Page 27 of Bratva's Mercy
The bluntness of it made me suck in a deep breath. “Please. You expect me to believe a man like you hasn’t had sex in two weeks, let alone two years?”
“A man like me? You do not know me, Leo. I’m not the monster you think I am.”
“Aren’t you?”
Sergei held my gaze, saying nothing. A moment passed. Then another, his eyes searching my face. When he spoke, his voice was so low I almost didn’t hear him.
“I am a monster. But not with you.”
8
SERGEI
It was a little after four in the morning when I stepped back into Leo’s bedroom to check on him. Every two hours, just like he ordered, asking questions to make sure he wasn’t slipping into delirium. I knew perfectly well he didn’t want me in his house. The man had made that clear in at least a dozen creative ways since the moment I dragged him out of the wrecked car. But the sensible doctor in him had won out over his pride.
A concussion wasn’t something you rode out alone, and whether he liked it or not, I was the only one available to make sure he got medical attention if his concussion developed into something more.
His soft snores filled the quiet room. The sound caught me off guard every time I heard it. Leo Cavanagh spent most of his waking hours as a disciplined man who liked to be in charge. Hearing him snore softly into his pillow made him seem…human.
I closed the door behind me quietly and switched on thesmall lamp beside the bed. Warm amber light spilled across the room, outlining the neat order of his space. Leo’s bedroom looked every bit like the first time I’d entered it. Everything was clean, precise, and orderly.
Except the man sleeping in the middle of it.
He had kicked the covers halfway down his legs. One arm lay stretched across the mattress while the other was tucked beneath his pillow. His hair, usually combed into perfect order, had fallen messily across his forehead.
His shirt rode up, showing the smooth expanse of skin stretched across his taut stomach.
And the unexpected pierced navel.
I sucked in a deep breath, lured closer by the flash of something silver and diamond. I sat on the edge of the bed for a closer look. It wasn’t actually silver but platinum. The diamond was real, too, and nestled in the dip of his belly button.
Oh shit, Dr. Cavanagh had just gotten more interesting. When did he get the piercing? It didn’t fit the man I knew, but somehow that only made it suit him more.
For a moment, I watched him sleep and the way the piercing moved with every inhale and exhale. I dragged my eyes up to his face, even more handsome when no longer angry but relaxed in sleep. His long lashes rested on his upper cheekbones, and I had to fight the urge to trace the straight outline of his nose.
Fuck me into next week, but I was attracted to him.
That much had been obvious for weeks. I was attracted to Dr. Leo Cavanagh, a man who could not stand the sight of me. But what sat heavier in my chest had nothing to do with the attraction. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the mangled shape of his car pressed against the guardrail, and each time I thought about it, my palms got sweaty and my heart rate picked up.
Leo could have been a ghost tonight.
I reached out before I could stop myself and brushed the loose strands of hair away from his forehead, too gently for it to bother him. His skin was warm beneath my fingers. He was alive.
My hand lingered longer than it should have, skimming the sharp line of his nose, then hovering over his lips. He had the most attractive cupid’s bow that flared into full lips.
I leaned forward slightly, drawn by the way they were parted as if waiting for a kiss. I could feel the faint warmth of his breath against my mouth. I could claim a kiss, and he would never know.
Nik was right that I didn’t stand a chance. What if this was the only opportunity I had to taste him? All I had to do was lean a little closer and?—
I froze.
What the fuck am I doing?
The thought snapped through my head like a gunshot. I pulled back slightly, panting and staring down at him in the soft lamplight.
No.
Not like this.
