Page 34 of Blood Oath Christmas
“You didn’t think, that’s the problem!”
I take a step back and lift my chin, my eyes narrowing. “I appreciate your help tonight,” I say, my voice low and controlled. “But?—"
“Did you really think you were safe out here? Alone and unprotected?”
I shake my head, shame heating my cheeks. “I didn’t think about that. All I wanted to do was get away. From the violence, the threats, always looking over my shoulder.” I pause to meet his eyes steadily. “From you and this wedding.”
He jerks back a bit as if my words are a physical blow. “I’m not forcing you to marry me,” he says through gritted teeth.
“But aren’t you?” I counter. “Marry you or die. That’s what you’ve been telling me.”
A muscle tics at his jaw. “I have been watching over you for years. If there were a way to protect you without marrying you, I would. But it’s the hard truth. Vadim is dangerous. Very dangerous. And he’s got more resources than the FBI.”
His hands come to my shoulders, firm and sure, and the ground steadies under me. He smells like cold air and wool and the faint bite of metal. It’s a far more pleasant smell than I would have thought, and it suits him. It reminds me of the outdoors, of strength… and danger. I tell myself I should push him away. I don’t.
He studies my face for a long moment, and I find myself distracted by a snowflake melting on his eyebrow. The tip of my tongue tingles. How would it feel to lean up on my tip toes and flick that snowflake away with the tip of my tongue? Would his skin be cool or hot?
I mentally shake my head to get rid of such dangerous thoughts. I may not want to marry him, but my body wouldn’tmind performing some marital duties. In fact, my blood hums with desire.
“You’re shaking.” Konstantin lifts my scarf and settles it higher against my throat. His knuckles brush my skin and heat slides along my spine. “You scared the hell out of me,Malyshka.”
Malyshka, little one. The endearment slides through me, warming my insides. The huskiness of his voice causes a different heat, low in my belly. I shift to my other leg and clear my throat.
“I scared you?” The words come out in a small, nervous laugh. I’m trying to distract myself from those lustful thoughts, but apparently, it’s not working very well. “You just took down two men in twenty seconds.”
“And I almost got there too late.” The softness of his expression that had been there just a second ago vanishes, and anger and maybe a touch of fear take its place.
His jaw hardens again, but his eyes, those green eyes that usually seem so cold and controlled, are practically shouting at me now. He’safraid, I realize with shock.
Afraid for me?
Something inside me gives, and I take a step closer to Konstantin before I know what I’m doing. My hands find the front of his coat, and I splay my palms across the warmth emanating from his broad chest. The wool is rough under my fingers, but it somehow feels right. Then his breath eases out, slow and warm, and his hands slide from my shoulders to the sides of my neck, his thumbs under my jaw. It is a possessive touch, but one I welcome.
His gaze drops to my mouth and comes back, and when he looks back into my eyes, that fear I saw earlier is tempered with something else. Something hot and exciting. Something dangerous. That thought should scare me. It doesn’t.
His thumb traces once at my pulse and I feel it jump in answer. He leans in, slow enough to stop if I flinch.
I don’t.
And then he kisses me.
18
KONSTANTIN
Her mouth is soft and warm, and for a second my brain goes blank. Ivy makes a small sound against my lips and my hands tighten at her jaw like they’ve been waiting their whole life to learn that shape.
If she tensed, I’d stop. If she pushed, I’d be ten feet back and apologizing. She doesn’t. She presses into me, her arms sliding around my neck. Her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me even closer, so close that not even the cold air can get between our heated bodies. The world narrows to breath and heat and the steady beat of her heart against my chest.
I angle her face with my thumbs and take the kiss deeper. She answers without hesitation. No fear. No flinch. Just want and acceptance.
Snow ticks against my coat. The creek moves under the ice. But all that is just a backdrop to the incredible kiss we share.
“Ivy,” I groan.
“Yes,” she responds on a husky breath. I drop my hands to her lower back, pulling her tightly against my chest. My breathing is ragged and my heart gallops in my chest. My dick throbs insistently against my pants, against her belly.
I pull back an inch to see her face. She opens her eyes slowly, and I feel like a drowning man whose only salvation rests in those blue eyes. I have to taste her again.
