Page 145 of Bitten & Burned
Perfect. Because I needed to be with Anton.
I swallowed thickly and kept walking until I was outside Anton’s door. I hoped he wasn’t upset with me about what had happened earlier. He was only trying to make me feel better, and I’d snuck away from him over it because it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
I knocked on his door and then pushed it open. “Anton?” I murmured, pausing at the door.
“Rowena?” I heard footsteps. “Come in.”
I opened the door fully and stepped inside, my hands still on the robe wrapped around me.
His eyes widened when he saw me. I realized Imust look a sight.
Wild hair. Barely dressed. Barefoot.
And he was… gods, as gorgeous as ever. Tailored trousers and a button-down, sleeves rolled to his elbows, top three buttons unbuttoned. More unbuttoned than not. His hair was annoyingly perfect, and his eyes were dark as he looked at me, his tongue coming out to wet his lips.
“I…” I began as I stepped closer to him. “I’m sorry about earlier…”
“Gods, Rowena, you don’t have to apologize, I should be the one?—”
“Please, I don’t want to think, Anton, I… everything keeps happening and the sigil keeps burning, and I just want… I want to be happy again. Like we were on the boat. Can I have that? Please?” Tears pricked my eyes, and I thought he was going to cry too, with that look he was giving me.
“Anything,” he murmured. “Anything. Whatever you want, Rowena, I will get us there again.”
The bond thrummed with his promise, warm and indulgent, like velvet wrapping around me.
“Vael called my father, and he’ll be here in the morning. Can I hide from him in here?”
Anton’s face broke into a smile. “You want to hide from your father with me? I’ve never been any father’s favorite, so I don’t know why I would be with yours.”
I laughed, just slightly.
“What are you wearing?” he asked, reaching out to touch the fabric.
“It’s Dmitri’s,” I replied.
“Ah, that would explain things. It’s one-size-fits-dire wolf…”
I laughed again.
“Looks better on you,” he murmured, his fingers toying with the lapel as he moved in closer. “I think everything looks better on you, though, so I may be biased…”
“Everything?” I asked, eyebrows raised as I stepped back andshrugged the robe off, pulling my chemise up and over my head to follow it.
They both hit the floor, and Anton’s eyes widened. Darkened. He worried his lip between his teeth, leaving it pink as he drank me in.
“You look better in everything, and nothingalsolooks amazing on you. You’re a walking enigma,” he murmured.
I reached for the remaining buttons on his shirt. He covered my hands in his. “Before you do that, tell me… darling, what do you want?”
“Specifically?”
He nodded once.
“You. On the floor. Beneath me. Until I can’t remember anything but your name, Anton.”
He sank to his knees, his hands on the buttons of his shirt, slowly opening them all as he gazed up reverently, reaching for me.
I knelt, letting my hands touch his skin. The hair on his chest, I raked my fingers through it and smiled.
