She pushed him onto his back before climbing over him and straddling his waist. Hunger burned in her eyes. “Are you sure you want me to be good? I’m so good at being bad.”
She was right, she was excellent at being bad.
He touched her chin. “Tell the team watching the house to be on the ready. We’ll make our move tonight.”
She texted instructions to the others and then tossed aside her phone before taking his hand and sucking on his thumb. “But first…”
Reaching up, he moaned as he opened the shirt she was wearing and then tugged on her, forcing her to bend so he could kiss her. First, he’d fuck his mate, and then he’d kill Rurik.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Liberty stood before Rurik in the kitchen as the smallest of whispers, deep in the back of her mind, told her to avoid doing anything else stupid and to just stand in place.
Ignoring the rational thought, Liberty gave in to her impulses.
She grabbed Rurik’s T-shirt and yanked him to her, turning her head enough that their lips met. It was as if someone had hooked her lips to jumper cables. A jolt of pleasure shot through her, and she moaned into his mouth as their tongues greeted one another.
You’re doing it again, she thought. You’re losing your damn mind over this man.
The flash of clarity left her jerking back. “Sorry.”
He glanced down at her hand, which was still clutching his shirt. The slowest of smiles graced his lips—lips she knew the taste of well. If the man wanted to save himself from her advances, he was going about it all wrong with that grin. If he had an ounce of self-preservation, he’d run in the other direction and never look back.
He simply stood there, way too close, smelling way too good.
It was as if Russia had manufactured a sex god, setting it free among mortals. Part of her wondered if she should send the Kremlin a thank you for letting him loose in America. Another part of her wondered if the Kremlin should have been forced to classify the man as a danger to women who wanted to keep their hormones under control and their panties on.
Pull it together, she thought, seconds before she was about to give in and start taking articles of clothing off, preferably his.
“S-sorry.” She released his shirt.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” said Bill as he laughed with his mouth full of what she was guessing was his second cupcake. “I interrupted a solo moment he was about to have with himself while he was thinking of you back at our new bachelor pad. Just like I said it would be, he didn’t even need any of my girlie mags. And I already warned you about making sure he washed his hands. Guess you don’t care where those hands have been.”
Rurik lowered his head and sighed again.
Liberty thought about what Bill was saying and then chuckled nervously. “He doesn’t have to make it a solo event. I’m willing to assist.”
Rurik’s gaze flung back to her, and his brows shot up.
Bill tipped his head and appeared far off in thought for a second. He then licked his finger. “Liberty Bell, Gus says I gotta go back to our place and to bring him some good stuff to eat. He says Rurik is gonna stay here with you. I think Gus wants me to give you both alone time so you can get to the sexy stuff. He should really just say that. I’m working on getting him to embrace his wild, kinky side. I should have Frenchie give him the sex talk. I’d ask Russia, but I’m starting to think he forgot what to do in the bedroom.”
Rurik made a move to go at him, but Liberty shook her head and moved to the pies. “He’s fine. Want to help me gather this up for him to take to your house?”
Rurik simply stared at her.
“Hello?” she asked.
He jerked. “What?”
Bill laughed. “I’ll help, Liberty Bell. He can go back to staring at your ass. Though I should be recording this. Duke would love watching it later.”
Sighing, Rurik glanced back at Bill. “I will cram an apple pie up your—”
Bill smiled and cupcake fell out of his mouth. “From what I heard, Duke was just as bad when he met his mate.”
Rurik glanced slowly at Liberty, a certain nervous energy filling the small space between them.
“What do you mean by mate?” asked Liberty.
“N-nothing,” stammered Rurik. “He means nothing.”
“Rurik?” she asked, concern filling her. “Are you okay?”
Bill laughed lightly. “He just needs a minute to let it all sink in fully and to figure out a great way to explain it to you. I think he caught a case of denial on the way over here. Happens to all his buddies. The government gave them big, um, chickens, but small brains when it comes to the women they’re meant for. I swear they spend more time trying to talk themselves out of the truth of what’s before their eyes than just going with their guts. If they went with their guts, their chickens would be much happier, much sooner.”
“Let what sink in?” she questioned, choosing to ignore the rest of Bill’s statement. “I’m so lost.”
“Nothing,” said Rurik, the word coming out as more of a question than a statement.
Shrugging, Bill focused his attention on Liberty. “I hope you have a lot of patience, Liberty Bell. You’re gonna need it with this one.”
Rurik swallowed hard as he stepped closer to Liberty.
Knowing she had next to no willpower when it came to the man, she craftily darted around him, pointing to Bill. She nodded toward a small shelf to the right of the sink. “Can you grab the basket off the shelf and hand it to me?”
He did as he was asked, and she began filling the basket with cupcakes and cookies. Within a minute, she was out of space in the basket, but did her best to creatively squeeze
