Page 50 of Black Ledger

Oh, this fucker.

I was going to kill him.

My head burst into the night air, and I saw him staring at me. Glaring. Intently. His gaze was pure ownership.

He opened his lips and shot a mouthful of pool water at me like a geyser. He winked, as if to say, All clean, just like you requested.

I ducked my head under the water and closed my eyes, pulling a string of very imaginative Russian curse words into my mind. I opened my eyes, the chlorine stinging them, and discovered that he, too, was underwater… still staring.

My heart pounded in my ears, and time froze as I took in the boy I’d always wanted, even before I understood attraction.

God, he was so damn attractive, even wet, even underwater.

He swam toward me and curled one hand around my neck as he pushed me up out of the water and against the edge of the pool.

“It’s fucking winter, Sev,” I said, my back hitting the wall, air rushing out of me.

“And the pool is heated.” His hand was still around my throat. All dominance and possession. “You like watching me with other women, don’t you?” His fingers dug into my skin.

“Not particularly, no.”

“Oh, don’t lie, you little voyeur. It gets you wet, doesn’t it?”

“Seeing as I was thrown into a pool, I’d say I am very wet at the moment.” I pushed at his chest. “Now let me go.”

“No.” He chuckled. “I’m not done with you yet.”

“But I’m done with you.” I pushed him again, but I was like Sisyphus, forever stuck in futile labor… forever pushing the boulder up the hill. I should have been scared or annoyed, as I had been with Chad, but this was nothing like that. This was right. Severin’s hands on me felt like home—felt like kismet.

One of his hands moved to the side of my face, and the other came up to cup my cheek. He tilted my chin up and moved into me, causing my chest to scrape against his. His eyes dipped to my lips, and I knew he was going to kiss me.

My heart jumped into my throat, and I let out a near sob, struggling to get away again. This could not happen like this. My first real kiss could not be with Severin after he had his lips and tongue on another girl’s pussy.

It just wasn’t fair, and it hurt far too much to explain. It was awful. So fucking awful.

My stomach churned, and I wanted to scream.

“No, Severin, don’t,” I said, my voice wobbling as I shoved at his chest one last time. “Please just don’t.”

His gaze raked across my face, and he could tell I was serious. Pained. He released me, his face falling as if I had slapped him.

He floated back, his expression hard, his eyes nearly black.

A mix of heated emotions passed between us, and I felt like coagulated paint—gooey, disgusting, and barely useful.

Quickly, I turned, placed my hands on the edge of the pool, and lifted myself up and out of the water. Walking—no, running—away from him, not looking back once as I disappeared into the house.

Soaked and freezing.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Xeniya Morozova

Age 19

Nika was trying to assemble an IKEA couch and was desperately failing, but she refused to accept my help. My room was across the hall from hers, so I heard a lot of grunting and curses. It was clearly not going well, and every thirty minutes I would pop my head out to see if she needed help.

I was not an expert at assembling a couch, but I was trained to work with guns, build tents, and survive in the wild for things like the Gauntlet. So I would have been far more skilled than she was at building almost anything.