Chapter Twenty Four #2
A gorgeous—and I mean gorgeous—woman over at the bar was eyeing him hard, her gaze heated and filled with want.
It didn’t seem to matter that he was all over me.
That, to the outsider’s eye, we were most definitely together.
She saw a man she wanted, and didn’t care if he was there with someone else.
I hated women like that.
I was a girl’s girl, through and through. If a man was taken, he was fucking taken.
We were just going to ignore the fact that I killed women who touched Lukyan.
That didn’t count.
I waited for her eyes to find mine, and then I reached back, hooking my finger through the metal ring on the front of Lukyan’s collar, and pulled him down. Our lips connected. It was hot. Searing. Electric.
And I made that bitch watch.
Lukyan moaned. I loved it when he moaned. It was such a hot, erotic sound that just sent tingles exploding throughout my whole body. His hands went wandering, slipping beneath my dress.
He gasped into my mouth. “No underwear?”
A devilish thrill streaked through me. “Nope.” I let go of his collar and turned around, pressing my body flush against his. His cock, long, hard, and thick, pushed into my lower stomach.
“You drive me fucking crazy.” He kissed me, and it was full of passion. Full of desire and lust.
“You’re one to talk.” Lukyan had no idea how crazy he made me.
We danced, kissed, and downright grinded the shit out of each other for so long that, when I finally came up for air, my mind was swimming.
“Let’s go for a smoke!” I yelled over the music.
Lukyan nodded and grabbed my hand. His hold was tight, unwavering as he threaded us through the crowd of people around us and right to the door that led outside to the smokers’ area.
Club Noir had several floors, with balconies on each level for people to go and chill out.
To get away from the loud music for a little bit.
Because it was nighttime and cold as shit, there weren’t many people outside.
Heat lamps sat in every corner—a great but futile attempt to warm the area.
Small tables, each with two chairs and an ashtray sitting on top, were spread throughout the space, offering plenty of options.
We decided to take the bench seat running along the side wall. I pulled out my metal cigarette case.
“So, I realized something,” Lukyan began, leaning back and spreading his thighs. “You never answered my question.”
“And what question was that?”
“How did you find the location of Talon’s island?”
Ah. “It was hard. That man had security measures up the wazoo.” With a click, I opened the case and plucked out a joint.
I didn’t smoke all the time. Was more of a social smoker than anything else.
I knew Lukyan was, too, but he much preferred weed over cigarettes.
“But nobody is more dangerous than a woman trying to protect the person she loves. I was watching you, you know. When you were taken.”
“You were?”
“Mm-hmm.” Placing the joint in between my lips, I lit the end and inhaled deeply, letting the smoke fill my lungs before blowing it out.
A slight haze washed over me. “I tracked you. Followed you to that apartment you keep in the city. The one you stay at when you’ve finished whatever work you’re doing for your father and don’t want to trek all the way home.
I climbed all the way to the roof of the adjacent building and watched.
As much as I could, anyway. You’d shut the blinds, so I wasn’t able to see much of anything. ” I handed the joint to him.
Lukyan inhaled deeply and then exhaled, blowing out three perfect rings that drifted into the air. He didn’t seem the least bit bothered by what I was saying, which I took as a good sign.
“I saw a van pull up about forty-five minutes later,” I continued. “Four guys got out and went inside. I didn’t think anything of it. Thought they were just other tenants in the building. About ten minutes later, they came out, carrying you.”
The memory was still so fresh in my mind it could have happened yesterday, not over six months before.
I remembered it all. Vividly. The shock that had run through my body.
The frustration over the fact I didn’t have my sniper rifle with me.
If I’d brought it, I could have saved my poor Lukyan from all that trauma of being kidnapped.
It was one of the reasons why, from that point forward, I always made sure to use my rifle instead of binoculars when spying on him. I would never allow myself to be caught unawares again.
I rubbed my hands together to generate some warmth. “Luckily, I had my bike, because by the time I made it down from the building, they were halfway down the street. I followed them through hours of traffic, numerous handoffs, and endless twists and turns.”
“Handoffs?” he asked, handing the joint back to me.
“I told you, that Talon guy had insane security measures. Every hour, they pulled over and handed you off to another team. The last one ended up in an empty field, where a plane was waiting.” The pure panic I’d felt when I realized I wouldn’t be able to follow…
that I would lose him…It was crippling. “Every plane, no matter if it’s private or commercial, has to register a flight path with air traffic control if they’re crossing international borders.
I couldn’t follow the plane, but I could find out where it was going with the tail number.
They’re essentially license plate numbers for planes, stamped on the side of the aircraft.
Once I had the destination, I knew where to go.
It landed in a small airfield in Naples.
Lucky for me, I had contacts in Italy. People who owed me a favor or two.
I couldn’t make it there in time to track you when you landed, so I had them waiting.
You were put in a car, and again, handed off to several other teams before finally being transported to a boat.
It was a small, twenty-foot motor yacht with a fifty-litre tank.
A vessel that size can only travel roughly three hundred nautical miles, and there was only one island within range.
Once I had the island’s latitude and longitude, I sent it to your brother’s laptop because as much of a badass as I am, I couldn’t break you out of there alone.
And that’s that. Bingo bango. Easy as pie. ”
I took a deep drag of the joint. A bout of hunger hit me. “Fuck, you know what I could really go for right now? A burger. A big, fat, juicy burger. With fries. No. A buttload of fries. With bacon. And ohhh, melted cheese. Yum.”
Holding the joint up in the air, I waited for Lukyan to take it. When he didn’t, I looked at him. A stunned, slightly bewildered expression was on his face.
“What?” I touched my lips. “Do I have something in my teeth?” There was nothing more embarrassing than chatting away and finding out you had a huge piece of food stuck in your teeth.
Lukyan chuckled, as if I was missing some sort of inside joke only he was in on. “I’m just a little…shocked. You went through a fuckton of effort to save me and my family.”
“Not your family.” I stared him dead in the eyes. “Only you. Always only you.” As bad as it might sound, I didn’t give two baloney sandwiches about his family. My one and only priority was protecting and saving Lukyan.
His eyes bored into mine, full of hot, blazing emotion, and then he kissed me. It was soft. Heartfelt. Far different from any other kiss I’d ever experienced in my life, and it was by far the most meaningful.
I melted into him as I kissed him back, the softness of his tongue against mine making me moan. I hoped he could finally understand just how much he meant to me. How much I needed him. That when I said I would do anything for him, I truly, truly meant it.
His lips disappeared far too quickly, but he stayed close, pressing his forehead against mine and taking a deep, relaxing breath. We’d shared a lot of beautiful, significant moments together so far, but that one? It felt monumental.
The door to the club opened and loud, rambunctious laughter followed. Two women came stumbling out. With the moment shattered, Lukyan and I pulled apart.
“Should we go back inside?” he asked roughly.
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, trying to get my bearings. “Let’s.”
Music bombarded me from all sides when we walked back into the club, the drastic change of atmosphere almost jarring. Lukyan’s hands landed on my hips, and he bent to whisper in my ear.
“Drink?”
Yeah. I could really go for a fucking drink right now.
I nodded.
He took the lead, pushing through the crowd of people to get to the bar.
Everyone was mostly on the dance floor, only a few others waiting to get drinks.
The gorgeous woman I’d clocked earlier was still there, nursing a drink as she bobbed along to the music.
She was on the prowl, looking for someone to take home. I was sure of it.
There was no way it was going to be Lukyan.
I maneuvered myself so I was in between them.
“What do you want?” he asked, his hand on my lower back.
“Corona.”
He waved down the bartender. “Two Coronas, my good man.” He reached into his pocket and frowned.
I knew what he was searching for. I handed him a fifty-dollar bill from inside my purse. His lips pursed in distaste.
“I wanted to pay.”
“Well, that’s good, because it’s from your wallet.” I’d taken it off him when I kidnapped him.
Lukyan was a submissive man in the bedroom, and that was all. He was dominant in every other aspect of his life, and I knew that. Like I’d said a million times, I knew him better than anyone else did. Could anticipate his actions, his thoughts, as if they were my own.
He plucked the bill from my fingers and leaned his elbow against the bar, smirking. “You’re sneaky.”
“You love it, though.”
He chuckled. “I do.”
I beamed at him.