Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Streetlights blurred into a bright yellow streak as Alex seemed to push the car faster.
They’d been driving for five minutes when Viktoria couldn’t take it any longer.
“You’re quite a good dancer,” she said, hoping to break the icy silence.
It had amazed her how such a large man could move so fluidly. So sexily.
“Thanks,” he all but grunted.
So much for breaking the ice. Since the moment he’d left her so abruptly on the dance floor, his responses had been curt, cold even, as if he no longer wanted to be near her. Whatever magic moment they’d shared while dancing was long gone. Maybe it had only been a figment of her imagination.
She rolled her eyes at the pathetically ludicrous direction her thoughts were taking.
But it can’t hurt to dream, can it? She’d wished the night would never end.
For a short time, she’d actually felt like Cinderella at the ball, knowing that in just a few short hours, she’d turn back into a pumpkin with no hope of feeling this way again.
Alex’s masculine, subtle aftershave had invaded every pore in her body.
He looked so handsome in a black suit and crisp white shirt, and when he smiled at her it was genuine, not the one she’d seen him use on her husband and his colleagues when they were conducting business. His smile was heart-stopping.
“Did I offend you in some way?” With Yuri, that always seemed to be the case.
In the dim light of the dashboard, she caught the look of surprise on his face as he turned to her. “No. Why would you think that?”
“You’ve barely said a word to me in the last hour.
You seem like you want to get rid of me.
” In fact, he’d started driving faster, as if he really did want to get her home quickly.
They hadn’t even stayed until midnight. Maybe he planned on hooking up with Olga after all.
The thought of them together sickened her.
Without answering, he clenched his jaw.
Minutes later, they pulled into her driveway. He hadn’t spoken again other than to insist he walk her to the door.
Once inside, she turned to thank him for the beautiful evening. At least, the part when they’d been dancing, and talking, and laughing. “Alex, I want to thank––”
He moved so quickly she didn’t even hear his footsteps, but she absolutely did feel his hands gently caressing her cheekbones with the pads of his thumbs.
One hand slid to her nape, pulling her closer until her breasts touched the front of his jacket.
She held her breath, desperately wanting him to kiss her.
Her belly quivered with anticipation. This was wrong on so many levels, and she didn’t care.
At first, his lips brushed lightly against hers. When he touched his tongue to the seam of her lips, she opened her mouth, and he thrust his tongue inside, finding hers, demanding it. He pulled her tightly against his chest, and she slid her arms inside his jacket and around his waist.
Their lips fused, their breaths melding until all she could see, feel, and taste was him. It was heady and intense. Heat and passion. All things he brought back into her life. It was a potent drug.
He kissed her deeper, his hands wreaking havoc along her back and neck until she thought she would die from the erotic, explosive sensations shimmering along her skin and into every crevice of her body.
Alex groaned, then his hands were on her hips, pushing her away. He leaned his forehead against hers, breathing heavily.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” He pulled away and gave her the most regretful look. An instant later, he was gone.
The front door slammed, followed by the rumble of his car as he backed down the driveway and gunned it. Her heart still pumped furiously as she licked her swollen lips, memorizing his taste and his touch. She wanted to see more into what his kiss meant, to feel more, but her head took command.
This was the first and the last time.
If Yuri ever found out, they would both be killed.
Her heart grieved for something that could never be. “You have to pretend that didn’t just happen,” she whispered to herself. But it had, and she would remember it for the rest of her life.
When he was several miles from the house, Alex eased up on the accelerator.
What the hell did I do?
He pounded his fist on the wheel. His actions had been totally inappropriate. He’d nearly broken the cardinal rule of undercover work: Don’t get involved.
Too late for that. He was involved. The only remedy was to put an end to it. Somehow, he had to get evidence on the kidnappings and get it fast. Before he got himself deeper into something he couldn’t get out of. Alive, anyway, and he didn’t want Viktoria hurt because of his own indiscretions.
If only that kiss—that one damn kiss—hadn’t rocked his world and shot him so far off his axis he doubted he’d ever forget it.
The feelings she brought out in him were too intense to control. In his line of work, he had to be in control of everything and everyone, something that went straight to hell whenever he was around her.
Alex headed his car to a dark, isolated section of the road. He punched in his boss’s number.
“You okay?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, fine. I met with your CI. He doesn’t have anything new on the kidnappings, but he says Yuri’s got an accountant that keeps a ledger and hides his money so deep we’ll never find it. Before you ask, he doesn’t know who the accountant is.”
“Think he can find out?”
“Don’t know. He says Yuri’s real tight-lipped about it. I need more time.”
Mike’s sigh was long and deep. “You’ve been under for two years.
We’ve got enough to put Novikov behind bars for twenty, Petrov for ten, and Lebedev maybe half that.
The AUSA wants to give us warrants for the charges we’ve got now.
You’re wound too tight. I can hear it in your voice. I’m pulling you out.”
“No!” Alex shouted. “This isn’t like you to pull an agent off a case before the job is done. I can get more on Petrov and Lebedev. You know I can. Just give me a chance to do it.” He wanted Petrov and Lebedev for those kidnappings so badly he could taste it.
Another loud sigh. “I’ll talk to the AUSA, try to convince him to be patient. Stay put until you hear from me, but if I tell you again you’re out, then you’re out. Understood?”
“Understood.” Alex ended the call and dropped his phone into the console. He squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall back.
He should be happy about getting pulled out, but he wasn’t. For him, this would soon be over. If he couldn’t put Yuri away for life, it would never be over for Viktoria. She’d be stuck in a life of misery. She needed his help. Somehow, he’d find her a way out. Even if it killed him.
Literally or figuratively.