Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

VIVIAN

" G et off me," I ordered as I pushed at his chest.

He smiled. "I think banana split is my new favorite dessert."

My eyes narrowed. "Very funny. I mean it. Get up."

"Only if you promise to be good."

My lips twisted in a smirk, as I tilted my head. "Then never mind. I'd rather the sugar harden, permanently sticking me to this stupid floor."

He chuckled. "God, you're fucking fun."

"That wasn't meant to be funny."

He kissed the tip of my nose again. "And that's what makes you so adorably fun."

"Seriously, let me up. I have… ice cream melting in some very unfortunate places."

With a shift of his hips, he slowly pulled out.

That empty feeling returned. As if I were suddenly disconnected from something vital to my existence. I shook off the feeling. Obviously, I was still residually high and thinking nonsense.

He rose and stretched his arm down to me.

Ignoring the gesture, I attempted to get up myself. After slipping on chocolate sauce several times, I finally gave up with a huff and took his hand.

The moment I was on my feet, he swept me into his arms.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the shower."

He carried me into a very masculine bathroom with exposed brick, dark wood, and recessed lighting. The shower took up the far wall and was nothing more than a sheet of glass in front of the brick wall with brushed nickel fixtures.

Placing me on my feet, he turned the nearest lever. Hot water shot from over ten showerheads at varying heights and intensity.

Right before I stepped into the stream, I turned to see him removing his torn jeans. "Wait. There must be another bathroom in this enormous place."

He kicked the jeans aside, facing me in all his naked, godlike glory, his cock already semi-hard again. "Sure are. Two more."

I stretched my arms between the glass and brick wall, barring his entrance. "Then can't you go wash off in one of them?"

He wrapped his arm around my middle and lifted me off the tiled floor.

"Hey!"

He carried me two steps deeper into the shower under the steaming stream of water.

I gasped as the wonderfully hot water hit my skin. Forgetting about not wanting him in there with me, I luxuriated in the massage effect of all the different showerheads from above and along my sides.

I didn't even need to use soap. All the sticky ice cream was already pummeled off my body from the powerful stream.

After a sigh of pleasure, I opened my eyes to find Var gazing intently at me.

I swiped the water from my eyes as I backed up. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He stepped forward until he had me pinned against the smooth red brick wall that was slick with water. "Why didn't you tell me you were the forger?"

"What are you going to do now that you know?"

"Answer my question."

I pushed my chin out as I studied his features, searching for the answer in his eyes. "Answer mine first."

His jaw clenched. "Do you have any idea how much fucking trouble you've caused?"

My body jerked as I tried to move past him to leave the shower.

He slammed his palm against the brick wall, causing me to jump. "You're not going anywhere until I get answers."

I wrapped my arms around my middle as a vulnerable chill ran over my spine, despite the heat from the shower. "Can we please talk about this out of the shower?"

His eyes widened. "I'm sorry. Is this not a convenient time to talk about how half the motherfucking organized crime syndicates in the motherfucking world want to know who you are?"

I cringed as he raised his voice.

He paced away and ran a hand through his wet hair. "Fuck!" he screamed as he punched his fist against the wall.

Screaming, I lunged for the open doorway.

He caught me.

Plastering my body against his, he wrapped his hands around my skull as he glared down at me. "Baby, what have you done?"

Everything came to the surface.

All the fear I'd been suppressing. The confusion. The anger.

The lies. The secrets. The manipulations.

I burst into tears.

He crushed me to his chest. With his hand around the back of my head, he held me tight as he rasped, "Don't cry, krasivaya . I'm going to fix this."

My hands curled into fists as I rocked within his arms. "It's not my fault. I didn't know everything would unravel so quickly. It started with just a few paintings. First, it was just a copy of a favorite painting for a friend for her office. Then someone saw it and asked if I would help them with a problem. Next thing I knew, I was creating frauds to help people who'd been denied their inheritance, or cheated in a divorce, or were about to lose a precious family heirloom to a corrupt bank."

Once I started, I couldn't stop.

I swept my wet hair away from my cheek as I forced myself to meet his glare. "I swear. By the time I learned that, some of my paintings were making their way into auctions, and it was too late. Then Abakar contacted me and it was so much money. I convinced myself I wasn't harming anyone. It wasn't like they were going to steal the real Mona Lisa! They were stealing a knockoff one in Russia! No one was supposed to get hurt! No one was supposed to get killed!" My voice rose an octave in my agitation as I continued to sob.

He shifted me backwards, pressing me against the wall as his mouth slammed down on mine.

I tried to move my head away, but he gave me no quarter. His tongue pushed past my lips to silence my cries as the weight of his hard body pressed against mine.

"Stop, baby girl. Just stop talking," he rasped against my cheek.

My shoulders curled in as my body bowed, as if instinctively wanting to curl into the fetal position.

He turned me and held me from behind. "I will fix this," he repeated.

I shook my head. "I don't believe you."

He spun me around again and cupped my cheeks as his brow furrowed. "What?"

I sniffed. "I don't believe you. You're no better than the rest of them. You're all a bunch of murdering criminals."

"Says the art forger."

Breaking free from him, I shivered before edging toward one of the wall showerheads, which sprayed my side with comforting warmth. "Yeah. Art . Fucking culture. A piece of canvas and some paint." I gestured toward him. "You run an infamous gambling den."

His hand curled into a fist at his side. "I'd be very careful with what you say next, Vivian."

"Seriously? We met when you burst into Abakar's office armed to the teeth. If he hadn't already been dead, you would have killed him. All you've done since we've met is stalked and bullied me. And you want me to trust you?" Hysteria took hold as I laughed.

He snatched me to him. "You forgot fucked ."

With his arm around my waist, he lifted me off the floor until I was forced to straddle his hips. As he stepped forward, my back collided with the glass shower wall as he pushed his cock inside of me.

My fingernails dug into his shoulders. "Oh, God!"

Var leaned in and sank his teeth into my neck to hold me steady as he thrust so hard the heavy glass rattled. Licking the wound, he rasped in my ear, "You're right. I'm the last person you should trust."

I beat my fists against his chest. "Stop! Let me go!"

He wrapped his hand around my neck. "Never."

Spinning us around, he held me suspended in his arms, my own body weight pushing me down on his cock as he pounded into me with a primal intensity.

And oh, my fucking God, I was here for it. There was no point calling out to God, because I knew deep down I was going straight to hell for how I was feeling in this moment. It was dirty and twisted and so wrong. My body didn't care.

I twisted my fingers into his shoulder-length hair and yanked hard.

His head wrenched back as he bared his teeth, but he kept thrusting until we both came, filling the shower chamber with our mutual cries.

Still breathing heavily, I slowly slid down his body to stand on shaking legs, but when I tried to move away, he tightened his grasp. "Don't."

"But—"

"Just… don't, Vivian."

With a submissive sigh, I relented and gave into the strength of his arms as I rested my head against his heartbeat.

While I stood there in his embrace, he washed my hair. His strong fingers massaged my scalp as he worked up a thick, creamy lather before easing my head back under the shower stream.

Before I could move, he lathered a natural sponge with liquid soap and swirled it over my back.

A moan escaped my lips.

He moved his hand lower, swirling it over my ass, then my hips, then between my legs.

As he moved his hand to caress my breasts with the sponge, I blinked my eyes open. "You know this can't last."

"Shhh. Don't talk."

I leaned my head against his wet chest. "Var, the only reason I'm even here is because I needed to search for my missing paintings, because that man threatened me about finding them."

He placed a finger under my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. "You're here because I want you here."

My chest contracted as I tried to force air into my lungs. I swallowed and asked through clenched teeth to try to stop myself from shaking, "And when I want to leave?"

His eyes darkened as the ghost of a smile curved his lips. He rubbed his thumb across my lower lip. "What do you think, krasivaya ?"

I shivered despite the hot water and the warmth of his arms. "You can't just keep me here, Var."

When he stretched out his arm beside me, I flinched.

He raised a single eyebrow as he lifted the shampoo bottle and showed it to me. Pouring a small amount into his palm, he lathered his hair before rinsing it.

"Are you going to answer me?"

He tilted his head as he stared at me. "I didn't think it required a response."

I crossed my arms over my naked breasts. "I'd like to hear one."

Var leaned down and kissed my forehead. "At least in this, trust me, little one. You don't want to hear my response to that question. I promise you, you won't like it."

Acting as if he hadn't basically just admitted to holding me captive in this relationship, he unfurled a large, fluffy black towel and wrapped it around my shoulders before getting his own towel.

As I stood still, he used another towel to squeeze the excess water out of my hair.

Part of me wanted to stamp my foot and tear the towel apart with my teeth as I threw a right proper temper tantrum like a child. The other part of me just wanted to be sheltered in his arms, as he cared for me.

He tossed the hair towel aside. "Come. I'm sure you're tired."

Clutching my towel to my breasts, I pushed my luck as I turned my back on him and exited the shower. "Yes, it's been a long night. I should get home."

Without warning, he swept me into his arms and carried me into the bedroom. "You really are adorable."

With me still in his embrace, he leaned down and flipped the covers back before tossing me in the center of the bed.

I leaned up on my elbows. "Would there be any point in arguing that I want to go home?"

He turned out the light and joined me in the bed. "None whatsoever."

His arm wrapped around my middle and pulled me against his chest.

I laid there for a moment. "This discussion isn't over, Var."

His sigh ruffled my still damp hair. "I know, Vivian."

"I'm staying here because it's late and my clothes are sticky. This doesn't mean you're my boyfriend or anything."

His arm tightened around my waist. "Good, because the last thing I want to be is your boyfriend."

I started.

Well, what the hell did that mean?

Ignoring the fact that he had actually agreed with me, I huffed. "I'll have you know I'm great girlfriend material."

His chuckle vibrated in his chest. "Don't fool yourself, baby girl. You're terrible girlfriend material."

I leaned over and turned on the nightstand light before looking down at him. "Excuse me?"

With lightning speed, his arm snaked out and pulled me underneath him. "You're an admitted wannabe thief. An art forger. A troublemaker by continually putting yourself in dangerous positions I'm forced to rescue you from?—"

I gasped. "Rescue me? I'll have you?—"

His glare stopped me. "You don't listen. You're difficult. You're argumentative. And you lie, both to me and yourself. And you're a pain in my ass. What man in his right mind would want you as a girlfriend?"

My mouth opened and closed several times as I took in all the incredibly insulting, if not completely true, things he'd said. "Well, if I'm such a pain in your ass , why am I in your bed right now?"

"Because I also happen to find you adorable, funny, intelligent, and entertaining as fuck. It doesn't hurt that I love your filthy mouth and your body, which I swear came straight from hell to tempt us mere mortal men."

I turned back on my side, away from him. "Fuck you too, you—wait. What?" My torso twisted as I turned my head over my shoulder to look at him.

Well, damn. I hadn't expected him to turn things around so smoothly.

My gaze narrowed as I flopped forward, turning my back on him again. I punched my pillow as I huffed. "Well, in case you're wondering, I think you'd make a terrible boyfriend. You're controlling and demanding and bossy and domineering and a pain in my ass!" Each word was punctuated by an uppercut to my down pillow.

Before he could respond, I reached over and turned off the light, then curled on my side. "Goodnight," I grumbled.

Once again, he pulled me close to his body before whispering in my ear, "Goodnight, beautiful girl."

Crap.

He was right.

I was a fucking liar.