Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
To his surprise, Soren smiled at him but suddenly winced when he pulled on his injured lip. “Impressive. It’s rare for anyone to catch me, and you’ve done it twice.”
“I think it’s less rare than you believe. You were also found by two other hit teams.”
Soren’s expression clouded over, and he frowned. “Yeah. This isn’t making any sense. This stupid contract. I wish I’d never fucking taken it or the hard drive. I—” Alexei placed his fingers over Soren’s wounded lips, halting his words.
“No more for now. I know I broke my own rule first, but no more for a little while. We both need to think for a bit.”
Blue eyes watched him, and then he wordlessly nodded. Alexei was grateful. He concentrated on cleaning up Soren’s face. Frowning, he sat on the edge of the bed and scooted closer before lifting up his T-shirt. Muscles jumped and flexed as if anticipating another painful touch. He stared. He couldn’t help himself. Soren had a beautiful chest. It was long and narrow, but very muscular, with the right amount of dark fur lightly sprinkled with hints of gray. Even sweaty, he wanted to run his fingers across Soren’s chest, grazing nipples until they pebbled at his touch. Slide his fingers straight across those flat abs to the bulge waiting for him—
Alexei cleared his throat. “Your ribs. How are your ribs? Do you think any were broken?”
“I don’t know. They hurt.”
Leaning over Soren, he carefully felt along his rib cage, trying to ignore the flinching and hissing. “I think you’re bruised and tender. Nothing feels broken to me. You seem to be breathing fine. Anything else?”
Soren shifted on the bed and jerked his chin toward his crotch. “I think I might have pulled a groin muscle if you want to feel around down there.”
Tempting, but he wasn’t distracted. Alexei moved up to his knees and leaned closer, reaching past Soren’s face to cover his hands, checking the handcuff. Yep, he’d loosened one of them somehow.
“No,” he said evenly, though he was very close to a smile. “If you try to break out again, I’m going to duct tape all your fingers together.”
Soren’s eyes widened. “That’s evil.”
A smirk slid across his lips, and for the first time in too many hours, he felt like he was in control. “You have no idea how evil I can be.”
“But you can’t take my hands away. I’m a cat burglar, Angel.”
“Alexei,” he immediately corrected.
“Then be my Angel and give me my hands back.” He leaned forward, the tip of his nose nearly brushing Alexei’s while his voice dipped to a whisper. “I promise to be good. Right now, you’re the only one keeping me alive.”
“Awww, do you need a distraction?” Alexei toed off his shoes, letting them thump to the floor.
“What are you doing?” Soren asked with the tiniest waver in his voice.
Alexei ignored the question and climbed onto the bed until he was kneeling between Soren’s legs. Sex wasn’t exactly practical, but touching had made him feel empowered. Maybe the more out of control he made Soren, the more in control he would feel.
Or maybe he needed the distraction as much as Soren did.
“I thought I would do something to take your mind off the pain.” Alexei placed his hand in the middle of Soren’s chest and slowly dragged his fingers down, loving the way Soren’s eyes widened and his lips parted as he sucked in a breath. His stomach dipped and as the heel of his palm grazed Soren’s hardening cock through the front of his jeans, Soren barked “No!”
Alexei snatched his hand away as if he’d been burned. He would never touch someone who didn’t welcome his attention. He could feel embarrassment burning in his cheeks, and he kept his eyes fixed on a point over Soren’s shoulder. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have,” he quickly apologized. He needed to get out of the bed and put some space between them.
“No, stop.” Soren growled. The handcuffs rattled and slammed into the headboard. Alexei looked up to see Soren scowling as he fought with them. “Can you let me out of these?”
“No. It’s better this way. You’ll run again the second I turn my back. Just rest. Sleep. I need to check my messages.” He started to get out of the bed, but Soren tightened his legs around Alexei’s waist, locking him in place.
“Nope. If I’m stuck, you’re stuck.” He winced, likely from straining stomach muscles against sore ribs.
“Soren—”
“Listen, idiot. I’m not saying no because I don’t want to. I’m saying no because I’ve got some serious hang-ups about sleeping with guys who are trying to kill me. Usually I can compartmentalize, but fucking my killer is beyond even me.”
“Oh.” The single syllable slipped from Alexei’s lips. Yeah. Somehow he’d forgotten that part.
Was it easy to fuck Soren’s brains out? Yes.