Page 5 of Tattooed Vow

I stride across the space between us before I can think better of it. She looks up, startled at first, then her deep blue eyes light up with something unreadable.

“Dimitri.”

“Sandy.” My voice is rougher than I intended. “Can we talk?”

Her eyes narrow slightly. “Now?”

“Now.”

She nods, setting down the strawberry. We walk a few feet to the shadowed edge of the grotto, near the glass doors leading to the private wine cellar.

“I need you to be careful,” I say, my tone clipped.

“Careful?” she repeats, arms crossing over her chest. “Why?”

“There’s been...news. A man from Moscow. He’s dangerous. He may come for the family. For Aleksandr. For me.”

Her eyes flash. “And that includes me?”

My jaw clenches as my back teeth grind together.

She steps closer. “Say it, Dimitri. Say you’re worried about me,” she teases.

“I am,” I grit out. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“And yet...here I am.”

Her chin lifts in defiance.

I exhale slowly. “You don’t understand what this life requires.”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“I’m not.” I look away, frustrated. “I’m trying to protect you.”

A heartbeat passes, and then she laughs softly. “From your enemy, or from yourself?”

I lean in, breath ragged. My self-control crumbles.

“I think about you,” I confess, voice raw. “More than I should.”

Her eyes darken, and her plump lips part slightly. Then, she takes a step back.

I reach out and grab her wrist, pulling her closer. And for the first time in years, I let myself burn.

3

SANDY

Dimitri grabs my wrist. It isn’t harsh, but it’s firm and commanding. His eyes lock with mine, burning with desire, dangerous and unspoken. Before I can question it, he’s pulling me toward him, close enough that I can feel the heat of his body and smell the subtle spice of his cologne.

We stand in front of the glass doors that lead down to the private wine cellar, just slightly ajar. The world around us fades, muffled by the sound of my racing heart.

Then he kisses me.

His mouth crashes onto mine, fierce and demanding, and I lose myself in his taste. I kiss him back with equal force, clutching the collar of his shirt and tilting my head to deepen the kiss. Every part of me is on fire.

But then it hits me. The danger. Not of him, but of this. Of us.