Page 14 of Mercenary Princess

Her flawed hormones reacted by sliding heat all through her body. It was the same irrationally extreme attraction she’d felt at the club. The man laid waste to her sense of logic and, apparently, any hint of self-preservation.

Her gaze tracked every inch of him in the span of seconds. His suit jacket was gone, along with his tie. He’d been sexy in the bespoke suit, but he was devastating with his collar unbuttoned and his white shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal strong, tanned forearms. When had forearms ever been so sexy? His calculating blue eyes roamed her body as if seeing beneath the thin cotton. Heat and raw attraction burned in that gaze, but there was also something else, something she hadn’t noticed at first—a hint of interest that was far more dangerous in that it held blatant scrutiny, as if she were a web he planned to unravel.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered, not wanting to alert the guards. He wouldn’t have dared take out a royal security detail. Nobody had a death wish that big unless they weren’t planning to leave a body. A shiver trickled down her spine for a split second but vanished quickly as she looked at her potential captor. There was no doubt he was dangerous to her, but for a far different reason.

“How did you get in here?” Her eyes darted to the balcony doors, and her blood ran cold. The doors had been unlocked and sans alarm at her doing. Had he scaled the wall?

Her heart rate kicked into overdrive. She could have given access to an even more dangerous villain by leaving the balcony doors vulnerable. It had seemed safe enough because only guests could enter the courtyard to the expensive hotel, and if you didn’t know the right spot to climb in, you’d be all over the surveillance cameras that were monitored in real time by live hotel security personnel.

When her eyes met his, he raised a dark brow. “I didn’t climb.” He didn’t bother whispering as she had, and his lightly accented voice slid over every nerve in her body. It was sexier than she’d even imagined was possible.

When his words registered, her entire body tensed. She rushed for the door and threw it open to see one of her guards slumped over in a club chair, his back to her. Her mind spun as all the moisture left her mouth. There was no blood. Nothing had been disturbed in the room. But there was now a hulking Russian standing sentry inside the main door, tattoos peeking above the collar of his suit. He didn’t speak, just stood there, assessing her with dark eyes.

From behind her, she heard Viktor’s voice. “They’re alive. Now shut the door. You’re not in danger.”

She spun to face him, her spine straight. “You broke into my suite, knocked out a royal security detail, and you’re saying it’s not dangerous to shut myself in a room with you? You’re insane.” She wouldn’t admit that she hadn’t felt truly threatened. That plainly spoke of the mental instability she’d just accused him of.

In reality, the whole scenario felt like a twisted joke because she’d had so many fantasies of him in her room. But not a single one featured him talking, which quite honestly stung her feminine pride and effectively ruined her hotel room fantasy. The fact that she could even think those thoughts made it clear she’d lost her mind.

“What did you do to my guards?” She infused her voice with steel. She might not like most of those men, but they had been doing their jobs, and she’d left them vulnerable to attack by way of her own balcony. Another chill ran up her spine as she realized those men could have died tonight.

Because of her.

She had to force that thought away because she couldn’t do anything about it. Once this was over, she’d figure out a way to ensure this never happened again.

If she were sane, she’d be worried he might abduct or kill her, but she couldn’t see Viktor as that kind of villain.

“I said they are fine.” His voice had a calm authority that sent a thrill through her. When his broad, muscular body unfolded from the chair, her thoughts ceased and stayed silent as he stalked toward her. Her reaction to him was far too potent, too carnal, to be real. Every nerve in her body seemed to reach for him, and she violently fought the desire to sway into the warmth curling from his body to hers. When he finally towered over her, she was forced to tilt her head. She didn’t back away, not out of daring, but out of years of built-up desire for just one touch from this man. She breathed in the faint scent of masculine soap, as opposed to designer cologne, and she found it tantalizing beyond belief.

After a charged moment in which his heat radiated along her oversensitive flesh, he stretched out his arm and sent the door sailing shut behind her. The resounding click was too loud in her ears.

They were alone, inches from touching. Raw currents of electricity zinged between them in the charged silence.

His seductive tone slid through her. “Now we can get to know one another privately, Princess.”

He mocked her with the address, and they both knew it. That she liked the term princess when he said it didn’t matter. That was the least of her worries. She shook her head. “What do you want? You can’t possibly believe my brother won’t demand your head for threatening me and harming the guards?”

His firm, sexy lips actually twitched. “Your brother will never know because you will not tell him. Now, where have you been sneaking off to, ????????”

Disappointment hit her harder than she would have liked to admit as she tilted her chin to glare at him. “I’m not your kitten.” Sophia wasn’t his lover or even a friend, as the endearment implied. And considering he was questioning her instead of ravishing her, this was not the type of visit she wanted from him.

His lips tilted up, but she didn’t take the time to wonder at the pleased look in his eye.

“I’ve disappointed you,” he murmured as he moved forward, forcing her back against the hardwood door. His gaze was unnerving as it roved over her face, undoubtedly seeing more than she intended to share. When his hand rose to touch her face, she held her breath.

His deep voice lowered to an impossibly sexier hum. “Were you hoping for something other than conversation? What is it you want, Princess?”

His thick, warm fingers made her flesh sizzle with heat. How could the barest, most innocent of touches make gooseflesh rise all over her body? Her nipples pressed into the confining material of her sports bra, and it took all her strength not to angle for more contact. His hand was gone in a second, but electricity still arced between them.

“If you were meeting a lover, he didn’t do his job. You respond too well to me.”

More heat rose to her cheeks, and his knowing look made her heart rate kick up. She was giving him information without even speaking. That fact sent warning triggers through her. Her body and features were betraying her, and they’d only been in the same room for moments. She had to get away from him. She wondered if she would have fared better if he’d water-boarded her. His touch, those sexy, assessing eyes, and his warm masculine scent of woodsy soap, mint, and maybe a hint of expensive cigars made for an arousing combination.

Her movements were wooden as she attempted to sidestep him. It was as if her body and mind were fighting one another. Her mind knew she needed to retreat, while her body felt magnetized to his.

She needed distance and clarity, but she’d only moved an inch before strong arms caged her against the door. He leaned closer, taking unfair advantage of the effect he was having on her. The knowledge that he was toying with her was the lifeline she needed to snap her into focus.

It made her assess what she knew. If he wasn’t worried about the guards, then the men obviously hadn’t seen the threat coming. No alarm had been triggered, or Jen’s phone would have issued a high-pitched wail. If that had happened, she wouldn’t have been blindsided, though she was grateful that it meant the men were alive.

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