AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then do it. You do whatever it takes,” I reply, nodding slowly. “It’ll be okay.”
I know what he’s proposing. For him to earn back Aleksei’s trust, he’s going to have to prove he’s still Popov’s number one hitman. He can’t show kindness. Or compassion. He has to punish and kill without remorse. He has to treat me how he always should have but never did—like a hostage.
But Saint reveals he’s no longer the man he once was.
“I-I don’t know if I can,” he confesses with regret.
My heart swells, but I soon squash down my emotion because there is no other way. “You have to. It’s the only way we can escape.”
When he lowers his chin, though, it seems there is only enough room for one.
“You’re coming with me, right?” I know the answer, but I press anyway. “Right?”
“I can’t leave Zoey,” he replies. His hair shields his face, but his defeated tone tells me he’s breaking inside as well. “He will slip up, and when he does”—he raises those hypnotic eyes—“I’ll set you free. No matter what happens, you do what I tell you, okay?”
My stomach drops at his ominous command.
“Okay?” he presses when I don’t reply.
“Yes,” I finally answer.
With the slowest of movements, he leans forward. Resting one hand by my head, he hovers over me, combing over every inch of my face. “Don’t look back. Don’teverlook back,” he whispers while unexpected tears break past my floodgates.
With his free hand, he brushes away my sadness with his thumb.
“I’m sorry I did this to you.”
A sob escapes because it’s the first time he’s apologized for kidnapping me. But it’s not his apology that I want. He’s just as much a prisoner as I am.
“But I’ll make it right. I promise.”
I can’t shake the feeling that this is goodbye. That whatever he has planned will end in us never seeing one another again.
I open my mouth, primed to argue that I don’t want to go without him, but sealing his lips over mine robs all my words. It takes my brain a second to catch up, but when it does, I surrender and lose myself to the bliss.
With my hands bound, I’m helpless to Saint’s lips and tongue, but who am I kidding? There isn’t anything I enjoy more. I may not intend to submit to Aleksei, but with Saint…I beg for so much more. And more he gives.
Cupping my cheeks, he positions himself over me, wickedly devouring my mouth with a frantic kiss filled with urgency and uncertainty. Our tongues duel, our breaths melt into one. I arch into him, ignoring the pain in my shoulders because I want everything and more.
“A????,” he pants into my mouth, his touch burning me alive.
The handcuffs rattle as I yank on them because each lash of his tongue drives me wild. His fragrance is a heady punch to my libido, and I scissor my legs to create friction, hoping to douse the flames. Saint kisses without apology because we both know this will be the last time.
I know what this is—the final kiss goodbye.
“Saint, no,” I mumble against his lips, trying to keep him hostage, but without my arms, I’m helpless to stop him.
He kisses my lips a final time before severing our connection with a heavy sigh. We lock eyes, and I know he’s lost to me because to become who he once was, he has to detach himself from feeling. It’s the only way he can do this.
When the distinct sound of a door handle turning can he heard, Saint leaps from the bed, wiping his lips. All I can do is watch, fearful for what comes next. When Aleksei enters, he pauses, as he was clearly not expecting company.
“Saint?” he questions, looking from him to me. “What are you doing in here?”
Saint clenches his fists by his side, and his shoulders are raised. He looks moments away from springing into action and tearing off Aleksei’s head. When he doesn’t reply, I know this will not end pretty. So I think on my toes, hoping it works.
“Fuck you! You can’t keep me tied up like some animal.” I wriggle wildly, the cuffs straining against the headboard. The commotion has Aleksei and Saint turning their attention my way. “Let me go!”
Aleksei grins while Saint pales. But he soon pulls it together and clues on to my plans. “She was giving me a headache with all her shouting. I came in here to remind her what happens when she misbehaves. I didn’t realize you had cuffed her.”
