Nikolai's handsome face stared back at her, serious and professional in the image attached.

"What's going on?"

The question had only just slipped out when the bedroom door opened slowly, and Nik entered the room.

She barely gave the man time to register the fact that she had moved from the bed before she pounced, all fear in the light of her current discovery disappearing. "What's this?"

Nikolai turned around, eyes widened in horror as Harper waved the black leather wallet with his credentials inside.

The words oh fuck should have been flashing on his forehead as far as his reaction went.

"Harper, listen. It's not what you think. You have to beli"

"Don't you dare throw more lies at me, Nik." She paced, as agitation and anger welled up inside of her. Could anyone in her life tell the truth? "Tell me what the hell am I supposed to believe, Nik? Are you a dirty cop, or just a dirty liar?"

He growled at the insult. "I'm not a dirty cop."

"Oh, God. Is your name really Nik? I guess it says it on this thing but who are you exactly? Nikolai Holter or Nikolai Bianchi? The cold-blooded killer for the mob or..." She paused to glance down and reread the credentials. "A member of the fricking FBI? I mean, seriously. What are you?"

"I'm both."

"That isn't an answer."

"No, it's not what you want to hear," he corrected her. "But it doesn't make it any less true. It's the only answer I have for you."

"I can't believe this," she whispered absently, her mind racing with the new information. Daytime soap operas had nothing on this shit.

Nik moved closer, reaching for her and wrapping a hand loosely around her arm to stop her pacing. "You have to, because right now I'm doing everything in my power to keep you safe. I need you to keep your head on straight, okay?"

"No, not okay. None of this is okay," she said, slightly more hysterical than she had meant.

"I know."

The softness in his tone, his expression, made her uneasy. It was almost too comforting.

"What's going to happen to me?" her voice wavered.

He cleared his throat and dropped their eye contact. This couldn't be good. "I've spoken to my handler"

"Oh jeez, a handler?" Talk about official. Whatever he was wrapped up in had to be big. How the hell had she managed to fall into this mess? She used to pride herself on being smart, but she felt like the most oblivious human being in the world. "You're undercover, aren't you? How deep?"

"Deep enough."

"How long?" she demanded, needing to know the full depth of the situation.

Nik seemed to think about his answer, and she could tell he was judging just how much he should tell her. Lips pursed, he considered her, then finally said, "Almost three years."

"Okay. Alright." It was anything but okay, though at that moment she had no clue what else to say. "And when you killed that man? Nik, whose orders were you following? The mafia or the government?"

"Neither."

His response stunned her. "What?"

"You were in danger. I reacted."

His careless shrug did nothing to hide the rigid set of his shoulders. She had a brief second to wonder how he managed undercover work with such obvious tells, then remembered she couldn't talk since she'd been duped.

Harper knew the tension had very little to do with concern for their safety. There was no way they'd be sitting there twiddling their proverbial thumbs if that were the case. So that left only one other reason for an undercover FBI agent to be worried. "How much trouble are you in?"

"Depends on what line of work you are referring to."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Oh, God. Just answer the question, will you?"

"I thought you didn't believe in God," he quipped, with a smirk.

Smartass. And she was definitely not in the mood to deal with him being a smartass.

"Funny man, not." She rolled her eyes. "Now is not the time to be funny, Nik. Seriously, what are we dealing with?"

"Well, I'm dealing with a pissed off handler, a director who is ready to grill my ass as soon as the case is over, and all of that depends on whether or not I've blown my cover. Then three years of undercover work and sacrifice will go down the drain within a matter of a couple of hours. Overall, if I'm not royally fucked, I'd be impressed at the amount of trouble I've managed to get into so fast."

Harper blinked. "Well, that doesn't sound good."

"No."

For the first time, the reality of things for Nik really hit her. He had essentially given everything up in a single second to save her. No one had ever done that. She had never known what being someone's priority felt like. Her own family hadn't stepped in for her after her parents died, and here was this man she barely knew, willing to throw it all away for her.

"I'm sorry, Nik."

His eyes widening told her that her words had taken him by surprise. Truth be told, Harper wasn't known for backing down or away from a fight, but this was one she didn't want to win.

"So am I," he whispered sadly.

4.

All the fight left Nikolai as he continued to stare at Harper. So brave and strong. Beautiful. Nikolai feared what this world would really do to someone so kind and considerate. She didn't deserve this.

He watched her brush her hair out of her face, and it hung loosely over her shoulders. Nikolai followed the wave of a long raven curl with the tips of his fingers. He grasped her chin gently, as he had so many times in the past when he'd wanted her attention.

"You're everything to me. If you believe nothing else, please believe that," he whispered before clasping her face in his hands and bringing her lips to his. The kiss was both tender and insistent as his tongue sought eagerly to rejoin hers in the dance they had begun months before.

They kissed until he thought his heart would break, not from the fear of her power over him, or the pain her loss would mean, but from the exquisite joy he felt in his surrender. Every cell in his body heaved a sigh of yes, as if he wasn't complete unless he possessed this woman.

Harper broke away from the kiss first and nuzzled into Nikolai's neck. "God. I should not be doing this. No self-preservation whatsoever."

He felt her smile against him before her tongue teased his pulse point. He moaned and stumbled slightly, his knees weakened, and coherent thought vanished as she discovered one of his many hot spots.

"Hmmm," she breathed into his ear, "you always like that place." She trailed her hand down to his chest and deftly unbuttoned his shirt to bare more of his neck.

"Christ, sono pazzo di te."

He knew she didn't understand his words, but her smile said she knew what he meant.

"No matter how much I try, I can't seem to get enough of you," she whispered before gently sucking and biting along the exposed flesh, her tongue soothing each bite as she went.

Nikolai thrust against her body and groaned inarticulately.

"Cat got your tongue, Nik?" she teased. "Something you want?"

He shuddered as her breath seared his tender flesh and panted, "Ho voglia di te."

"English, Nik," she countered and slipped her hand into his open shirt and gently twisted a nipple.

Nikolai rasped out, "I want you."

"You have me."

Harper finished unbuttoning his shirt and moved her mouth to the other nipple, teasing and sucking at it.

"Need...nnnehg," Nikolai stuttered.

He managed to back up a few steps toward the bed before forcibly pulling her head up and capturing her mouth in a sloppy, desperate kiss. It did not aid in his attempts to get her into the bed but did allow him a moment to regain some semblance of control. He took command of the kiss and tugged clumsily at the tie to her bathrobe.

He growled in frustration as the knot held and she giggled into his open mouth, "Tell me, Nikolai. I want to hear you say it."

He continued to tug blindly at the belt as she kissed him, finally giving up and instead undoing his pants.

"Tell me, Nikolai," she demanded for the second time.

He pulled away from the kiss and put a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Your tongue. My cock," he said gruffly. "You naked and on your knees. Now."

She smiled and reached inside his open pants.

Stroking him through his briefs, she asked, "What else?"

Nikolai gasped as she pressed her hand against him. "Wanna fuck you." He tore at her robe, abandoning the knotted belt and roughly shoving it off her shoulders and down over her hips instead. "Voglio fare l'amore con te."

Stepping out of it, Harper slid to her knees and pushed Nikolai's pants down in a single motion, leaving him clad only in his snug fitting boxer-briefs. She pressed her face against his groin and smiled as she felt his erection twitch eagerly against her cheek. Nikolai sighed in pleasure as she sucked him gently along the length of his cock before closing her mouth around the dampened cloth at its head.

She reached up and tugged at his waistband. Nikolai silently stepped out of the clothing that had pooled at his feet and stood in front of her, naked and hard. "Eager," she teased as she cupped his balls in one hand and stroked his cock with the other. Nikolai moaned again. "What's that, Nikolai?"

Nikolai growled, "Suck it. Fucking hell, Harper, just..."

She licked him from balls to tip and then swallowed him deep into her throat, sucking and tonguing him as she slid up his thick shaft before taking him even deeper. She swallowed around him, using her throat muscles to best advantage and enjoying the noises he made each time she did it. He grunted encouragement when she slid up and focused her attention on the glans and teased the slit. She felt his cock swell and knew he would spill into her mouth in mere seconds.

"Oh no," she scolded and grabbed the base of his cock hard. "Not so soon."

Nikolai cried out in desperation, "Cazzo!"

"Exactly."

He pulled her roughly to her feet and slammed his mouth into hers in a bruising kiss. "How the hell did you even know what that meant?"

"I may not speak Italian, but I seem to be fluent in Nikolai," she said, grinning.

Nikolai covered her mouth with his own. His tongue relentlessly pressed inside, his teeth biting at her lips. She moaned and thrust against him. He kissed and sucked at her neck, breathing hotly against her ear. Harper's breath hitched as his hands began to explore her breasts, rubbing his thumbs across her nipples.

"So sensitive, aren't you?" He pulled back and laughed before bending to capture a nipple in his mouth, tonguing it while he stroked the other.

Harper shuddered against him before throwing back her head and crying out in ecstasy. "Something you want?" he mimicked as he slipped his hand between her legs and covered her mouth with his. Harper spasmed as his fingers stroked her. Nikolai panted in a hoarse voice, "So hot...God...so hot..."

"Don't stop," she whined in protest, as he slipped his fingers out of her.

Catching her eyes, he slowly and deliberately brought his slippery hand to his mouth. She whimpered as she watched him suck two fingers inside and swirl his tongue around them.

"You're so sexy," he whispered before unceremoniously picking her up and carrying her to the bed.

She lay back panting and wild-eyed. "Nik...please," she implored huskily. "Need..."

"Need what? This?" He spread her legs wide and buried his face between them, sliding his tongue into her folds and teasing mercilessly around and around her throbbing clit. She was so close already, and he knew it. She writhed and thrashed against him, trying to pull him to her but he held her legs down and continued to torment her.

"Nik," she moaned. "Nik. God. Please..." He circled her clit a few more times before sucking it into his mouth, his tongue stroking against her. "Please, please, please ..." she moaned as he increased his pace. He felt her surrender at last as she arched off the bed and howled her release, hot spurts of her delicious juices covering his chin. "Nik, Nik, Nikolai..." she cried as he took her into another climax. Finally, she collapsed on the bed. "Please, I want you inside me now."

"Thank God. Ho bisogno di essere dentro di te," he groaned.

He crawled up her prone body and reached for the side drawer, pulling out a condom. Tearing it from the wrapper, he made quick work covering himself and leaned forward, feverishly kissing her as she took him into her. Overwhelmed by her wet heat, he lay still for a moment before he began to move.

"Not gonna last..." he breathed out raggedly. "Wanna...but..."

"Take me," she demanded and thrust up against him.

They moved together, allowing the moment to gather its own urgency but eventually their bodies demanded more. Nikolai slammed into her with more and more ferocity, crying out hoarsely as her orgasm gripped his cock and he released, shuddering and jerking.

Nikolai collapsed onto her, and Harper held him tightly, stroking his back through the aftershocks.

"Ssshh...ssssh..." she soothed, rocking him slightly while they both calmed.

After several moments, his wits returned and he rolled off her, feeling boneless and pulled her onto his heaving chest. Harper snuggled against him, entwining her legs with his. Neither of them seemed ready to speak or even attempt to clean themselves up. The only sound was Nikolai's labored breathing and the soft sighs of his contented lover. The air was heavy with the aroma of roses and sex, and words left unsaid.