Polar Opposites (In Aeternum Book 4) (8 page)

He kissed her belly then unfastened her shorts. His breath fanned out over her exposed skin. The air, along with the normal sounds around her apartment, filled with the faint rasp of the material sliding down her legs. She held her breath as he removed her panties.

It didn’t matter if people across the way could see them. Nothing but his touch did. He stood, fingers trailing along the outsides of her thighs. His gaze was hooded and sensual yet intense in a way she’d not seen before. She waited. He removed his own remaining clothing. His boxer briefs were the last thing to go. She dampened her lips as his cock burst into view. Long. Hard. Thick.

Her pussy clenched and she stifled a whimper of need. She wanted to touch him. Sink to her knees and take him deep in her mouth.

He said not to move.

Ivan reached out, cupped her and drove two fingers inside her wetness. Her cry ripped up from the bottom of her gut and her hips jerked forward.

“More!” A tremor overtook her. “Ivan! God, give me more.”

His pistoned his fingers and she came hard. Legs weak and heart pounding, she depended on the wall she leaned against. Ivan withdrew and brought his hand to his mouth. Her belly tightened when his tongue snuck out and licked her juices from one finger.

“You, Bailey, taste exquisite.” He placed his finger at her mouth. “Taste.”

She opened and drew his digit in. His gaze darkened. When he pulled his finger out, she dragged her teeth along it.

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

Bailey flexed her muscles and shrugged. “I prefer your taste.”

He clenched his jaw and lowered his hand. Fisting his cock, Ivan used his thumb to smear the pre-cum.

“What are your feelings on mingled tastes?”

“Yes.” Her response was breathy. “Inside me, Ivan. Now.”

“Bossy woman.”

“I’m a trained killer. Don’t piss me off.”

He placed the head of his cock against her. “Are you threatening me if I don’t fuck you?”

She hooked a leg around his waist and rubbed. The move brought him closer. “Think of it as encouragement.”

Another thick inch filled her.

“I don’t need any of that to get inside you. I see you and I want to fuck you. Want to feel your heat around me. Your tight muscles squeezing my cock. Doesn’t matter, day or night. I want to fuck you.”

He lifted her and carried her to the windowsill. Each step pushed him deeper inside her so he sat completely buried when they reached the cushioned sill.

He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and nuzzled her neck. Back and forth he thrust as he guided her left leg up so her ankle rested on his shoulder. His strong grip dug into her back. It was claiming. Possessive. Proprietary. She didn’t mind in the least.

“Ivan!”

His hips continued to move, his actions keeping her teetering on the edge of the pleasure that waited for her. His approach didn’t waver. He teased and tormented her, his cock sliding in then out, varying speeds and depth.

She buried her face in his skin and nipped as her rollercoaster of cruising between heaven and hell continued. He kept her craving until she wasn’t sure how much more she could withstand.

“Ivan, please!”

“You don’t get to rush me, Bailey. I’ve missed you and I plan on taking my time.”

Ivan wasn’t lying—he maintained a gut-wrenching pace. All her nerves burned as if they’d been dropped into a volcano. Her throat raw from her cries, she screamed in relief when he allowed her to go over and embrace what she’d sought.

Back bowing, she milked his cock and rumbled in pleasure when she felt his ropes of cum shoot into her. Ivan slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her. Their tongues slipped along each other and she shook from exhaustion. Against her chest, his heart pounded just as hard.

“Again,” he muttered into her mouth.

She maneuvered her hand to the nape of his neck and lightly raked her nails along it. “Hell yes.”

Chapter Six

The sunlight woke him and Ivan stretched with a groan before looking for the woman who’d fallen asleep in bed with him. She wasn’t there. He was alone in the double bed.

Pity. His cock lifted the sheet and he ignored it, opting instead to roll free. He peered around the room and found his jeans. After pulling them on, he left the top two buttons undone and set out to find his woman.

I’m claiming her already?
He nodded. He was.
I didn’t move across the world to let her get away.

He stepped into the main living area and found her putting away a tall black piece of machinery. “Morning.”

“Sleep well?” She rolled up the newsprint that had covered the table and carried it to the trash.

“I did. What are you doing up?”

“I was working.” She flashed him a smile over her shoulder. “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.” His attention went back to the press machine. “What were you doing?”

She washed her hands. “Making bullets.”

Ivan froze at her words.
How easy it is for me to forget she kills people.
She spoke her words so casually, so matter-of-fact. While he pondered that thought, he joined her in the kitchen.

Bailey chopped up some fruit, the knife moving with swiftness. The sun glinted off the gold ribbons that she’d woven into her hair. There was something different about her.

“You’re staring at me.” She dumped the diced fruit into a bowl and reached for more. “Why?”

“There’s something about you.”

Her pink shorts with white stripes stopped high on her toned thighs. The white shirt hung loosely over her upper body.

“Different from before.”

“I like to be able to relax between”—she paused when her cell rang and she glanced at it briefly—“my jobs.”

Jobs. Assassinations.

She stopped chopping and lifted her head, gaze guileless. “What I do, it bothers you.”

“Never met anyone so cavalier about killing.”

She popped a piece of fruit into her mouth. “Is there a specific way I should be about it?”

Good question. “Nope. I just forget you, Bailey Hyde, are not typical. Not sure why I forget—most people I hang out with are different in one way or another.”

“And you expected me to be typical?”

“You’re not a scientist,” he said by way of explanation.

If he’d wanted her to ask more questions, he was in for a world of surprise. He leaned against her counter and stole a piece of fruit for himself. For a while, the only sound was that of her chopping.

“For a minute there I forgot that not only scientists have their quirks.”

She briefly met his gaze and blinked.

“You’re such a one-eighty from the woman who took me out of that place, drove me out into the ocean where a submarine picks us up and we leave the motorboat burning. Everything about you was serious.”

She twirled the knife in her fingers. “And it’s bad I’m not serious now?”

He sucked the juice off his thumb. “Not at all. Just amazed how complete the change is.”

Her eyebrows rose and fell before she flipped the knife into the cutting board. The tip embedded into the wooden block. Ivan shifted his weight, suddenly uncertain.

“Make no mistake, Ivan, just because I’m not dressed in cargo pants and a tank with guns attached doesn’t mean I’m any less capable.”

He crooked his finger at her. She approached as far as the counter would let her. “I’m not a fool, Bailey. I see what you do. I know you don’t operate a sewing shop or sit in a lab every day as I do. None of that matters to me.”

She canted her head to the side. “So what was the purpose of mentioning all this?”

“Just an observation, my dear.”

She blinked and pointed to the cupboard to her left. “Grab the plates.”

He did and followed her out to the small balcony where they sat at the table there. She placed the bowl of fruit down, returned inside then came back carrying some bread and yogurt.

“Do you want some juice or is coffee going to be enough?”

“Coffee is fine. No, stay, I can get it. You don’t need to wait on me, Bailey. Eat. I’ll be right back.”

He stood in her tiny kitchen and poured the java into their mugs. He knew how she liked hers and added the cream and brown sugar. Ivan glanced around her place, the studio apartment. Happy, cheerful and nothing in it that would tell him more about the woman.

Like Jaydee’s places. Nothing personal in those either.

He scowled, fiercely shoving away her memory. He didn’t want to sit around and compare how alike they were. It wasn’t something he needed to do.
It’s not healthy.
Didn’t matter, he still couldn’t stop his brain from doing exactly what he needed it
not
to do.

Both women were slightly off, granted for different reasons. He didn’t know much about Bailey’s upbringing but he wanted to know. Did she have family? Siblings? Were they close? What did she like to do in her spare time? Most importantly, how the hell had she got involved with Theta Corps and the work she did with them?

Grasping the handles of the mugs, he blew out a breath then made his way back outside into the warm sun. Bailey looked up, a piece of bread in her hand.

“You okay?”

He set her drink down then sipped his. “Sure, why do you ask?”

“You have a haunted look about you, like you’ve seen a ghost or had a bad memory.”

Ivan waited for the question but it didn’t come. She didn’t pry, just made her observation then let it go.

Like someone else.

Damn his subconscious. He didn’t need its commentary. With a smile, he sat opposite her and spooned some fruit onto his plate. “I’m fine.”

Her shrug was her answer. She went back to enjoying her food. Ivan joined her. The bread was warm and when he bit into a slice, it crunched lightly.
Perfect, just how I like it.
He had butter on his but noticed she ate hers dry.

“Tell me about you, Bailey.”

She drew the piece of fruit on the end of her fork into her mouth and chewed it slowly. Moving the utensil in a circle, she swallowed.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“Not much to tell.” She ate the last bite of her toast. “But if you really want to know I’ll tell you as we go back through the market.”

“Isn’t that where I found you?”

She rose and picked up her empty plate. “Yes. Moreover, because you did, I got sidetracked so I didn’t get all my shopping done. I’m going to go change. No rush, take your time.” She walked back inside.

He grinned to himself and drank some more coffee.
Hearing things like that is good for my ego.
Ivan didn’t rush. By the time he’d finished and had carried his dishes inside to her sink, she was sitting on her couch flipping through a gun magazine.

“You speak Spanish?”

She never looked away from the glossy pages. “Pointless to live in this city if I didn’t speak the language.”

“So you speak the language in every place you have an apartment?”

“I do.”

“How many languages do you speak?”

She looked at him, eyes sparkling with laughter and tossed the magazine down. “More than two”—she rose—“less than ten.” She grabbed her pack. “Ready?”

“Can I go to the market in just jeans?”

She flashed a smile. “You can go however you want.”

“Give me a few minutes.” He walked to her sectioned off corner where her bed sat and swiftly dressed in the rest of his clothing. “Now I’m ready,” he commented, stepping around the shelf that gave her a small bit of privacy.

“Good. Ask your questions.” She locked up after they had left.

“I asked about languages.”

“And I answered.”

“Sort of. Do you speak Russian?”

“No. Well, not more than a few phrases. I can catch a cab, get to a restaurant or hotel. And I can get to a restroom.”

So no apartment for her in Russia.
“Do you speak Italian?”

They stepped out onto the street. “I do.

“Have you been to the Vatican?”

“I have.”

“I meant Vatican City.”

She shrugged. “Oh, well, I’ve been there too. Hard to get to the Vatican without being in the city.”

“What were you doing there?”

“It was work related.”

He truly didn’t know how to respond to that.
Time to change my line of questions.
“Do you have family?”

“If I do, I don’t know about them. I was raised in a foster system.” She stopped at a stall and looked over the vegetables. “I was in it until I reached the age of eleven.”

“Then what happened?”

She picked up a few and gave them a squeeze test. “I met a man named William.” Bailey looked at the vendor and got what she wanted.

“Who’s William?” Ivan asked as they began strolling again.

“He works for the same people I do.”

“They recruited you at age eleven?”

“
They
gave me a home then. I’ve been with them since that time.”

“So you’ve not been away from them?” Flashes of Jaydee’s upbringing hit him. Cut off at a young age, treated like an object and not a child who was allowed to have fun. Anger filled him.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is, Jaydee. You know how you were treated.”

She stopped and grasped his arm.

“What?”

“I’m not Jaydee.”

He couldn’t read her expression. Ivan closed his eyes and groaned. “Shit, I’m sorry. So sorry.”

* * * *

Bailey didn’t appreciate the uncertain emotions that danced through her. The shower ran as Ivan used it. The rest of their trip through the market and the return one to her apartment had had a decided tenseness about it.

Who the fuck is Jaydee?

It hit her as she put away the last bit of food. Memories from the file she’d read. Valentino’s sister-in-law. That woman was Jaydee Cassano.
She must be his one true.

She may not like that fact but there it was. Nothing she could do to change it. Everyone had the one person who could get to them. Or so she had heard.

The screen on her phone lit up indicating an incoming call. She stared at the name, same one she’d ignored before. Not this time. Bailey reached for it.