Defiant. Sweet. Alluring.
A business deal gone wrong brought me to her doorstep.
She's everything I shouldn't want; everything I was against after watching my mother's obsession destroy her.
Still, I can't stop myself from craving her.
I should know...
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I STEPPED OUT OF THE bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body and my hair still dripping down my back from the one-hour shower I took to wash the stress and pent-up emotions of the night away.
The calm that came with the shower quickly vanished when I noticed Aleksei in my room.
As in, sitting on the foot of my bed uninvited like he owned the space.
He might as well not be wearing a stitch of clothing on his upper half from the way the black t-shirt molded over his muscles like a second skin.
I tried and failed to not admire his toned muscles and the curve of his neck, tapering off to broad, sculpted shoulders that put bodybuilders to shame.
A black necklace hung around his neck, melting easily into the blackness of his shirt while the black and gold cross pendant at the tip swayed from side to side.
It was laughable to see him wearing it. The necklace, I mean. His hands were soiled with blood, and I was sure he would burn if he stepped foot in a church. Yet, he wore the cross proudly around his neck, a symbol that represented the opposite of the things he did.
Like he'd sensed me walk into the room, he lifted his head, and I didn't miss the way his eyes ran down the length of my body in one heated second before they finally settled on my face.
Strange warmth gathered in my stomach.
It was times like this that I hated the poker face thing he did and wished I could read his thoughts.
Here I was in this tiny towel that barely covered my ass, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking seeing me half-naked for the first time.
He wordlessly held his phone out to me, his gaze disinterested. I reluctantly dragged my feet to him, hating the fact that he could read me like a book.
I plucked the phone out of his hands, making sure no parts of our bodies touched in the process. "What are you doing in here?"
I finally saw a flicker of emotion in his soulless depths as they danced over the text - confusion. "I'm sleeping here."
Hell no! "No, you're not. This is my room."
Slight amusement replaced the confusion in his gaze. "My room, you mean," he corrected, cocking his head to the side, and propping it on his fist. "I'm sleeping here."
"NO, YOU'RE NOT. WHY?! THERE ARE OTHER ROOMS IN THE HOUSE, AREN'T THERE?" I shoved his phone into his face, panic swirling in my chest with a frenzy.
He winced when he read the text. "Ease up on the all caps next time, yeah?"
I scoffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I was panicking here and he was focused on the fact that I used all caps to convey my panic and desperation.
