Page 84 of Enemy Within

Sasha’s jaw clenched, seemingly hard enough to crack a tooth.

“Did you hear what the captain said? How they changed the world with their love? It is true, Sasha! They knew what they wanted and they followed it. No excuses.”

“They areAmerican—” Sasha started to spit.

“No. They are just human.Men. Two men in love. No different than you or I could be.”

Sasha’s face twisted, misery making him ugly for a moment until he forced himself back to rigid blankness.

Sergey stepped close to Sasha, close enough to feel his body’s heat and the rise and fall of his chest with each heaving breath. “They never let anything stand in their way,” he breathed. “The world changed forthem. If it happened for them, it could happen for us. Do you see how happy they are?” He took a shaky breath. “Iwantthat. I want that kind of joy. That kind of love.”

“Please…” Sasha whispered. His expression fell, losing his stoic, hard edge, and turning to raw anguish.

“I want to giveyouthat kind of happiness.” Sergey kept going. He lifted his hands, reaching for Sasha’s shoulders, but hesitated. “I want toloveyou, Sasha.”

Sasha’s trembles turned to shudders, but he kept his eyes clenched shut. He shook his head. “The country needs you,” he breathed. “Needs what you can do for Russia—”

“Do not make this about me choosing between Russia and you, Sasha—”

“That isexactlywhat this is! Youmustchoose Russia. You must! I amnothing, Sergey, I am not worth—”

“You areeverythingto me!” Sergey shouted. He grabbed Sasha, and Sasha’s eyes whipped open. “And I choose you! Do you hear me? I chooseyou!”

Sergey’s hands rose, cradling Sasha’s strong jaw, his sharp face. “We can do it all together, Sasha. We can change Russia together. What better way than by the two of us at the top?” He stroked Sasha’s forehead, pushing back a lock of blond hair that had fallen over an eyebrow. “After everything, do you honestly think I would be stopped by people telling me no, no, you cannot love this man? After everything I have done?”

Sasha said nothing. He stared at Sergey, his blue eyes searching Sergey’s gaze. Sergey let him look, and he poured his love outward, trying to convey his agony at being ripped away from Sasha’s side, the anguish he’d felt believing Sasha was gone. The desire that burned in his soul and lived in his blood, aching to reach out for Sasha. The dreams he had, of Sasha’s smile, his rumbling laughter, of just him, happy. Happy and in love. Hopefully, in love with Sergey.

Sergey stroked his thumb over Sasha’s cheek. “I chooseyou.”

Sasha exploded. Fury crackled over his face as he shoved Sergey back. Stunned, Sergey hit the bulkhead, and his shoulders crashed into the cabin door behind him. His mouth dropped and he reached for Sasha. “Wha—”

Sasha slammed into him, wrapping his arms around him, covering Sergey’s body with his own. His hands roamed over Sergey, grabbing his hips and sliding up his sides, over his ribs and up his neck, running through his hair. He pushed Sergey back, throwing him against the bulkhead again when Sergey tried to push off and grab Sasha in return. Stunned, Sergey opened his mouth, protest ready on his lips.

Sweeping in, Sasha plunged his tongue into Sergey’s mouth, slipping it along Sergey’s until their lips joined, bodies surging together.

Sergey grabbed him, grabbed his broad shoulders, his arms. He pulled Sasha in, hands scrabbling to get him closer, kiss him deeper.

“What thefuckis going—”

Beside them, the door Sergey had slammed into whipped open, and Senior Chief Wilson, a bulldog of a man, built like a brick shithouse and with a perpetual rottweiler's scowl on his face, glared into the passageway.

Sergey and Sasha broke apart, barely, and froze. They stared at Chief Wilson, kiss-red lips quivering as they panted together.

Chief Wilson stepped back in his cabin and shut the door.

Sergey’s eyes flicked to Sasha’s. He cupped Sasha’s face. “Come with me.”

STRAINED SILENCE FILLED THEIR cabin when they stumbled through the door. Sasha went in first, and he stood in the center of the tiny room, keeping his back to Sergey.

Sergey watched his shoulders shake, his hands tremble.

Govno, Sasha was gorgeous. Even encased in a borrowed uniform, his rugged beauty could not be hidden. The curve of his biceps, almost straining the material. His blond hair, trimmed close to his head. Strong features, his aquiline nose, his jutting, harsh chin. Sasha seemed carved from marble, a statue of men from days of old come to life.

He stepped behind him, close enough to touch, but didn’t. “What is it?” he breathed over Sasha’s shoulder. He rested his forehead on Sasha’s trembling shoulder, exhaling. “Do you not want this, Sasha? If I am just pushing you to something you truly do not want—”

“I do want this. You.” Sasha exhaled, hard. “But, I have never—”

Sergey frowned. “What?”