Page 21 of Bound by Blood

If he’d been smart, he would have tied her to the fucking bed the moment she’d taken the first blade away from the vicinity of his manhood. Instead, he’d watched in amused patience as she’d sheathed both of her blades, dug a power bar and a toothbrush out of her duffel bag and reached for the door.

“Laney,” he’d called as she stepped into the hallway.

She’d looked back at him with those jewel-like sapphire eyes that turned his dick to stone every time and raised an eyebrow in question. “There are seven crew on this ship, including Oleg. If you wish these men to live, you will stay well away from them.”

She shrugged and turned away from him, braids swinging against her shoulders. That was the last he saw of her. He would have worried over her safety except he had reports from the cook about missing food. Which was fucking impossible because he’d been watching the galley, expecting that particular move and hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Laney. She really was a fucking ninja.

Next came a report from a somewhat bemused captain Oleg that someone had used his shower and bed while he’d been busy at work. It saved the good captain’s life that he had no idea what to think of the situation and he was a good forty-five years older than his lovely young passenger. Still, it further enraged Boris to imagine Laney naked, enjoying the luxury of another man’s shower. Then curling up and sleeping in the warmth of another man’s bed. Like goddamned Goldilocks, making herself at home and sleeping as though she hadn’t a care in the world.

He’d stalked the lower decks, knowing she wouldn’t be there, but checking nonetheless. He checked the engine and navigation rooms knowing she wouldn’t be in either place. Too much risk of discovery. He wanted to be thorough so he could learn her method. And he was learning. Slower than he would have liked, but with enough time that he would get to spend eight and a half days punishing her for their wasted time. After that, he would find a way to get her back to Russia where he would spend a lifetime learning her as her husband. He was never letting her go.

Now the hunter knew where to find his woman. Laney would go high. She did not like to be trapped. On a place like this she would want to be free like a bird.

***

Laney sighed and grinned. She had never in her entire life felt freer. The entire Pacific Ocean stretched out in front of her in all of its pounding grey and blue glory. Even the continuous rain that had been falling on her since she’d climbed to the top of the eight shipping containers a few hours prior couldn’t stop her happy mood. She didn’t have a care in the world in that moment and it felt wonderful. The only thing that could make it better is if she knew Jin were safe.

Heavy footfalls echoed behind her, effectively answering a question she’d pondered previously. No, apparently Boris’ incredibly muscular arms would not hamper him from climbing all the way up to the top of the shipping containers to look for her when he finished searching the bottom of the ship.

“Laney,” he growled down at her, shaking his head like a dog and showering her with a spray of raindrops from his big body. Because she wasn’t wet enough having spent several hours in the rain.

She leaned back on her hands and glanced up at him so she could answer question number two. Yes, after nearly thirty hours of searching for her, he was very pissed off at being deprived of the sexual prize he thought he was getting when he first boarded the ship.

“Godzilla,” she acknowledged, tensing from head to toe without visibly tipping him off to the imminent attack.

Apparently, he noticed anyway. He growled and shook his head, showering her face with water once more. “Do not attack me, woman. I am not in the mood. Iwillhurt you.”

She shivered and briefly considered just going with him quietly. Then she remembered who she was. She was Laney Paul, Yakuza assassin. She was no one’s bitch. Slowly turning over, Laney came to her feet in a crouch. Reaching under her jacket, she unsheathed both of her blades and held them down and away from her body.

“You refuse to go with me?” he snarled. “This was not our agreement.”

“There was no agreement,” Laney argued, slowly circling away from him, keeping the edge of the shipping container in her peripheral so she wouldn’t slip off. “You gave me two minutes to disappear and I took your kindly proffered time.”

“You skate the edge of my patience, little girl,” he growled from between clenched teeth, hands fisted at his side. He circled her, stalking closer, readying himself for an attack. “You must know if I get my hands on you after this I won’t be gentle. You had your chance.”

She smirked and slashed one of the blades through the rain. “It won't be an issue after this, Grekov.”

Without replying, he lunged for her. Laney danced away from him, keeping her body low and out of his reach, knowing if he got his hands on her it would be game over. She didn’t have the strength to fight him off and his battle skills were at least equal to hers. It became quickly clear to her that she had the advantage. Boris did not want her anywhere near the edge of the shipping containers and was doing everything within his power to keep their fight in the middle. Which was rapidly frustrating him, because Laney was using her quick, lithe body to dance circles around him, closer and closer to the edge, while taking jabs at him with her sharp daggers. Boris was forced to duck her light thrusts, while trying to drive her back to where he wanted her.

“Laney, watch the fucking edge,” he bellowed at her, “it’s fucking slippery!”

She grinned and threw her dagger, while he was distracted. He jerked back, bringing his forearm up to protect his throat and face, catching it in the meaty part of his arm. He stared at her with something approaching murderous intent and yanked the knife out of his arm. His leather coat would have stopped it from penetrating very far and her throw had been light, but blood still dripped off the end of his fingers. He’d taken a solid hit. Without taking his eyes off of her, he drew his arm back and hurled it as hard as he could. Laney stared in shock as it hurtled end over end across the metal container and into the ocean far below.

Her Sensei had given her the blades when she’d achieved her first black belt at the age of ten. She turned angry eyes on Boris, determined to give him a piece of her mind, but he used her momentary distraction to close the distance between them. A scream of surprise was choked off when he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her right off her feet. Blood smeared on her neck where he held her. Laney clutched at his wrist with her free hand and tried to stab him with her other dagger.

He shook her and growled furiously, “Drop the blade.”

His eyes glowed in a way she’d never seen. This was the Russian enforcer that other people saw right before they died. He held her up in one hand like she weighed nothing. She was a rag doll against his incredible strength. He would slowly choke the breath out of her unless she did as he demanded. Tears of fury and pain jumped unbidden to her eyes. What choice did she have?

Finally, she submitted, opening her fingers and letting the blade clatter against the rain-slicked metal. Boris slowly lowered her until her feet touched the ground. As if knowing her legs could not hold her, he continued to lower her, allowing her knees to buckle until she was crouched at his feet with his fist still wrapped around her neck. Finally, his slave.

Her eyes landed on the blade. Determined to bury it in his foot, she lunged for it, heedless of the fingers that could crush her throat, finishing their struggle once and for all. Her fingers touched the hilt at the same time Boris’ boot landed on the blade making it impossible to lift.

She looked up into his dark eyes. There was no amusement shining there. He was done playing games with her. She shivered under the onslaught of the beast she had brought forth. She opened her mouth to speak, to beg him for mercy, for more time, for anything. She wasn’t ready to submit to him or to any man. Nothing in her life had taught her the value in the type of loving Boris wanted from her. She simply couldn’t do it.

He didn’t let her speak. He pulled her up by the neck and crushed her lips beneath his own in a kiss that told her how their time together would be. Violent. Dominant. Passionate. Painful.

Laney tried to pull away from him, but the fingers around her neck tightened until she was nearly choking again. She brought her hands up, but he gathered them in one of his massive hands and held them behind her back, forcing her to submit to his kiss. She tasted blood against her tongue and whimpered, unsure if her lip was cut or his. Boris pulled back, hearing her distress and stared down at her, his eyes hard. He brought a thumb up and touched her lip, smearing the blood.

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