Her expression went soft and she moved one hand up to let her fingers trace over his beard. She seemed to like his facial hair and he loved how the soft scruff made her shiver. He wanted to do that right now, to slip his hands beneath her dress and caress her tight nipples. They tormented him, poking out from the thin silk of her dress and begging for his lips. Not getting a raging hard-on was becoming more difficult by the second, but he didn’t need to give the other couples watching them and smiling the wrong kind of show.
The song ended and they stopped, their chests pressed together as she smiled up at him. Unable to help himself, he lifted her for a kiss. As her mouth opened beneath his the group of drunk men over in the corner started to throw out ribald remarks about their kiss. Anger filled Dimitri and he was moving out of the patio area to go beat their filthy mouths shut without thought.
How fucking dare they even look at his woman?
“Fuck,” Rya said from behind him and a moment later she was in front of him and jumped up, lacing her hands around his neck then wrapping her legs around his waist.
He froze and looked down at her, his anger still beating through is blood. “Rya, let me go. I need to teach those yeblans to not talk about my woman.”
She shocked him when she jerked his head back with her small fist in his hair and bit him on the side of the neck hard. He automatically grabbed her ass and she pulled back, glaring at him. In an angry whisper she said, “Fuck that shit. The last thing I want to happen is have you go to jail for killing a bunch of drunk pricks. Let it go. Take me back to our room and fuck me instead. Please, Dimitri. We have so little time together. Look around you. You’re scaring people.”
Two of the drunk men in the corner were laughing, but a few of them were attempting to shut their companions up, casting worried glances his way. There were other couples there and they definitely looked scared. A few had their cell phones out and he gritted his teeth, realizing his woman spoke the truth. This was not Russia. While he would get out of any legal trouble that came his way, it would waste what time he had with Rya and leave a paper trail leading back to her.
He took a deep breath and turned, still carrying her wrapped around him as they left the bar. “Do not do that again. You could be hurt stepping between men fighting. And why did you bite my neck?”
To his surprise she laughed. “My step-dad and his friends have short tempers. I’ve seen my Mom have to do that with Rock a couple times. She says biting his neck is like biting a pissed off horse’s ear. It makes them stop and pay attention to something other than their anger.”
Shaking his head, he let Rya slide down his front when they reached the outdoors. “I see where you get your foolish bravery from.”
She socked him in the arm. “Don’t make fun of my mom.”
Overhead, a brilliant star-filled sky stretched out over them, and he picked up their pace, wanting to get back to their room and give Rya her present. He’d ordered it last night and received a call from the hotel that it had arrived and had been placed in the safe in their suite as he’d requested. It was extravagant, but he had more money than he could spend on himself in ten lifetimes. The baubles were his way of making sure that Rya not only knew how much he valued the time she’d given him, but that she would be taken care of financially. If she sold his gifts she’d never have to work another day in her life. It gave him peace and eased his heart to know he’d provided that for her.
By the time they reached their room Rya had gone quiet and when he stole glances at her the look on her face was melancholy.
Swiping his card and opening the door, he held it for her as she walked in. “Little Rya, where is your smile? Have I made you sad?”
She shook her head and pasted on a bright, false smile. “No, I’m fine. Just having a hard time taking my own advice and living in the moment.”
“Come here, zaika moya, and I will make sure you know nothing but me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Letting out an unsteady breath, Rya devoured Dimitri with her gaze, wanting to memorize every inch of the ruggedly beautiful man watching her just as close. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man and she was determined not to waste a moment with him. Thoughts of leaving him tried to intrude, but she pushed them back, desperate to not think of the pain ahead of her.
“Dimitri?”
“Yes?”
She flushed and looked down. The fantasy she was about to tell him had been one of her favorites for a long, long time, but she’d never found a man she trusted enough, who was kinky enough not to call her weird or suggest therapy to indulge in it.