Chapter 14 #4
He sounds distraught, like he thinks he’s failed me, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to let him keep thinking something as ridiculous and wrong as that.
Reaching up, I clasp the back of his neck and pull him closer while I stand on my tippy toes to help him out.
I know it can’t be comfortable to constantly have to lower his head to be face to face with me.
“You saved me in there, Sasha. You didn’t fail me.” I smile and kiss his mouth, even though it is still tense with worry. “This is the first time in as long as I can remember where I feel good after leaving them. You did that, so stop feeling guilty because you have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“He scared you,” he says, refusing to let himself off the hook. “He said awful things to you and made you feel bad. He intimidated you, and I didn’t even know it was happening.”
“That’s what he does. He’s a bully, Sasha, has been my whole life, but you knocked him on his ass for me, and I’m pretty sure you made him shit himself in fear.” I smile even bigger and add, “So thank you for that.”
He doesn’t smile, but his face softens the tiniest bit when I kiss him again.
“What did you whisper to him?” I ask.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he says and then smacks me on the ass.
“You’re really not going to tell me?”
He softly brushes back a strand of my hair, hooking it behind my ear before slowly dragging his finger along my cheek. “Did he ever hurt you?”
Despite the calm tone he’s using, I know this is a loaded question. Sasha has very clear lines drawn in the sand, and he’s asking me a question that will let him know whether he’s allowed to cross it.
“Did he?” he asks again. His blue eyes search mine, pleading with me to tell him the truth.
“He’s not a nice drunk. He’s an ass when he’s sober, but it’s a thousand times worse when he’s drunk. I was scared a lot as a kid. He pushed me around a little, but he never flat-out hit me.”
I watch those same eyes turn hard when he asks, “Did he touch you in other ways?”
“No,” I quickly say. “I worried about it. There were times he looked at me in ways that sent a chill through every part of me, but he never acted on anything. He teased me, said horrible things to me, but the words he said never matched the looks he gave me. I put a lock on my door when I was sixteen. It’s the only way I could sleep at night, but he never touched me like that, Sasha. I swear.”
I thought my words might comfort him, but they only seem to send him closer to the edge. “You had to lock your door at night?”
“Well, yeah, but it might not have been necessary,” I quickly say. “I was just being cautious.”
I wish I could take my words back, because I’m willing to bet there’s a very solid, very large boot print in the sand, right over that fucking line I’ve just given him permission to cross.
“You can’t kill him,” I say, trying to reason with him.
He doesn’t say anything, and his silence is worse than a confirmation of my fears. When I see his eyes dart back to the apartment behind me, I know I need to get his ass away from here.
“I want to show you something,” I say, falling back on my heels and taking a step back while I grab his hand and lead him to the Jeep. He gives the apartment one last look before getting inside and looking over at me.
“What do you want to show me?”
I put my seatbelt on and clap my hands. “Just start driving and take the first right.”
He does what I ask, and after a few more directions, we arrive at the high school I graduated from. “Ta-da,” I say, throwing in some jazz hands like I’d done when presenting Bean Me Up to him.
A smile slips through as he watches me and then looks at the large brick building out the window. “Your high school?”
“Yep.” I look past the large building to the football field that’s currently shrouded in darkness. A crazy idea hits me, and once it’s in my head, I can’t get rid of it. Sasha has opened my eyes to a lot of things, but nothing has surprised me more than the sexual kinky stuff.
Turning to look at him, I feel my cheeks heat up as my fingers slip into my purse and grab onto the edge of his mask. “I have an idea,” I say, and then I laugh and immediately start to doubt myself.
Sasha’s interest is already piqued, though, and no way in hell is he going to let this go now that he’s seen how embarrassed I am.
“What is going on in that brilliant head of yours, krovinka, because you’re blushing like crazy right now.” The corner of his mouth raises a bit more. “You’ve got me very curious.”
When I pull the mask I’ve been hiding out of my bag, his eyes darken when he sees it.
“You said something about chasing me the other night,” I start to say, and then feel stupid when the silence grows thick enough to feel in the Jeep’s small interior.
“Never mind,” I quickly say, but when I try to shove the mask away, his large hand clamps down on mine, stopping me before I can even move an inch.
“My kinky little Cyn,” he murmurs while his thumb caresses the inside of my wrist. “Not only do you want me to chase you outside in a public place, but you want me to wear my mask while I do it?” The soft, deep laugh he gives is pure sex.
His blue eyes study mine. “You sure about this, krovinka, because once I start chasing, I won’t be able to stop. ”
I’m not entirely sure what I’m signing my ass up for, but I know I want it.
As scary as Sasha can be, I know there’s no way in hell he’d ever hurt me.
There’s something about the mask, though, that’s going to make me forget that as soon as he puts it on and starts stalking me.
That probably shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does.
With my mind made up, I nod my head and hand him the mask.
“I’m sure.”
Without a word, he takes the mask and then grabs his phone. I wonder who he’s calling, but then I hear him say, “Niki, I need you to do me a favor.”
He speaks in English so I can understand what he’s saying, and when he says, “I need you to disable any security cameras near me.” He gives me a wink when he adds, “This is a private favor, so no peeking.”
He laughs at whatever Niki says before ending the call and getting out of the Jeep.
I follow his lead, stashing my purse under the seat before joining him near the front.
As soon as I’m close enough, he cups the back of my head and presses his lips to mine, kissing me with a hunger that has me lifting onto my toes and pulling him closer.
I can already feel how hard he is, and when I slip a hand under his shirt so I can run my nails over the hard lines of his abs, he groans and fists my hair tighter.
Tilting my head back, he hovers his lips over mine. “Last chance to back out, Cyn,” he warns. “I’ll fuck you up against this Jeep and then take you home and do it all over again. You can have your fun without me chasing you, if that’s what you want.”
“No, I want the chase,” I tell him.
He groans and nips at my bottom lip. “Just remember you asked for this, krovinka.” While he caresses my bottom, he asks, “You have your inhaler?”
“I do.”
“Use it if you need to.”
“I will.”
When he’s satisfied I’m telling the truth, he nods and then with a sharp smack to my ass, he lets me go.
I can’t take my eyes off him as he pulls his T-shirt off, leaving him in nothing but his jeans and black boots and the knife that’s still looped through his belt at the small of his back.
When he grabs the mask, he keeps his eyes on mine, giving me a wink before he pulls it down, hiding his face from view.
“Holy shit,” I whisper. I’d forgotten how damn creepy it is to be on the receiving end of that bloody skull face.
With the streetlights and the full moon, there’s more than enough light to see his blue eyes behind the mask.
If I had to describe them right now, I’d say they look amused and hungry.
I’ve never felt so much like prey before in my life, not even the night I thought he was going to kill me.
I take a hesitant step back and hear the soft laugh he gives.
My heart races as my eyes run over every hard inch of him.
If this were for real, I’d be dead in seconds.
No one faces Sasha like this and lives to tell about it.
This man was born to kill, but he’s not looking at me like he wants to sink his blade into all my vital organs.
He’s looking at me like he wants to fuck me senseless, like he wants to rut into me so fiercely I won’t be able to walk for days.
My core aches at that image, but I’m determined to not make this too easy on him. “I need a head start,” I tell him, and he gives me a slow nod. I may not know much about the kinky world we’re stepping into, but I’ve read enough to quickly add, “Don’t I need a safe word?”
His laugh is downright wicked as he tilts his head to stare at me. “A safe word? That’s so cute, Cyn. You really think there’s a word that could keep you safe from me?”
Fuck me.
He hears the hitch in my breath at his words, the way my body is having a hard time keeping still, and the next word out of his mouth sounds a lot like a growl.
“Run.”