Page 27 of Captivated By the Bratva

“I want my own life, Maxim. That isn’t too much to ask.”

He grunted. “I’m not the one to ask.”

“My father refuses to stand up for me and break his promise to Mr. Avilov. I can’t ask him.”

“That’s between you and your father.”

I drew in a deep breath as thunder boomed even closer.

“I can’t change anything about your fate.”

“You could let me go.”

He glared at me as he walked toward a vacation house that looked locked up and empty. “No.”

“I’ll run,” I threatened. “As soon as I can, I’ll run. Again and again.”

“Is that so?” He stopped at the front door, hugging me close as he reached in his pocket.

“I’ll never back down,” I promised. He made me a hypocrite as I said it, though. Binding my hands in zip-ties, he forced my arms back. In seconds, he had me secured.

“That should slow you enough to let me have a head start, then.” He winked, cocky and charming as ever, before he approached the door.

I watched as he picked the lock, then once the door to the vacant rental unit was open, he grabbed his gun and held it up to enter. One stern look from him was plenty of direction. He wanted me to walk in after him, and with a heavy exhale, I nodded and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered.

He hadn’t bound my feet. Icouldwalk or run, but I doubted I could do either well with my hands secured behind my back.

No one was inside, and with the lack of electricity in one room, the layers of dust in the kitchen, and the stillness of quiet, it seemed like this place hadn’t been occupied for a long time.

Tagging along after him, I scanned the small structure and appreciated a break from the constant slickness of rain.

All through the house, he checked for any threats or surprises. And we found none. The place had been abandoned, and I dared to think about falling onto the couches or beds and passing out. I knew better than to be fanciful and wish this were all just a bad dream that I could wake up from.

This was my reality, bound and captured by a soldier ordered to get me home.

“I won’t back down,” I repeated, even though several moments had passed since our last argument when we entered the building.

“No?” He stalked around me, towering over my back as he stepped up behind me. I’d paused near a tall mirror stationed in the corner of the bedroom. It was the last room we’d checked to make sure no one was hiding or waiting here.

I shivered at his proximity. “No.”

“Not even to me?” he taunted.

Something about being alone with him in the dark house made this more exciting than it had any right to be. No one could see us. No one would hear us. In the promise of that privacy, I wanted… more.

I tipped my chin up, matching his gaze in the reflection of the mirror. “No.”

He smiled, arrogant and so sinfully sexy. Like he was a man who knew what he wanted and was counting down the seconds until he got it. “Are you sure about that?” Staring at me as he kissed along my neck, he pushed into my back. With my hands bound just above my ass, my fingers were within perfect reach of his erection. He ground it against me, and I fisted my hands to resist grabbing him.

“How about you just bend over for me, instead?”

11

MAXIM

Her breath hitched. That sexy little sound was like a punch to the gut.

“What?” she whispered.

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