He flipped off the light and padded to her bedroom. Only a trace of light slipped from the parking lot through her blinds, but enough to show her curled on one side of the bed, her blonde hair spilling across her pillow. She yawned and the seductive sound of her skin moving against the soft sheets slipped through the room. “Sorry,” she said on the tail end of her yawn. “This is my side. You’ll have to take the other.”
So easy. Almost too easy.
But for a good night’s sleep he’d take it at face value and worry about the rest in the morning. He peeled back the sheets and stretched out beside her. Her scent was everywhere, mingled with his own and the rich aftermath of sex. He closed his eyes and the blessed languidness that eluded him most nights crept in fog-thick around him. His heart slowed and his breath evened out, matching Darya’s beside him. So close to sleep. “Darya?”
“Mmm?”
The darkness rolled closer. Heavier. “You were right. No regrets.”
“No regrets,” she whispered back.
And then, blessed sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Off and on, Darya’s computer cursor blinked back at her, a blank screen all she had to show for the last hour she’d sat behind her desk. Not surprising considering how long it had taken her just to read through the first lesson in the second module, and she still wasn’t sure any of the information she’d studied made sense.
8:14 a.m. beamed from the corner of her monitor, as steady and accusing as the cold nuns who’d handled her education growing up. She huffed out a frustrated breath, flipped back to the lesson in her browser session and snagged her lukewarm coffee for another sip. Focusing on a task had never been this hard before. Even when she’d first landed in the US, she’d been able to zero in on whatever she needed to without distraction so long as her environment felt safe. Then again, she’d never had Knox asleep in her bed, or his delicious scent blanketing every inch of her. As diversions went, he was apparently her Kryptonite.
God, the things he’d done to her. Said to her. She closed her eyes and squeezed her thighs together, the needy pulse she’d fought all morning building strength at the memory of last night. She’d tangled with powerful men before, but never one who took control in the bedroom as Knox had. Complete confidence, total focus and a wicked mouth.
Perfect.
Hand shaking, she set her mug aside and loosened her robe enough to let some much needed air-conditioned air sneak beneath the neckline. No doubt about it, risking Knox as a mentor had been worth it. She could teach herself if she had to, but experiences like that were once in a lifetime. Though, something told her if she kept her distance and maintained a professional demeanor she just might get a repeat. Or two. And God, did she want a repeat.
Through her open bedroom door, a sinfully sexy inhalation sounded followed by the swoosh of skin against sheets.
Goose bumps fanned out across her flesh and her nipples pebbled in anticipation. Not exactly the best start at presenting a disaffected front. She nabbed her mouse and scrolled deeper into the lesson, the words little more than a black-and-white blur.
The mattress let out a soft groan and footsteps whispered across the carpet. Movement registered in her periphery, but she kept her gaze trained on the screen and paired it with what she hoped came across as rapt concentration.
As soon as the bathroom door snicked shut, she let out a shaky breath. This wasn’t a big deal. At least it shouldn’t be. They’d had sex. Albeit, great sex, but she couldn’t make any more of it than that. He’d been as blunt as possible from the start and she’d readily agreed to his terms, but never in her life had she felt like so much rode on how things progressed in the next few moments. As if one right or wrong step could tip life’s scales from showing her everything she’d ever dreamed of, or plunging her into a fathomless abyss.
She bit her lip and scrolled back to the top of her lesson. Probably not a good idea to get caught toward the end with nothing to show for her work but a blank page and zero comprehension. He couldn’t possibly know she’d been up since five. Or that she’d spent the first thirty minutes before she quietly slipped out of bed soaking in his unguarded features while he slept.
No, better to let him think she was barely ahead of him and just diving in for the day.
The toilet flushed and the water faucet kicked in shortly after.
A fine sweat broke out along the back of her neck and her heart took off at a leisurely jog. Maybe a half a pot of coffee hadn’t been such a great idea. Or thinking about all the other things she hoped she’d get a chance to challenge him into trying the next time around.
With a tiny squeak from the hinges, the bathroom door swept open.
Don’t look.
Focus on the screen.
Be calm.
Knox padded into view, hesitating on his path to the kitchen only long enough to check her computer screen. “You been at it long?”
Way too long. Though considering none of it took the first three times, she wasn’t going to beat herself up too much for a tiny fib. “Just starting.” Keeping a casual demeanor, she lifted her mug, twisted in her chair enough to give him her undivided attention and barely stifled a moan.
He wasn’t completely naked, but with just his black briefs on and standing in profile for her hungry gaze, it was the next best thing. With the same comfort he had the last time he’d been here, he popped open the cupboard and reached for a mug.
Between the lamplight and her lust the night before, she’d not had a chance to fully appreciate his tattoos, but in the bright light of morning they were something to behold. The shoulder closest to her was completely covered in an intricate mosaic of Nordic-styled dragons, intricate knots and richly detailed armor. The picture stretched to just below his bicep and swept down most of his abs at an angle until it faded out near his belly button.
She sipped her coffee to cover her open appreciation then managed a husky, “I thought you weren’t a good sleeper.”
He shut the cabinet and clunked his cup to the Formica countertop. “I’m not.”
“Really? You slept pretty hard last night.” She paired the snarky retort with a raised eyebrow and smirk. After all, the attitude had prodded the tiger out of his cage once. Now she knew what JJ meant by If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Not looking up, he grinned and slid the coffeepot off the warmer. “After sex is the only time I can pull that feat off.”
Now, that was an interesting detail and a terrible predicament for a man who shunned relationships.
He finished pouring his coffee and spun enough to hold up the pot. “You want a touch up?”
Don’t say anything stupid. Just keep your mouth shut and act blasé. She held her cup up. “Please.”
In three steps, he was right in front of her, the dog tags that had slipped and jingled against her back as he’d pounded into her dangling between his pecs. They weren’t military, though. The cut and detail was too thick and etched in the center was the same masculine H and tribal tree tattooed on his forearm. He was gone too fast, taking his sculpted abs with him before she could find an excuse to touch.
So, now what did they do? Pretending nothing ever happened seemed the coward’s way out, and if she’d proven nothing else last night, she was most assuredly not a coward. She blew across the top of her coffee, eyes to him as she crossed her legs. “You said you’re not monogamous and don’t do relationships. Is that why? So you can have sex and sleep?”
He paused midway with the cup to his mouth as if she’d caught him off guard. “That’s part of it,” he said, then followed through with a leisurely drink. He leaned his ass against the counter and curled one hand around the lip, the other hand casually holding his mug in front of his stomach. It was a straightforward pose, one that practically dared her to look her fill.
She for
ced her gaze to stay locked with his. “What’s the other part?”
“I’ve just learned relationships are best avoided.”
A hard shut down. The same kind she used when people started prying into her past. She spun back to the computer. “Sounds like an interesting story.”
“Not unless you consider a middle-aged teacher fucking a senior in high school, making him think it was something more than it was, then claiming coercion when the principal found out interesting.”
Her fingers clenched around her mouse and her stomach lurched, threatening to expel the coffee she’d just swallowed. The pain behind his words was tightly leashed behind a careless delivery, but it was there nonetheless, sharp enough it lashed against bare skin.
“Don’t try to analyze or fix me,” he said. “Been a slew of women before you who’ve tried and it doesn’t work. I like sex. I sleep with women who think like me and it all works out. Less trauma and no drama.”
She blanked her expression as her years with Yefim had taught her to, glanced at him over her shoulder and shrugged. “Your past. Your call.” With that, she forced herself to re-read the first paragraph in her lesson for the fifth time.
She heard more than saw him sip his coffee behind her. “Speaking of pasts, how about you share a little about the real JJ.”
“I’d rather not.”
“I figured as much, but it ever occur to you if I knew some of the details I might be able to help?”
Her fingers hitched just the tiniest bit in scrolling down the screen and her breath caught in her throat. She’d definitely thought about it. Countless times. The fact that the Federal government had reached out to him on several occasions said loads about his capabilities.
“I’m aware of your skills and your connections.” Hopefully, he didn’t catch the subtle tremor in her voice, the quaver tightly woven with the hummingbird thrum of her heart.
“Then you know they could work to your advantage.”
“I do. But I’ve already asked enough of your time and I’ve yet to learn if you’re willing to take that much on. Creating a future where I can support myself is more important than adding more weight on top of everything else.” Everything else being the awkward situation she’d created between them by tossing a match into the flammable chemistry between them.
Silence settled between them. Even without her eyes on him, his stare pulsed like a living, breathing entity around her.
“Look at me.” A command. As powerful and unyielding as the ones he’d given her last night and every bit as seductive.
She twisted her neck only enough to meet his gaze, her body still squared to the computer.
“All the way around,” he said. “The attitude is hot as fuck and likely necessary to hold your own with me, but we’ve got a lot of ground to cover without your sass distracting me.”
So he was ready to give her his answer. Or maybe multiple ones. Whatever topics he had in mind, left stark severity etched on his face. She swallowed and swiveled in her seat, squeezing her knees together tight and folding one hand over the other to cover her nervousness. “All right. I’m listening.”
His gaze dipped to her knees and his expression softened before he shuttled his focus back to her face. “Relax. I’m not dropping any bombs.” He paused as though questioning the thoughts running through his head. “You want me to teach you, I’m in.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief and the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding rushed out before she could mask the reaction. “Thank you.”
He chuckled at that. “Don’t thank me yet. I’m still an asshole to work with.”
She tried to fight the smile, but failed miserably so she ducked her chin instead. “You are quite bossy.”
“I am. But I’m good at what I do. As fast as you catch on, you could be too if you can tough it out.”
The bold comment jerked her head back up as sure as if he’d fisted his hand in her hair and yanked. “You mean that?”
“I do. So, when I tell you that teaching you puts little to no weight on me and possibly gains me an asset in the long run I mean it.” He sipped his coffee, never taking his eyes off her. Once done, he set it aside and crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, tell me about JJ.”
For months, she’d faced her past alone. Within the safety of her home and beyond prying eyes. But here, with one simple demand, Knox swept aside the veil and let all the glory and discovery of her time with JJ drift through. The room faded to little more than a haze, only Knox’s rapt presence tying her to the here and now. “When I landed here, I had no one. No name to use beyond the ones I made up. Only the cash I’d been given to live on.”
The crush of mold and stale cigarette smoke that permeated the extended-stay hotel she’d lived in those first few weeks engulfed her like no time had passed at all. She’d not dared to pay too much attention to the floors or the comforter that covered her bed, sheer exhaustion the only way she’d managed any sleep. “I purchased newspapers the first few days looking for work. Then found a local library and searched for online advertisements.”
Knox’s hushed voice slipped through her memories and pulled her back to the present. “Where were you?”
“San Diego.” The same wistfulness she’d felt her first day there swept in fresh and cleansing. “It’s beautiful there. Heaven on Earth compared to Russia.”
He said nothing. Merely offered her an understanding smile and waited patiently for her to continue.
“I answered a job posting,” she said. “One of those classified websites with everything from personal ads to job postings. Jeannie needed a housekeeper and an assistant.”
“And she hired you?”
Darya nodded. “Despite my insistence that I could only be paid in cash.” She chuckled at the memory, remembering the suspicious glint in JJ’s eyes. “Looking back, I think it was because of my insistence.” She refocused on Knox. “She knew what it meant to run and helped me because of it.”
Knox frowned and cocked his head. “Jeannie Simpson shows as a native US citizen.”
“Yes. She was. But not everyone who runs flees the country and not everyone flees forever.” It felt strange to share someone else’s story. Almost as if she were filching on sacred vow, but JJ would have wanted this for her. Would have told the story herself if she were here. She pulled in a deep breath and let it out on a slow sigh. “She had no living family. Only a husband who deemed it his right to force his will on her in the way of his fists.” She smiled. “If you knew JJ, you’d know that arrangement didn’t last long.”
“What happened?”
She shrugged. “When authorities proved to be unhelpful, she took care of herself.”
“She ran.”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Darya rolled her lips inward, torn between sharing what she believed to be the truth and keeping her silence. “She never told me more than that, but I did look enough to know that her husband no longer lives.”
Knox dipped his chin. A simple acceptance without uttering a word. “So where is she now? There’s no death certificate, so she’s got to be breathing somewhere.”
And here was the hard part. The part that still left a lingering weight on her soul. “Jeannie died nine months ago. Brain cancer.” She swallowed around the gargantuan knot in her throat, the ugly tan carpeting beneath her feet all she could bear to look at. “It came on quickly and ended mercifully fast. But in that time—in the early months before it stole her spirit—she made arrangements. Leveraged contacts built throughout her life and made it so that I could take on her name and, hopefully, stop running.”
“Those must have been some powerful connections.”
She grinned despite the sadness seeping through her. How could she not? For someone like Knox to appreciate wha
t she’d done would have sent JJ squawking for days. “There is only one loose thread from her arrangements—the funeral director she bribed to handle her cremation. And even he doesn’t know my real name.”
“So, you’re relatively safe.”
“Relatively. For now.”
Seemingly satisfied with her story, he slid his mug from the counter and ambled back to the coffeepot. “From who?”
Quick, but casual. Designed to slip beneath an average person’s defenses. Except she wasn’t average and hadn’t been for a long time. “That part of my past is best left alone.”
He slid the coffeepot back in place, braced both hands on the counter for a handful of seconds then pushed upright and took a drink. He studied her over the rim, some mysterious emotion moving behind his eyes. Something powerful still unspoken.
Instinctively, she braced.
He lowered his mug. “All right. Then let’s talk about sex.”
Pleasure speared straight between her legs and her sex fluttered, the mere word making her whole body jolt with awareness. More than anything, she wanted to lick her lip and suggest they do that rather than talk, but something told her she’d be better off keeping her cards tight to her chest. “What about it?”
“You get all it can be for me is sex? No strings? No expectations?”
“I think I got that, yes.”
“And you think you can work within that arrangement?”
“It’s sex. Physical release. So long as the arrangement works both ways, I’m fine with it.”
Something primal flashed behind his eyes, there and gone so fast anyone not watching him closely would’ve missed it.
But she’d been watching. Closely. “Is that a problem?”
“No.” Zero hesitation, but voiced with an edge that said otherwise. “You have any problem with me crashing after?”
This time she gave into her need to play. To tease and nudge her predator just a little. She cocked her head and gave him a sly smile. “I should hope not. If you can easily walk out the door, that means we weren’t doing it right.”
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