Page 35 of Ruthless Commander

He just smiled and I didn’t know if it was meant to be seductive or creepy. I wanted it to be seductive, I really did. He motioned me forward and I took a slow step, keeping my voice low. “Well, are we safe?”

“It depends on what you call safe.”

My pulse quickened as we walked along the corridor, even from here I could hear the howl of the wind outside. Damien slowed at the last classroom, reached out and tested the lock, opened the door when it gave way, and ushered me inside.

Darkness swallowed me in an instant and the panicked thunder of my heart followed. I licked my lips, glanced toward the door as he closed it, and caught the shine of my own reflection in the panel of glass.

“You know about the attack, obviously,” he continued, wrenching my gaze from the door.

I didn’t want to be in here, not with him. Not really. What the fuck was I doing with him, anyway?

“The Commander,” he started, drawing my attention to him. He watched me, fixed on my reaction. “Has men combing every inch of the island.”

“I got that already,” I answered, and glanced toward the closed door behind him.

“But he won’t find anything.”

“Oh, yeah?” A flare of anger met with my concern. “Why do you say that?”

He took a step closer, shrugging his shoulders. “Just a feeling I have. Those who attacked Marcus Baldeon would be long gone by now.”

He slid his hand around my neck and pulled me gently toward him. A flicker of fear raced through me as the memory of his hands on my body rose from the other night. I wanted to come.I was desperate to come.I wanted to be fucked and licked and hungered for. I wanted it all…and this…warm body promised.

I closed my eyes as his mouth met mine and yet all I could see was Mateo, his hard mouth, his careful touch. He was nothing like this fumbling idiot as he cupped my breast, kneading it slowly in his desperate paw.

I broke the kiss and pulled back, staring into his eyes. “You were saying?”

There was a flicker of annoyance behind his eyes and something else, something that sent a shudder through me. Something that made me swallow hard and take a step away. “So, do you think I should leave?”

“No,” he snapped, then adjusted his tone. “The safest place right now is the island. There’s more security.”

“And more opportunity, wouldn’t you say?”

“I say if you stay here, I can watch over you,” he said carefully and closed the distance between us once more. This guy couldn’t take a damn hint as he pulled me closer, pressing his body against mine. “Out there, I can’t find you.”

He kissed me, and this time I didn’t stop him. In my head, all I saw was Mateo. In my head, I felt him, too.

Those hard hands replaced this fumbling baboon’s. Mateo's urgency replaced Damien's mauling desperation as he pulled me against him and kissed the side of my neck.

In the reflection of the glass panel, I saw myself, saw those unflinching eyes filled with nothing but boredom…and pain.

“Fuck, you feel good, Xael.”

I licked my lips and closed my eyes…wishing for the agony of this to be over.

But it’d never be over, would it?

Not while I still breathed…and Mateo Ristani lived.

Because while our hearts still beat, I’d always hope…

14

Mateo

There was no word after the attack. Not a bombing. Not a fucking fire. Not even a goddamn shot was aimed at any of the warehouses or homes owned by the Commission. There was just silence. The kind of silence that made me feel jumpy and trigger-happy.

I’d already had enough Commission meetings to choke the fucking life out of me. But no matter how many times I’d recounted the events leading up to the brutal murder, it wasn’t enough. Threats were made. Savage, end-my-fucking-life threats…as if I gave a flying rodent's fuck about that. It was fucking empty anyway…because of them.