AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The way she is considering me, as if she can see through to me—to who I am—my control snaps. I clamp my mouth over hers and she instantly opens for me, my tongue exploring her mouth. She melts into me, and I can’t help squeezing her hips. I need her closer. I reach around her, my fingers find her exposed back, and I drag two fingers lightly on her back. She shudders.
“I love how you respond to me Kate. Only for me.” I trace her shoulder blades and run my hands behind her at the nape of her neck.
“Only for you, Luka.” Her words spur me on, and I kiss her chin, watching as her head tips back. I’m not sure when it happened, but I’ve fallen for her. I’m compelled to know her until my own end.
My hands fiddle with her dress straps, tracing a single finger back and forth underneath them. Someday, there will be nothing between us. No dress. No suit.
Her hand grazes my stubbled chin and I continue to kiss her. Kate mewls, inching closer. Her hand goes to the top of the limo and presses, using it as leverage to steady herself during the ride.
“You’re a dream,” I manage to croak out. Her hands reach between us, pressing against my chest, our limbs tangling as we grapple to touch more of each other.
“I want more,” she says, and I freeze. Those words. There is nothing more that I want right now, but—
“I’m not taking you for the first time in a limo.WhenI take you, it will be in my bed,moya zhena.”
A frustrated moan comes from Kate, but I watch her slowly look around to where we are as if she almost forgot that the city is passing by. I lean into her neck, sweeping my tongue over each nip to her skin.
Finding her ear, I whisper, “You are my everything.” She doesn’t understand it in Russian, but goosebumps break out over her body.
When her forehead comes to mine, she’s smiling as she moves back to her seat.
“You are amaz—”
A high-pitched screeching sound and thunderousCRUNCHimpacts the limo. Kate’s head goes flying back and mine forward as I lunge to hold on to her. Glass shatters, shards raining down around us, and tinkling noises play in the background. A metallic clang echoes toward the back, we’ve been hit by another car. Pops and bangs, that sound underwater, echo in the distance—security must be ambushed. Black spots dance on the edges of my vision and I try to hold my eyes on Kate, but she fades away into darkness.
* * *
Dripping isthe first thing that I hear. I try to blink my eyes open, but I can’t, my senses dull and fighting to take it all in. The air is damp and suffocating. I try to suck in air, but my mouth is obscured by something. My tongue moves over the stretchy fabric shoved into my mouth and I follow the sensation around my head. I reach up to remove it, but I can’t. I jerk. Then jerk again.
I can’t move my hands. They are tied tightly around a cool metal chair, and I work on trying to open my eyes. Panic surges through me, my heart pounding. A few seconds pass and my eyes gradually open to the dim light. I turn toward the concrete room, eyes searching the walls. It’s cold and damp and—Kate.
Across the room, Kate is restrained, hands behind her back. Blood is caked in her hair and I’m struggling to see her face to know if she is okay. I make a muffled sound through my gag, but I can’t make a loud enough plea. Her head hangs in front of her chest, shoulders moving up and down as she breathes. I continue down her body. Her dress is torn, and her tied bare feet are painted with minor cuts, the blood matching the red of her toenail polish.
Fear washes over me as memories from the limo filter back in. Kate satiated and happy until her head snapped back. A loud crunch sounded from behind—we must’ve been hit. I pull at my ropes again, muscles screaming as I try to pry apart my hands. The rope burns as it digs into my wrists. My eyes keep going to Kate, willing her to wake up. I need to see if she is all right. I brought this upon her. My life. My world. My blood.
I pull again, rocking in the chair to see if I can knock it over. My feet are bound, and I try to pull those apart too. A growl of frustration echoes against the walls, and I twist and push with all my strength. Chest heaving, I glance around the room. The concrete floors meet concrete walls on all four sides, but there are several metal poles throughout the room.Maybe it’s a basement?The door is metal, similar to those we have in our facilities. A shudder runs through me as I think of Kate, once again, captured because of me.
The lights flicker on and off. Kate’s silhouette goes in and out of view. I run over the protocol for when we don’t check in between when we left the event and getting home. I rack my brain, trying to think how long we were in the limo before the hit, and how much time we would’ve had left traveling to the penthouse. When we don’t show up, the guards will contact Nik. Nik knows what to do.
The stoic pakhan in me rolls my shoulders, ready to take anything they throw at me. But when I look at Kate, unconscious and vulnerable, I know whoever took us knowsexactlywhat they’re doing.
An hour or two passes while I work on freeing myself and making noises to wake Kate. Her face is still hanging low; I can only see the gag on the sides of her mouth. Worry is making it impossible to focus. I need her to wake up. I try lifting my feet and bringing them down hard against the concrete since I still have my shoes, but it’s not loud enough.
My mouth is dry and the tightness in my chest is painful. From my memory of the hit, Kate’s neck snapped back and I’m imagining all sorts of irrational scenarios. I want to go to her.
In an effort to try, I tug at my binds behind my back, scraping for any last energy I have. A pop in my shoulder sounds in the room and pain lances through me, sweat beads along my forehead, stinging my eyes as it drips unhindered. I flinch in pain but shrug, trying to gauge if I dislocated it or if I injured a tendon or ligament. I take long, deep breaths working through the pain—I think it’s injured as opposed to dislocated. Either way, I don’t have the mobility to keep testing these restraints. Energy is one thing I can’t waste. The painful lump in my throat gives way to resignation and I tuck my chin to my chest, cursing that I ever involved Kate in this life at all. A strange, thick emotion creeps up my insides and I choke back the ugly truth of it all.
I am not the best thing to ever happen to her. I’m the worst.
The sound of grating metal jolts me out of my slump and I stare at the door, the sound mimicking nails on a chalkboard—it’s torture in itself.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of movement in Kate’s direction, a quick jerk of her head. Her eyes tense as she comes to and is unable to reach for the gag in her mouth. She tries several times to lift her head, it bobbing a few times. The screeching sound stops and the door pushes inward, wafting in musty air with it. I’m not even looking in that direction. My eyes are only on Kate.
Finally, she snaps her head up, tears immediately coming to her eyes. Her gaze darts rapidly around the room, to my feet, my hands, and then my face. Desperation percolates between us, both bound to our chairs. The eyes tell a lot about a person, but Kate’s, they tell all. Panic floods her face, then softens into something else, something unwavering. A set of footsteps sound in the room and those strong, encouraging eyes go wide and fill with utter terror.
“Well, well … who do we have here?”
Chapter51
