I tore my gaze from his face and glanced out the window. “Why are we headed toward my apartment?”

“I want to see where you live.”

Just in case, I’d stowed anything grift-y, and I’d told my family it was off limits. “My place is lame.”

He brought our foreheads together in that way I loved. It made me feel connected to him. Too connected. “You won’t be there much longer, Vika.” Because he wanted to do something about my living situation!

“If you’re so determined to tie me up, you should know I’m fresh out of bondage gear.”

“You’d be surprised what I could improvise with. All I need is a scarf, maybe a couple of belts. I’m sure someone with your interest in clothes will have the items I require.”

“If not for sex, then why would you want to tie me up?”

“To get to the dessert I truly crave.” His cock pulsated beneath me.

I just stopped myself from rubbing my ass against it. “What exactly does that mean?”

He held my gaze as he rasped, “That means I am going to kiss your wet little pussy until your thighs tremble and you drench my tongue. I won’t stop until you scream for me.”

I swallowed. Despite my misgivings, I was so torn.

Because part of me desperately needed a screaming orgasm from this man.

Then reality returned. “I told you I wasn’t interested.”

“Denying me again? Why?”

My cheeks heated as I admitted, “I can’t come from oral sex.”

“Not all of your blushes are the same. I’m going to learn every one.” He reached up and began to pull pins from my hair.

“I’m serious, Dmitri.” I jutted my chin. “Statistically, I’m not alone.”

“You say you can’t simply because you never have before?” As he unbraided my hair, his watchful gaze followed the movements of his hands. I got the impression he’d never freed a woman’s hair before, and wanted to get it right.

“After the last two nights, do I believe you could make oral sex feel amazing? Absolutely. But I’m just not built to orgasm from it. The average woman takes twenty minutes to come like that, and I’m not average.”

“You are in no way average, moy ángel.” Another braid loosened.

“Which means I would be stressed out because you would be down there wearing out your tongue and inwardly cursing my name. So when would you call it a defeat? We could set a timer.”

Once he’d unbound my hair, he ran his fingers through it. “I see what the problem is.”

“What’s that?”

He leaned in to murmur at my ear, “You believe I would be eating you out for your pleasure instead of for mine.”

CHAPTER 17

I hadn’t said my safe word when he’d pressed me back naked in my bed. I’d remained silent as he’d used a scarf to tie my wrists to the headboard.

But now, when he snapped one of my leather belts, I was tempted to scream, “Cognac!”

“I don’t know about this.” So why was my voice so throaty?

“You know your choices.” Still dressed, he stalked around the bed, his eyes dark and fierce, like an animal surveying a meal it was about to devour.

I had called him a beast just two nights ago. Felt like ages had passed.

When he licked his lips, I shivered and my nipples puckered tighter.

His predator’s gaze locked on them, noting my response. “Your body wants more. Safe word or surrender. One or the other.”

Fucking Russki. In the club, I hadn’t known what I was getting into, but now I did. Refusing to flinch, I followed his gaze from my aching breasts to my hair fanning out, then to my eyes, to my lips. Back to my breasts, before dipping lower . . .

“Bend your knees and bring your heels up against your ass.”

“We can do other things, Dmitri,” I said, though I’d brought my heels up.

He wrapped my braided belt around the middle of my thigh and my shin, securing one leg in a bent position. “Nyet. You said I’d inwardly curse your name? You’ll outwardly curse mine. Understand me, Vika, I will kiss you for as long as I like.” Then he secured my other leg with a second belt. “If you come without permission, I will keep tonguing you with no care for how sensitive you’ll be.”

Though this sounded titillating, I wasn’t sold. My head fell to the side, and I sighed. I should just fake it.

Brett had gone down on me one night early in our relationship, and I’d known it wasn’t in the cards, but he’d kept trying, so I’d faked it.

And he’d still massaged his jaw and waggled it with an adorable grin that had made me feel awful. Sex shouldn’t hurt.

Dmitri Sevastyan was a mark; why should I care how he felt? “You can still back out.”

“I’ve made sure you cannot.” He’d bound me tight as hell.

I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Or, rather, that he was doing this to me.

“Unless you use your safe word,” he added. “Otherwise I won’t relent until you’ve come so many times I pity your tender pussy.”

“You expect multiple times?”

“The only thing I expect of you this night is your submission.” He sat beside my waist, facing my feet, stretching a possessive arm over my torso.

His fingers brushed over my mound. “Never remove this light hair of yours. It drives me wild.” He ogled me so close I could feel his breaths. “Let your legs fall wide. Show me where you’re wet.”