Page 149 of Twisted Play

“Take off your clothes, malyshka, and kneel beside the sofa.”

My breath caught. Heat flooded my body even as uncertainty twisted in my gut.

“No, I can’t. I should—”I should go. This was a mistake. You don’t want me here like this.

“I told you to take off your clothes and kneel beside the sofa.” His voice was firm but not unkind, patient in the way of someone who could see right through my panic. “Because Iwantyou to take off your clothes and kneel beside the sofa.”

Oh.

“Let me take care of you, malyshka,” he said, his voice rumbling through me, sure and steady.

Don’t think. Just for tonight, don’t think.

I sniffled then drew in a deep, shuddering breath before taking off my borrowed sweatshirt, pulling it over my head with shaking hands. Then went my slippers, kicked off carelessly. Finally, my shorts, shoved down over my legs until I stood naked before him, vulnerable and exposed and terrified and turned on all at once.

“Fold them,” Alek said, amusement threading through his voice. When he followed it with, “Good girl,” the praise hit me like a drug, warming my chest and quieting the noise in my head.

Maybe I wasn’t completely pathetic. Maybe he actually liked having me here.

“C’mere, baby girl.” He took my hand when I hesitated, still uncertain whether I was reading this wrong, leading me past the messy bed and toward the sitting area. My eyes caught on the rumpled sheets, the implications of being naked with Alek in his hotel room making my breath hitch.

Does he actually want me here? Or is he just being kind to the pathetic girl crying in his hallway?

Didn’t matter. When my world exploded tomorrow, I’d tell them everything. They’d hate me—all of them—but at least I’d have this. One night of peace before they all learned what I’d already done, who I’d betrayed them to.

Alek grabbed a pillow from the bed as we passed, settling onto the sofa with his knees spread wide. He placed the pillow on the floor between them then looked at me with those dark, knowing eyes.

“Kneel,” he repeated, his voice soft and rough, leaving jagged need in its wake.

I dropped to my knees, facing him, and he immediately tangled his fingers in my hair. The slight pressure made me melt, the constant tension in my shoulders finally releasing.

He tugged until my cheek pressed against his thigh, the heat of him burning through the thin silk of his pajama pants. I could feel his arousal growing harder with my proximity, but he made no move to use me. Instead, he turned on the television and began to stroke my scalp with gentle fingers.

This is sick, I thought as my eyes fluttered closed.I’m sick for wanting this.

But god, the quiet in my head when he told me what to do, the way the constant fear and guilt and shame stopped. For these precious moments, I didn’t have to be Eva Jackson, spy and liar and destroyer of everything she touched. Icould just be his good girl, safe and protected and exactly where I belonged.

Anxiety crept back in as I worried about Cole and Tristan waking up, about giving Carter what he wanted.

“Close your eyes,” he instructed softly. “Let it go.”

I tried, but the weight of what I’d done sat heavy on my chest. The playbook. The betrayal. The lives I’d probably ruined.

“Baby girl.” Alek’s voice was patient but firm. “I told you to do something.”

“Yes, Sir.” The title fell from my lips automatically, and I forced my eyes closed, tried to sink back into that peaceful place where only his voice mattered.

A few minutes later, he chuckled quietly. “Get comfortable, baby girl.”

My eyes flew open, meeting his.

He raised an eyebrow, his expression turning stern. “I told you to do something.”

“Yes, Sir.” I wiggled until I could lean fully against him, my cheek on his thigh, my shoulder pressed to his knee, his leg supporting my weight.

“That’s my good girl. Now, close your eyes again.”

Insistent knocking draggedme from dreamless sleep. I blinked, disoriented, finding myself stretched out on an unfamiliar couch with a pillow under my cheek and a warm blanket draped over my naked body.