“No,” I said.
The tension released from her body, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the assurance of her safety or my own.
When did the two things start to feel like one and the same to me?
“Roman knew the competition was ending,” she said.
Her body curled in on itself as she said his name. If he wasn’t already in a coma, I’d put him in another one.
“Not surprising,” I said, trying to chase away her fear with my touch.
Alisa swallowed, and a reluctant look spread over her face. “You never had a chance to finish telling me about it.”
“Because I was too busy fucking your brains out every free moment I had.” Already I was debating the ways I could use her body without triggering the injuries Roman had inflicted.
A blush crept across her face, and I decided that was my favorite shade of red in the world. I traced the blush across her skin with my hand and lowered my head to taste it with my tongue.
“Dmitri,” she said, a seriousness in her tone that had me rearing back to see what was on her mind. “Don’t distract me with sex. I need to know what’s happening.”
It wasn’t a conscious decision on my part. Her body called to me like a siren to a man aimless at sea. Still, she was right.
I spilled all the details that my spies had gleaned from the Pakhan. A warm feeling settled in my chest as I realized I wasn’t worried that she’d weaponize this information against me.
I told her that our upcoming tasks would make the previous tasks look like child's play, and she swallowed yet remained silent.
Alisa only broke her silence when I told her the Pakhan would look for any excuse to eliminate the remaining contestants.
“That’s why you were so upset that I spoke to Pakhan.”
I nodded.
It wasn’t even my own safety that concerned me. My stomach twisted into a knot when I thought of how close Alisa had come to befalling the Pakhan’s wrath. If I hadn’t been able to get to the park in time… There had been too many instances where I’d almost been too late.
“So it’s really ending?” she said. Her note of wistfulness broke me out of my thoughts.
“If I can keep you safe long enough to see it end.”
My mind spun up images of what would've happened if I’d been later to Central Park, or if I didn’t have the tracking device today.
I pressed a hand underneath her thighs and squeezed her closer. The warmth of her skin reminded me that she was still alive, but I couldn’t keep relying on chance when it came to her safety.
“How did you find me?” she asked, her brows wrinkling into a line.
“I sewed tracking devices into your clothing.”
Surprise glimmered in her eyes, but if she thought I’d be repentant, then she was wrong.
I’d meant it when I said I was never letting her go again.
“Did this start when I moved in here, or did you somehow find a way to track me before?” She spoke slowly as if working through the question in her mind at the same time. “Maybe I’m being paranoid, but a few of the times you came across me it didn’t feel like a coincidence…”
Alisa looked down at the ground as if feeling self conscious.
“They weren’t,” I said.
Her head jerked up, shock written on her face.
“I didn’t use tracking devices until recently. Before that I was stalking you.”
