The Rule of Luck (17 page)

“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.

“I would say the evidence speaks for itself.” Another smooth glide of his hand made me gasp. “I would also say I'm about to have more evidence supporting my case in a moment. That the pile is mounting very quickly in my favor.”

Maybe he was right, but I'd be damned if I'd let him know it. “Hardly. This isn't my first rodeo, you know. It's isn't like I'm going to just lie back and let you get away with anything your imagination comes up with.”

“I think you'll find my imagination is
very
creative.”

I snorted back a laugh. I just bet it was. Still… “I can be pretty creative too. In fact, let me show you.”

I wriggled beneath him, pressing up against his erection, marveling at its throbbing heat against my hip. I ran my hands over his shoulders and down his chest and abs until my fingers grazed the edge of his swim trunks. My fingers slipped inside, reaching lower, and…

Against my wrist, my c-tex bracelet fluttered. Shit, I had an incoming shim
now
? Petriv felt it too and pulled back, cursing at the interruption.

“Ignore it,” he said, reaching to remove the offending piece of technology.

Gods I wanted to, but I didn't want him to know how into this I was. Yes I worked for him, and he was running most of my life right now, but he didn't control everything…I hoped. “What if it's important?”

He rolled his hips skillfully into mine. “More important than this?”

I whimpered beneath him, wanting to rise up to meet his thrust. The c-tex fluttered again. And again. Whoever it was had no intention of giving up and the tickle at my wrist became an annoying distraction. I needed it to stop. Fumbling awkwardly, I tried to pull off the bracelet. Instead, I hit the release button and launched the shim.

“Hello? Felicia? What the fuck? I can't see anything.”

A face-chat shim?
Now
? At that point, I swore too. It was my cousin, Rainy. Shit. Abruptly I sat up and pulled away from Petriv. Damn, damn, damn. I hardly ever spoke to him. Well, that wasn't quite true, but why now of all times?

“Felicia? Are you there? Damn it, I need to talk to you!” He sounded urgent, like he was in some kind of trouble. My heart jumped a little in response and my arousal died a quick death. Even if I wasn't that close to Rainy, family was family. If they were in trouble, that trumped everything—include sexy crime lords tearing off my panties.