I reach for her, but she’s quick and small, just keeping out of my grasp.
Seconds later we’re at the same impasse on either side of the table.
“You going to do this all night?” I edge towards her, forcing her around the table, so her back is to the smaller set of rooms.
“If necessary,” she says, but I see the flare of panic.
I switch directions and lunge and nearly—so nearly—grab the sleeve of her cardigan enough to halt her. Her eyes are bright when we face each other again, and the challenge of this woman sparks something hot and dangerous in me.
She’s not just going to give in. She’s interested, I think, but she’ll make me work for every concession.
“I only need to be lucky once. When I touch you, I’m not letting go.” I continue to track her around the table. “But you have to evade me successfully one hundred per cent of the time.”
I stop, placing my hands on the shiny wood and regard her.
“All night.”
She swallows, and her defiance changes to genuine worry.
And that’s when I move. I take the direct route to her, vaulting over the table, the water making the surface slick and the glass spinning away and crashing onto the carpet.
She shrieks and runs. I land with a thump, already running after her.
She sprints with surprising speed through the rooms of the suite, upending furniture as she goes. A chair smashes into my leg, and a lamp bounces off my arm.
But I’m faster.
Taylor looks one way and the other, avoiding the bedroom, but I herd her towards it all the same.
My heart races, and my mind is sharp, despite the few sips of vodka earlier.
This is the most engaged I’ve been with anyone for years. She’s smart. She’s fucking sexy. And the way she’s challenging me is honestly the best part of all.
I needed this. The world is in colour with her here, and my life has been dull for so long.
Clever creature, she uses my larger size and weight to her advantage, bounding over a sofa before she swerves, quicker in changes of direction than I am, and doubles back to the sitting area I was waiting for her in.
And the door.
“Taylor,” I growl, and it’s my turn to have terror claw at my heart. If she runs into the rest of the hotel, I can’t protect her. I can’t explain, and I don’t want to find out what the reprisal there might be from Aleksandr or Yevgeny if they find her escaped.
Worse, I don’t know what I’d have to do to get her back. I’m not above dragging her by the hair if that’s what’s required to show this is nothing more than a brutal bratva pakhan taking what he wants.
I smash into the door reaching for her, and grab her cardigan.
“Got you.” Satisfaction explodes in my chest, but it’s premature.
“No.” Her eyes blaze. I see her intention a split second before it’s too late. She spins out of the wrap, releasing herself with a tear of fabric, and bolts away, heading for the bathroom.
A room she could lock, and attempt to keep me out of, all night.
“Oh no, you don’t.”
There’s new speed in my limbs as she runs. I cannot let her win. She mustn’t, for her sake, but she had the benefit of surprise, and she’s nimble.
But I’m ruthless.
As she reaches the bathroom door and tugs it open, I take a flying leap, uncaring for finesse or dignity.
