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My treacherous pulse spikes despite my loathing for him, and that lost heat of desire coils in my gut as he stands facing me, tall. Calm. Deadly.

Ruslan.

The first thing I notice is the small black device in his hand.

“What the hell is that?” I croak, trying to stop the mini convulsions still rocking through me.

“It's a controller for the implant under your skin,” Ruslan says evenly, holding it up between his fingers like it's the most normal thing in the world. “I've been told it's one way to instantly make your uncontrollable rage stop.”

“You put a fucking shock collar on me?” I'm dumbfounded. For the first time in my life, that stupid damn word makes sense.

He doesn’t answer.

“Like I'm a dog!” I feel the pop is right there. “Why not violate me, though, right? I have no rights; I'm just a fucking lab rat. Property of the RMSAD and now yours.”

“It’s a precaution.” Ruslan's voice drops, and he eyes me warily. “You hurt a lot of people last time you lost control.”

“When did you have it implanted?” I try to rack my brain as I would've felt that.

“A while ago.” Ruslan hedges. “Again, it was just a precaution in case you lost control,” he repeats. I shift. He stiffens. He's afraid of me.

My eyebrow shoots up, and I hold his eyes, my expression deadpan. “Who says I lose control?”

I see his eyes widen in surprise. I've caught him off guard. That's my cue. I lunge.

He doesn’t expect it.

I slam into him, grabbing the remote. I twist. Knock out his knee. He buckles and stumbles. I use that time to grab a rock and smash the device.

He gains control and lunges toward me. I spin, raise the rock, and I'm about to knock him out with it, but he grabs my wrist and dislodges my weapon.

We grapple. I twist and elbow Ruslan. He blocks. We slam into a tree. He spins, pushes me against the thick bark, and his hand pins my wrists above my head. My breath comes hard. His eyes lock on mine.

“Get off me,” I growl.

But I don’t mean it. Not really. I can feel Ruslan’s heat against me and the exertion, anger, turn into a burning need as that dark desire coils through my system.

Heat builds between us.

My heart pounds in my chest as Ruslan's mouth crashes onto mine, our tongues wrestling with each other in a feverish duel of pent-up lust and desire.

And I don’t stop him.

We tear at each other like animals starved of touch and poisoned by betrayal.

My sweater goes first, fabric snagging and ripping as he yanks it over my head. His belt clinks as I unfasten it with shaking fingers, palms rough against the cold metal. There are no words—only growls, gasps, the crash of mouths, and the scrape of teeth.

It’s brutal. Raw. A clash of fury and craving that boils up from every suppressed scream, every restrained sob.

With one hand, Ruslan yanks down my pants, revealing the wet heat between my legs. I kick off my one sneaker as he pulls down my panties with my sweatpants. I finally free his rigid cock.

He groans at the sudden exposure to the cold air before setting his gaze back on me, intently watching as I wrap my trembling fingers around his throbbing shaft.

His fingers dip into my sopping pussy and his eyes darken. His lids are heavy as my fingers find the precum seeping from the slit on the hood of his cock. A whimper escapes my throat when his thumb circles my clit and his fingers fuck me. My hips move oftheir own accord in rhythm to his digits pushing me higher into pleasure.

“Does that hurt?” Ruslan asks, leaning forward and whispering into my ear.

I can’t trust my words right now, and I shake my head.