“He eventually killed her in a drunken rage, jealous because he’d thought she’d been flirting with one of my teachers during a parent-teacher conference. He was always getting jealous about something and it was always stupid reasons. This time wasn’t any different from the others, not at first anyway. But he started ranting and raving about how she didn’t love him enough to give him a child of his own and just full-on freaking out. I’d always been pretty invisible to him, someone he had to deal with because I was my mom’s daughter. That night…he looked at me differently. Like he wanted to kill me. I saw it in his eyes and my mom must have too. I didn’t realize it until later, but she started provoking him, turning all his rage back onto her by admitting that she’d been flirting—when she hadn’t. Then she screamed at me to leave and… I did. I ran to a neighbor’s for help. By the time the police showed up it was too late. She was dead and he committed suicide by cop. Even at the end he was too weak to just kill himself.” Her voice broke and she was surprised she’d been able to get it all out.

Roman’s expression softened so much, it nearly shredded her. “Honey,” he murmured, taking her laptop and putting it on the coffee table before pulling her into his lap.

She went willingly, savoring his comforting embrace as she laid her head on his shoulder. “I hated her for a long time, hated that she wasn’t strong enough to leave him, that I wasn’t enough of a reason for her to get away. I eventually realized that it had nothing to do with me. The aftermath of everything that happened, the way the cops acted as if his murderous rampage was a big shock to the community enraged me. To say it left a bad taste in my mouth where law enforcement is concerned is an understatement. I get that the majority of people in law enforcement are good and care about the people in their community—intellectually. But some days, like this Monday, all those buried feelings clawed their way to the surface, terrifying me.”

His eyebrows drew together and he reached up with his hand, cupping her cheek and jaw, stroking over her skin with his thumb. The roughness of his thumb sent a shiver rolling through her. “No wonder you ran straight to Vadim’s.”

She shrugged. “In hindsight I probably could have handled things better but…it was like that sixteen year old just took over and escaping was all I could focus on.”

“A sixteen year old with the ability to steal cars.” His voice was wryly amused.

She laughed at the statement, the light humor taking her off guard and exactly what she needed. She didn’t want to throw a pity party for herself or take a long trip down memory lane. She’d just wanted Roman to understand why she wasn’t letting this go, why she wouldn’t just sit back and let the cops take over. Obviously she wouldn’t get in anyone’s way but if she could find something for them to use, she would do it. “When I moved in with my aunt, one of the neighborhood boys taught me how to pick locks and steal cars among other things. I think he wanted to impress me.”

“Such a bad girl,” he murmured, the sudden drop in his voice sending a rush of heat between her legs. His tone and the heat in his eyes were so blatant she felt it all the way to her toes.

“And you were probably a boy scout.”

His lips twitched up, but he didn’t respond as his hand left her cheek and dipped between the lapels of her robe. She sucked in a breath as his big palm settled over one of her breasts, cupping it gently.

He kept his gaze pinned to hers as he oh-so-slowly rubbed this thumb over her already hardening nipple, sending shards of sensation cascading through her. “You wearing those Wonder Woman panties?”

She nodded, her eyes going heavy-lidded as he tweaked the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “Want to see?” Surprised she’d even been able to find her voice, she grinned when his eyes went molten.

Wordlessly he slid her off his lap so that she was sitting on the couch. She spread her legs when he knelt in front of her, wondering what he planned. He’d told her exactly what he wanted earlier but she wasn’t sure if he’d been serious. She really, desperately hoped he was.

He tugged the soft belt free before pushing the robe off her shoulders. It pooled down around her waist as her breasts and torso were exposed. When he fully parted the bottom part of it, spreading it open so that all of her was bared to him, she felt the strongest sense of power as he raked a hungry gaze over her. His lips twitched again in that adorable way of his when they landed on her undergarments. She had a lot of lace and silk but she preferred her boy-short style panties and was glad he liked them too.

He hooked his fingers under the elastic of them. “Lift up,” he ordered softly.

Not needing to be told twice, she did. He slowly pulled them down her legs, tossing them behind him. If she’d thought he looked hungry before, it was a whole different story when she was fully bared to him.

He lifted one of her already spread legs by the ankle and kissed her inner calf. She felt incredibly exposed, heat flooding between her thighs and her nipples tightening to almost painful points at the sensation of being so exposed to him. Her lower abdomen tightened as he held her leg like that, kissing her and watching her intermittently. As if he wanted to see her every reaction.

Slowly, he made his way up her leg, raking his teeth over her skin then following up with little nibbles and kisses.

She slid her fingers through his short, buzzed hair. It wasn’t long enough to grab onto so she just clutched his head. When he reached her upper inner thigh, he leaned into the juncture of her thighs and inhaled deeply.

Her face flamed at what he was doing. It was such a raw, sexual act. Then he shuddered, his big body just trembling in a way that turned her on even more. As he’d been kissing his way up her body she’d felt nervous, almost weird about being so exposed like this, but at his reaction something shifted inside her.

She might be naked and in a vulnerable position, but something told her she had all the power right now.

Shifting slightly, he kept one hand pressing her thigh open then leaned down and peppered kisses over her lower abdomen, right above her mound. Teasing her. His breath was warm against her skin as he blazed a hot path just over her most sensitive area.

Her inner walls clenched and she tightened her fingers against his head. “Are you seeing how long you can tease me?” she whispered, her voice raspy, and really wishing he was just as naked as she was. She wanted to see every inch of him right now.

He chuckled against her, but didn’t look up as he turned his head and grazed his teeth over the section of skin where her inner thigh met her—oh! He moved suddenly, sucking on her clit and she nearly vaulted off the couch.

“Roman,” she cried out.

In response, he dipped his tongue inside her and she lost any semblance of controlling herself that she might have had. He held onto one of her ankles and lifted it up to the couch so that her heel was on the edge. The position kept her wide open for him.

She didn’t need him to keep her leg in place, but she liked the feel of him holding her there as his tongue dipped inside her again.

Stroking, stroking, stroking, and making her insane as she writhed against him. He shifted positions again and moved back to her clit, the pulsing bundle of nerves begging for his kisses. It was too much and not enough as he zeroed in on her, his rhythmic pressure just shy of pushing her over the edge.

She needed something else, something—

He slid a finger inside her and she clamped around him, rolling her hips against him. Oh yeah, that was exactly what she needed.

Taking his cues from her body’s response, he slid a second finger in and pushed deep inside her. Curling his fingers, he curved them up so they brushed against that oh-so sensitive spot she usually only found on her own. Instead of withdrawing and pushing back in her, he started stroking inside her right against that sensitive section of her body.