Page 26 of Paved in Venom

“Emily?” Vitaly asks, looking over at her. “Can I have half your cookie?”

Roman laughs. “She finished that thing like five minutes ago. She didn’t even offer me any.”

Emily laughs. “Sorry, babe.”

He leans down and kisses her. “Don’t worry, solnishka. I’ll find something sweet to eat later.”

Vitaly looks at me and rolls his eyes. “We can’t take them anywhere.” He looks at Roman. “We all know what you’re talking about.”

“It would be really embarrassing if you didn’t,” Roman says with another laugh as he pulls Emily into his lap.

Emily laughs and says, “Relax, there are some cupcakes in the kitchen.” She meets my eyes and says, “They’re completely addicted to sugar. I’ve never seen anything like it. Seriously, if you ever need to bribe any of them, just bake something sweet. They’ll be putty in your hands.”

“Hey, no telling house secrets,” Vitaly says around the giant bite of cupcake he’s just taken.

I laugh, but when it turns into a yawn, Danil stands and holds his hand out for me. “Come on, you need to sleep.”

I take his hand, letting him help me up, wondering how the sleeping arrangement is going to work. I say goodnight to the rest of them and follow him back down the stairs to his room, hesitating in the doorway of his bedroom. He puts his messenger bag down at his large desk that’s filled with all kinds of expensive and complicated-looking equipment and then takes off his suit jacket. I try very hard to not notice how built he is, but it’s impossible to miss. Even with the white dress shirt still on, I can see the broad shoulders and muscled pecs, and I’m willing to bet good money that he has one hell of a set of abs. When I feel my body start to respond, I turn away and rush for the bathroom so I can get ready for bed. I need sleep. My brain is obviously addled and confused. Things will be a lot clearer when I wake up. They have to be, because there’s no way in hell I can start developing feelings for the guy who bought me.

Chapter 5

Danil

I watch Simona run for the bathroom—dark hair bouncing at her shoulders, round ass cheeks moving beneath that tiny dress that’s been driving me fucking crazy, and when she turns to give me one last look, those big, blue eyes nearly do me in.

With a sigh, I sit on the edge of my bed and rest my head in my hands. I’m uncomfortably hard, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. It had taken every ounce of willpower I possess to not get hard at the club. I’d counted every fucking thing I could think of, and even then it had been nearly impossible. I hadn’t wanted to scare her, though, and the knowledge that she wouldn’t have welcomed it is the only thing that kept it from happening. There’s no stopping it now, though.

Needing to do something, I get up and pull back the covers for her before grabbing one of my T-shirts from the closet. Giving a soft knock at the door, I say, “I have a T-shirt you can sleep in if you want.”

She pokes her head out and eyes the shirt. Reaching out, she grabs it with a quick “thanks,” and then shuts the door in my face. While she’s in there, I kick off my shoes and change into a pair of workout shorts. I’ve just taken my shirt off when I hear a soft gasp from behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I see her standing in the doorway with her eyes locked on my bare upper body. I keep the front of my body angled away from her so she can’t see the erection straining at my pants and quickly put a shirt on, discreetly adjusting myself before I step out of the closet. My cock is pressed against my stomach, my waistband trying like hell to keep it in check, but it’s a temporary solution. This is going to need to be dealt with and soon.

I’m debating whether or not I should take a quick shower and jerk off when she says, “I can sleep on the couch.”

“You’re not sleeping on the damn couch,” I tell her, offended by the very idea of it. “You can have the bed.”

She eyes the king-sized bed. “That doesn’t seem fair. I don’t want to take your bed from you.”

“You’re not. I’m offering it.”

I can tell she wants to fight me on it, but her exhaustion wins. She climbs in and pulls the covers up to her chin, sinking into the pillow as she curls up onto her side. I go into the bathroom so I can brush my teeth, and when I come out, I’m expecting her to be asleep, but her blue eyes follow me as I walk across the room. I’m about to grab my laptop and leave when her voice stops me.

“Wait.”

I turn back to look at her, and she look so fucking small and scared, and it breaks something inside of me, some wall I hadn’t even known I’d put up. The urge I have to take care of her and protect her is not something I’m familiar with. I’ve never cared about a woman before, not like this. I love Alina, and I’ll never stop looking for her, but it’s not the same thing. Staring at Simona, I want to climb into my bed and bury myself inside this woman and never fucking leave. I don’t ever want to see this scared look on her face ever again. I want her to know and trust that I will always protect her, no matter what.

Her voice is barely more than a whisper when she reaches out her hand to me and says, “Will you stay in here with me?”

Before I can answer, she quickly adds, “I mean, just to sleep.” There’s another pause and then, “I don’t want to be alone.”

I walk to the bed and get under the covers because I’m helpless to deny her anything. To pretend otherwise is pointless. Lying down, I ignore my cock and try to focus on the sound of her soft breaths.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

“You don’t have to thank me, sladkaya,” I say, because somewhere along the line calling her sweetheart just became second nature. “Try and sleep. I’ll stay here as long as you need me to.” I turn my face so I can see her. She stares back at me, eyes half closed and fighting sleep, hands fisting the blanket as she keeps it held close to her chin, and I want so badly to close the distance and wrap my arms around her.

“I know you’re scared,” I tell her, “but you’re safe here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

She gives a small nod. “What happens now, though? Are you just going to keep me forever?”

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