He had always had a weakness for spirited women like Lena. The thought came unbidden, unwelcome, sliding into his mind with dangerous ease.
What would she look like, naked and exposed, beneath him?What would those wide eyes look like if they weren’t filled with fear, but something darker?Something pulled from deeper inside her?
What would she taste like?
Would Lena part those soft, flushed lips to a moan when he sheathed himself inside her?The erotic image formed without permission.
Maksim exhaled slowly, forcing the thought away like a splinter he refused to acknowledge.Focus, he chided himself.This wasn’t like him at all.
He shifted the gun slightly, then clicked the safety off.It was a quiet sound, but she reacted instantly.Lena flinched, her entire body tensing as if bracing for impact that never came.
Her fear sharpened, he watched it happen.It was as if she was preparing herself for the inevitability of her death.That was his easy way out.Kill her, be done with this odd turn of events.
Still, Maksim didn’t pull the trigger.He made a reckless decision.
“I’m not going to kill you,” Maksim said.
Her breath hitched, but there was no relief in her eyes, only confusion.Suspicion, certainly.Her lower lip trembled, but she held his gaze anyway.
That same fragile defiance flickered again, refusing to disappear entirely.
“What ...what will happen to me now?”she asked.
The question hung between them.Maksim considered it.Honestly, there were only two options.
Kill her or take her. The first was the most practical choice, and the second would only open a whole slew of complications.
He looked at her again, at the way she stood there despite everything, fear and steel tangled together in a way that made no sense.
What an intriguing woman.A dangerous thought.Maksim should really just eliminate her on the spot.His brothers would give him grief if they found out Maksim had gotten himself in such an absurd situation.
Still, the thought of ending her life made him uneasy.It would feel incomplete, like closing a book before reaching the part that mattered.
“You’ll have to come with me,” he said.
Her reaction was immediate.
“What?”Her voice cracked, disbelief slicing through the fear.“No, please, just let me go.I won’t tell anyone what I’ve seen, I swear.I didn’t, I don’t even understand what’s happening.”
“No.”The word cut through her panic cleanly.“That is not an option.”
She froze, then, suddenly, she moved.Lena turned and ran on instinct.Maksim already predicted this, but her effort would be futile.
Maksim was already in motion before she reached the corridor.He caught up to her in seconds.He closed his hand around her arm, pulling her back with controlled force.
She gasped, stumbling as he spun her to face him again.
“It’s no use,” he said calmly.
Her breathing was ragged now, chest rising and falling too fast.Panic was taking over, swallowing whatever composure she had managed to hold onto.
“Let me go!”she demanded, struggling against his grip.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Why?”Her voice shook, but there was anger in it now.Real anger.“Why me?I didn’t do anything!”
The fire in her eyes caught him off guard, because no one ever spoke to him like that.She should be begging him.Instead, the little spitfire was demanding explanations from him.
