Page 23 of Lord of Pain
"I- I'm tired," I stumble over the words, my tongue clumsy and everything south of my waist screaming at me to shut the hell up. "We should talk tomorrow. You'll- uh. You'll know more about the men with guns then, right?"
If he touches me I am so screwed. I will jump him and climb that gorgeous body like a redwood.
Roman lets out a low groan, which is very flattering. Stepping back, he takes a deep breath. "You're going to regret that," he says in a low, raspy tone. "You'll be in bed tonight, alone, just your fingers and your thoughts of me and I'm sure you're going to use both to get off. Or…"
He does a thing so perverse and unnatural that I nearly come, right here in the hallway. Roman chastely kisses my cheek.
"You know where I am if you change your mind," he whispers, opening the door behind me. It's another guest bedroom. "Goodnight."
Whistling, he puts his hands in his pockets and strolls over to his bedroom, closing the door with a wink.
I close my door too, with a weird flush of victory. His 'hands in the pockets trick' didnothingto hide his enormous erection.
Chapter Ten
In which there is brunch, color-coordinated vegetables, and flamethrowers.
Violet…
Damn him.I don't know if Roman managed to get that monster erection of his to go away, but I tossed and turned in bed all night, hearing the dark, purring sin in his voice. How can a man promise so many filthy things with just his tone?
I've had a couple of boyfriends, but never once had the kind of sex that's so good that you want to rent advertising space in Times Square to proclaim it. With Roman, I suspect every orgasm would be worthy of a full-blown fireworks show over the Statue of Liberty.
Wandering through Secret Sins, hidden behind my mask, I watched everyone unabashedly enjoy themselves. There was an utter lack of inhibition, they had freedom to explore any outrageous impulse with no concern about what other people think. I'm not sure what to do with the unwanted interest this stirs in me, so I shove it into my mental filing system under, "Things that should be examined much later."
This is unprofessional. I hired this man to kill Jack. Roman is not exactly boyfriend material and I'm not the type who visits sex clubs.
It's nearly 11 AM by the time I drag the twins out of bed. Roman and whoever else is here have finished clanging around downstairs. I can't tell if they were demolishing the kitchen or butchering an ox in the garage, but it was an unsettling combination of noises and I'd rather not know how they were made.
Stepping gingerly down the stairs, I head toward the living room where Roman's talking to Ivan and another man, a blond who looks very similar to him. I remember from my research this is probably his brother Alexsey. Based on the noises they were making before, I'm deeply grateful none of them are covered in blood.
"Hey gentlemen, I know we're closer to brunch, but would you like me to make something to eat? I'd like to thank you for swooping in last night with that rather impressive rescue." I ask with forced good cheer. I have a feeling that with these men, some acting is necessary. Like being whisked out of my apartment with my sisters in the dead of night to avoid an unnamed threat is perfectly normal.
The blond lopes over and takes my hand. "Hello." He raises my hand to kiss it before I ungracefully pull it free. "You're as beautiful as your name, Violet. I'm Alexsey."
"My goodness," I smile sweetly. "And here I thought Roman had all the game in your family, but clearly, you're going for the title."
"Oh?" Alexsey pretends to look wounded. "You mean attempting to seduce you in the middle of the living room is moving a little too fast?"
I hold my thumb and forefinger up with a tiny bit of space between them.
Rose and Iris clatter down the stairs and skid to a halt behind me, already starting their patented identical twin thing.
"Hi," coos Iris "I'm Rose."
"And I'm Iris," Rose says, with a limpid gaze.
Oh, for christ's sake, these two…
Before Alex can step in and smear his smarmy charm all over them, Roman gives a deep chuckle. "That's actually vice versa." He points to Rose. "That's Rose," and nodding at Iris, "and Iris. Why do I think this is the start of some insidious twin torture?"
How did Roman know which is which so fast? It takes most people months to figure it out. Rose has a little birthmark behind her left ear, maybe he noticed it last night. Or, maybe he just somehow absorbed the knowledge like everything else he seems to know about me and my family.
"Oh yes," I say wryly. "Their next move would be to dazzle Alexsey with their charm and fabulous looks until there's no way he can tell which sister is which. Then, they'll start screwing with his head and making him question his sanity. He will call one Rose, and she will act deeply hurt and weep, 'I am Iris! It's like you don't know me at all!'" I wail, adopting their aggrieved tone.
"We don't do that!" Rose lies.
"That would be extremely childish," Iris says loftily. "We have entirelynewways to fuck with men now."
