Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
“No,” he growled. “Not here.”
But then he put one hand on the naked skin of her thigh and pressed a kiss to her throat. Shoving away even as her entire body ignited, he shut the passenger door.
Three seconds later he was in his seat and pulling away from the curb, the lights of Moscow streaming on either side of their vehicle. It wasn’t a long drive to the StoneWater apartment, but time crawled, Theo’s skin pulsing where he’d touched her—and freezing cold where he hadn’t. Yet it felt paradoxically too fast at the same time.
Dawn would come far too soon, and with it, perhaps the truth of her evil.
Again, she turned away from the reality that hovered above her, the sword waiting to fall and skewer her to the earth. The guilt wouldn’t leave her alone, but it was no proof against the need within, a need that had grown for countless years. For contact, for care, for someone other than her brother to see Theo, scars and all.
The scars on her back were suddenly stiff and ragged. It was luck that they were located just low enough that they’d been hidden by even this dress.
Would the twisted ridges of them scare Yakov?
He was a wild being, a creature at home with imperfection.
Perhaps . . . just perhaps, he’d look at her without disgust. At least the marks were on her back. If he was disgusted, she wouldn’t see the first flush of his reaction. They could pretend he’d simply changed his mind.
Because Theo wasn’t stopping this runaway train until he did.
She was barely aware of them reaching the apartment building, conscious only of Yakov’s hand on hers as he led her into the elevator. He looked around, as if searching for someone, though it was clear they were alone.
The elevator doors opened.
But when she turned toward him after they were inside with the doors shut, he growled. “Not in the elevator.” His chest heaved. “We’re doing this right.”
Theo bit down hard on her lower lip, her free hand a tight fist.
The doors seemed to open in slow motion. Striding out with her hand in his, Yakov unlocked the apartment door. She walked in first, turned the instant she heard him shut the door behind himself.
His hands on her hips, his big body shoving her against the wall. Claws pricked her hips. “I’m not in control, Theo.” A rumble of sound, his eyes no longer in any way human. “I could hurt you and fuck if I’ll ever do that.”
Theo, her skin so hot it burned, flattened both hands against the wall lest she try to rip off his clothing. “I can protect myself.” All at once, the pen that had been sitting on a small table close to the door was hovering in front of his eye, point forward.
Theo could do other things with her small power, but this one tended to make the most dramatic impact. And she wanted impact, wanted this bear to stop trying to protect her, wanted him to take her with the ferocity of the creature that lived under his skin.
Grabbing the pen out of the air, Yakov threw it aside without breaking eye contact. He shifted his hand instead, to grip the side of her neck. She felt claws. Should’ve been afraid.
But her body clenched, the place between her thighs gushing with dampness.
“How far?” A harsh question, the roughness of it making her nipples ache.
The runaway train barreled on. “As far as you want.”
Chapter 42
Tactile contact must be forbidden except for practical purposes such as medical assistance and the maintenance of children.
Sexual contact needs to be verboten. It creates too much sensation—and we have agreed that any sensation is a gateway to emotion.
—Early discussion on the possible structure of Silence (Mercury compound, circa 1947)
YAKOV WANTED NOTHING more than to shove up her dress, rip off her panties, then drop to his knees in front of her, thrust her knees apart, put his hands on her ass, and go to town on the slick heat of her pussy. He could taste her arousal on his tongue, knew she’d come explosively for him.
But regardless of all Theo had said, he was very conscious that the balance here was skewed. She’d been in Silence most of her life, had no idea what to do with the attraction that buffeted them both. He was the experienced one, knew they couldn’t go from zero to a hundred in a matter of minutes.
Especially when Theo already had a manic look about her.
She was riding overload.
Yet he knew she might just stab him for real if he tried to act the protector. He’d have to walk a very fine line.
Lightly squeezing the side of her throat, he then rubbed his thumb over the flushed cream of her skin. Her eyes were all black again, and now she shivered.