Page 43 of Bratva Prisoner
I tilt my head to look at him, and the tenderness in his eyes makes my heart skip a beat. “What happens now?”
“Now we sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out the rest.”
It’s not a complete answer, but it’s enough for now. I close my eyes and let myself drift, safe in his arms and trying not to think about how drastically everything has changed between us in the span of a single night.
Chapter 13 - Maksim
Waking up with a beautiful woman in my arms should be the highlight of any man’s week, but the stiffness in Alyssa’s body tells me this morning isn’t going according to plan.
She lies perfectly still against my chest, but her breathing tells me she’s wide awake. Every muscle in her frame screams “red alert,” like she’s bracing herself for impact. I press a gentle kiss to her hair and breathe in the scent that’s become as necessary to me as oxygen before things get messy.
“Good morning, kitten,” I mumble against her temple.
She pulls away from me so quickly that I barely have time to register the loss of body heat before she’s sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to me. Alyssa has the sheet clutched around her body like armor, and when she finally turns to face me, regret colors every feature.
“This was a mistake,” she announces without preamble.
The words punch through my chest so hard I have to draw in a breath before I answer, “Excuse me?”
“Last night. What we did.” She gestures between us while refusing to meet my eyes. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. The adrenaline, the fear, being shot at… It messed with my judgment.”
“Your judgment seemed pretty clear when you were moaning my name.”
Pink paints her cheeks, but she doesn’t back down. “Sex doesn’t solve our problems, Maksim. It just creates new ones.”
I sit up and let the sheet pool around my waist as I look at her. The woman who came apart in my arms last night hasdisappeared, and in her place is someone who looks like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
“What problems would those be?”
“You’re still a criminal. I’m still someone who can’t handle being involved in your world. Nothing about our fundamental incompatibility has changed just because we had good sex.”
“Good sex?” I can’t keep the incredulity out of my voice. “That’s what you’re calling it?”
“Fine. Great sex. Amazing sex. The best sex of my life.” Each admission sounds like it physically pains her before she adds, “But that doesn’t change anything else.”
“It changes everything else.”
She stands up, wrapping the sheet more securely around herself as she moves toward her scattered clothes. “No, it doesn’t. It just makes leaving harder.”
“Then don’t leave.”
“I have to.” She bends to retrieve her bra, and the movement makes the sheet gap in ways that test my willpower. “We both know this can’t work.”
“We don’t know anything of the sort.”
“You torture people for information, Maksim. I can’t pretend that away just because you’re good in bed.”
“So that’s it? You’re going to run again?”
“I’m going to face reality. Something one of us should probably do.”
I climb out of bed, not bothering with modesty as I march toward her. She takes an automatic step back, but there’s nowhere for her to go in the confined space.
“The reality is that someone tried to kill you last night, and you’re safer with me than anywhere else. Whatever this thing is between us isn’t going away just because you decide to ignore it.”
“You’re dangerous,” she hisses out, “and I’ve already made too many bad choices when it comes to dangerous men. The only difference is that you’re better at making me forget why I should run.”
“Maybe because deep down you know you don’t need to run from me.”
