flickers of a campfire, only darkness around us, and here I was talking to a beast of a man who might do anything if I didn’t get more drug into him.
I swallowed my unease. “What have you been thinking?”
He brought his gaze down from the stars and looked at me. His hands were clasped in his lap, though I noticed them tensing then relaxing. Maybe he was nervous too? “A lot.”
“Really?” Flippant, but I figured lightness was my only defense. Make this seem normal and I might get him to lower his guard.
“Are you mostly innocent, Kiara? Or are you to blame?”
For what? I shrank back.
Something rustled in the bushes over to the right. The remains of a crumbled building lay forty or so yards away in that direction. Was it a beaver? A bear? A bear trundling in might be preferable to his questions.
“I feel like I’ve woken from a dream or a bad fairy tale.” He opened his hands. “I don’t know who to trust or where to go.”
“Sleeping Beauty?” I chuckled. I understood, though. This was a bit sleeping beauty, except he was no Disney princess.
“Who am I? Who are you? Why did you take me from the village?”
I wanted that beer bottle back in my hands, so I had something to clutch. “I don’t know everything. Pick one.”
I heard him inhale.
“Who are these bad guys?”
“That wasn’t one of the –”
“Just answer.”
I tried not to say – I was ashamed, scared, afraid for my family if I failed – but the answer popped into my throat and spilled.
“Russian intelligence.”
“Fuck. The GRU?”
First swear word I’d heard from him in ages. I knew the abbreviation but couldn’t help him.
“I don’t know. I was contacted, when I went to leave Russia to come here, but not told which branch they were. They threatened my family – if I disobeyed, things would happen in Russia.”
“Okay. Next one. Why?”
“Why do they want you? They never said, but I can guess.”
He kept watching me and I knew he’d make me say it, but I’d stalled. Saying the next bit out loud seemed odd, wrong, humiliating.
“Guess then.”
“This.” I grimaced. “You being able to do mind games. Stuff like that. Months ago, I wondered what you’d done to attract attention. I thought it must be to do with your military service, but now I’m not even sure if you’re a soldier. Are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why aren’t you more worried about this? Most people with a foreign country’s spies chasing them would be worried.”
And here I’d flipped things and was interrogating him. His eyes narrowed in realization and he gestured to me.
“Come here.”
“Why?”
Though I twisted my mouth, I’d been standing even as I’d said why . I walked over to wait before him. My heart thudded in my ears and I watched him raise his hands, then he rested those big hands on my hips. The contact jarred me with the most delicious sensation. When he pulled me to him, I barely dragged my feet.
“I can feel how terrified you are.”
Well, I was...and I wasn’t. That effect of his screwed with my perceptions. I was no longer certain which was my real emotion and which was not.
Sitting on his lap, with his arms around me and his mouth on my neck or in my hair...I wriggled into a better position and let out a sigh...it was heaven, with just a smidgen of hell.
Chapter 8
Wolfe
I stared past her at the fire and the embers floating into the night. The crackling of wood burning, the scent of smoke, and this soft, sexy woman in my arms, it rendered me speechless again.
Words came easier than before, but not as easily as thoughts.
Kiara was right. I was the man version of that sleeping girl in the forest, waking after losing years of his past. Or was I Rumpelstiltskin? Now he was some Russian fairytale. I didn’t even know how long I’d been in the US, or how I’d gotten overseas, or why I was there.
That worried me more than having Russian spies chasing me. I had a rock-solid confidence that
I swallowed my unease. “What have you been thinking?”
He brought his gaze down from the stars and looked at me. His hands were clasped in his lap, though I noticed them tensing then relaxing. Maybe he was nervous too? “A lot.”
“Really?” Flippant, but I figured lightness was my only defense. Make this seem normal and I might get him to lower his guard.
“Are you mostly innocent, Kiara? Or are you to blame?”
For what? I shrank back.
Something rustled in the bushes over to the right. The remains of a crumbled building lay forty or so yards away in that direction. Was it a beaver? A bear? A bear trundling in might be preferable to his questions.
“I feel like I’ve woken from a dream or a bad fairy tale.” He opened his hands. “I don’t know who to trust or where to go.”
“Sleeping Beauty?” I chuckled. I understood, though. This was a bit sleeping beauty, except he was no Disney princess.
“Who am I? Who are you? Why did you take me from the village?”
I wanted that beer bottle back in my hands, so I had something to clutch. “I don’t know everything. Pick one.”
I heard him inhale.
“Who are these bad guys?”
“That wasn’t one of the –”
“Just answer.”
I tried not to say – I was ashamed, scared, afraid for my family if I failed – but the answer popped into my throat and spilled.
“Russian intelligence.”
“Fuck. The GRU?”
First swear word I’d heard from him in ages. I knew the abbreviation but couldn’t help him.
“I don’t know. I was contacted, when I went to leave Russia to come here, but not told which branch they were. They threatened my family – if I disobeyed, things would happen in Russia.”
“Okay. Next one. Why?”
“Why do they want you? They never said, but I can guess.”
He kept watching me and I knew he’d make me say it, but I’d stalled. Saying the next bit out loud seemed odd, wrong, humiliating.
“Guess then.”
“This.” I grimaced. “You being able to do mind games. Stuff like that. Months ago, I wondered what you’d done to attract attention. I thought it must be to do with your military service, but now I’m not even sure if you’re a soldier. Are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why aren’t you more worried about this? Most people with a foreign country’s spies chasing them would be worried.”
And here I’d flipped things and was interrogating him. His eyes narrowed in realization and he gestured to me.
“Come here.”
“Why?”
Though I twisted my mouth, I’d been standing even as I’d said why . I walked over to wait before him. My heart thudded in my ears and I watched him raise his hands, then he rested those big hands on my hips. The contact jarred me with the most delicious sensation. When he pulled me to him, I barely dragged my feet.
“I can feel how terrified you are.”
Well, I was...and I wasn’t. That effect of his screwed with my perceptions. I was no longer certain which was my real emotion and which was not.
Sitting on his lap, with his arms around me and his mouth on my neck or in my hair...I wriggled into a better position and let out a sigh...it was heaven, with just a smidgen of hell.
Chapter 8
Wolfe
I stared past her at the fire and the embers floating into the night. The crackling of wood burning, the scent of smoke, and this soft, sexy woman in my arms, it rendered me speechless again.
Words came easier than before, but not as easily as thoughts.
Kiara was right. I was the man version of that sleeping girl in the forest, waking after losing years of his past. Or was I Rumpelstiltskin? Now he was some Russian fairytale. I didn’t even know how long I’d been in the US, or how I’d gotten overseas, or why I was there.
That worried me more than having Russian spies chasing me. I had a rock-solid confidence that
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