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“Maxim Novak,” I say flatly.
Dark eyes, narrow on me. Piercing eyes capture mine as he tilts his head to the side to consider me. I can see the calculating mobster behind those thick lashes and he’s doing the same math I am. My life plus his help in saving it means I owe a debt.
Shit.
Did I just get out of the proverbial pan and dive head first into the fire?
He strokes the underside of my jawline in a slow glide and tilts my head up to where our lips are nothing more than a whisper apart. My whole world melts away with that one gesture. One movement from either of us and this moment will take on a whole other tone.
Suddenly the idea of dying has me wanting to live. And right now, I can’t think of anything beyond tasting his lips. Feeling the warmth of passion instead of the cool embrace of the watery depths.
My pulse quickens and before I can chicken out, I rise, slip my arms around his neck and kiss the mafia boss. Slick heat blooms between my thighs and the tingles of electricity over my skin have me sliding my fingers through his tousled black hair.
Hands move and I’m dipped back, my weight all his to control. His warm lips tease over mine. Softly at first and then more demanding. Fingers tighten in my wet hair and I groan wildly.
Oh, God.I forgot we are not alone. I gasp, breaking the connection, and shyly look toward the front of the boat where the captain is piloting us across the ocean surface.
Maxim doesn’t seem to be bothered by having another person so near even with his back turned toward us.
The Russian mobster leans back against the bench taking me with him. “You worry too much. Gray can’t hear us over the rushing water and motor. Trust me. But I like that you don’t want anyone else to hear the moans meant for only me.”
He raises a suggestive eyebrow and the possessive fire in his eyes starts a whole other level of heat in my core and my body shamelessly tightens at the idea of moaning for him some more. There is an energy about him that pulls me in as much as it makes me quake with the fear of being left drained if I let him too close. Everything about this man screams power. From the way he holds me, to the way he angles his body into the wind to cut it from blasting me in the face. To the way his shoulders pull back and the confidence in the cut of his chin.
I swear it’s like the universe conspired to build the most irresistible man that is everything I said I didn’t want and then literally dropped me in his lap and issued me a dare.
Maxim says something but when I don’t offer a response, he turns my face to his. “I said you have me at a disadvantage,” he drawls out in that heart-throbbing accent that should not have my heart doing backflips. But it does.
“What is your name,krasivaya sirena?”
I suck in a breath as our bodies bump and grind against each other with the movements of the boat hitting small white caps. My rescuer watches me intently. His eyes stroke the sides of my face before dipping to touch my lips. I get the sense there’s something he wants to say but either he’s reconsidering it or this isn’t the place.
We hit a particularly large dip in the waves that causes me to slip from my place between his legs. His big arms wrap around my body tighter and he pulls me in. But that one jolt is all it takes for me to realize the crackling energy simmering between us has resulted in giving him an incredibly hard erection.
His grin turns pure molten lava and there’s not an apologetic bone in his body. “I can’t seem to help my reaction to such a beautiful siren pulled from the depths.”
My eyes widen and his growing grin is nothing less than sinfully wolfish. The thin material of his shorts does nothing to hide the fact that he’s solid steel beneath the navy-blue material.
His warm hand engulfs my face and there’s a pure untethered desire written in his expression when he caresses my cheek with the rough pad of his thumb. Something primal is happening between us but surprisingly with this man, I’m too scared to take the first step. An issue I’ve never really had before this moment. He leaves me feeling off kilter unlike any man has ever done for me.
He rumbles a deep sound from the back of his throat when my ass rubs against his hard cock and I’m instantly thrown into sensory overload. The cool ocean air, the scent of him, his heat, the small caresses, and the large promise tapping my ass all have my head spinning. He makes me feel alive and I can’t find anything wrong with that.
I can’t narrow in on anything beyond the fact I almost died and now I am in the arms of my dream man. Tightness in my throat causes white dots to linger in my vision.
I force my heart into a steadier rhythm.
“Breathe,” I hear him say and I draw oxygen into my lungs. “Just follow me and breathe when I do,” he coaxes. For several moments I stare into his eyes and inhale when he does.
“Vannah,” I offer as another way to ground myself before I let my fantasies carry me out of the land of reality. My voice is strong but roughened by seawater. I purposefully left off the tainted surname I’m saddled with. He’ll find out soon enough but for right now I just want to keep this as simple as possible.
“Vannah,” he repeats and with his accent, the vowels soften with his rumbling baritone. He wraps his fingers around one of my trembling hands. “I promise on my life you are safe with me.”
His deep voice works into my tense muscles and I feel myself start to relax into his hold. The clamp of fear holding my air passages hostage starts to feel less life-threatening, too.
He brushes the wet hair from my face and pulls something high over my cold body. A shirt, I realize. It smells like it could be his. I snuggle deeper into his arms and welcome the warmth he shares. Around us, this horrible day begins to fade to dusk. Thank God, too. I literally can’t wait to see morning and put this day behind me.
The sun dips below the horizon to wash the early evening in shades of purples and pinks. It’s beautiful and I’m here to witness it.
As I stare into Maxim’s eyes, I begin to think that maybe not all is lost.
