Dark Desire by Lauren Smith (an ebook reader txt) 📗

“Deep breaths, kiska. You are safe. It’s me and Maxim,” Dimitri said. Her green eyes were still wild with terror. “Elena.” Her eyes flashed away from the threat, Maxim, to Dimitri.

“Breathe with me.” He reached out to take one of her hands and placed it on his chest. Then he drew in several slow, deep breaths. Her breath hitched a few times before she settled into a slower rhythm.

“There,” he said gently. “You’re fine. You did well.”

After a moment, she turned back toward Maxim, that determined expression back on her face. “I need to do that again.”

“Maxim,” Dimitri said, but when Elena seemed to prepare herself for Maxim, expecting him to attack her, Dimitri grabbed her from behind.

She reacted with fear as expected, but she forced it away quicker this time. This time when she got free, her eyes were full of jade fire.

“What’s next? What if he has a hold around my neck or something?”

Dimitri and Maxim shared a glance.

“May I?” Maxim asked Dimitri.

Dimitri waved for him to step forward to instruct Elena on the next move.

Over the next half hour, the intense look of dread on Elena’s face began to relax, and she occasionally grinned as she successfully countered their moves.

Nicholas entered the room behind Elena without her seeing him. Dimitri knew this would be a good test. She was tired, confident, and relaxed.

Dimitri gave Nick the barest hint of a nod, and the man launched himself at Elena from behind. Nicholas was a charmer, but he fought dirty. He grabbed her by the throat in a choke hold. His other hand strayed up her waist to rest just below her breasts, and Dimitri’s heart sank as he saw the old terror fill Elena’s eyes.

Then, just like that, her panic cleared and a stone-cold resolve replaced it. She curled into Nicholas, and within half a second, she had used Nicholas’s own energy against him, sending him flying onto his back. A groan escaped Nicholas’s lips, and he didn’t bother getting up from the mat. He muttered a few choice words in Russian.

“Well done, kiska,” Dimitri said.

The stoniness within her eyes slowly faded.

“Sorry, Nicholas.” She reached down and held out a hand to him. Was she even aware that she’d offered her hand so freely? For the last few days, she had been careful to keep her physical distance from his friends. Now she was acting more normal than ever and not shying away from them. He couldn’t help but wonder if the training had done more than teach her self-defense. Maybe the repeated exposure of close contact in this particular setting had helped her feel more like her old self again. Whatever it was, he was damned glad about it.

“What’s next?” Elena asked.

“Next you shower, and then we eat dinner. You will be exhausted tonight, and you will need proper rest to resume training tomorrow.” Dimitri didn’t miss the mix of disappointment and relief in her eyes.

He followed her to the master bedroom and watched her collect her things for the shower. She was abnormally quiet, seemingly lost in her thoughts. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She went still an instant before she relaxed, and he started to pull away.

“No, wait, don’t—” She reached for his hand, surrounding it with her own. “I’m sorry. I’m still wired from all the training, but I think . . . I think I need to be touched.”

Without a word, Dimitri pulled her into his arms. He let her feel the security and warmth of his body around hers.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded against his chest. “Then come find me when you are done, kiska.” He tilted her chin up and kissed her. He let her feel his hunger, and she moaned softly in response and pressed tighter to him. He wasn’t sure how long the kiss actually lasted, but the light was beginning to fade outside when their mouths broke apart. He took far too much satisfaction at the dazed and happy expression on her face as he let her go.

He left her alone to shower and rejoined the others in the great room. Maxim and Nicholas had found a chessboard and were playing. Leo was on the couch nearby, his laptop resting on his thighs as he drank a glass of scotch and studied the major news headlines.

“You cheat,” Maxim accused Nicholas with a scowl.

“I do not,” Nicholas retorted. When Dimitri joined them, Nicholas shot him a conspiratorial wink that Maxim couldn’t see.

“Your bishop was not there. You moved it,” Maxim argued.

“I moved it there on my last turn. You weren’t paying attention.” Nicholas leaned back in his leather armchair, far too smug.

Dimitri chuckled. Some things never changed. Nicholas disregarded the rules and boundaries as much as he could, while Maxim clung to them until they crumbled around him. Dimitri collapsed onto the couch beside Leo and let his head fall back to rest on the sofa.

“Elena did well today. Max couldn’t stop praising her when he came in,” Leo said.

“Oh?” Dimitri felt a flare of pride. Earning Maxim’s respect was hard to do. Not that he was surprised. She was a true fighter, and Maxim would respect that.

“It’s good she did so well,” Leo added, his tone now serious. “Because I believe we’re out of time.”

They all turned to Leo. “What? What did you see?” Dimitri asked. His stomach knotted as he wondered what level of threat they now faced.

“Vladimir Andropov is bound for the United States. He lands in Los Angeles in a few hours.”

“Shit,” Nicholas muttered. “I am not a fan of his.”

“Is anyone?” Maxim growled. Viktor had been bad enough, but he was a solo assassin. Vladimir was more dangerous because he wouldn’t come alone. He would bring an army.

Dimitri leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “How many came with him?”

“He’s alone . . . he didn’t bring anyone else with him.”

Maxim cursed. That meant he was going to activate sleeper agents already present in the United States, people that Leo would have no