With possession.
You’re mine.
He felt that way about her, even though it was not rational. Maybe it was due to the adrenaline or the fact that he’d killed a man in order to protect her. Not his first kill. In his line of work, he’d had to face evil and fight to survive too many times before.
But this time, it had been different.
This time, he’d been fighting for her. Because if he had not stopped Alexei, Ryan knew what the bastard would have done to Simone.
He was going to take her fingers. Going to make her beg and plead. Going to slit her throat and the blood would have poured down her neck and blended with the red of her dress.
His Simone. Dead?
No fucking way.
His hands tightened around her wrists. Her mouth opened wider for him, and she met him eagerly. Her kiss was as frantic and wild as his. As hungry. As filled with lust and a desire that would not be denied.
A moan built in her throat. He loved that little moan.
A growl broke from him.
Her taste enflamed him. Made him want to take and take and take.
He’d come too close to losing her. In one night, she could have been stolen from him. If he hadn’t gone down the stairs at that country estate, if he hadn’t been driven to walk out into the storm, she could have vanished.
No fucking way would she get away from him again.
The rumble of an approaching engine had his body stiffening. Then his head lifting. Reluctantly.
Her lips were red from his mouth. So very tempting.
She pressed her lips together, then Simone said, “You kissed me like you meant it.”
“I did mean it.”
“So it was just pretend before? You were using me all along? I was just the cover for some secret spy work so that you could get close to your target?”
The rumble of the approaching engine was getting louder. “It started with me using you.” A painful truth.
“Asshole.”
“Yeah, I am.” A nod. “I’m a brutal and controlling bastard. Probably something important for you to know about me.”
“What other important things should I know?”
“I killed to keep you safe once, and I would do it again with no hesitation.”
Simone sucked in a sharp breath.
“I also think that you were using me, weren’t you, sweetheart?”
She didn’t respond.
The rumble of the engine was practically on top of them. Time to move. “I want you to hide while I check to see who is approaching.” He let go of her wrists.
Simone’s stare was very watchful. And wary. “You were using me so that you could get your all-access pass into Frederick’s life.”
“And you were using me so that you could steal from him.”
