9. Maxim
9
MAXIM
A streak of lightning blasted down, illuminating Nadia’s face. Water trickled over the apples of her cheeks. I stared right back down at her, mesmerized by the glittering brightness of her blue eyes. She narrowed them, scowling up at me as she turned to face me.
Just like she had in London, she fought to get out of my hold.
And also, just like she had in London, she prompted a deep and sudden hit of desire to trap the breath in my lungs.
Fuck, she was gorgeous. Spitting mad and determined. But not mine to admire. I had to remember that part.
“ You again,” she seethed, tugging her arm away.
“Yes, me again. And I’m not letting you run anymore.”
“Who the fuck are you?” she demanded. “How the hell did you find me?”
Rain fell faster, and as much as I wouldn’t mind standing here arguing, watching the play of droplets coursing over her skin that I wanted to taste, there was no telling whether those locals would come back. I found her, twice now, and I wasn’t taking chances of losing her again.
I prodded her to walk with me, keeping my eyes open but slitted to scan our surroundings. I’d gotten lucky to track her phone to this park-like area. If I’d been a minute too late, those men would have had their way with her already.
“How did you find me?” she repeated. There was no mistaking the ire in her voice, but I found it interesting that she was more curious about my efforts to locate her than knowing who I was.
I didn’t owe her an answer, but I figured I could humor her. “I paid a little visit to your roommate.”
She stopped short. Since I gripped her wrist, I ceased walking too. We would not be disconnected.
“Did you…” She furrowed her brow, squinting through the rain as she craned her neck to face me. “Did you hurt her?”
Interesting. She cared. It was a simple thing, but her concern for her friend was proof that she wasn’t entirely selfish. I’d entertained the possibility that she was self-centered, and that was why she didn’t want to marry Lev. Her habit of running away and escaping the confines of her engagement suggested that she was independent, perhaps to the extent that she only cared about herself. Not so. She looked up at me with unease, as if the thought of her friend being harmed made her sick.
“No. I didn’t need to.” I headed toward the parking lot, towing her along.
“But how’d you find me out here?”
“What does it matter?” I argued. “Are you trying to figure out your mistakes so you don’t repeat them?” I shot her a dirty look. “You’re done running.”
“Fuck you. I’ll never stop running.”
“I’m bringing you home,” I told her with certainty I didn’t completely feel. “And then your husband can take over the responsibility of babysitting you and keeping track of you.”
She growled, and like a feral animal, she resisted my hold more. Clawing at my fingers. Digging her heels in to the path. Wrenching her arm to the side. “No,” she protested over and over. First, she fought with anger, her teeth bared and lips curled in disdain. Then she surrendered to desperation, frantic and begging, pleading with me.
“Don’t. Don’t take me to Mr. Avilov. Please!”
All the while, I forced her to return to the lot. Her rental car was likely gone. Those thugs had taken her purse, and I bet the keys were in it. It wasn’t an issue. My rental would be dry, waiting for me.
“You can’t do this,” she shouted.
“Watch me.”
“Don’t. You don’t—You don’t understand!” She anted up her resistance, swiping her leg out to knock me down. I predicted the move based on how she stood, and instead of dropping to the muddy path, I moved forward and picked her up.
Twisting off the path, I shoved her up against a tree and pinned her there. With my fingers wrapped around her neck, squeezing but not preventing her from breathing, I jammed my leg between hers and shoved her to the bark. Sandwiched between my body and the trunk, she was held in place. Beneath the fronds overhead, we were spared the worst of the deluge.
She was soaked. I was too. Our clothes clung to us, and as she sucked in quick breaths, panic clear in her eyes again, I got distracted with how her shirt stuck to her like a second skin. Her tits were made for worshiping. Generous and real. But it was the ink that got to me. Under the transparency of her wet, white shirt, her tattoos stood out with more contrast.
I lost common sense. I ignored the warnings in my head. Against my better judgment, I lowered my gaze to her parted lips, wishing I could steal a kiss.
“You don’t understand,” she repeated, stubborn to argue regardless of how I had her trapped.
“I understand perfectly. You don’t want to marry your groom. But it’s been arranged, and it must be done.”
She shook her head the best she could with my fingers wrapped around her neck. “No. I didn’t arrange it. My dad did, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”
“Tough shit.”
“I can’t marry him. Mr. Avilov isn’t…” She whined. “I can’t. I won’t.”
“Not my problem. I was ordered to bring you home, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
She glowered at me. “My dad sent you?”
“The Pakhan of the Valkov Bratva sent me.” I explained it as dryly and directly as I could, counting on her to understand the significance. She wasn’t na?ve. She had to be aware of Bratva and Mafia dynamics if she was informed of whom she had to marry and why.
Instead of widening her eyes in surprise or shock, like I figured she might, she smirked. “Fuck. He asked you guys for help to bring me home? That’s just fucking… Fuck .”
“Do you understand now?” I demanded. Touching her and witnessing her fight back so boldly like this… Dammit. I wanted her so bad. The buildup of desire was getting to me. This push and pull of undeniable attraction was heating up too hot.
“I don’t care. I refuse to marry him.”
I shrugged, leaning in closer to whisper in her ear. I’d done it in London, at that bar, and I enjoyed the thrill of being so close. Here, I tormented myself with the temptation again, just to fuck with her. “But I will bring you back and deliver you to him.”
Trembling in my hold, she turned her head slightly to face me. This close, our breaths mingled. And still, she didn’t back down, staring at me with such sensual malice.
“Are you going to try to hold me hostage?” she taunted. “Keep me and shackle me to you until you can hand me over to a man who will rape and torture me?”
Dammit. She had to word it like that. I didn’t want to think about that part. It was simply the way things worked in this world. An arranged marriage was a common occurrence, and I wasn’t the man to stand up and protest to the tradition of it.
“I have my orders.” And I will not fail this job.
“Fuck your orders,” she sneered. “And fuck y?—”
I closed the distance between us. Smashing my lips to hers, I stole her breath. I silenced her sassy words. And I tasted the pure perfection of this spitfire of a woman.
A groan left her, rumbling into me. First, she gasped in surprise. I’d caught her off-guard, but as I ground my whole body against hers, shoving her to the tree, she fell prey to my control. My need.
She wasn’t mine to kiss. And I wasn’t hers to try to sass around. Together, though, caught up in this tense moment of arguing while the skies poured down on us and rain pummeled the canopy overhead, we burned in unison.
The first touch of her mouth against mine was addicting. So soft, warm, and sweet. But the second brush over her lips propelled me to want more. And more. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and explored with a demand to open up and submit to me.
Replying in kind, she forgot about fighting me. She gave up on bickering. Too stunned and energized with this forbidden kiss, she opened up.
Her head tilted to the side, giving me access to deepen the kiss. That barbed tongue of hers tangled and dueled with mine, and when I growled into her mouth, impatient for all she could give me, she mewled and sucked on my lower lip.
She’s not yours. She’s not yours. I knew it. The mantra in my head wasn’t anything new. Nadia wasn’t my woman to kiss or play with. She belonged to Lev, but I had to vent a little bit of the frustration I felt about that.
I wanted her. Badly.
And this kiss was both a reward and damnation. I’d acted on impulse, caving to my desire. But now, as I broke the kiss and reared back slightly, I felt stupid.
I wanted her more. One kiss wasn’t enough. The dreamy, needy stare she gave me from beneath hooded eyes showed me that she thought the same.
“What were you saying?” I teased, smiling smugly.
She looked at my lips, frowning deeper. “I won’t marry Lev Avilov.”
It sounded like a crime. And it was harder to think about giving her up to him. But I kept those thoughts to myself. “Do what you want. But I’m bringing you home like I was told to.”
She growled, lifting her hand to strike me, but I caught her and turned to throw her over my shoulder.
“I’m telling you to let me go,” she argued, pounding her fists at my back as I carried her toward the parking lot. Branches snagged and flicked rainwater at us as I hurried. The whole way back to the parking area, she railed and yelled. Punching and wiggling, she fought to slip out of my hold.
While it was getting old, I couldn’t help but grin. “Stop it.” I paired my command with a firm smack to her ass.
She screeched, fighting harder as I came up to the steps that would lead to my car. “Did you just spank me?”
I repeated the motion, earning another gasp from her. Each time my hand landed on her, I felt my dick get harder.
She bucked more as I climbed the steps. “Don’t?—”
Blinking to see through the rain, I raised my hand and smacked her ass again. “I’ll stop when you’re finished being such a bad girl.”
This was too fun. Teasing and playing with her.
But all humor fled when I reached the parking strip.
No cars waited there. The gravel section was empty.
Those fuckers had stolen my car, stranding me in this storm with a stubborn woman I was having a hard time resisting.