His face was unexpectedly serious as he said, “All this? Is nothing. You are more amazing than any of this.”
His words made her yearn for something she could never have, so she tried to joke with him to lighten the mood. “More amazing than the Grand Canyon?”
“Da.” He sighed and kissed her head. “I am sorry for scaring you.”
“What?”
“I lost my temper, but it was not you I was angry with. Was me.”
The memory of his rage made her tense. “Why were you so mad?”
He turned her so she straddled his lap, facing him then cupped her face in his hands. “I wanted to slide into you without condom, to feel only you.”
“Well, we both have our health records and you were approved to bid at the auction so I know you’re clean and I have an IUD. If you want to go bareback I’m fine with it.”
He closed his eyes and hauled her to him so he could rest his face on her breasts. “You do not understand. I have never gone without condom. Never. I want things with you that I do not want with any other woman. You upset my world, little Rya. You make me want things that would lead to your death.”
The pain in his voice tore at her and she held him close, rubbing his head and trying to soothe him. “Hey, no sad thoughts, okay? We’re living in the moment. If you want to take me without a condom then do it, if not, that’s okay as well. I don’t want to worry about tomorrow. I want to enjoy the fact that right here, right now, you’re my Master and I’m your submissive.”
His chest expanded against her and he blew out a harsh breath. “Are you hungry?”
Now that he mentioned it, she was starving. “Yep.”
He stood up and lifted her with him, the evening chill making her shiver. Above them, the first stars had started to come out and she cursed herself for forgetting the time. “Shit. Dimitri, is my laptop still in my luggage?”
“Da.” He looked down at her as he carried her inside and into the bathroom. “You need?”
“I…yeah, I do.” She bit her lip, wondering how she could ask him for privacy without offending him. “Can I have a few minutes alone?”
“Why?”
“There’s something I need to do.”
He tensed. “What is it, Rya?”
The suspicion in his gaze hurt. “I just need some time alone, okay? Can you give me fifteen minutes?”
Her adoring lover slowly disappeared as the cold, hard man that helped run a criminal empire reappeared. “I will go.”
Without looking back at her he grabbed a towel and quickly dried off. She grabbed one as well and followed him back into the bedroom. Coldness radiated off of him as he quickly dressed, jerking his clothes on with no expression on his face. Fuck, he must think the worst, but she couldn’t tell him what she had to do. It wasn’t her place or his business.
“Dimitri? Are you mad at me?”
No response, just more silence while he pulled his clothes then went for the stairs. “I will be back.”
“When?”
He didn’t respond, just left her with her heart aching. Shit, why was he overreacting? It wasn’t like she was going to…
The loud thumps of his boots going downstairs felt like physical blows and she had to sniff back a tear. Damn it, she never got attached this quickly to any man, let alone to the point where his displeasure made her ache. She wanted to call to him, to tell him she didn’t need privacy, but she couldn’t. This was more important than his feelings. Still, when the downstairs door slammed she wiped a few tears away.
Double shit.
She hadn’t considered how it would look to his paranoid mind. Chewing her lip, she tugged on her one change of clothes from her luggage then took her laptop over to her bed. After logging on she opened up her chat window, scrubbed the tears from her cheeks and plastered on a big, fake smile.
Chapter Twelve
Dimitri removed his boots at the front door, trying to dismiss an unfamiliar pang of guilt at spying on Rya. He was only doing what he had to do to make sure he was safe. While he doubted Rya was going to hurt him, he couldn’t imagine why she wouldn’t want him to see something. Whatever she had to hide was something she was either ashamed of, or something that would make him angry.
The sounds of her moving around upstairs settled, then her soft, husky voice traveled down the staircase. He moved slowly, distributing his weight to make the least amount of noise possible. Sneaking up on Rya was easy, and he paused at the bottom of the stairs where he could hear her voice and a man’s voice.
Rya said, “Come on, Mark, I’m not showing you my breasts.”
The man laughed, his voice coming out slightly distorted from whatever device she was speaking to him on. “Awww, come on, baby. Don’t be like that. You know I think it’s cute when you pout.”