Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
My stomach turns, wondering if that’s why he picked it out. Who knows how many women have been in this bed? With a mouth like his, I’m guessing a lot. Stupidly, my mom’s little saying pops into my head, ‘Never have sex with a man who doesn't make you come first.’
I close my eyes. I shouldn’t care about any of this. None of what Sergei Taletti does in his bed is my concern. Yet for some reason, I can’t help but feel some sort of way about it. This isn’t some relationship. It’s also not how I thought my first kiss would happen. Sergei has thrown me for a loop, and I’m not sure how to get out of it. One of us is going to die. We both can’t make it out.
Unless I can escape. If I returned home unharmed, then maybe my brothers and father wouldn’t hunt Sergei down and kill him. Not that escaping is really an option.
Liar.
I force my mind to replay yesterday to remind myself who Sergei is. As I do, I end up in the same place. He hasn’t hurt me. In fact, he’s done the opposite. Still, at some point, he’s going to hand me over to his father. There’s no escaping that.
Slowly, I try to wiggle my way out of his hold. If he wakes up, I’ll say I’m trying to go to the bathroom. The thick black curtains don’t give away what time it is. The only light that spills into the room is from the open bedroom door.
I swear it takes me thirty minutes to get out of his arms without waking him. When my feet touch the floor, I’m shocked that I did it. I stand there watching him to see if he is only toying with me again. Even in sleep, his expression is one of irritation.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the gun lying right on the nightstand. I creep around the bed until my hand hovers over it. I glance at Sergei, his chest still rising and falling in even breaths. The second my fingers grip the handle, Sergei's hand wraps around my wrist.
“You keep hesitating, princess. I’m starting to think you like me and want to stay.”
“Your mouth isn’t that good.”
“I don’t think your pussy agrees.” He smirks.
I want to smack it from his handsome face. “A vibrator can do the same.” I smirk back.
That smug look drops from his face as does his hand from my wrist. He’s left the gun in my palm.
“Well,” he watches me, “don’t fail again.”
I shake my head at him. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
“Winston Churchill.”
I drop his gun on the table. “It’s empty.” I knew it the second I grabbed it.
The weight wasn’t right. Sergei pulls out a clip from under his pillow.
“Glad to know you still have the same enthusiasm to kill me today.” His tone is pissed. He sits up. “Would you really do it, princess?” Sergei places the clip down next to the gun on the nightstand.
“I don’t want to.” Tears threaten to break free. “If you let me go, I—”
“No,” he cuts me off quickly. “You’re not going anywhere.” I’m not sure I could even if I killed him. There was a keypad for the elevator. You can lock people in or out.
I reach for the clip and the gun. Sergei doesn’t stop me. In one quick move I load and cock it, sliding a bullet into the chamber.
“Not gonna lie. That was hot.” Sergei doesn’t move, but he’s in no real danger. He’s too close now. If I tried to raise it toward him, he would grab it before I got a shot off. He knows that and made sure he sat right where he needed to on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t have to kill you.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” he repeats.
I step back and raise the gun. Sergei springs to his feet but freezes when I bring the gun to my own head. Now that I could do.
“I think I could go if I wanted.”
“Princess, put the fucking gun down.” His tone has changed—no more smugness, no more playfulness.
“This is your game. You’re playing games with me. Maybe I don’t want to play anymore.” The gun was a test. Why? Does he think I’m going to stop fighting for my freedom?
“Put. The. Fucking. Gun. Down.”
“You know, just because you can bark your orders louder doesn’t change anything.” The silence grows between us. “I suppose I’m hesitating again, aren't I?”
“What about your enthusiasm?” He’s trying to reason with me.
“Are you worried your daddy will be mad when you only come back with my body?”
His jaw tightens. “I warned you about the daddy shit.”
“You also warned me about hesitating,” I remind him. “Thank you for not doing the things you could have done to me, but can I tell you one thing?”