His eyes never leave mine, asking permission even though his body language screams possession.
I can feel the heat radiating from his body, see the way his chest rises and falls with controlled breathing.
His thumb brushes along my cheekbone with devastating gentleness. "You're like the fire of the sun, my Solnishko. And I've been cold for so damn long."
His thumb traces my lower lip, and I feel the tremor in his fingers despite his controlled exterior. "I need to kiss you, Fee."
The doubt is still there, sharp and cutting, reminding me he walked away once before, that he says one thing and does another. But it's no match for this pull I feel toward him, this attraction that drowns out every rational warning in my head.
He's going to break my heart again, and I'm going to let him.
"Then why are you waiting?"
Something shifts in his expression. The careful restraint cracks, revealing the raw hunger underneath. His other hand slides to cup the back of my neck, fingers threading through my hair.
"Because once I start, I won't want to stop."
"Good."
His mouth crashes against mine.
The kiss is nothing like I've imagined. This is claiming, consuming, a man who's been starving, finally allowed to feast. His lips are firm and warm, moving against mine with a confidence that makes my knees weak.
I gasp against his mouth, and he takes the opening like he's been waiting for it. His tongue sweeps inside, and I taste sweetness and something purely Anton. The kiss deepens, becomes hungrier, more desperate.
My hands find his chest, feeling the solid muscle beneath the tactical vest. He's so much bigger than me, so much stronger, but his touch remains achingly gentle even as his mouth devours mine.
He kisses like he does everything else, with complete focus and devastating precision. Each stroke of his tongue is deliberate, designed to unravel me completely. He tilts my head back, angling me exactly where he wants me, and I surrender to it completely.
My injured foot forces me to lean into him for balance, and he catches me instantly, one arm sliding around my waist to pull me flush against his body. The tactical gear is hard and unyielding, but beneath it, I can feel the heat of him, the barely leashed power.
"Fee." He breaks the kiss just long enough to breathe my name against my lips, his voice wrecked. He wants to say something else, but doesn't.
Then he's kissing me again, slower this time but no less intense. His tongue traces my lower lip before sliding deep, and I moan into his mouth without meaning to.
The sound seems to snap something in him, because his grip tightens and he kisses me harder, deeper.
I've never been kissed like this. Never felt this consuming need, this desperate hunger that makes everything else disappear. My hands fist in his tactical vest, pulling him closer even though there's no space left between us.
When his teeth graze my bottom lip, I whimper, and he swallows the sound greedily.
Time stops. There's nothing but Anton's mouth on mine, his hands in my hair, the way he holds me like I'm precious and claims me like I'm his all at once. And I don't want him to stop.
Chapter 7
Hunting from the Light
The Forger:
I've never cared for any target. Maybe I'm just hungry for a challenge that tests my intelligence. For someone who sees code the way I see patterns.
For the girl who almost found me.
The code scrolls across my laptop screen, but my focus keeps drifting to her signature embedded in my firewall logs.
Fascination coils in my chest like smoke. Never felt this strange pull toward someone I'm supposed to kill.
I lean back in my leather chair, watching the storm paint shadows across the city sky.
