Page 3 of Venus

Tonight, as I held her pinned against me, feeling the rise and fall of her chest, the stakes felt higher than ever. Her anger and her fire were intoxicating, making every moment with her a volatile mix of danger and desire.

“Listen,” I whispered into her ear, my voice low and steady against the chill night air. “I’m not your enemy, Venus. I think you know that.”

“I know you are pompous ass.” She hissed at me over her shoulder, but I wasn’t fooled. If this woman wanted to be free, she’d be free. And I’d be lying in pool of my own blood.

Interesting.

“Glad to see my charm didn’t go unnoticed.”

She struggled in my hold a bit longer, then relaxed with a huff, her body still tense but no longer fighting. “You’re infuriating, you know that, Piston?”

“That’s part of my charm too,” I replied, the corner of my mouth lifting slightly. I loosened my grip just enough to let her know she could break free if she wanted. It was a test as much as it was a truce.

Venus turned within my arms to face me, her gaze fierce and calculating. She wasn’t afraid of me, she knew she could take me, but she wasn’t ready to kill me yet. Made me wonder why. One thing I’d learned about Venus over the years was she never did anything without at least a frame up of a plan.

With slow deliberate movements, she backed up one step. Then another.

“Is this a truce then?” I kept my hands to my sides but was ready to defend myself if necessary.

“I’m not sure.” She gave me a curious look, her gaze moving boldly over me. Then her brow furrowed. “I’mreallynot sure.”

“Then let’s call it a truce. We can always decide later to resume fighting.”

Venus’s lips twisted into a skeptical smile, but she nodded slowly. “Fine, truce for now. But don’t think this means I trust you, Piston. We’re not buddies.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I replied, my voice low and even. Her distrust was like a sharp blade held at my neck, yet there was something exhilarating about not knowing when she might decide to slash. It was all I could do to keep from smiling. My cock didn’t care if she saw him or not and shot hard so fast I nearly winced. Thankfully, if she noticed, she didn’t mention it.

We stood in silence for a moment, the tension between us palpable. The night air was warm against my skin, and somewhere nearby an owl hooted, a solitary sound that seemed to emphasize the isolation of our current circumstances.

Venus finally broke the silence. “So, what now, Piston? We just stand here in dark staring at each other until one of us breaks?” There was a hint of amusement in her voice, a playful challenge I hadn’t heard before.

I shrugged nonchalantly. “We could do that, or we could put this temporary truce to better use.”

“What do you propose?” Her voice was cautious yet intrigued, her eyes scanning my face for any hint of deceit.

“We work together,” I said simply. “You have your skills and resources, I have mine. Together, we can find and kill the fuck outta Zaitsev.”

“Why do you want to kill him?” She was genuinely curious, but I knew she was filing away all this information for inspection later. She’d remember everything about our conversation, my expressions, the inflection of my voice, and dissect it for every ounce of information. Just like she’d been trained to do. Same as me.

“Isn’t it enough that his goons kidnapped my vice president?”

She nodded slowly. “Sure. But I don’t think that’s whole story with you.”

Smart woman. “I’ll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours.”

“Right.” She picked up the gun Zaitsev had shot me with, checking the weapon before tucking it against her back in the waistband of her pants. “I’m going back to Tzars. Lemon wanted me to check on Dani.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Lemon. Wanted you to check on her sister.” I spoke slowly, wanting to make sure I’d heard her right, because it sounded suspiciously like Venus, the badass assassin for the FSB, was… running. From me.

Two things were foremost in my mind. First, it didn’t sit well that she wanted away from me. Granted, she didn’t know me as well as I knew her, but I was becoming more and more protective of Venus. I wanted her close where she couldn’t get into more trouble than she could get herself out of. Though I’d watched her from afar for years (stalker much?), I liked having her close. I blamed my vice president. Had it not been for Lemon getting kidnapped, I might never have gotten this close to Venus for this long. I damned sure wouldn’t have gone with her to kill the man she’d been trying to take down for a decade.

The second thing, though…

Yeah. Having my arms around Venus -- even to keep her from eviscerating me with her dagger-like nails -- awoke something inside me I had thought was way the fuck dead. I was forty-seven years old, for crying out loud. While I had an active sex drive, I hadn’t been this hard for this long in years. Hadn’t had a need for it. If I had an itch, I scratched it with a club whore. No fuss. No muss. And no one expecting to be all up in my space.

Part of what I did at Grim Road was take care of… issues. Permanently. I’d love to say it was why I’d come with Venus on this errand, but I’d be lying. I’d claimed her in my mind the moment I’d seen her. Couldn’t keep my mouth shut and made it official so I could get her into Grim Road where she could come and go as she pleased. Then I’d followed her back to Iron Tzars… where she’d promptly run back to Grim Road in the guise of making sure Lemon was settling in well. As if Lemon couldn’t protect herself.

What I couldn’t figure out was why she didn’t just kill me. I’d been expecting it, yet she hadn’t made a move on me until tonight when she’d pulled that gun in my face. Sure, I’d noticed the occasional glance at my crotch. On more than one occasion, I’d caught her staring at me with those freaky eyes of hers. I was quite possibly the only other person in the world, other than Giovanni Romano of Argent Tech and herself, who knew what her vision was capable of with those contacts. And I’d bet my balls she’d be furious if she knew I knew.

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