Page 38 of His Forbidden Obsession

He clung tightly to me, and I shifted, pulling him even closer, burying his face in my neck.

“Thank you,” he whispered. His warm breath against my skin caused my body to tighten. I took hold of his upper arms and eased him away from me.

“Nikolai…” His gaze met mine, and my breath caught. How the hell did he have such an effect on me?

16

NIKOLAI

Iwanted to ask for another kiss, but I was frozen, unable to speak or even breathe. His hands on my arms felt hot enough to burn me, and I only wanted to get closer to the flames.

He let go of my arms and cupped my face. I shivered as his thumb brushed over my cheekbone. “I told myself I wouldn’t touch you again.”

“You’re touching me now.” I realized how stupidly obvious my words were and wished I could take them back.

He smiled. “I am.”

“And you want to stop?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t want to stop, not ever.”

“Then don’t.”

“Is that what you want? For me to keep touching you.”

“Yes. Please.”

He brought his other hand to my face. His gaze focused on my lips, and he leaned toward me so slowly I felt like the world had shifted into slow motion. His lips were nearly touching mine when a shout from downstairs had him pulling back from me.

I heard more shouts, scuffling, and what might have been a muffled gunshot.

Lorenzo glanced toward the door.

“Go help them. I’ll be okay.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

Before I could argue more, the bedroom window exploded as my father rolled through it. He jumped to his feet and pointed a pistol at me, though he kept his gaze on Lorenzo.

Lorenzo’s weapon was trained on my father, but he didn’t seem to care. “Give me back my son.”

Lorenzo snarled. “He’s a grown man. He doesn’t belong to you.”

“He’s my asset to use as I please.”

“Then shooting him makes no sense. He won’t be any use to you dead.”

“And he won’t be worth anything to you either. Fucking a corpse isn’t much fun, unless you’re sicker than I think.”

His gun went off, and I screamed, expecting to feel pain. When nothing happened, I realized the bullet had lodged in the wall just beside me.

“Next time, I’ll go for his knee. He won’t need to walk to be useful to Ivanov.”

Lorenzo took a step closer. “You’re already going to pay for everything you’ve done to him. Don’t make it worse.”

“You can’t win. Drop your weapon.”

Lorenzo shook his head. My father cocked the gun, and I braced myself for agony.