Chapter Five
With her heart pounding in her chest, Juli woke with a start. Memories of last night flashed through her mind. The two men attacking her, then the Russian dude from the market appearing out of nowhere, and … sex. He'd rescued her, and then, oh fuck. She and her Russian, Daniil, had sex. Lots and lots of spectacular sex. After scrubbing her hands over her face, she blinked her eyes clear. She was still in his bed, but now it was morning. Rays of light came from around the closed blinds to light the room. The elegant gray and white sheets over her were nothing like the bright colors she had on her own bed. Holy shit, she'd been right about the room being big. Actually, big was an understatement. She sat up to take in the huge space. Pale sandstone walls and pristine honey colored polished timber floors, along with the spare decorations around the room, made it look like some kind of display home for the rich and famous.
Taking a deep breath, she shored up her courage and turned to look at the other half of the bed. Her breath caught at the sight Daniil made, lying there with the sheet down around his waist. He'd looked hot in the black shirt and pants he'd worn at the market, but with no clothes on he was devastating. Her lips quirked when she noticed that even in sleep his face looked strong and harsh, as though, even while sleeping he couldn't fully relax.
As he was lying on his back, she could see all the tattoos she'd caught glimpses of last night. Her gaze trailed over his pecs and the large wings with the words inked above, but in the low light she still couldn't quite make out what it said. Was it even in English? She squinted. Nope, definitely not English. She guessed it was Russian and gave up trying to work out what it meant. She’d have to ask him later.
With a frown, she closed her eyes. What was she doing? She didn't want a man! Any man. She was going to rock being Miss Independent for the rest of her days. No matter how good looking, or how fantastic at sex the man was.
At the thought of having sex with him, her pussy came awake. Dammit, she shouldn't want sex for a month after last night! Yet her body knew who was lying before her and wanted more of what they'd done overnight. How many times had he taken her? She'd stopped trying to keep count after their hot and steamy shower. Speaking of the bathroom, her full bladder was demanding attention.
She slipped from the bed and padded over the smooth floorboards toward the bathroom. She'd barely seen it last night, Daniil had kept her very busy and completely focused on him. She flipped a switch, and with a gasp, she clung to the door frame. Bathroom didn't seem like the right word to describe this room. It was bigger than her bedroom at the share house, and by the looks of it, made entirely from marble. With another deep breath, she forced her feet to cross the floor toward the toilet. Once she did her thing, she washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She'd put her hair in two braids yesterday morning as she normally did, but they were now all but destroyed. Between getting them wet in the shower, then all the action on the bed, she wasn’t surprised. She tugged the hair ties out and began to finger comb out the tangles the best she could. She fortunately rarely wore makeup, so her face was as fresh and clean as always. But her body was a different story. A large love-bite sat on her shoulder, and several other smaller bites were scattered over her chest and torso. Bugger, looked like she'd be wearing a shirt over her bikini for the next few days.
A knock on the door had her jumping with a squeal.
"Solnyshka moto. Sorry, Julietta, I didn't mean to frighten you. Are you all right?"
She spun to see him leaning against the door frame, looking way too sexy for his own good. He'd not bothered with clothes, and his dick was thick and hard, pointing at her like it was trying to show Daniil where he needed to go. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as her gaze followed a ripple of movement over his chest and abs.
"Um, what happened last night?"
She needed to focus, dammit. She forced her gaze up to his face. His blue eyes were hard as he frowned at her. "You don’t remember what we did?"
Like she'd ever forget the way that man could move between the sheets.
"I remember that. In fact, I can remember everything except for the part where you 'dealt with' my attackers. I need to report them to the police, and they need to pay for they tried to do."
He nodded slowly as he ran a hand through his short blond hair. Her fingers twitched at the memory of running through it last night. Her gaze dropped when the flex of his muscles again caught her attention.
"I took care of them. That's all you need to know. The police don’t need to be told anything. I promise, they won’t ever bother you again."
She frowned up at him. He sounded pretty damn sure of himself, which had her even more curious about how he’d handled them. "What did you do?"
He shook his head. "Krasivaya, it's nothing you need to worry about."
He kept calling her that, and she hated not knowing what it meant. "Krasivaya?"
"Beautiful, it’s a Russian endearment."
She nodded as her ovaries threatened to explode. He thought she was beautiful. Of course, he was also most likely a criminal who'd done something horrible to those men last night. She licked her lips when the silence dragged on.
"Don't suppose you could give me a lift home?"
He frowned, and his expression turned dark. Juli's palms began to sweat as fear tickled up her spine. Had he made the most of her situation last night to kidnap her? To keep her locked up here as some sort of sex slave? She backed away from him, but had nowhere to go. When her butt hit the cold marble wall, she was reminded that she was as naked as he was. Her gaze darted around the room, but there was no other door, aside from the one he was blocking.
"Please don't hurt me. I just want—"
A low growl cut off her words and left her cringing and whimpering.
"I will never harm you, Julietta. You have no need to fear me."
Yeah, that is easier said than done.
He prowled into the room toward her and suddenly, all those sexy muscles took on new meaning. He could hurt her, easily, if he wanted to.
"Then why can't I go home?"
"Because I still have plans for you."
****
Over his life Daniil had striven to strike fear into many people. Julietta was not one of them. He hated that she was cowering in his bathroom naked and afraid of what he was planning to do with her. He moved to stand in front of her before he reached for her. He heard her breath hitch and her body stiffened as he cupped her cheek in his palm.
"Solnyshka moto, I vow to you that you need not fear me. Anyone who hurts you, is a different matter. But for you, I will always be your protector."
He sighed as emotions flitted over her face. He could tell she didn't believe him.
"I need to get to work."
He doubted that, but he nodded anyway. "It's still early. What time do you need to be at work?"
She hadn't asked how he knew her name yet, and he didn't want her to know he'd been through her purse and had seen that she was spending her afternoon at the hairdressers today. Closing her eyes, she leaned into his hand for a moment before, with a deep breath, she pulled away from his touch.
"Thank you for saving me last night, and for everything else. I had fun with you, but I need to go now."
A strange tightness filled his chest. Julietta was blowing him off? After the night they shared? Was she insane? Although, she had been attacked last night. Honestly, he’d been surprised at how calm she was at waking to find herself in his bed. Maybe this was simply some kind of delayed reaction to her nearly being assaulted.
He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to stick with his “only fuck them once” rule.
"I want to see you again."
Her eyes filled with moisture, but she didn't let any tears fall, just shook her head.
"I'm not looking for a boyfriend, Daniil. I just got free, and I don't want to get trapped again."
He couldn't hold back the wince. Would she feel trapped under his protection? It wouldn't be his intention, but he wasn't sure how she'd see it. She wasn't from his world, didn't understand she'd need to be guarded like the jewel she was. Of course, after what he'd done for her last night, she'd find herself with protection now regardless of what she thought. Daniil would just have to make sure they knew to be careful not to let her see them as they kept her safe.
"This chemistry we have? I've never felt anything like it before, Julietta. I don't want to throw it away without seeing where it could go. What did your ex do to you, that has you trying so hard to remain an island?"
She shuddered and sucked in a breath.
"I really wish you wouldn't ask so many questions. My ex hurt me. I trusted him, and he hurt me. He wasn't the first person in my life to do that, but I think it's time I try to limit who I let close enough to me to be able to cause me more pain."
What had his poor Julietta suffered through in her life to give her such an outlook? He didn’t think she was simply scared of letting him close and him breaking her heart. At least she wasn’t only afraid for her heart. She didn’t need to be, as that's not how men in his family worked. Some might say they barely knew each other, but the way they fit together, the off the charts chemistry? That all told Daniil that she was his special one, and he had no intention of letting get away from him. He could hardly believe how much his mindset had changed since he’d first met this little purple haired surfing photographer. Despite never wanting to settle down, he now couldn’t wait to do just that. With her.
"Okay, how about you take a shower while I'll get some breakfast sorted out? Then, I'll drive you home."
She gave him a sad smile and nodded. Yeah, she didn't really want him to walk away, any more than he wanted to leave. He cupped her face in his palms and kissed her deeply, letting her feel his desire for her.
"I'll grab you one of my shirts to wear with your shorts, and then I'll head downstairs. Come find me when you're ready."
Despite it being the last thing he wanted to do, he forced himself to leave her. He grabbed one of his plain black t-shirts and brought it to her, along with her panties and shorts.
"Thank you."
With a smile he didn't feel, he left her alone in his bathroom. What he really wanted to do was to help wash her sexy little body and take her again in the shower. She'd been sexy as fuck last night all wet and slippery against him. He sighed as he quickly dressed and headed downstairs. Not only did he need to put together breakfast, but he needed to arrange for a bodyguard for her before she finished in the shower.
His day was already busy with work, so as much as he hated Julietta forcing him to release her, it was for the best. He couldn't afford to take the day off to spend it in bed fucking his girl. At least, not today. Although, he'd be making sure he could, and would, do exactly that very soon. He was looking forward to testing out which of them had more stamina. After last night, he wasn't sure who'd win.