It wasn’t something I had ever allowed myself to think about, but Gabriel pointed it out, and I couldn’t help but hope it was true.
The door to my room opened, and I jumped a little from the noise. I looked out to the doorway of the ensuite bathroom I was currently in, and it wasn’t long before Nikolay came into view, wearing a dark blue shirt and black gym shorts.
His forehead glistened with sweat.
It was obvious he had just gotten back from working out, and my mouth felt dry looking at him.
Oh, fuck.
What was it about this look that was making me all hot and bothered?
I squirmed a little, and Nikolay’s lips lifted in a small smirk as he walked over to me.
He handed me a cup filled with water. “Spit, baby.”
I rinsed my mouth, getting rid of the toothpaste, my eyes never straying from him.
Once I was done, Nikolay came up to me without a word. He grabbed my hips and lifted me up until I was sitting on the counter, and he was standing between my legs.
“Your eyes are a dangerous thing, princess.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. I would burn this entire godforsaken world to the ground just for you to look at me with those eyes of yours.”
He made me sound powerful.
Gabriel’s words played in my mind over and over.
Nikolay bent down, and I knew he was going to kiss me. I didn’t know what came over me, but I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him away. His surprise made it easy. I jumped off the counter.
He angled his head to the side as he took me in. “Princess?”
I hesitated, unsure of what I was going to say. “I don’t want to play right now.”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
“I don’t want to have”—I cleared my throat and moved a little closer to him—“sex with you right now.”
His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Then he closed it.
I tried to keep from showing so much on my face. I didn’t know why I said it. I did want to be with him. I wanted him to kiss me.
But he called my eyes dangerous, and I wondered just how powerful I really was. Gabriel said I was important to them. Didn’t that mean I was powerful?
And how powerful was it that I was the one to control this bomb that was Nikolay Sokolov in the palm of my hand?
He was still standing there, a dumbfounded look on his face. “You’re saying no?” he asked.
I bit my lip, nodding.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes briefly. My eyes traced the way the muscles of his arms strained from the move. I resisted the urge to squirm. He was just so beautiful, and I couldn’t believe I was actually saying no to him.
My mouth felt dry, and it was taking everything in me not to take the words back.
“Go eat, princess.”
“What?”