I am more sure with every passing second that Leks doesn’twant to harm me…but he’s not a man who makes empty threats. Something in me, though, can’t resist testing him.
I make a move for the door.
An immovable, solid, wall of muscle blocks my path.
I forgot he moves like lightning when he wants to.
He throws me down on the bed and pins my wrists on either side of my head.
The powerful flex of his grip against my wrists and the unreadable darkness in his eyes all tell me that this is serious.
“Don’t ever disobey me like that again, wife.” His face is inches from mine and it makes my heart pound wildly.
“Those men are not your father’s fucking well-paid guards, Natalia. They don’t play by the same rules that you do. They will eat you alive.”
I’m still irritated that he didn’t let me finish the game. I was about to beat Yuri and win a good amount of cash for doing so.
“If I can’t play that game, you have to offer me an alternative.”
“An alternative?”I like when I surprise Leks like this, and he looks at me as though I’m a particularly interesting puzzle to solve.
“Something to do tonight. Somethingfun.”
A flicker of his face tells me that statement didn’t come out as innocently as I meant it.
“I’ll play chess against you,” he offers.
I shake my head.
“No deal. I already have a chess buddy.”
His face darkens at that, but he makes anotheroffer.
“Scrabble.” I shake my head. “Pictionary.” I shake my head. “I think one of the guys has an Xbox?” I wrinkle my nose. I’ve never liked video games.
“I’ll get you a newspaper and we can do the fucking crossword?”
I shake my head and he lets out a sigh that sounds more like a growl, his breath tickling my skin. Awareness rushes over my whole body.
“I don’t know, Natalia, what do you want?”
What do I want?
The answer certainly should not be the man who killed my brothers. The man who forced his way into my life without giving me a thing in return.
Leks has already taken so much from me — so why do I want him to take even more?
I don’t say a thing, silently meeting Leks’s midnight blue eyes until that gleam of possessiveness shifts into the desire we both know is there.
I flex my wrists under his hands and stare at his mouth, the rough layer of stubble surrounding it, willing him to give me what I want. I could ask, sure, but I want Leks to figure it out. For some reason, I feel like he’s one of the few people who understands me.
The air gets thick between us. He looks at me intently, as though waiting for me to take back the invitation.
“Fine.” It’s an admission, the sound of him relenting to me.
Leks’s hands tighten around my wrists. He bends down to press a kiss to my cheek for the briefest of seconds. His lipsghost over my cheek, barely touching my skin, and my blood pounds through my veins.
Where his lips meet my skin for the briefest moment, heat pools at the surface of my skin, ready for more.
