The Rule of Luck, page 16
I had to get the hell out of there before I ran screaming. I headed for the doors, doing my best not to hurry, when they burst open. The lock securing them shattered as if it was nothing. I was far enough away to miss the brunt of the entry, but not so far to avoid coming face-to-face with an enraged, dripping-wet Alexei Petriv. Or rather face-to-chest, since the top of my head didn’t clear his shoulders. Well, at least now I knew who’d been in the pool.
Chain-breakers leaped into action, taking up defensive positions around the seated men. Through the open door, I glimpsed a frightened-looking woman in a gray maid’s outfit. Her mouth was a frozen O of horror while she blessed herself with the sign of the cross.
The room quieted. Everyone looked at everyone else. I took a step away from the barely winded Petriv. Part of it was shock. One of the doors had torn clean off its hinges and lay on the floor. The sheer strength something like that took was mind-boggling. The violence behind it was staggering as well, even if being rescued was nice. The rest of my retreat was so I could admire the partially clad Petriv.
He was still soaking wet, hair slicked back from the pool, and my eyes couldn’t help but follow the water as it dripped down his chest to dampen the floor. Tiny black swim trunks left little to my imagination. I suspected there wasn’t an extra pound of fat anywhere on his body. His shoulders, arms, chest, abs—all looked sculpted, chiseled, and cut to perfection, as if he’d been carved from marble.
However what held my eyes were the tattoos covering his body. Not head to toe, but an extensive array of old-school blue-black ink was spread over the canvas of his skin. Stars on his shoulders and knees. A crucifix in the center of his chest. A serpent, or perhaps a dragon, coiled around his waist and down his left leg. A small Madonna and child over his heart. A spider near his right collarbone. I blinked, but couldn’t see more as he stalked nearer, his hands on my shoulders giving me a little shake to break my stare.
“Did they hurt you?” he asked, blue eyes darting over me. His hands were still wet, but the water trickling down my skin was warm.
“No. I’m fine.” I pulled my gaze away from the star on his left shoulder. Eight points. In the Tarot, it meant power. “I was looking for breakfast when I met your…associates. We talked.”
“About?” His voice dipped dangerously low, making me glad the anger wasn’t focused my way.
“They had some questions, but I think we’ve come to an understanding.”
“She’s right, Alexei. There’s no need for such dramatics,” Belikov said from where he remained seated behind me. “We are done and satisfied with her answers.”
Petriv gazed over my head at the men. His face was calm, but his grip on my shoulders told a different story. “I told you not to interfere. I have things well in hand.”
“So well you were almost killed in an explosion two days ago,” Grigori chided like a scolding parent.
“The situation was contained. There was no need for your ridiculous recall.”
Was that why he’d left me in Denver—not because of anything I’d said or done but because they’d thought the situation was too dangerous? Obviously there were things going on I didn’t completely understand, but I hadn’t been that blind, had I? It seemed Petriv didn’t have as much control over the situation as I’d first imagined. I thawed a little at that. I couldn’t hold on to my earlier anger if his leaving me in Denver wasn’t entirely his fault.
“But it was a situation nonetheless. You are gambling with the balance of power in the Consortium. You were not groomed for this position to put everything at risk.”
“Without risk, nothing changes. Isn’t that what you always say, Konstantin? Isn’t that why I’m here?” Petriv challenged. He let go of me and I fought not to rub the circulation back into my arms. “The Consortium wants the Earth-Mars transit link. As I’ve explained before, Ms. Sevigny is vital to our success.”
“Yes, but we’ve yet to see results,” Grigori continued. “All we have is a girl to whom you’ve developed an unhealthy attachment, if the evidence we just witnessed is any indication.”
“We’re leaving for Curitiba this afternoon. You will see the expected results,” came the reply, offered with all the confidence in the world.
We were? But we’d just gotten back from Denver! He’d mentioned Brazil but I never imagined we’d go so soon. I looked up at Petriv, wanting answers but not sure if we were supposed to present a united front against the old guard. Or was I merely Petriv’s puppet? Did I have any say in what happened next or what route my life took? Go to Curitiba this afternoon? Sure. What next? Destroy my mother? Absolutely.
Belikov rubbed his hands together with glee as if he were some cartoon villain from an Old World melodrama, about to tie the heroine to the railway tracks. “Perfect. With you there in TransWorld’s nest of snakes, I look forward to seeing the ripple in the CN-net. However, I advise you not to let what happened at the space elevator reoccur. Contract Pennyworth. He’s reliable in a pinch.”
“I think you’ll be pleased with what I have in mind. I plan to remove TransWorld entirely from the field.”
“Zamechatel’nyy. That is wonderful news. Udacha, though I suppose saying good luck is redundant.” Belikov laughed at his own terrible joke. “I look forward to the end results.”
I fought not to roll my eyes before stepping around Petriv to leave the whole sordid scene behind me. We’d been dismissed, or at least I had. Funny how I no longer cared about breakfast.
Not sure what to do with myself, I passed the maid still covering her mouth and decided to continue in my original direction. I’d gone a handful of steps, my sandals clicking on the floor tiles, when I heard a smattering of Russian and footsteps, and a hand reached out to stop me.
I whirled. Petriv, naturally. We were alone in the hall, the maid having disappeared.
“Allow me to escort you. The dining room is this way,” he said, tucking my hand around his arm. It was ludicrous given the situation, but he seemed intent on it.
“I’m not hungry.” I tried, and failed, to tug my hand away. I stopped walking and got better results since it forced him to stop with me.
“You need to eat. You also need to take the zone acclimatization meds if we’re leaving this afternoon. You’ve gone two nights without sleep. You’ll make yourself ill.”
It unnerved me that he knew how much sleep I’d gotten. “What if I don’t feel like going anywhere?”
“I believe I indicated the terms of our agreement were up to my discretion, Ms. Sevigny. Are you saying you want to change that?”
I didn’t like what I heard in his voice. It added another layer to my fear. “No, it isn’t that,” I said, resuming my tugging and actually placing a hand on his chest to brace myself. No good, though I noted touching him was like touching warm rock. What sort of workout regimen did the man have? “Those men in there…What happened in Denver…Being in this house…You…I think I’m finally understanding the scope of what’s going on and…I’m scared. No. More than that, I’m angry.”
“I didn’t realize Konstantin and Grigori would question you. They’re looking after their interests as any businessmen would. Still, it was unexpected.”
“Which naturally explains why you kicked in the door earlier.”
“I hadn’t anticipated they would approach you—not in my home. They come from an older school of thought when it comes to gathering information, so I was concerned.”
“Why? Would they have tortured me?” I asked.
A shrug. “I should have assigned you a security detail to protect you from their curiosity.”
“Who? Mr. Pennyworth?”
“If I thought he was up to the job, yes.”
“Then think again. All I wanted was my blacklisted status revoked. Instead, I’m getting dragged deeper into this than I want, seeing things I don’t want to see, and now I’ve come face-to-face with people who actually want to change the world as we know it. Three worlds, actually. Gods, Belikov admitted to being almost five hundred years old! Five hundred! I didn’t even think that was possible! The thought of living in a world where people like them call the shots scares me more than the government that’s already in place.”
Petriv put a silencing hand over my mouth. Then he moved me bodily down the hall into an empty room. It looked like it might be an office. I saw very little, and even less so when Petriv shut the door behind us and towered over me. I looked up at him, wide-eyed and bewildered.
“Before you shriek in outrage let me warn you that for your own safety, it would be best if you lowered your voice. You’ve yet to prove your value to them, and I can only do so much.” His voice dropped to little more than a whisper. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
Ouch. That hurt. I did know better. Or, I did most of the time. I caught his wrist in my hand, tugging it away from my mouth, though I’m sure he moved only because he wanted to.
“I said I was scared and angry, not a rocket scientist,” I replied in the same low voice. “You brought me into this, using Pennyworth to trap me. Thanks for the setup and making me indebted to you, by the way. Pennyworth is a complete asshole and I’d fire him if I were you. He’s creepy as hell.”
That earned me a half smile. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
“Don’t patronize me! I’ve seen enough to know there are games within games, and players behind the scenes that I’ll never know and don’t want to know about. My own boyfriend spied on me and reported back to my supposedly dead mother for fuck’s sake! Do you even know how that makes me feel? Now I’m suspicious of everyone. All my past relationships. All my friends. I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
“You can trust me.”
“Bullshit. How? You knew about Roy, yet you let me walk into that situation in Denver. Logically I understand what you were trying to do, but it doesn’t mean you had to do what you did. It hurt me and it was humiliating. Does it mean that every task I do for you is going reveal some deeper level of horror you already knew about but needed to ‘show’ me? Is my blacklisted status even going to be lifted at the end of this? Will I even be alive when it’s all done? It seems like you’re the golden boy, leading the charge and pulling everyone’s strings. What makes you so special everyone’s deferring to you? Who are you?”
He took a deep breath then let it out slowly, running fingers through his damp hair and leaving it a disheveled mess. Muscles rippled in his arms and chest, and I noted the wilder and more distracted he became, the hotter he seemed to get.
“I am not getting into this with you now, Ms. Sevigny.”
“Were you ever?”
He stepped in so close, I stumbled into the door. Yes, it was meant to intimidate me, but it was all I could do not to reach out and touch him. My thoughts immediately flew back to the restaurant and the first time he kissed me. I swallowed audibly. Was I about to experience a repeat performance? Did I want to? I knew I should be focusing on the Consortium’s plans, worrying about what could happen in Brazil, or sweating over a host of other problems. Instead as Petriv looked down at me, all I wanted was his hands on me more than I wanted my next breath.
His head dipped in close, lips gliding along my throat. I fought back a shiver. When he spoke, his voice was a soft purr in my ear. “This discussion is finished. We leave for Brazil this afternoon. I suggest you get some breakfast and take the zone meds. Oksana is seeing to your belongings and will ensure you have everything you need.”
I looked up at the ceiling, all but holding my breath. My heart beat fast and my nipples hardened as his lips brushed my throat. My mind and my body were so confused about what they each wanted, I couldn’t think. “What if I say no?”
“As I’ve stated previously, you will do what I want, when I want it. You don’t strike me as someone who goes back on her word.”
“Not true. I lie all the time. It’s one of my favorite things to do.” Damn, my voice came out breathier than intended.
He laughed softly, his lips now on the crook of my neck where my pulse beat wildly. “I don’t think so. I suspect you were always the girl who grew up doing what she was told, playing by the rules, and never getting into trouble. Whereas I am nothing but.”
“Nothing but what?”
“Trouble.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, then braced his hand on the wall near my head, caging me with his body.
“What if that’s what I’m looking for now?” I whispered, my stomach quivering in a way that matched my pulse—excited, eager, afraid of what I was asking for.
He pulled back enough so he could see my face. The look he gave me was intense, primal. I could feel the heat of his body as he loomed over me, and the effect made me both dizzy and tense. With one of his hands—the one not on the wall—he cupped my left breast. He stroked my nipple with the pad of his thumb, and the sensation rocked my entire body. I moaned and pushed myself further into his hand. His lips quirked into a smile.
“If that’s what you want, I am more than happy to give it to you.”
“I want.”
A heartbeat later, his lips were on mine. My mouth opened under his, my head tipped back. I felt my body liquefy against his as the kiss deepened. I thought he would rush like at the restaurant. He didn’t, kissing with deep licks that felt like a slow, sensual dance of his mouth against mine. I couldn’t help but moan as I leaned into him. How long had it been since I’d been kissed like this? Like I was the most important, sexiest woman in the tri-system? Never, I reflected dimly. Absolutely never.
He sucked on my lower lip as his other hand went to my other breast. I’d thought my nipples were hard before. I was wrong. With his thumbs pressing firmly, they became stiff little pebbles of want, demanding that I get them out of clothes and into his bare hands.
“You’re so soft,” he whispered against my lips. “So damned soft.”
His hands then slid into the top of my cami and pushed the fabric down until it was under my breasts, which lifted them up toward him. With a satisfied grunt, he bent his head down and took one nipple in his mouth. I cried out in sheer, blissful ecstasy, my hands behind his head now, bringing him closer. His hands migrated to my back, forcing me to arch against him as his mouth pulled hard on my breast, biting my nipple in a way that sent ripples of arousal straight to my groin.
“More,” I murmured helplessly as I clung to him. “I need more.”
Suddenly I found myself on my back, lying on a couch in the office. Petriv was poised over me, lips still on my breast, his sucking becoming greedy and insistent. His hands were at the edge of my skirt; then he lifted the hem and pushed it out of his way. With ease, he parted my legs and slid a finger inside my panties. I shamelessly arched up to meet his hand.
“You’re wet.” His words were a fierce growl of pleasure. He parted me with his fingers, caressing my slick folds with an expert touch. “Do you know how good you feel? How much I’ve wanted to touch you?”
I was so aroused, I could barely think. He was not someone I should want. Everything about him screamed he wasn’t good or right for me. Yet even knowing that, I didn’t care. My breathing was ragged and hitched as I looked up at him. Shadows played across his skin, making him look both dark and dangerous, and so hot I thought I might spontaneously combust just looking at him. His expression was one of ferocious hunger as he gazed down at me, like I was a thing he’d craved for an eternity. It was frightening, but also heady. All that power, concentration, and desire focused on me. Wanting me. I had never been so turned on by anything in my life.
He tore away my panties. I gasped in surprise. A heartbeat later, he slid another finger inside me. My eyes fluttered closed, stunned that a man I’d met only a few days ago could make me feel like this, or that I was even letting him touch me this way. His breath came out in a hiss and he swore softly in Russian.
“You feel like a dream. God, you’re so tight,” he whispered, inserting another finger, then rubbing his thumb on my clitoris. I moaned as my hips played into his hand, circling and grinding as pleasure spiraled within me.
“I’m close,” I murmured, arching against him. “So close…”
“How close?” I heard a teasing note to the words.
My eyes flew open. “Don’t you dare stop! I will strangle you if you stop!”
He bent over me, lips brushing mine, then nipped at my throat. When he spoke, the words were punctuated with kisses. “Wouldn’t dream of it. I want to feel you come in my hand as I fuck you with my fingers. I want you to know I can make you feel this way whenever I see fit, and how much it pleases me to do this to you.” He took one of my hands from his chest and used it to release his erection. I felt him naked in my hand, like satin and steel. I could barely close my fingers around him. I was rewarded with a deep, guttural groan, and then he removed my hand. “That’s how much I want you. I could tear you apart with how much I want to be inside you.”
His crude words pushed me over the edge. That, and his skilled, thrusting fingers. A searing orgasm pulsed through me and I screamed. Or tried to. His lips were on mine, muffling my sounds as he pushed my body to its breaking point, blood roaring in my ears. I bucked against the feeling of him on top of me. I would have done anything he wanted then. I would have bent to any demand.
When I finally stopped quivering, to my surprise, his hand hadn’t moved. Instead, it was still between my legs, pressing mercilessly inside me. He circled his thumb again and I moaned. I was so sensitive and swollen, and yet I felt him expertly building desire again, thrusting into me with shallow digs.
“I could do this to you for hours,” he whispered into my ear. “Your body responds to me in ways it would for no one else. Already I can feel it purring for me.”
I struggled against him, feeling deliciously helpless. His arrogant words were true, even if the logical part of my brain rebelled against such caveman-like manhandling.
“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help but challenge him.
