To my parents and Terina. Her attempt at getting me in trouble with Renzo was probably deserved, but it still pissed me off. That is, until I saw the way she reacted to me. Like aloe on a sunburn, my anger fizzled to a distant hum.
Damn, I wanted to taste her at that moment. Feel her melt beneath me.
Her body is screaming to submit to me, and I don’t think she has the slightest clue. Or maybe she knows and simply doesn’t want to feel that way. Regardless, her true nature shines through, and the dominant in me hungers for more. That’s why I had to say something even though I know better. The last thing I need is to be introducing her to the more basal side of her nature.
Fortunately, that shouldn’t be a problem, considering my delivery couldn’t have been worse. I’m not even sure where I went wrong. Yeah, I said she was pretending to be someone she’s not and ashamed about it, but I didn’t expect that to be quite so triggering. I was talking about the way she naturally bends to my will, but she reacted as though I had accused her of stealing money from the elderly.
Something was clearly lost in translation. I let it go, though, because the last thing we need is to discuss our sexual compatibility. Let her be pissed. That’s what I’d been after initially, right?
Exactly.
Therefore, I left it alone. A week has now passed since the slap at Renzo’s place, and she’s been distant ever since. I fucking hate it.
I’ve asked myself all week if it was the implication of her submissive nature that upset her or the notion of submitting to me specifically that bothered her most?
I’m dying to know what’s going on in that head of hers. Patience isn’t normally a problem for me, but I seem to be in short supply ever since Terina entered my life. Need claws at me to give her what I know she craves. To force her to surrender.
But once a line like that is crossed, there’s no going back.
I know I should fight the desire with everything inside me, yet every time she innately bends to my will, that creature inside me rears its head and howls. Should he demand more, I can’t be sure logic would win that battle.
And then there’s the bending of her body.
I should tell her no more damn yoga class. It would be safer on multiple fronts. I tell myself I’m letting her continue classes because it’s important to her, and that’s part of it, but the dirty truth is that I desperately need to watch her. The way she moves, slow and sensuous, like honey begging to be lapped up.
Today’s class isn’t until midafternoon, so I have a little time to get my head on straight and remember my priorities. Which reminds me that I need to check in with Renzo.
He answers my call almost immediately. “I was just about to call you.”
“Hell, that can’t be good,” I mutter.
“It could be, but it’s not,” he confirms. “I finally got a call back from Simeon Mikhailov. He says he has no ill will toward us. If his brother’s plotting anything, he’s not involved.”
“And we’re supposed to believe him?” I snap back.
“I get it. I was skeptical, too, but his father’s death has only benefited him. Why begrudge us what enabled him to seizecontrol? And there’s something else. Turns out Biba’s old garage hangout burned to the ground last night.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. Word on the street says Reaper’s behind it, which got me thinking. We assumed the P on that notecard with the snake was from Pasha. What if Terina was right, and the letter was an R?—”
“Fucking Reaper,” I breathe, finishing his thought. “I hadn’t even considered that.” How could I have been so stupid?
“Me either.” Renzo’s words are heavy with self-disgust. “He’s been so quiet, and a Russian attack seemed so likely, it never occurred to me the threat could be coming from another source entirely. It could be a direct attack from him, or he could be trying to stir up trouble between the Russians and us.”
“That would be clever—get us fighting, then swoop in and steal our turf in the process.”
“Exactly.”
“Clever but seriously underhanded considering that asshole owes us—not only did we spare him and his sniper but we also took out Biba for him. Tommy easily could have taken out all of them that day.”
“You and I both know others in our world don’t operate with the same code we observe. He may see our actions as a weakness to manipulate.”
I huff my disgust. “If that’s the case, we won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“Agreed.”
I move on. “Well, I wish I had news to report on the snake. The exotic animal dealers our guys have been to all confirm it was a banded krait, whatever the fuck that is, but none claim to have sourced it. They said it’s found in Thailand and Asia and is exceptionally hard to import.”
