Page 40 of Fractured Ties

“What does it mean?”

“Something unpleasant, but not untrue.”

“Would you tell me?”

“Would you look at me?”

She did.

Curiosity stared back at her.

“What?” Maya managed to ask.

“It means remember you will die.”

“You’re right—it’s unpleasant.”

“But also not untrue.”

Maybe so.

She wondered why he had gotten something like that tattooed on his body, but didn’t get the chance to ask.

Kolya’s brow dipped, and he glanced down at the pup as he said, “If Sumerki got away, I would go after him, too. I like him—I want to keep him around.”

Maya blinked.

She thought she understood what he was not saying.

“Like me, too?”

Kolya shrugged.

Maya frowned. “You just compared me to a dog, Kolya.”

Unflinchingly, he replied, “That’s better than what I compare everyone else to.”

He inched closer still—the tilt of the corner of his mouth drawing her gaze to the shape of his lips and the small scar that slit through the cleft in his chin. It was their lack of distance from each other that made it hard for her to think or breathe.

And yet, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted him to move, either.

Something was wrong with her, clearly.

He’d taken her. Without care, or concern. Just took her like he had every right. And now, she wasn’t even sure what was going to become of her life.

Except here she was, enjoying his closeness a little too much, and what it might mean.

Kolya’s head tipped down a bit, and Maya peered up. There was maybe an inch between their lips, but she didn’t dare to close the distance.

His smirk deepened into something more sinful when he asked, “Would you want me to find you?”

She didn’t speak.

Couldn’t speak, really.

Kolya grinned like he didn’t need her to, and in a blink, stepped back altogether. Suddenly, there was distance between them again, and her mind was clear.

Holy shit.