YURI (Her Russian Protector #3) (11 page)

Yuri held her gaze. She had the most honest brown eyes he'd ever seen. "Why was he in prison?"

"Which time?"

"The first time?"

"Drug trafficking."

"And the second?"

"Gun buy gone wrong."

"And the third?"

She shook her head. "There wasn't a third time. He cleaned up his act. Well. Mostly."

"I see."

She laughed and dunked her spoon into her bowl. "Of all the guys I've dated, you're probably the only one who can even comprehend what it means to have someone you love in prison."

He thought of the gut-gnawing worry he'd experienced every time Ivan or Nikolai had gone inside for a stretch. "It's not easy."

"No, it's not."

"Do you see your father often?"

She nodded. "Once or twice a month, he takes me out for lunch or dinner. We're not as close as we were when I was in school but I guess that's just part of growing up."

"I wouldn't know." When she snorted with laughter, he clarified, "About the parent part, not the growing up part. I think I've mastered the growing up part."

Finished with her cereal, she pushed her bowl to the center of the table. "Did you ever look for your parents?" His head snapped up and her eyes widened. Instantly, she apologized. "Oh my God! I don't know why I asked that, Yuri. I'm sorry. Just forget I said something so insensitive."

"It's not insensitive. Honestly, I was simply surprised by the question. I haven't thought about my parents or who they might be in years. And, yes, I did look for them once. I didn't find any promising leads so I let it go. I didn't see how anything good could come from it."

She caressed his fingers. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "That's life. I can't complain. The orphanage was hell on earth but I survived and came out stronger on the other end. I wouldn't be where I am today without the experiences of my childhood."

"I suppose that's the positive outlook on your situation."

"It's the only one I'll indulge." He realized she hadn't said anything about her mother. "What about your mother? Does she live nearby?"

Lena's expression hardened. She stood and grabbed her empty bowl and his. With her back toward him, she said, "My mom walked out on us when I was nine. I tracked her down when I was seventeen but she was already dead."

The anguish in her voice cut him deeply. He was on his feet in the blink of an eye and crossing the kitchen. She still had her back to him as she rinsed the bowls in the sink. When he slid his arms around her waist, she stiffened. He dipped his head and kissed the side of her neck. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

She relaxed in his arms. Her wet hand grasped his forearm. "It's okay. You didn't know."

He kissed her neck again and then her cheek. She giggled and pulled away from the ticklish peck of his lips. "Stop," she said and pushed at him. "I'm all gross from my wild night."

The scent of her perfume was mixed with the faint smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke from her night of endless clubbing but he wouldn't call it gross. "You're fine."

"I'm not. I need a shower."

"So do I," he said, certain he wasn't his freshest either after trekking across the Atlantic Ocean to reach her.

She turned slowly in his arms and gazed up at him. He lost himself in the dark pools of her eyes. When she licked her lips, his cock started to throb to life. A little nervously, she said, "Our shower is pretty big."

"Is it?" He nuzzled her neck and pressed his lips to her skin. He delighted in the sight of goose bumps blossoming there.

"And Vivian is gone for the afternoon."

"Yes, she is."

She pushed on his chest and stared up at him. "This is only a shower, Yuri."

"Only a shower," he agreed.

But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try to convince her that it was finally time for them to take that next step.

Chapter Seven

My belly wobbled violently as I led Yuri down the hallway. He'd paused long enough to text his handlers and then dropped his phone on the kitchen table. When we stepped into the bathroom, he caught my uncomfortable expression in the mirror. "What's wrong?"

I stared at his reflection. "It's weird to think your bodyguards and driver are just sitting out there waiting."

He shrugged and grasped the bottom of his shirt. "It's not the first time they've done it."

His words hit me like a splash of cold water. They drove home the point that I was simply one more in a long line of conquests.

Seeing the hurt on my face, he reached for me. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that they have to wait for me to conduct business all the time."

"Uh-huh," I said, unconvinced.

He rested his chin on the crown of my head as he gathered me to his chest. "I swear, woman. I've never stepped in the shit so many times in my life. You leave me flustered."

"Me?"

"You." His hand swept down my back. "I'm not going to stand here and pretend I'm a choirboy, Lena. I've had a string of relationships, most of them very short, but I've always maintained certain boundaries. I've never slept over at a woman's home and I've never brought a woman into my homes."

I had seen pics of hot women doing the walk of shame from his downtown penthouse. "But your penthouse—"

"I'm not talking about my penthouses." He kissed my cheek. "I'm talking about my homes, my private houses in London, Moscow and here."

I leaned back so I could see his face. "You have a house? Here?"

He nodded. "It's about half an hour outside of town. I'm taking you to see it tonight."

"Is that so?"

His lips touched mine briefly. "Yes."

As I wiggled out of his embrace and adjusted the water temp, I tried to figure out what his willingness to break those rules of his with me meant. Was this his way of telling me that he was looking for something long-term? Was he open to a committed relationship?

An even better question to consider? Was I ready for all the things he seemed to be offering?

I turned around—and almost choked. Yuri had stripped out of his shirt. My appreciative gaze roamed every sexy inch of his tanned skin. Unlike Dimitri and Ivan who were built heavy and thick like fighters, Yuri had the leaner physique of a swimmer or runner.

And I could not stop staring at him.

My fingertips practically burned with the need to touch his hot flesh. I wanted to ride the smooth, hard planks of his rippled stomach and sweep my palms over the ridged muscles of his well-defined pecs and biceps. I needed to feel his steely heat.

Unable to help myself, I reached out and traced the tattoo in the center of his chest. The dark ink sat low enough to be hidden by his shirts. I traced the Cyrillic letters in the knotted scrolling artwork. I had sat in on enough of Vivian's Russian language lessons at our kitchen table to recognize the first initials of Ivan, Nikolai and Dimitri's names.

My gaze lifted to his. "Your brothers?"

He grasped my hand and dragged my fingertip along the intricate ink. "We may not have the same mother or father but our bond goes deeper than blood."

"After seeing how far the four of you will go to support one another, I believe it."

Yuri's other hand cupped my chin. He gazed down at me with such concern. "You don't have to worry about competing with them."

I frowned. "Why in the world would you think I'm worried about something like that?"

His anxious expression relaxed. "Other women have. It's always been one of the top complaints—that I care about them more or I put them first."

"Well," I said carefully, "I don't want to think I'm dead last on your list of priorities but I also understand that the four of you have known one another for decades. I would understand if you had to drop everything to help one of them."

He brushed his fingers over my cheek. "I realize I fucked up last night and made you feel like you weren't a priority but that isn't going to happen again. You come first."

Even though he was being serious, I caught the mischievous glint in his eyes at the double entendre. I lightly whacked his arm. "Behave, Yuri. This is only a shower, remember?"

"Only a shower," he whispered and kissed me. Gathered in his strong arms, I surrendered to the sensual press of his lips. When his tongue touched mine, I tasted the fruity sweetness of the cereal. He didn't try to take the kiss any deeper and left me throbbing with arousal and wanting so much more when he dragged his mouth away.

Only a shower
. The thought circled round and round in my head as I slipped out of my ratty yoga pants and top. I felt the slightest bit of embarrassment at coming out of my bedroom wearing them but I'd been so annoyed by Vivian's interruption and his arrival that I hadn't much cared. Now I cringed a little at the idea that he'd seen me in such an awful outfit with my hair a mess and the reek of my long night clinging to me.

"What are you thinking about now?" Yuri tilted his head to study me. "Your expression looks almost panicked."

I shook my head. "I'm sort of annoyed with myself for letting you see me like this."

"Like what?" He slid his arms around me from behind and engulfed me in his warm embrace. "Naked? Sexy? Hot?"

My toes curled against the tile as the hard length of his cock brushed against my bottom. When I felt the tip of it touch my lower back, my eyes widened. He was
big
. I had suspected he would measure up, so to speak, but
this
was so much more than I'd expected. I squeezed my knees together as the ache between my thighs begged to be assuaged.

Remembering his question, I finally managed to answer him. "I meant in that terrible outfit."

"I didn't notice."

I smacked his hip. "Liar."

"Okay," he said with a laugh. "Maybe a little bit."

"I promise I'm not usually such a mess in the mornings."

"I would be perfectly happy to wake up to find you wearing absolutely nothing in the mornings. Think of all the laundry it would save."

I stepped out of his embrace and into the shower. Yuri shadowed my moves. I didn't dare glance over my shoulder to get a look at what I was sure would be quite an impressive package. I worried that what little resolve I had would snap the moment I spied it. Instead I shoved my face in the shower spray and let the hot water spill over me.

Yuri's hands caressed my naked curves. I'd showered before with a boyfriend but this felt different. For one, we hadn't gotten busy under the covers yet. I felt like we were doing everything out of order. We hadn't even had one official date but I was pretty sure that drunken phone call last night qualified as a breakup. This morning felt like we were dancing around makeup sex without, you know, the actual sex part.

When I reached for my shampoo, he brushed my hand out of the way and took the bottle from me. "Let me."

I glanced back at him and nodded. No man had ever washed my hair. He took his time massaging the fragrant suds into my scalp. Eyes closed, I relaxed back against Yuri. Somehow he made the simplest thing so incredibly sexy and intimate. By the time he finished washing my long tresses, my tummy wobbled and my clit pulsed incessantly. I kept my trembling fingers interlaced in front of me and tried to get a grip on my wild emotions.

With gentle pressure, he coaxed me to turn around and face him. Carefully, he guided me under the spray. He threaded his long fingers through my wet hair as he rinsed it. When he cupped my nape and tugged me forward, I moved without hesitation. His lips found mine in a shockingly tender kiss.

I couldn't understand the way Yuri affected me. All the weeks of tension and sneaked glances came to a head there under the warm rush of water. I wasn't sure where this was going or what would become of our relationship but I had to see it through. I had to know if it was possible for me to be in a normal, loving, long-term relationship—and Yuri was the only man in the world brave enough to walk along that path with me.

"The things you do to me, Lena," he whispered against my lips. "You threaten my control like no other woman."

"Maybe control is over-rated," I daringly replied.

His fingertips grazed my cheek. "I thought this was only a shower."

"Then maybe you should help me get squeaky clean." Even as I spoke the bold words, I felt the ripples of anxiety rocking my core. Was I coming on too strong? Was I pulling off the sex kitten vibe? Did this make me pathetic or too easy?

His sinful smile told me everything I needed to know. Grabbing the bottle of body wash from the caddy mounted on the wall, he flipped open the top and squeezed a dollop onto his palm. The scent of coconut and verbena blossomed in the steamy interior of the shower. Yuri rubbed his palms together, creating a thick froth, and smeared the creamy suds all over my skin.

"Do you mind smelling frou-frou?"

"Judging by the bottles on this wall, I don't think I have much of a choice." His amused gaze jumped from my shower caddy to Vivian's.