taking the string from her, I tugged until the bow unraveled and the cups opened, revealing her tight little nipples. “I always want to see you naked.”
“I know.” She gathered the hem of my shirt and lifted it. I pulled it the rest of the way off for her. “But you hate this outfit, don’t you?”
I dipped down to suck her nipple and rub my scruff against her chest. “I like the outfit. I would prefer no one else see you in it.”
“Lots of girls were dressed this way.”
I sighed, bowing my head. “You can wear whatever you want as long as I am with you to guard you.”
She draped her arms over my shoulders, her fingers seeking my tattoo to trace. “I always want you with me, so that is not a problem.”
We undressed each other and slipped into the shower. We had never done this before, not with each other or anyone else. Figuring out where to stand and how we fit was fun.
I moved her under the spray and stepped back, trying to be a gentleman. Except my heel slid on a broken piece of soap, and I careened backward, slamming into the tile. The only reason I didn’t go down was due to the incredibly sturdy towel bar attached to the back wall I’d grasped onto.