YURI (Her Russian Protector #3) by Roxie Rivera Page B

palm. "I think I'll have you now."
    "Kitten…" He kissed me again, crashing our lips together in a needful mating of tongues. His low groan ricocheted off the tile as I worked my hand up and down his thick, long cock. When my other hand slipped down to cup his sac, Yuri let loose a string of Russian curse words, the kind I'd only heard Vivian use when she stubbed a toe. His grip on my waist tightened as I sped up my stroking hand. He said my name with a growl. "Yelena."
    His eyes flashed open a second before I felt the splash of his blazing hot seed on my belly. My name escaped his lips on a whisper as he came hard. When the last drop left him, he claimed my mouth in a kiss so erotic that it left me dizzy.
    Yuri dragged his fingers through the pearly white essence dotting my brown skin. "So fucking beautiful," he murmured before kissing me again. He captured my gaze. "Let me stay with you."
    The vulnerable glint in his eyes surprised me. I caressed his jaw. "You can stay—but I should warn you that my bed is pretty small. There's no five-star luxury here."
    He grinned. "There's something quaint about roughing it. I'm sure I'll survive."
    "Uh-huh." I mockingly rolled my eyes and turned toward the pounding spray to rinse the evidence of our shower tryst off my skin.
    Yuri enveloped me from behind. His lips ghosted across my ear. "If this is only a shower, I'm sold on your version."
    I laughed and reached out to shut off the water. "Well, you did fly all the way from Berlin for me. I suppose it was the least I could do."
    His bark of laughter made my tummy flip-flop. That boyish grin of his brightened his whole face and made him seem younger and less stressed. I ran my fingertips down his cheek. The rough stubble rasped my skin. "You should do that more often."
    He took my hand and kissed my fingertips. "Do what, Kitten?"
    I tried to ignore the way his pet name made me shiver inside. "Smile." I gestured to his wet hair and his relaxed posture. "I like you this way, without the bespoke suits and the army of handlers and the glossy photo-ready hair and face."
    "It's a character." He rolled his shoulders. "It's what investors expect of me. Hell, it's what most women expect of me."
    Not for the first time, I experienced the strangest sensation of knowing Yuri. Sometimes I felt like we were more alike than either could imagine.
    "I know what it's like to play a character. I've been playing a role since I was a teenager. Fake it 'til you make it, right?" I dragged back the shower curtain and reached for one of the neatly folded towels on the shelf. I handed him one and took another for myself. "People see this polished, educated, well-spoken professional but deep down inside?"
    The shadow of his painful past crossed his handsome face. "You feel like a fraud? You feel like an actor playing a role? Sometimes I find myself in the middle of a gala or some political event and I'm rubbing shoulders with the elite and wealthy and I just think—" He stopped himself and cleared his throat. "I don't belong there. No one there understands what it means to be me."
    My eyes grew hot and I glanced away from him. He confessed all the things I'd been feeling for years. "I understand, Yuri."
    "Yes, I know you do. Earlier you said I'm the only man you've ever dated who could understand what it's like to have a loved one in prison. Well, you're the only woman I've ever known who can understand what it is like to claw your way out of hell and into a boardroom."
    The heady statement hit me with its truth. He was right. He'd escaped an orphanage where the boys were starved and neglected. I'd escaped a neighborhood where hookers turned tricks next to my school bus stop and drug dealers lived next door. By twelve, I'd dodged more bullets than most soldiers would on deployment.
    Yuri slid an arm around my waist and hauled me tight to his chest. "The other day, Dimitri told me that he believes fate brought him from Russia to Houston, to that tiny apartment