see I do have a theory about Ilya and his association with dirty talk. I found it very interesting that in their first sex scene, Shane clocks that dirty talk just “rolls off his tongue”, whereas (at least as is explicit in the book) at this point in Ilya’s English journey, he struggles to pull the word “curious”. His English is still not great. He even talks to Shane briefly in Russian. However his sex talk is fluent.
The more I thought about this, and about how Ilya operates during sex, I think Ilya learning the language of sex in English was paramount for him. Clearly he fucks a lot, it’s a vice of his. It’s something that brings him a glimmer of happiness and sedation in his very dark world. So he intentionally becomes very skilled in relaying his wants, needs, and desires when it comes to sex. He prioritizes consent (as seen with Shane). He does not want to be caught lacking when in communication during sexual encounters.
For Ilya, that is one of two places where he feels the most in control. Hockey and sex. He knows the language of hockey. It’s a given. But sex, he actively makes the choice to learn how to make people feel good, with not only his actions but his words. He doesn’t want confusion, he wants consent. In a life where he feels like his words maybe often aren’t his own, are informed by his father, his older brother, his homophobic country, he chooses to learn a language that feels very disconnected from his father, his origins, in both speech and subject. He wants women comfortable. He wants women to feel good. He wants queer (or curious?) men to feel safe and unpressured. He wants his partners understood and satisfied. Clear communication, thinly veiled in arousing terminology.
“Did you like sucking my cock?”
Or, in other words, “Do you feel safe? Are you enjoying yourself? Do you want to be doing this?”
And when Shane dodges that question at first, Ilya intentionally brings the request for confirmation back. Tell me you liked it. Otherwise we can stop.
Prioritizing learning sexual language in English was a radical decision for him. A show of rebellion from his father, who treated women like fodder with no regard for their feelings or pleasure or happiness. A reflection of his emotional sensitivity, wrapped in a fuckboy shell. Ilya Rozanov wants you, needs you, to feel good at his hands. Otherwise, who is he? A silhouette of his heartless, misogynistic, bigoted father. All the things he would do anything to outrun.
