5 hours until they arrived in Hong Kong. It was now or never. She had to choose: Jin or Boris. There was no choice. Though it would shatter her heart, she knew what she must do. She crawled naked from beneath the covers, finding it surprisingly easy to slide from Boris’ side. He usually held her tightly within the circle of his arms, especially after they made love. Which they had done may times over the past several days.
Laney knew where he kept his blade, having watched like a hawk as he cared for his weapons and put them away each night before bed. Her own blades were lost to her forever. She would have to content herself with the unfamiliar weight of one of his. Originally, she had planned on using a bullet. But now that they were lovers, she knew she couldn't do anything so impersonal. She would do the honourable thing and spill his blood properly, with a blade.
She pulled the large knife from his bag and flipped it open, staring at it for a moment in the light from the porthole. She ran her finger over the blade, ensuring the paper-thin sharpness of its edge. Of course he would keep his weapons in excellent condition, same as her. The knife was too big for her small hand, but it would suffice. She had learned to be proficient with many weapons at an early age.
She turned and looked down at him, allowing her eyes to linger on the man who had ruthlessly pushed his way into her heart despite her every protest. She wanted to hate him for it. He was laying on his back, gloriously naked in the dim light. His tattooed chest and arms were bared to her tortured gaze. Over the past few days he had taught her that she was just as hungry for him as he was for her. He would reach for her in the night and in the day. So often did he want her, that time blurred until she did not know whether the moon shone or the sun rose. She would go eagerly into his arms, returning his caresses.
Laney pressed her lips together, forcing back a sob of despair. She had no choice! Boris could not reach Hong Kong alive. Failure was not an option. She approached the bed, her eyes dropping down his body one last time. She gasped, realizing that his cock was no longer laying soft against his thigh, but rapidly hardening in expectation. Her gaze flew up to meet his.
Boris was awake, watching her calmly as she stood over him with his own knife.
Laney had no choice. She leapt naked onto his chest and pressed the knife against his throat. She expected him to react defensively, to throw her, hit her, or crush her. She closed her eyes in anticipation of a blow landing. Her fingers trembled, but she could not bring herself to press the blade further into his neck.
Boris didn’t move.
A sob escaped her lips and her shoulders shook in reaction. She opened her eyes and looked down at him. His dark eyes captured hers. He didn’t look angry. He looked… understanding.
After a moment of unbearable tension, he spoke. One word only.
“Yakuza.”
It was a statement, not a question.
She jerked her head up and down in a nod. A tear escaped her eye. Finally, he brought his hand up. She flinched against him, causing the blade to dig ever so slightly into his throat. He stopped for just a second, as though waiting for her to calm, before continuing to lift his hand. He gently ran his thick fingers down the back of her ear. Laney sighed at the sensation, knowing he was tracing the tattoo of a tiny dragon behind her ear. She hadn’t gone in for the usual display of gang tattoos so she could complete her work more discreetly. However, she’d gotten the one small tattoo in honour of her first love after his death.
She frowned and whispered, “You’ve always known?”
His eyes pierced hers, telling her the truth without words.
“Why… why didn’t you or any other Russians get rid of me then? I don’t understand.” She brushed the tears away from her cheeks with her free hand.
His laugh held little humour. His huge hands fell to her waist, encompassing her completely and pinning her against him as though the danger of the blade against his jugular didn’t exist. Her body reacted instantly to the hard pressure of his cock against the curves of her bare ass, despite the deadly tension surrounding them.
His voice was low and guttural as he spoke, “You are my love, my heaven, Laney kotenok. I have known this from first sight, from first touch. Any man that lays finger on you is dead. You have always been worth my life. It is this simple. If you kill me now, I will follow you around in death as I would in life, until you decide to join me.”
The tears fell faster until they dripped from her chin and landed on his chest, hitting the tattooed Virgin Mary kneeling below the cross. Laney could barely see him through her torment. Boris could have easily disarmed her, but he allowed her to keep the weapon. Allowed her to decide his fate. She knew he wanted her to choose love.
“You don’t understand!” she sobbed brokenly. “I have… have to do it.”
“Make me understand,” he rumbled, digging his fingers into her hips. When she stayed silent, biting her lip and trying to stop the tears, he encouraged her. “You have contract for my life, da?”
She nodded and swiped at her face, impatiently scrubbing away the tears. “No… not me exactly, but my Master. I was supposed to watch you, only make a move if you decided to go back to Russia.”
His dark eyes pierced her, divining her thoughts with ease. “And that time has come.”
Anguish twisted her small features. She shifted the blade in her fingers, gripping it tighter so she wouldn’t accidentally drop it. She nodded miserably, her lips shaking.
“I have to. There is no choice,” she whispered desperately.
“There is always a choice,” he snarled suddenly, anger finally glinting in his dark eyes. The massive muscles in his shoulders flared as he lifted himself up a few inches to press his thick neck into the razor-sharp blade, drawing a trickle of blood. She gasped and jerked her hand back, hating the sight of his blood spilled by her hand.
“You will condemn us before we had a chance to be together, rather than disobey your family. Fucking Yakuza and their honour,” he growled.
“It is not about my honour. They will kill Jin if I do not obey!” she cried out.
His fingers bit so deeply into her waist that she knew there would be bruises. She squirmed against him as he lifted her and slid her down his body until she was resting on top of his engorged penis. She gasped in dismay as he nudged her slick entrance with the crown. She swayed against him and clutched at his shoulder with her free hand, trying desperately to keep the knife on him without actually hurting him.
“If you must kill me for his sake, then I will fuck what clearly belongs to him one last time,” he snarled.
“No, please, you don’t understand…” she gasped, clutching him.
She yelled as he slammed himself up into her body, forcing his cock roughly into her tight passage. He gripped her tightly, holding her still as her body adjusted to the invasion. Laney panted, her eyes dilating as she tried desperately to hang on to her mission, or some sense of reality, with Boris’ massive cock hitting her just where she loved it best.
“Fuck me to heaven, moy kotenok, then you can send me to hell,” he grunted, lifting her up and then slamming her back down, forcing himself all the way into her.
Gritting his teeth, he reached up, fisted her loose hair and pulled her head down to his. She resisted him, not wanting any more intimacy with the man she had to murder. She twisted her head sideways, but he persisted, forcing her face down until their foreheads touched. He slammed his hips up into hers, nearly unseating her with the violence of his thrusts. Cries of pleasure and pain tore from her throat and the knife she was holding slipped, biting into his neck. Her eyes flew open, meeting his.
“Boris…!” she gasped.
“Come for me,” he snarled, demanding, gripping her hip in a hand that wrapped halfway around her. He tilted her against him, rubbing her clit against his pelvis until she was exploding around him.
Laney’s eyes fluttered shut as her pussy gripped him, orgasmic spasms consuming her. Forgetting the knife, she clutched him harder, digging it further into his skin. Trickles of blood slipped down his swarthy skin, pooling at the indent in his throat, dripping across the eight-pointed stars and down the side of his shoulders to soak into the sheets. He grunted, continuing his thrusts, taking her higher, prolonging her orgasm, uncaring of the blade that could end his life with the slip or flick of her delicate fingers.
He tangled his fingers through the silken hair at the back of her head, cupping her skull in one massive fist and tilting her lips toward his. He kissed her lips with savage intent, impressing himself on her soul using his own lips, teeth and tongue until she was gasping and crying out for mercy. Finally, he released her head, dropped his hand to her waist once more and, taking her in both hands, began fucking her like it was the last time. He embedded himself so deeply into her body that she threw back her head and screamed, hair streaming behind them. His cock flared wide in her body in anticipation, reaching toward his own orgasm.
Boris brought his knees up, trapping her against him. He took her blade hand in his, covering her small hand completely with his massive tattooed one. He lifted their joined hands and pressed the blade to his jugular, drawing fresh blood. Her sapphire eyes flared wide in panic. She stared down at him, understanding dawning.
He grunted in satisfaction, his lips pulled back and teeth bared as he came, his cock pulsing deep within her body. His fingers tightened around hers to the point of pain. “Do. It. Now,” he commanded with a grunt.
Laney stared down at him, the man that she had grown to love more than her own life. She drew their clasped hands back, her eyes locked with his. With a scream, she plunged the blade forward, into the mattress next to his shoulder.
She yanked her hands out from beneath his and rolled off of him with a sob. She tried to escape from the bed and run to the washroom, but he looped a thick arm around her waist and pulled her struggling against his warm body. He held her tightly as she fought against him. She was angry. She should have done it. She had the opportunity multiple times to kill him and she’d failed. She had failed. Now Jin would most likely die because of her. Unless she could somehow get to Jin first.
“Shhh, do not be angry, kotenok,” he said soothingly from where he sat behind her. He held her in his lap with her arms crossed in front of her body so she couldn’t do damage to either of them with her powerful punches.
“You don’t understand what this means,” she raged at him, trying to bite his arm. “Will you please let me go! I need to pack. I need to get ready to leave this stupid barge. I have to get back to Japan the moment we dock.”
He stiffened behind her, but didn’t speak. Slowly he released her limbs when she seemed reasonably calm enough to do neither of them harm. She rolled off the bed and began pulling on the first clothes she got her hands on, seemingly heedless of what they looked like. She pulled grey sweatpants on without underwear and a blue tank top. She started stuffing everything that came to hand in her duffel bag, including some of Boris’ clothes.
He stood slowly so as not to startle her and pulled on a pair of boxer briefs. She eyed him suspiciously and continued packing. She edged around him and went into the washroom to grab some of her toiletries. Finally, when she had nothing else to put in her bag, she glanced at him. He was holding a pair of light blue cotton panties out to her on the end of his finger. She snatched them from him and shoved them into her duffel bag.
“You can’t stop me from going,” she snapped defiantly.
He didn’t say anything.
“And… and… I would really appreciate it if you could keep to yourself for a few days. Maybe don’t spread it around that you’re still alive. I’ll do my best to get to Japan quickly and do what I need to do,” she said, rushing the words past the lump in her throat.
Despair at walking away from Boris just when their insane chemistry had finally exploded into fireworks was causing her chest to ache. Even worse, fear for Jin’s future was distracting her every thought, making her feel weak and ineffective. How could she possibly get into the Osaka Yakuza compound and rescue Jin when she could barely think past the terror?
He nodded and reached past her, causing her to jump out of his way. He lifted his hands to show her that he was holding two water bottles. “You need to relax, my love,” he said sympathetically. “We are still few hours away from dock. Please sit down and try to be calm. I am worried about you.”
His dark eyes searched hers, the sincerity in them convincing her that he spoke the truth. Though definitely a possessive, alpha male with a serious jealous streak, Boris had never been anything but kind to her. Not even once she had confessed to being an assassin sent to kill him. Now, if ever a man was a keeper…
She couldn’t think that way. She had to let Boris go. She’d let him live and that was enough. Her conscience and her heart were clear. Now she just hoped they wouldn’t be at the expense of Jin’s life. If she had to, she would go to the Master and offer her own life in exchange. Just not Jin. Never Jin.
Laney allowed Boris to seat her on the bed once more and hand her the bottle of water. Planning his murder, having crazy intense sex with him, nearly executing him and then frantically packing her belongings worked up a thirst. She watched him devour her with his eyes and sighed. After all of these months his obsession with her never waned. Not even after finally possessing her body. It was like each time he made love to her, he wanted her even more. She was amazed that he was willing to let her go to Japan now that he finally had her.
He’d been good to her. How patient he had been as he’d wooed her. Though he’d shown much less patience once they’d boarded the ship, he had also brought her body to stunning life in a way she didn’t know she was capable of. He professed his love and promised to follow her in death as he would in life. How could she resist him? Perhaps she should tell him the truth. Tell him who Jin really was and beg him to help. He was a powerful man. If any person could help her get Jin back in once piece, it might be this one.
She touched his hand, tracing her small nails over the tattoos on his knuckles. These ones were more faded, less professional, as though they had been inked in his youth. These hands had undoubtedly done terrible things. But they’d also held her with love and tenderness. Her eyes flickered up to meet his. She saw something there. Pain? Determination? She frowned. Was he worried about her leaving for Japan? He worried too much. She reached out to smooth the frown line that bit deep between his eyes. Her fingers landed on his shoulder instead. She frowned and lifted her hand to his face.
“Never noticed… how rich your eyes are, like liquid bronze,” she whispered looking into his eyes as though she’d never seen them properly before. They were trustworthy eyes, weren’t they? She blinked several times as they began to blur.
“Have to tell you some… something…” she murmured, swaying on the spot. The room titled and spun around her. She put a hand up to her head and frowned in consternation. Was she getting sick? She shook her head. She was about to tell him something, but she couldn’t remember what. She blinked and tried to clear her gaze.
He reached for her, sliding one broad hand around her narrow shoulders and one under her hips. Lifting her up, he placed her in his lap, cradling her in his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and yawned, placing her hand against his chest, feeling the beat of his heart against her fingertips.
“You… you’ve drugged me, haven’t you?” she murmured tiredly, her eyelids fluttering shut.
“Sleep now, my love,” he said into her hair, his chest rumbling against her cheek as he spoke, “and wake up in Russia with me at your side.”
“Boris… you’ve killed Jin,” Laney whispered, tilting her head back, her hair streaming over his arm. Her bright blue eyes stared up at him accusingly before fluttering closed.