Page 14 of The Last Call
“No! You do not move until I say so!”
He’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going to allow myself to be exposed to his security team. Irritation pinches his expression as much as his merciless grasp on my skin when I tug again. Willing to fight him for my modesty. Protecting my pride and preservation. “Root beer!”
Agony shoots through my cheek from his backhand across my face. Pain and shame explode in my heart worse than in the past.
“I said don’t move!”
Fuck this. For the first time ever in all the times I’ve been with Sergei that I’ve felt genuine fear. This so called domination game ends now. I jerk my head back up and suck all the air I can into my lungs. “Mack! I need–”
His fingers squeeze my windpipe, stealing my scream and my oxygen. What the hell? I claw at his hands. Surprisingly strong for as stout as they are. Perverse power strengthening his resolve to quiet me. Fuck. Maybe even kill me.
Adrenaline kicks in, and I battle him for all I’m worth. Twisting to try and get leverage off the mattress. My resistance infuriates him, and he only throttles me harder, boring his thumbs into my neck. Grunting and huffing as he pushes me backward and into submission. Which I will never allow. I drive my toes into the carpet to lift up my hips. Refusing to give into him or the black spots clouding my vision. I will not let him win.
Our struggle stalls from the shots exploding in the hallway, and finally he stops crushing my throat. I sputter and cough against his palms, drawing in an enormous breath in case I lose my chance. Until I can rise up from this tangle of smooth white sheets and attack him again.
“What the hell?”
The answer he receives is the doors flying open and gigantic rifles pointing at us. At least seven men, covered in camouflage from helmet to boot, crowd the wide opening. No movement or orders shouted at us. Just resolute stances and unwavering aim. Shit!
“Stand down.”
The soldiers quickly part from the familiar voice booming behind them, and I can’t hold back the shudder that jolts through my bare body despite the heat blazing within me. My labored gasps are the only sound in the room besides the whirling of the bamboo ceiling fan.
“Damn it Sydney.” Another tremor engulfs me from Julius’s weapon as well as his furious hiss. “I told you no more.”
His gaze and the barrel of his gun sweep away from me and zero in on Sergei. Nothing either of us can do or say to stop him. To avert his death sentence.
A tiny red circle suddenly glows like a ruby on the dictator’s forehead.
Then his neck.
And then his chest.
Only a devastated humph before he slumps on me. Sliding downward until his face slams into my breasts in an eerie slow motion that I can’t prevent or respond to. I simply watch.
His bulk steals my breath again until he’s yanked off me and tossed to the plush tan carpet. Unable to see or hear anything until Julius’s face fills my vision and his words pierce the silence. “I told you that you belong to me now.”
I don’t protest when he scoops me up. Too dazed to argue when he curls me against his chest. His heart pounding almost as hard as mine. Grateful to be shielded from Sergei’s naked body coated in blood. So much blood. Scarlet streaked down my freezing skin.
Fighting the lightheadedness threatening to pull me under, I clutch his button down with shaking hands. Unnecessary really with the unforgiving grasp he has on me. His fingers gripping my thigh and shoulder, already tender from the force. Long strands of my sticky, clumped hair blow behind us from his speed, whisking past the soldiers still discussing the attack. Winding around too many corpses mangled and mutilated sprawl down the corridor. Thankful none of them are my best friend. “Where’s Mack?”
“He’s fine. Under my strict orders for him not to be hurt. Put up one hell of a fight for you though.”
A little bit of the dread churning in my belly subsides from knowing he’s safe. Believing Julius from the definite approval sounding in his tone regarding Mack’s loyalty. Now well aware how much we love each other.
Needing to ignore the brutality of the massacre to keep sane and my stomach from lurching, I clench my eyes shut. Although I’m loathe to rely on a man I can’t trust to help me, I have no other choice. Because for everything I don’t know or understand about Julius, I know he won’t let anything happen to me. I don’t have to be afraid.
Except of him.
Besides asking about Mack, she doesn’t utter a single word as I carry her out. Definitely for the best. Because I don’t want to hear a damn thing she has to say right now.
Stupid bastard touching her. Holding her down. Fucking strangling her.
And she fucking wanted to be with him.
My woman.
Fucking naked.
