The Unwritten Rules Ch. 04

"I totally agree with your heart on this one." His hand is on my belly, his fingers sprawled. His eyes are drawn to the sight and so are mine, I am instantly caught up in the sight. Almost the same shade as his face, the skin is marred by tiny scars from the repairs he does on computers. Karim's hands were always smooth and soft with lotion. I like this so much better. This is a man's hand, worn with work and bringing to mind images of protectors and dark knight. I almost giggle thinking of Yuri getting onto a horse, glasses and all behind armor. It fits despite my knowing he would not get within an inch of the large animal.

My gaze goes to his face and our noses almost touch. When did he move closer? He is not the only one who moved though. My hips are tilted toward him. I try to go back into my previous position but he hooks his hand around my waist and pulls my pelvis to his hard stomach and continues, "I can see it. You, swollen and beautiful with precious life inside you. If I were the man to give that to you, I would treasure every moment. Every doctor's appointment. Feeling him or her move. Running out to buy you ice-cream in the middle of the night. You would want for nothing and know that every second you're loved."

His smile dies, leaving his face etched with an intense emotion I can only identify as longing. His eyes are now focused on mine, darker than I've ever seen them before. Oh god, if only...

"You will make some woman very happy one day."

After a heavy second his lip tips up on one side. "You think so, huh?"

"She won't know what hit her." Problem is my heart refuses to see anyone but me walking down that aisle as he watches on with love and adoration. I try very hard to picture another woman as his wife and hate the faceless being with a passion that surprises me. To hide my jealous thoughts, I ask, "How about you? Want to get married and have kids some day or are you still dreaming of that 'bootylicious babe who cooks like your momma, fucks like a porn star and lets you play video games all day.'"

He laughs when I make quotation marks with my hand. "I can't believe you remember that." I raise an eyebrow and he rushes on. "Come on. You can't hold that adolescent babble against me. Besides, my dream has changed a little since then. While the bootylicious babe part still stands," he nuzzles my neck, his hand moving down my back to stop just above me behind and continues, "the cooking part I've discovered is not so important. Watching you burn water has made me realize that I like taking care of my woman that way. And it's really cute the way you curse up a storm when you try."

I hit his chest. "I'm glad I amuse you, it's what I live for," I grumble but there's no heat in the words. They sound rather breathy actually. How can they not when he's tracing a path up my side. It ends at the underside of my left breast, leaving it aching for a firmer touch, before slowly returning to my lower back and back again. "What about the rest?"

"Porn stars are overrated. Too practiced. I want to know that when my woman falls apart in my arms, it's because of me and what I'm doing to her and not what she's rehearsed on other men." The hand slides down my hips and thigh. It's so hot, the barrier of my dress is almost paltry. His breath on my chin and neck make my bite my lip to contain the needy sound lodged in my throat. A shaky sigh escape though when his lips close over my skin. "I like it when I kiss here, you shiver just like that."

"Oh, Yuri..."

Across my shoulder, that full lower lip trails, his teeth in its wake. "You have no idea how hard it makes me knowing I cause those catches in your breath and hearing you moan. Oh god and the way you cry name..."

"I-I think I have an idea." He was wearing a hole through my dress with the same said hardness after all. Can anyone blame me for pressing harder into him? Or reveling in that heady thrill when he groans my name? His scent swamps me and I find my lips on the exposed skin just below his ear, mimicking his earlier action. He stills and breaths a harsh sound.

His fingers tangle in my hair and pull until his lips fit over mine with possessive urgency. I return his fervor and our tongues duel. Underneath the taste of chocolate I taste him and cannot get enough. One hand holding his head close and the other trying to find purchase beneath his shirt, I press closer. His thigh slips between mine, insistent against my heat. My hips swivel with the pressure and I nip his bottom lip on a pleasured hiss.

I lave the ache away, opening my eyes when he moves out of reach. I arch me back and neck when I feel his lips a little above my cleavage. I don't have to look down to know my nipples stand hard against the cloth of my dress. At the same time, his hand travels back up, pulling my dress up to mid-thigh. His fingers tickle the bare skin and my nerves sing. Looking up at me, he gentle grasps a nipple with his teeth and pulls, sucking at the next turn.

I am getting lost in this storm of passion, with no desire to find my way out. I am naked under his gaze, sure my emotions and secrets are shining in mine. He flows back up my body. Our noses touch. Our breaths mingle. His heart beats to the frenzied tattoo of mine against my breasts. Impossibly, I fall just that much more in love when he speaks. "Everything about you turns me on. So sensual and giving. It's just one of the things I love about you."

The crickets suddenly crescendo in volume.

"Yuri, you shouldn't say stuff like that." My voice is soft, uncertain and I am unable to drop his gaze despite its burning intensity.

"Why? Do you think this is a casual thing for me?"

"Isn't it?"

"No, Brianne. You're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I've held back for so long, scared to death of messing things up. I still am but I can't keep on living a lie. I want you too much. I want to see my ring on your finger. I want you in my bed forever. I want little girls with your smile and little boys with my eyes. I want it all with you because I love you, Bri. I may have always loved you and I certainly always will."

Happiness bursts in my chest. No man has ever said those three words to me. I cannot remember the words directed at me from my parents either. Not with true meaning anyway. His eyes are steady and leave me no doubt that he believes what he says but sadness swallows my joy. Sometimes love is not enough. I can only imagine one way this relationship ends once Yuri discovers that I'm a cripple in bed. Yuri is too sexual a man to stay with a woman who cannot give him the gift of her pleasure.

"Yuri, there are things you don't know about me-" I start but he rolls fully over my body. His thigh heavy over mine and his upper body framed by the beautiful lights above, he silences me with his lips.

This kiss is unlike the other. It is light, feathery. At first, he just explores my lips, his sipping at them. The full lower edge teases me, rubbing back and forth over mine before he tugs lightly with his teeth. I want more. I moan and grip his shoulders, trying to deepen the contact. He does not yield to the pressure but continues the slow torture. Despite my frustration, I grow that much wetter and my nipples ache to be licked, without any protection, the same way.

"Just give me a chance. Give us a chance," he murmurs, exhaling the plea into my mouth.

I inhale sharply. There's no way I can deny him now. My body and heart have already given up to his mastery and my head's protests have very little effect. "Yes."

His smile is slow and his face lights in a way I have never seen before. Nuzzling my neck, he reverses our positions. I squeak and laugh softly. The panic I expected does not come, only a sense of rightness at my surrender.

After a quick kiss, his hands running soothingly up and down my back, Yuri says, "This was my teenage fantasy."

"What?"

"Taking you out like this. Holding you close like this. Placing a hickey like that on your neck."

With an outraged gasp, my hand goes to the spot but his smirk makes me growl.

"Would it be so bad though?" At my puzzled look, he traces a symbol on my skin, "If I left my mark right here?"

The combination of the cool breeze, his tone and words make me shiver and drag images from my secret fantasies to the forefront. The print of his hand on my breasts, on my hips, on the insides of my thighs as he possesses me with a hard touch guaranteed to satisfy. Just as powerful the need for his mark of his possession, I want to brand him as well. The score of my teeth of his skin. The mark of him nails across his back. I have to grit my teeth against the wave of arousal that covers my body.

"I want to mark you for all the world to see that you're mine. That you're my woman. Tell me you're my woman, Bri. Tell me you're mine."

I have never seen this side of him. Dark. Hard. All man.

"I'm your woman. For as long as you'll have me."

"Forever, baby, because you own every part of me."