by Lane Hart
I turned back to Alexander and the wildcat. His gaze was cool composure. Hers was feisty attitude, barely restrained.
“You’d be wise to step away,” she warned, her lips tilting to a sweet smile, even though I could tell she was planning my torture.
Now, it was Alexander’s turn to throw his laughter at me. It was refined and elegant, but I still found it obnoxious. Everything about the man was offensive to me, from his perfectly coiffed silver hair to the toe of his shiny Oxfords. But most of all, his whispered reputation for being violent with women, including his wife.
“Funny, because you told me to stay away last time, too,” I reminded the wildcat. “Yet, we still ended up rolling in bed together… and on the floor.”
Her eyes flashed deadly as Alexander’s laughter died.
“Sorry, Bowen, but she owes me more than just a dance.”
He slithered toward me, until we were practically chest-to-chest. “That’s all right,” he conceded, voice low and ice blue stare unwavering. “I prefer a dance partner who’ll follow my lead. Things got a bit out of hand with last one who tried to take over. She didn’t last long, I’m afraid.” He smiled, and it was one of the most disturbing things I’d ever witnessed. “Have fun with this one Mr. Smith. Until next time,” he promised as he strode away with his eerie smile still in place, calling back over his shoulder, “I do hope it’s soon.”
She turned on me with a hiss. “You asshole!”
“Not now, kitten.” I forced a smug smile, grabbing her by the arm and throwing a final nod to Tess as I pulled the unwilling wildcat toward the foyer.
“Let go of me,” she warned under her breath, her muscles tensing under my fingers.
Stopping abruptly, I tugged her into me. Her hands landed roughly on my chest, and our noses almost touched. My hands slid to her back as I swayed with her in time to the music. Our feet barely shuffled and her form was stiff, but with the wildcat in my arms the contrived dance felt sexy and alluring.
“You want to stay and find out what kind of dance that asshole Alexander had in mind?” I whispered forcefully, my eyes glued to hers.
Her mouth was a tight line of irritation, but she kept it shut.
“He wasn’t fooled by either one of us, and he’s not even close to intimidated. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get the hell out of here. Preferably in one piece.”
“I’m not—"
Her argument cut short when Sasha Belkin strode into the room, followed by three more Russian thugs. Belkin was the right hand of Nikolai Drevnerussky, a crazy Russian gangster who thought he could run the city. He didn’t care that New York was owned by the Italians and had been since birth, he was on a rampage to make it or break it, and he had no care for who got caught in his fight to the top.
The target on my back suddenly felt literal and illuminated. These were the men who were after her. The men who wanted me dead.
I was screwed.
“Fuck,” she swore, ducking into me, turning her face from their view.
“No shit,” I answered, turning with her. “This way.”
I tugged her toward a dimly lit hall which was clearly off bounds and guarded by a large man with an unfriendly face.
My mind circled itself, looking for a solution to the unexpected turn of events. A single man blocking our path wasn’t an issue but getting around him without drawing attention from the room full of opposing mobsters—four of whom didn’t care about decorum—might be a challenge.
I was still piecing together a plan when Wildcat took over. “Hi,” she purred, sidling up to the man.
“What d’ya want?” His flat tone gave nothing away, but interest lit his eyes.
“I was hoping for a private place to fuck my boyfriend.” She motioned to me, but the guard kept his gaze intent on her, an eyebrow raised. “Do you think you could help us out?” Her hand slid up his arm. “Maybe you’d like to tag along?”
Holy hell.
The man scrutinized me for a second before his eager eyes darted around the room. “Go,” he grunted, moving aside to allow us past.
We didn’t hesitate. Wildcat was already reaching for me when I wrapped my arm around her waist, leading her through the doorway. Once on the other side, we didn’t slow. We moved swiftly toward the back of the building, where the service elevator was located.
“In here,” the guard called from behind us.
Wildcat stopped, halting me as well, and then turned to him with a smile. “You like to watch?” She prowled toward the man, running her hand across his chest as he waited wordlessly for us to enter the room.
The space was sterile looking—a simple office with a large, clean desk in the center and a teak cabinet along one wall. It was dark, except for the glow of the city, filtering in through the windows.
The door clicked shut, locking him in behind us. “This is gonna cost ya more than just a show.”
“Really?” Wildcat turned to him, her long lines silhouetted against the windows, reminding me of the night we met. “You want to fuck my boyfriend, too?”
“What?” the man balked in confusion. “No, I—”
“What do you think, Bodhi?” she purred. “Should you fuck him, or should I?”
“Whatever you want, kitten.”
“I don’t like men,” the guard insisted.
“Okay,” she agreed. “You get me, then.”
His victorious smile didn’t last, in a blink, Wildcat’s foot had knocked it right off his face. When he hit the floor, she leaned over him, grabbing his collar and lifting his head off the floor to spit in his face. “Was it good for you too, fucker?”
“Hand me his gun,” I prompted.
The unconscious man’s head landed with a thud as she pushed him away in disgust. She reached into his jacket, securing his weapon, but when she turned to me, the gun was aimed at my chest.
“Again?” I sighed. “Can’t we stop running in circles? You know I’m not going to hurt you. Hell, you should be thanking me for keeping you out of Alexander’s clutches.”
“Fuck you,” she seethed between gritted teeth. “You think I’m here out of coincidence? I wanted to be in his clutches. He has all the information.”
“You couldn’t get anything from the scientist, but you thought you’d get it from Bowen Alexander. What was your plan, more empty threats? Or were you going to fuck it out of him, too?” I smirked.
“Watch it, or you’ll be next.” She thrust the gun forward, punctuating her words.
“Your desperation’s showing, kitten.”
She rushed at me, stopping when the only thing between us was her rage and a loaded gun.
“It’s Kira!”
Her untethered, beautifully vicious temper punched a hole straight through the center of my control. “What?” I hummed, daring to snake my arm around her, pulling her closer.
She came willingly. Shifting her aim, she pressed the gun to my temple as her body brushed against mine in an electrifying caress.
“My name is Kira,” she murmured, her breath winding around me, weaving an erotic spell.
“Kira.” I savored the sound, the syllables rolling softly over my tongue. “I like it. A kick-ass name for a kick-ass girl.”
“Woman.”
“Fucking right you are.” I flexed my arms around her, pressing her flush against me. “A deadly one.”
My body betrayed me as I fisted the silky material of her dress. I came alive with the feel of her, my baser instincts taking over. It didn’t matter that she had a loaded weapon pointed at me. Even if she shot me, in this thrilling moment, my bold move felt worth it.
Her leg hitched up the side of mine, wrapping around the back of my thigh. She smiled. Not the soul-eater grin she’d flashed that first night when she’d left me in her dust, not the seductress smile she’d worn with Alexander. No, this was a genuine, girl-behind-the-warrior expression. One that made me lose my fucking mind.
“Kira,” I whispered—her name the key to m
y undoing. “Can I kiss you?”
Her smile dropped, quickly hidden under a veil of indifference. “I dare you to try it.” Her words were a jagged rush of breath, lust tinting every single one.
“You going to shoot me if I do?”
“Maybe.” Her body pressed closer.
“Then I think I’ll take my chances.”
Kira
His head bent to mine, slow and deliberate, like I was an untamed beast he was afraid to startle.
Fuck, he was right to be wary.
Vengeful adrenaline coursed through me. Despite the spark he’d ignited, my dark side was out and playful. I’d left my weak-will at the door. This other side of myself—the combative, ugly one—had taken over the moment I’d walked into this mouse trap, and I wasn’t sure how far I’d let it go or how much damage I was capable of. Before his touch, my only desire was to kick and scream, claw and scratch, and break every head that stood between me and the justice I was owed.
But when Bodhi’s soft, cool lips landed over my fired-up mouth, my insides twisted. Anger and aggression were corrupted by passion. My urge to fight was drowned by a turbulent storm of unfulfilled desire.
I turned rabid, kissing him back with lips and tongue and teeth.
My hand that held the gun, dropped to my side. The leg I’d wrapped around his, hiked higher, pulled tighter, and brought my aching core closer to him.
He moaned into my mouth, a deep, rousing sound that called to all my hidden and forgotten senses. Feelings that proved I was still a warm-blooded woman after all.
God, it was overwhelming. The hunger. The insatiable need.
But when his grip on my back shifted, inching toward the gun, I closed the cage on my swirling emotions. Slammed it shut. Locked it up tight. Then swallowed the fucking key.
Tearing my mouth away, I shoved past the careless desire, drawing out my will. I turned to the instincts I knew I could count on. The impulse that kept me searching, no matter how hopeless my cause. The drive that kept me going, even when grief threatened to consume me. The tenacity that kept me fighting, no matter how many times I got beat down.
I wouldn’t allow a man to get the upper hand.
Bodhi Decker would not win.
Not even if it was the hottest damn kiss of my life.
The leg I had hooked to his, dropped to his calf. I pulled hard and fast, attempting to take him to the ground, but he was prepared for that move. He stayed upright, with his feet solidly planted.
Bodhi was a smart one. It seemed, unlike me, he learned his lessons the first time around.
Since he didn’t go down, I went up, climbing his torso like a tree. With my legs hugged tight around his waist, I aimed the gun point-blank at his head.
“I tried to warn you,” I sighed, sweetly.
His arms still held me like a lover, but I could sense he was calculating his next move.
“Now, let’s try this again.” I crushed his sides between my thighs, emphasizing my power. “Nice and slow, move over to the desk.”
With a passive expression stamped on his roguishly handsome face, he did as I asked. His confident stride was steady as he brought me to the only hope I had left.
“Sit in the chair,” I instructed. “And turn on the computer.”
“Why?”
“No questions; just do what I ask.”
He didn’t move, not even a flinch of an eyebrow to give away his thoughts.
We stared each other down—his dark eyes intent on my narrowed gaze. I pushed the gun hard against his temple, but he remained steadfast, with his strong arms still wrapped snug around my back.
“You’re stunning,” he mused, his eyes trailing over my face, my mouth, and further down. “And this dress…” He ran a hand over my bare leg, from knee to thigh, hovering over the leather strap that held my sheathed knife in place.
“Stop,” I warned.
“You sure that’s what you want?” he challenged. “Because in this position, I could just lay you over the desk, or back you against the wall, or hell, if you want to just ride me right here like this, I’d be good.”
I growled my frustration.
“Why don’t we just fuck and get it out of our systems?” he suggested. “The door’s locked.”
“I’ve got a gun to your head, there’s an unconscious man on the floor, and a gang of men who want to kill you in the other room. How can you even think about sex right now?”
“How could I not?” He squeezed my thigh. “You attacked my mouth like you were starved for it.”
“I told you to stop.”
“Why? Because you’re thinking about it, too?”
“I’m not,” I argued, despite the unexpected growing ache between my legs.
“You are. You’re not going to shoot me. You want me.”
I sighed, dropping my aim.
“Fine. I’m not going to shoot you. But I’m not thinking about sex, I don’t want you, and you’re sure as fuck not getting this gun.”
“That’s all right, I don’t need the gun. But you’re lying about the sex.” His fingers glided over my neck, stopping at the spot where I could feel my pulse going wild. “Your heart’s racing.”
I dug my fingers into the tender flesh above his collar bone—right where I knew it would hurt. “The only thing I’m interested in is information. Quit trying to distract me. It’s not going to work.”
“Okay,” he conceded with a smirk. “But what are you looking for on the computer?”
A sign. A flicker of hope. A bloody fucking miracle.
“My sister.”
His playful expression evaporated, replaced by a tight line between his brows and a sharp edge to his jaw as he clenched his teeth.
There was no turning back now. The truth was out. Two words that represented my life’s torment. Those words hung in the air between us like a visceral cloud of bleak desperation.
“What makes you think you’re going to find her here?”
“I don’t know that I will, but there’s nowhere else to look.”
My legs started to tremble. I’d been holding on for so long—physically and mentally—but not to Bodhi. After a year of holding hope for Nori, despair was winning. The fight was wearing me down.
“If she’s missing, I can find her,” he promised.
The words were a glimmer of light in my pit of darkness, and despite my doubtful heart and better judgment, I took the bait.
“How?”
“I have my ways. I’m good at getting information. Hell, I found you, and I didn’t even know your name. I can help you, Kira”
“Why?”
His eyes fell longingly to my lips. “Because I can. Because I like you, and you’re going to give me something in return.”
“Forget it.” My feet hit the floor and I pushed at his chest, putting distance between us, even though my body protested the move. “I’m not fucking you.”
“No, kitten, I would never bribe a woman for sex. If you want this relationship to be strictly platonic, then that’s what it’ll be. A professional agreement. All I want in exchange is an explanation about the Russians. I want the whole story, from start to finish. I want to know how to get them off my back and I want it before this night is over.”
“It’s a long story.” A long, sad, regretful story.
“That’s fine. If it takes two nights, then so be it. But I want all of it. No secrets. No lies.”
I closed my eyes, swallowing back the bile that was crawling up my throat. “I guess I can do that.”
“You can trust me Kira, I promise.”
I didn’t believe him, not for a single second. I refused be lured by his concerned gaze, the urgent clutch of his hands, or the soft way his lips had parted for mine.
But if there was any chance of finding Nori, I had to take it. Even if that put my life at risk. Even if it put my heart at risk. Even if Bodhi Decker was the worst mistake I’d ever fucking make. I needed to bring my sister home. To fix the thing I�
�d broken.
“Okay,” I caved, searching his face for signs of a trap, but all I saw was calm.
“Okay then, we got ourselves a deal.”
“A professional agreement,” I corrected.
His smile was wide and sarcastic. “Whatever you want, kitten. But I promise, you’re going to change your mind about the sex.”
“God, you really are a cocky son-of-a-bitch.”
“You’ll thank me for that later.”
My temper flared. It was bright and burning. “No, I won’t, but I’ll kick your ass again if you push me.”
“Now there’s a threat I wish you’d follow through on, Kira. It sounds really fun.”
God, he made me sick. Unfortunately, he also turned me on—not his words, but the confidence behind them, and the memory of his tongue dueling with mine.
Bodhi
Her teeth were bared, like she was ready to lay into me, and it was spectacular.
The temptation to kiss her again was rising. I wanted more. More of her bruising lips, thrusting tongue and biting teeth. Her raw emotion. Scathing words, rough touches, and unfiltered temper. I wanted it all. I welcomed it.
I wanted her to make me feel.
But sudden noise in the hallway disrupted the spell.
The wildcat, Kira, had sucked me into her havoc. She’d knocked my world off-kilter and turned my mind to a tangled mass of confusion. She’d stolen control out from under me. Her aggressive, burning desire had knocked me sideways. Turned me inside-out.
Problem was, for a moment, I hadn’t cared.
But with someone else’s hushed argument threatening to expose us, I wrestled to get my sensibility in line, where it belonged. I pushed away the storm of want, fighting hard against the distraction. With strong and practiced discipline, I took back control. Of everything.
I motioned for her to be quiet, bringing her attention to the noise in the hall.
“You know the influence in that room and you act like this? You’re such an embarrassment,” a woman hissed.