Page 40 of Stolen Empire

A shift in her expression almost looks like disappointment too.

"But if you agree to this deal," I continue, taking a step closer, "if you fuck me, when the job is done, I promise I'll turn you loose. You'll be free. No more locked doors, no more looking over your shoulder wondering when I'm going to come for you. You do this one job, you give me one night, and you walk away."

Her chest is heaving, and I can see the war playing out in her eyes.

She doesn't trust me.

She shouldn't.

But she's also smart enough to know this is the best offer she's going to get.

I reach out and cup her jaw, my thumb brushing over her cheekbone, and I feel her flinch.

But she doesn't pull away.

She stays there, frozen, and I let myself imagine what it would be like to kiss her right now.

To claim her mouth, to feel her lips part under mine, to taste her.

There's a fire in her eyes, but I'm not sure I can bend it to my will.

Fuck if I don't want to try, though.

9

KATYA

My back presses against the wall, his body a cage around me.

I can feel every breath he takes, the heat radiating off him.

My pulse hammers in my throat.

This is insane.

This is the man who locked me up for a week.

The man who dragged me here at gunpoint.

The man who could snap my neck without breaking a sweat.

And I want him.

Holy fucking cow, do I want him.

My body is throbbing, my belly a puddle of hot goo, and he is insinuating that he wants me just as much.

But how can I trade my body like this?

He's wrong—I haven't fucked a man for information before.

But it's not like I've never had sex.

Just not in exchange for favors or "rewards", as he liked to call it.

His hand cups my jaw, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth.

"You have not answered me, Katya."