Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Dmitri stopped next to her, his shoulder brushing hers. “Tell me about your paintings.”
If he had asked her—demanded, really—in any other situation, she would have changed the subject, but Keira was helpless in the presence of the damn painting. “It’s been years since I’ve bothered.”
“Grief presents itself in strange ways.” Just that. No demands for an explanation. No trying to convince her that she’d made the wrong choice when she put down her brushes and never picked them back up again.
“It might have started that way, but it wasn’t what kept me from going back to it.” Why was she telling him this? She didn’t tell anyone this.
Dmitri didn’t seem to move, but she felt his presence intensify all the same. “The alcohol and drugs.”
It wasn’t a question, but she answered. “There’s a cost that comes with being numb.” Finally, finally, she turned to face him. “I don’t feel numb anymore.”
His gaze never left her face. He had a guarded expression, but beneath that was something almost like hope. “Do you want supplies and a designed room to paint in?”
Yes. She tried to temper her response, but he saw it despite her not giving it voice. He nodded. “I’ll see it done.”
She exhaled slowly. “Thank you.” God, what is this? It’s almost a civil conversation.
“If there’s anything specific you need, give me a list, and I’ll send Pavel to retrieve it.”
At the mention of her babysitter, she laughed softly. “Poor Pavel. He’ll have a heart attack before the month is out if you keep him on my detail. He’s very…” When Dmitri raised his eyebrows, she rushed on. “He’s not exactly the picture of a hardened criminal who’s seen everything.”
“What makes you say that?”
Her cheeks heated, and the painting drew her gaze again. “I made him blush and stammer.”
Dmitri barked out a laugh. “Moya koroleva, have you seen yourself? I stood in the doorway for a full five minutes before I regained control of myself. Poor Pavel didn’t stand a chance.”
She knew she looked good, but he was overstating things. She nudged him with her elbow, a part of her secretly thrilled at the easy contact. “Flatterer.”
“Truth speaker.” He turned and took her hands, shifting her to face him fully. Dmitri lifted her hands up and out, leaving her on display for him. “Where in all that’s holy did you find this dress? I’m not sure if I should gift a fortune to the designer—or kill them.”
Dmitri tried to dial back his words, but the sight of Keira robbed him of his calm and icy demeanor. She smiled at him with fuck-me-red lips, her makeup doing something to create the illusion that her hazel eyes were even larger than normal, and her hair had an artful tumble to it that brought to mind fucking.
Or perhaps the dress was to blame.
If her wardrobe at the last dinner had been a taunt, this one was a tease—an invitation. The ropes of silver rhine-stones circled her neck and shoulders before turning into a netted pattern that clung to her breasts and hugged her ribs, narrowing down to the V of her legs. A second set of roping rhinestones circled her hips. On its own, the pattern would have been captivating, but combined with the sheer nude fabric beneath it, Keira’s body was on full display.
For him.
He let go of one of her hands and traced his thumb along the top string circling her hip. The fabric might as well not have been there. As he watched, her dusky nipples pebbled and her lips parted. “Tell me something.”
“Sure.” Her voice was breathy and more than a little needy.
“How many of these dresses do you have tucked away? A man can only survive so many heart attacks.” When he’d walked in and saw the line of her body covered with shimmering stones beneath the low light, he’d almost gone to his knees right then and there. He craved the taste of her, craved the feeling of her body beneath his hands, craved the way he was totally and completely present whenever they were together physically.
The outside world ceased to exist.
He couldn’t live like that indefinitely, but the little pockets of time they carved out could be invaluable—if they found a good balance between them.
Keira winked at him, looking downright playful. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
“If you’d worn this…” He squeezed her hips and then ran his hands up her sides to cup her breasts. Dmitri cursed. “Moya koroleva, if you’d worn this to the dinner with my cousin, I would have—”
“Don’t you dare say you’d kill Ivan.” Her smile dropped away. “I like him, and no one needs that toxic masculinity bullshit.”
She was so fucking prickly. He shouldn’t like it nearly as much as he did. Dmitri circled her nipples with his thumbs. “He is my cousin, Keira. He’s just as much a monster as I am, but that changes nothing. There had to be loyalty to one degree or another. I wouldn’t hurt him because you pulled a stunt like this.” He pinched her nipples, earning a sweet gasp from her lips. “What I would have done was drag your disobedient ass into the hallway and fuck you against the door.”