If it hadn’t been for Brianna clamping a hand over Nikki’s mouth, their foster father would have caught them at the basement window that night. But Bri had saved the day. Or night, actually. With their silence, their foster father had retreated back to his position in front of the television set which had been blasting a baseball game but neither Brianna nor Nikki had moved until they’d heard him snoring again. The man had at least been consistent in his laziness if nothing else.
Nikki pushed aside all those bad memories and focused on the present. She wasn’t sticking around here another day, she told herself mentally. She was getting out of here, getting away from that man. Nazar was more dangerous than she’d ever thought possible.
As she slipped through the glass doors to the courtyard that faced her room, she looked around, felt for the tall tree and pulled herself up. The branches weren’t thick and strong like an oak tree, but they would hold her weight. At least for the few minutes it would take to pull herself up onto the courtyard wall. It was only nine o’clock at night, so she was hoping no one would suspect she was trying to get out right now. At least in the movies, people waited until two or three o’clock in the morning. She wasn’t sure she could do it at that time of the night. She’d lost enough sleep over the past several days. Or nights, to be more specific.
She was just about to slide her legs over the top when she thought she heard something. Laying as still as possible, she tried to listen. It was hard though because her heart was racing so fast and the blood was pounding in her ears. But she slowed her breathing, closed her eyes and listened.
Nothing.
She let her breath out slowly, still carefully listening. There was a night bird calling to its mate in the distance, a few sounds of traffic, which was good because that was the sound she would head towards once she got through all the palace security.
Nikki slung her leg over the other side of the wall and carefully lowered herself as far as her legs could reach. She knew there wasn’t a tree to help her down on this side so she was just going to have to fall. She remembered watching how the actors in movies did it. Just bend at the knees, let the momentum flow through her and she wouldn’t break her legs. But her fingers continued to clench the edge of the wall while her mind worked through the release…and the possible issues after she released.
In the end, she knew she had to do it. And if she continued to hang here, procrastinating and imagining the worst, she was going to fall anyway. So why not just do it and get it over with?
With one more hope sent upwards for a safe landing, she forced her hands to release the top of the wall and…
The strong hands that wrapped around her bottom were definitely not what she was expecting. Nor was she expecting the angry growl in her ear as she was safely lowered, almost to the ground but Nazar pinned her up against the wall, not giving her even the freedom of her feet touching the ground as his body pressed up against hers.
She told herself it was just the adrenaline pumping through her, but she knew she was lying to herself. The shock wave of desire that spun her mind out of control when his leg pressed between hers was something that had her moaning with a blinding, raging need, unlike anything she’d ever known.
“What are you doing here?” she gasped, her hands gripping his strong shoulders. She wasn’t going to press her hips against his, she told herself firmly. She wasn’t going to enjoy the feeling of his strong body pinning hers so completely. No! She wasn’t going to enjoy any of this!
Again, she knew she was lying since every cell in her body was clamoring for more of him. She was holding her breath, keeping herself from shifting, from moving so that he was pressed more perfectly against her.
“What am I doing here?” he demanded, his hands moving her hips exactly the way she wanted to do and she inhaled sharply. “I believe I am retrieving my prisoner before she can get herself killed!”
“You can’t keep me here!” She wanted to yell that exclamation at him but it came out as more of a whisper because his hips moved against hers again. At least he didn’t hear her moan, she told herself as she closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, trying to keep him from seeing her reactions.
“You think I can’t?” he came right back. “I think you’re wrong.” He bent his head, lowering it inch by inch towards her mouth. “And what’s more, you don’t really want to escape me, do you?” he asked.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, realized what he was about to do and held her breath, wanting this kiss, wanting him so badly she ached deep down inside. “I do want to escape you.”
“Why is that?” he asked, holding his lips just a breath away.
“Because you’re dangerous.”
He smiled! Actually smiled! “Only to you, my love,” he said but wouldn’t give her time to respond because his mouth covered hers,
Nikki had no idea how long they stood there. It might have been moments or hours. All she knew was that, when he pulled his mouth away, she wasn’t ready. She wanted more!
“You were going over that next wall, weren’t you?” he demanded, his hands clenching her waist while the rest of his body pinned her to the stone wall behind her.
She looked over his shoulder, both her eyes and her mind having trouble focusing. “Yes. I think that was my plan.”
He cursed in his own language and his hands clenched her waist slightly harder before he released her. “Nikki, you don’t even know the danger you’re in, do you?”
She took a deep breath, trying to figure out what he was telling her but all she really wanted was for him to kiss her again. “I know I’m in danger if I stay here. I have to leave. I have to find my friend,” she told him. But she’d only remembered Brianna at the last moment. Her primary goal was to get away from him, away from all these scary things he made her feel. She couldn’t give in to him! She knew she would be lost if she let herself feel all these crazy things for him and then where would she be? He’d move on to the next woman and she’d be left all alone, trying to deal with a life without him. She hadn’t felt this kind of panic since the police officer had shown up at her school to tell her that her parents had died in a car crash. And she’d been so alone! So desperately scared. She wasn’t sure she would survive after Nazar left her. “I can’t do casual sex!” she exclaimed.