His morals.
His rage.
His silence.
The way he can look at someone and decide if they live or die without blinking. I move into the crowd before I can think. Let them swallow me. The music crawls under my skin. I sway first, slow, unsure. Then deliberate. Letting it take me. Letting the rhythm shake the office off my bones.
Shakehimoff of me. His scent. His hands. The throb of him between my legs.
Gabriel’s voice echoes my through my peace.
The lies.
The information I’m supposed to get.
The trap I’m building around the man who just gave me his heart without knowing it.
I close my eyes.
For one second, I want to be free.
No missions. No brother.
No Pakhan. No weapon.
Just a girl dancing barefoot in a club.
Fingers slide around my waist. Firm. Certain.Possessive.
My breath catches before I even register why.
Maksim.
The scent of smoke and spice wraps around me. The heat of his chest presses to my back. His breath brushes my neck and my whole body goes still for half a second before melting into him.
Blue.
I feel blue.
Like I’ve stepped into an ocean and it’s closing over my head.
He moves with me without asking. Hips lining up with mine. Slow grind to the beat. His hands anchoring me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.
I should pull away. I should remember everything at stake. Instead I lean back into him. He buries his face against my neck. Teeth grazing skin. Breath warm at my ear. The gray in him is always there. Always humming under the surface.
But with me, sometimes it ebbs.
His mouth brushes just beneath my ear.
Low. Rough.
“Stay.”
One word.
It wrecks me more than anything ever could.
Because it isn’t soft. It’s need.
