“I have no intention of getting on my knees for you.”
The words come out before I can stop them, but I see his gaze darken further, see the muscles in his throat tighten. Hedoeswant me. The thought sends a bolt of heat straight to my core.
I’m no virgin, but I’ve never encountered any man like this. Never taken one to bed, never been seduced by one. I’ve nevertalkedto a man like this before. I’m totally out of my depth, and if I’m not careful, this could go off the rails.Fast.
“Mm.” He grunts, his jaw tight. He takes two steps forward, his strides so long that it puts him right in front of me. It takes everything in me not to shrink back… or lean forward, because he smells so fuckingdelicious. He smells like a man, smoky and musky and a little sweaty. I want to fucking lick him.
Or I would… if he wasn’t the asshole keeping me locked up right now.
"You should be more careful," he says. His voice has gone rough.
"Why?" I choke out the word, forcing myself to stay very still.
"Because you don't know what you're doing." His eyes drop to my mouth. Just for a second. Just long enough for me to notice, for my breath to catch.
Then he steps back and puts distance between us. His breathing is slightly uneven. “Your life should be enough,” he says flatly. “Stop asking for more.”
“For two days.” I clench my teeth. “Am I really going to spend my last possible two days staring at a wall?”
Surely these aren’t my last two days alive. My father wouldn’t let that happen. He’ll come through. But there’s an ember of fear in my gut, threatening to spark. Why hasn’t he already ransomed me? Surely he could have gotten the money already… but maybe not. I don’t know exactly how these things work.
Andrei blows out a sharp breath. “Get some rest," he says. "This will be over soon."
“I don’t want to rest. I’m going stir-crazy.” I glare at him, frustrated. “Let me take a walk. You can put as many guards as you want on me. Just let me outside for a little while.”
"No."
"Why? I'm not going to escape. Where would I go?"
"No." He doesn’t elaborate, and the fear and stress building up inside of me finally boils up and snaps.
"You're more focused on keeping me locked away than you are on the war brewing inside your organization.” I glare at him, my arms crossed over my chest. “Maybe you should think about that.
His entire body goes still, and his eyes sharpen. "You know nothing about my organization," he says quietly. “And you should be glad about that. If you did, I would have already shot you.”
5
ANDREI
My little caged bird has ears.
No. Not mine. I shouldn’t think of her that way. That’s dangerous, when she’s standing in front of me like this, arms crossed over her perky tits, staring up at me with that challenge in her eyes.
She has a bratty mouth. I’ve never liked brats, but this one…
This one makes me want to put her on her knees and show her a better use for that mouth. Makes me want to slide my cock over her tongue to make it go still, order her to touch herself while I fuck her face so her complaints turn to moans. I could fuck the brat out of her, leave her whimpering and begging instead.
Fuck. My cock stiffens and strains. She saw me getting hard when I walked in here; I saw where her eyes went. The last thing I need is for her to know how much she’s turned me on now. She might try to use it to her advantage, and I…
I’d like to think I’m not weak enough to fall for it. But it’s been a while. It’s hard to find time to fuck when I’ve been worried about my empire falling down around my ears, about my men stabbing me in the back. I’m wound tight, and this littlesongbird, who can’t keep her mouth shut, is so tempting that it’s hard to focus on what she’s saying instead of what I want to do to her to make her stop talking.
I grit my teeth, dragging my thoughts away from my aching cock and her pretty lips. "You should not be listening to things that don't concern you," I tell her sharply.
“I might die here. I’m locked up on your estate. I think everything here concerns me.”
I take a step toward her, against my better judgment. She’s pissing me off, and she also turns me on, painfully so. It’s the kind of conundrum I don’t fucking need right now.
"You don't know what you're talking about. Nothing concerns you except sitting right here and waiting for your father to let me know he has the money for you.”
