Wanted: An Outlaw Anthology

by Lane Hart

  Yet, I still wanted more of him.

  Fuck, even the guilt wasn’t enough to turn me off.

  Bodhi squeezed my hands, bringing me back to reality. “You have the right to feel however you do, Kira. If you want me to back off, I will. At least, I’ll try. I’ve made you a lot of promises, and I intend to keep them all, even if that means we’re headed back to that professional agreement.”

  My eyes searched his face, still looking for the trap I felt he must be laying, yet all I saw was pained conviction, and a jaw I wanted to lick. The man was irresistible, and consistent as hell.

  “Is it weird that we’ve now fucked in two different rooms of your sister’s house?” I blurted, breaking the tension and my urge to come clean.

  “Nope.”

  I laughed, leaning back to look him in the eye. “I know your lack of shame shouldn’t surprise me, but you didn’t even pause to think about that answer.”

  “It’s not really her house,” he replied.

  “Let me guess,” I drawled, sarcasm lacing each word. “It’s yours.”

  He shrugged, his bare shoulders drawing my attention, pulling my gaze back to the rest of his naked torso. “She needed a place to live,” he explained. “So, I bought her one.”

  “Wow. That was awfully generous of you,” I breathed, trying to keep the hunger out of my tone.

  “Someone should enjoy the money I’ve made. I’m not spending it on myself.”

  “Says the man who drives a yellow Lamborghini.” I smirked.

  “I told you, it’s a rental.”

  “Maybe when this is all over you can buy one for yourself, put that money you’re not spending to good use.”

  “No, kitten, when I spend it, it’ll be on something worthwhile.”

  “Like what?” The wet trail of my hair, hanging down my back, caused me to shiver as I tried in vain not to fall for his show of decency. My hormones were running rampant, and my willpower was at an all-time low. In this shaky, worked-up state—in nothing but a towel—I was too vulnerable. No matter what he said next, I knew I was going to fall. Fuck, I was afraid it was too late. I was afraid I already had.

  “Like an agency… Or a shelter. I’m not sure exactly. Something legit that can help clean the city up for good.”

  God, how was he so good at making me so weak?

  “Police services are grossly underfunded you know,” I pushed, testing his reaction. “You could always just donate to that.”

  He stared at me a moment, and it was clear he was thinking—his pensive expression making it seem like he was solving whatever problem was on his mind. That look made me anxious. Made me wonder what part of me he was seeing.

  Did he know the secrets I had hidden?

  “Your eyes are beautiful,” he murmured, pulling me closer by our connected hands. “In this light they look dark amber.”

  “You mean hazel?”

  “No. They’re gold. Deadly, gorgeous gold.”

  “Gold?” I laughed. “I don’t think that’s really a thing.”

  My anxiety was melting with the laughter. So, his next words hit like stone. “How do you know Sasha Belkin?”

  Stammering hard, I answered, “I don’t really.”

  “You sure?” His tone was calm, but his eyes were demanding. “You don’t have to tell me details, Kira. You don’t owe me anything—hell, after that orgasm, I feel like I owe you—but it’d be nice if you’d at least tell the truth.”

  His smirk was handsome, and I wished I could enjoy it, but my insides were suddenly twisting, my stomach full of painful knots. I couldn’t even smile back. I was seized by a wave of absolute terror—a feeling I rarely entertained. Not unless Sasha Belkin was involved.

  Fuck, this was wrong. All of this.

  Panic took over, my body trembling from the jolt of adrenaline suddenly coursing through it.

  “Come here,” Bodhi whispered, his brow lined with concern as he pulled me into his solid frame, wrapping his arms around me.

  His silence matched my own, but his heart beat a steady rhythm as he continued holding me. It was an intimate embrace—strong and comforting. It felt like his body could protect me from the horrible truth. Like he really could be my avenging angel.

  I wanted to believe in that. In him.

  Surely the universe knew what it was doing when it sent me this killer? Maybe it knew me better than I knew myself. Maybe it was time I paid attention.

  “He’s someone I used to know,” I explained, pushing past the lump of fear in my throat as I willed my body under control. “A long time ago. At least, I thought I knew him, but he changed. Or maybe he was always disgustingly rotten but was good at hiding it. Either way, I don’t recognize the thing he is today. He isn’t the man I used to know.”

  “Why’re they after you? If Nikolai has your sister, why does he want you?”

  “I don’t know,” the knots in my stomach all pulled tighter, making me feel like I was ripping apart.

  Bodhi stared down at me, his face an unreadable mask of calculated thought. I held my breath, waiting, wondering. He was good at reading situations and people. Would he decipher me? Could he read my lie?

  “We’re going to figure it out,” he reassured when I started trembling again. “We’ll figure everything out. I just need to know how much of an issue Sasha’s going to be.”

  “He’s a really big fucking issue,” I whispered brokenly, terror winding its way around my heart.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  He tried to soothe me, running his hands over my back and shoulders. Even with fear consuming me, his touch was like a live-wire. Every spot his hands touched sparked and crackled. With one arm wrapped firmly around me, his other hand continued to roam. His fingers found their way to my neck, moving up ‘til they were wrapped around the base of my throat, each long digit pressing lightly. The hold was seductive. Possessive.

  “Don’t worry, Kira,” he murmured.

  A ray of morning light cracked through the curtain as he bent his head toward mine. The beam fell across his profile, lighting half his face, the other side still bathed in darkness. The image captured his duality. Light and dark. Each side undeniably attractive. All of him too good to be true.

  “I have a plan.” His breath caressed my lips. “It’s going to involve death and a whole lot of Sasha Belkin’s blood.”

  God, what had I done?

  Bodhi

  “I need to go home,” Kira called from the bedroom, practically reading my mind.

  Her forced admission had triggered something deep within me, and all the emotions that I’d tried for years to set aside had all come crashing down at once.

  It was overwhelming, but I dealt with it the same way I always had—with denial and logic. As she’d trembled in my arms, I’d forced aside the rage, pain, and even the lust. I’d started plotting my new objective.

  Sasha Belkin’s death.

  She appeared beside me in the kitchen where I was cooking breakfast. It was well past noon and I hadn’t slept or eaten. After the wild sex and my breakdown of soft emotion, I was running on less than fumes. That just wouldn’t do.

  “Did you hear me?” she prompted, fussing with the hem of the shirt she’d borrowed from my sister. The clothes didn’t fit her quite right, she and my sister weren’t the same size, but it didn’t matter. They fit well enough. They were clean. And Kira looked great in anything. Even better in nothing at all.

  “I heard you,” I replied, dragging my attention away from her flat stomach, back to the sustenance I was going to die without. Although, even knowing death was on the table, I’d probably pass up the food if she asked me to fuck her again.

  Practicality, logic, even my lust for Sasha’s blood—it would all take a back seat to my desire for her.

  “You can’t go home,” I told her. “They’ll be watching for you there.”

  “No, they won’t.”

  “Kira… you think they can’t find you? They know who
you are. They found you at Stasevich’s house, and I’m sure they were at Alexander’s party looking for you. They’re obviously tracking you. Trust me, as die hard ignorant as these men seem, they’re not all idiots. Sasha and Nikolai at the very least will have figured it out by now.”

  Her scowl was a mixture of concern and outrage. I could feel the fight brewing already. But as much as her feisty side turned me on, right now wasn’t the time. We didn’t need to fight each other when there was a much deadlier foe to track down.

  “Listen,” I soothed, like I was calming a feral animal. “Home will still be there when we’re done. Let’s focus on finding that location, finding Nikolai and your sister.”

  Her temper didn’t dampen the way I expected, instead her rage boiled over. “I don’t need you to explain the situation to me, Bodhi. I’ve been living this reality for too long not to get it. I don’t need to be fucking managed. If they’ve somehow found my very well-hidden home, then I have an even bigger problem and I need to get there now.”

  “Hidden? Do you live in a cave, Kira? How the hell do you believe any place is concealed? Even here, we’re not completely safe, and trust me, I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to keep this place off traceable records.”

  “I don’t need to explain all my shit to you,” she seethed. “I need to get my ass back home.”

  She truly was a force to be reckoned with.

  “Will you at least tell me why it’s so important? I’d like to know why we’re risking our lives.”

  Her eyes flit around the room, like she was looking for an easy escape.

  “Come on, kitten,” I coxed. “This is how you build trust. I give a little—or a lot—then you give a little. Anything at all would be nice at this point.”

  She sighed. “I’ve already given you more than I’m comfortable with. Trust doesn’t build overnight. If that means I’m back to doing this on my own, then fine. I don’t need a sidekick.”

  “So, you really are playing superhero, but you mocked me for being the vigilante? I see how this game works. If you’re going to use a deflection as your distraction technique, try not to make it so obvious next time.”

  “Fuck you’re so frustrating. And cocky… Did I mention cocky?”

  I laughed at her as I plated our food. “That technique won’t work, either. Just cough up the information. I’m not telling anyone. I’ve got no one to tell right now, anyway.”

  She stared at the eggs. “What are you getting out of this, Bodhi?”

  “There’s not really much I need, kitten. I’ve got family, a fuck-ton of money, and I’m hanging out with a hot ass-kicker. If I get to kill a few Russian mobsters soon, I’ll be set.”

  “Don’t get cute.”

  “I’m not cute. I’m cocky, remember.”

  Ignoring my sarcasm, she pushed the food around her plate, reminding me how hungry I was. Putting aside my need for answers, I started shoveling food. It didn’t take long for my pile of eggs to disappear. I was chasing the few remaining bits, wondering if I should just lick the plate clean, or start in on the food she wasn’t touching, when she broke the silence.

  “I’m protecting someone.” Her eyes stayed glued to the counter as she toyed with the fork.

  The uncertainty written on her beautiful face was enough to bring me to my knees. Kira was a pendulum of emotion, constantly swinging from one extreme to the next. Each swing was a brutal upheaval, but she wasn’t simply hanging on to that wrecking ball, she was riding it.

  She was the most beautiful destructive force I’d ever seen.

  I waited her out, moving to the opposite end of the short counter, trying to stay out of her fray. This looked a lot like the eye of the storm.

  “She’s just a little girl,” she whispered. “An innocent little girl.”

  “Nori?” I prompted when she didn’t elaborate.

  “No. Anna.” Finally, she stopped fidgeting and met my gaze. Her strength was rebuilding—I could see it in the gleam of her golden eyes. “My sister’s little girl.”

  The blanks started to fill in. “Anna,” I confirmed.

  She nodded, full of solemn determination. “Annabelle Takara Drevnerussky,” she choked. “Nik doesn’t want me. He wants his daughter.”

  “Fuck.” The pieces were all in place.

  Now, my need to be a hero truly was reborn. Any hesitance or doubt I’d entertained dissolved as I allowed a feeling to take hold. It was a good one—an emotion I’d only felt one other time in my life. It was the need for vengeance. Sasha’s blood, Nikolai’s blood, and the blood of every member of their sick fucking gang might be enough to quench it.

  “That’s not going to happen,” I promised, visions of Russian deaths making me smile. “Not as long as I’m around.”

  She looked ready to tell me more—like there was something important she’d left out. I wasn’t going to push, but I wondered what I’d missed. “So, what’s the plan?” she sighed.

  Her continued avoidance frustrated me, but I let it go, knowing she’d already given me more than I was entitled to. I felt like I’d taken a lot. Maybe too much.

  But I was ready and willing to give her everything in return.

  “I assume you left Anna somewhere safe, with someone you trust?”

  Her eyes fell back to her food as she picked up the fork again, pushing the eggs around the plate. “She’s safe,” she mumbled.

  It didn’t sound like a lie, but I knew she hadn’t given me the entire truth, either.

  “Good.” I pressed my hands flat against the cool counter, calming my nerves and keeping myself upright. “I’m not going to be able to take out Nikolai’s entire Bratva on my own. I’m going to need your help.”

  “How?”

  “We’re going to draw them out. We’re going to drive into New York in that bright yellow Lambo, and we’re going to make as much noise doing it as we can. We’ll visit every underground club, every back-alley hook-up, and all the corners Nikolai owns. They won’t be able to miss us. Nikolai won’t show, but he’ll send his minions, and they’re going to tell us where he’s hiding.”

  “You think one of them will be stupid enough to give up their boss?”

  “Yes. I’ll torture every one of them if I have to.”

  She nodded, her shoulders and chest rising with her fortifying breath. “Okay,” she agreed.

  “Okay. We’ll leave tonight, after I’ve had a few hours of sleep.”

  She continued staring hard at her now cold breakfast.

  “If you’re not going to eat that, I’d be happy to,” I offered.

  I was hungry. Insatiably so. But even with all the food in the world, I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied. Not until I tasted blood.

  “I’m vegan.” She shrugged.

  “You don’t like guns or killing. Blood make you uncomfortable. And you’re vegan.” I shook my head, grabbing the food out from under her. No point in wasting. “How’ve you managed to keep yourself alive without meat? What does a vegan wildcat warrior princess eat?”

  She smirked, wicked humor lighting her eyes again. “There are other sources of protein.”

  I paused, mouth open, the fork full of egg hovering in mid-air. Good thing it hadn’t hit my mouth yet, I might’ve choked.

  “Quinoa. Soy. Rice and beans. It’s a long list,” she mocked.

  “You’re playing with fire, kitten.”

  “No, Bodhi. I am fire.”

  “Fucking right you are.”

  Bodhi

  The ringing of my phone roused me out of sleep.

  It was a deep but restless sleep, filled with dreams of blood, violence, and a naked version of wildcat Kira destroying everything in her path. Her dreamed devastation had been erotic—evidenced by my achingly hard cock.

  My eyes cracked at the persistent sound of the phone as my hand drifted over my erection, trying in vain to ease its throbbing. The time on the clock jolted me upright, bringing me fully awake. It was after midnight—far past the time I’d plan
ned to sleep. I’d been out cold for over ten hours.

  A stab of unfamiliar panic gripped me as I grabbed the phone. “Yes,” I answered, anxiety seizing my heart and killing my erection.

  “Bodhi?” Tess’s voice was a shrill assault to my senses. She sounded as panicked as I felt, her breath rushed and her voice wavering.

  I stumbled to my feet, trying to will myself under control, searching the darkened room for my clothes and wondering where the hell my wildcat was and why she’d let me sleep through half the night.

  My heart pounded hard and fast.

  Fuck.

  Turning in a slow circle around the quiet room, reality sunk in. The heaviness I’d felt sitting on my chest intensified, crushing me under its weight.

  Kira wasn’t here.

  This place had lulled me into a sense of security. In this cozy house, in this pristine city, with its manicured lawns, garbage-free streets, and friendly neighbors, the danger seemed far-off—almost as though we could avoid it if we stayed long enough.

  But it was false. There was no security when men like Sasha Belkin trolled the streets. The threat was real, and it was urgent. No matter how many miles we put between us, they still had a way to strike.

  Or in this case, put enough fear and doubt into our heads that they didn’t need to strike. We’d make the first move. We’d go to them.

  I was afraid, that’s exactly what she’d done.

  “Bodhi,” Tess repeated, her voice rising an octave. “Please, Bodhi. I need your help.”

  I sat back on the bed, my legs giving out as disappointment and fear took hold.

  “What’s wrong?” I croaked, forcing myself to focus.

  “I’m supposed to deliver a message,” she cried. “Sasha says to give back what you’ve stolen…” Her voice hitched dramatically. “Otherwise, he’s going to kill me.”

  Her words fell flat.

  My racing heart began to slow as I breathed through Tess’s overdone act. “What exactly does he think I’ve stolen?”