Chapter 7

Lexi

Hiding out in the abandoned super's office on the bottom floor of my building was not what I expected. The space was smelly, with a stinking, soggy mattress on a cot against a wall. A broken window was above it, bars still valiantly attempting to hold the outside world at bay. What was left of a filing cabinet leaned against another wall but other trash, clutter, and water damage had done a number on this place.

Considering we hadn't had a super running this place since as long as I rented here, I was surprised nobody had tried to camp out in here. Maybe the possibility of rain or the fact that the door was half off its hinges had stopped people. More likely, the very suspicious brown stain that covered a large portion of the room's floor was the culprit. I was pretty sure that was blood.

"Why are we in here again?" I whispered accusingly at Rurick's wide back. In his black leather coat, his body strapped full of weapons, he looked far less charming and easygoing. If this was what he'd been wearing when we first met, I didn't think I'd have let him kiss me. Then my eyes skirted down his body to how the leather cupped his very fine ass and I shook my head. Who was I kidding? That dangerous vibe was totally doing it for me.

If only I wasn't squatting behind a broken cabinet in the smelliest room in this damn building. I thought he was here to take me somewhere safe, this didn't look safe. I was worried I'd get tetanus just from staring at a splinter.

"I shook Agosta's tail when I left him, but they found me here anyway," Rurick said quietly. His deep voice was pitched low, not quite a whisper, but definitely meant not to carry far. "Funny thing, they actually think I was the one who stole those files." He still had my gym bag slung over one shoulder, but I was the one carrying my purse with the papers. My hands twitched around the leather handles. I felt the desire, once again, to pitch those files into the trash. It was too late to pretend I hadn't seen them.

"And you think they'll leave if we wait here?" I shot back. I was really tired of sitting there while he got to stand at the door and peer outside. My legs were starting to cramp up and this place stank. If this was what his job as an assassin was like, count me out. "Tell me again why you chose this career path?"

Rurick flashed me a grin, a hint of a sharp canine tooth showing at the corner of his mouth. "I might have a slight problem with authority and a certain addiction to adrenaline? I don't know, my brother calls me a psychopath but somehow, I'm still welcome at all the family dinners. So I don't think he really means it."

I tried to imagine Rurick just casually sitting down for a family dinner and couldn't really picture it. Since I'd met him, he had appeared incapable of staying still, some part of his body was always moving or fidgeting. He was like this mass of energy, barely contained by his body. And it wasn't just that he couldn't sit still, I was pretty sure his mind was always racing too.

"Are you close with your family?" I asked, unable to hide a wistful note in my tone. I'd only had my parents, and my mother had died young. Last year, my father succumbed to a long round of illness and expensive treatments. I'd been a total daddy's girl, raised just by him since I was eight.

His loss had hit me hard, as had all the financial troubles that followed. I missed family, I missed having that kind of bond with someone. Was that why I was clinging to this idea that Rurick was a good guy and that he was right about being my mate? Humans didn't have mates, just because he said so… I couldn't tell if it was true or not.

"Not as close as I'd like. I'm working a lot," his gaze went from the door to me when he spoke. He seemed to relax a little, his azure eyes growing warm and soft when he looked at me. "Now that I met you though… I imagine that might change. I think they're not on this floor right now, but my scanner still indicates two goons waiting by my bike."

He walked over and casually dropped to a crouch in front of me, his knees bumping against mine. "What do you think, shall I just kill them so we can get out of here, or do you want to wait?" From the look in his eyes, I was pretty sure he knew what my answer was going to be. You'd think he'd ask me this to either test or mock me, but I was pretty sure he was just letting me know that I had to resign myself to waiting.

"How about I distract you just a little, hmm?" he said with a wicked smirk. He was like an imp with his sharp features, his skin this dusky gold. The hair that flopped over his forehead messily was a few shades darker but still shimmering a far more luscious, bright gold than was humanly possible.

I narrowed my eyes at him but still came willingly when he curled his hand around the back of my neck. His mouth covered mine in a spine-tingling, toe-curling kiss that left me panting for more. It should be illegal how well he could kiss, but I had to admit that hiding out from mobsters while he did it, added a certain edge. Maybe I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie myself. No wonder my life had seemed totally flat and boring, an absolute drag from one day to the next. I'd been missing out.

Carelessly, I dropped my purse between us on the floor so that I could reach out and slide my hands under his jacket. His chest was lean and packed with muscle, crisscrossed by several leather straps that held various holsters in place. When my thumb brushed over a nipple, I discovered a hard little edge, a ring. He was pierced, and now I really wanted to know if he had any more.

He pulled me against his body, his knee dropping to the ground so he could cradle me on it. I appreciated that he was making sure no part of me touched this foul place as he made out with me. Lifting one hand from his chest to tunnel it through his hair, I flicked a finger against the daintily pointed tip of his ear. He shivered as if that tickled which made me giggle, a sound I hadn't heard come from my mouth since before my father even fell ill.

"You're cute," Rurick said against my mouth, "And I want to fuck you so bad right now. But I'm pretty sure I'd rather do you in a bed the first time. I'm told that's more romantic." I laughed out loud, and then winced from how loud the sound was and clutched my fingers over my lips.

"You're terrible," I said to his smiling face. He raised a shoulder as if to say, what can I do? He didn't seem concerned that we'd be discovered so I leaned back in and kissed him. It was, after all, the best way to pass the time. This close to him, his arms around me, and his scent filling my senses, it was easy to forget exactly where we were.

Of course, this guy always took things to the next level. When I felt his hand slide up my thigh and over my leggings all the way to my core; heat spiraled through me. Seriously? In here? I only considered putting a stop to this for all of two seconds but then I found myself throwing all caution to the wind. I'd been living the most boring, dull life I could imagine, now it was time to live. What better way to come alive than in the arms of a man like Rurick?

His thumb stroked along the crease between my legs and my core, and then more boldly fully over my pantie and legging-covered center. I jerked in his arms and would have moaned but he swallowed the sound with his mouth, his tongue sweeping into mine to dazzle my senses even more. "I want another of your pretty orgasms, Lexi. Can you be a good girl and give it to me?" his words were muttered silkily against my lips and pleasure spiked through my belly.

I never thought I'd like it when a man called me a good girl, I always thought it sounded demeaning but dang it… Rurick made me yearn to hear him say that again and all he did was feather touches along my slit as he made love to my mouth. I canted my hips towards his teasing thumb, seeking more pressure. "That's it, baby, take what you need."

Footsteps thudded through the hallway beyond him but neither of us paid any attention to that. His strokes sped up, pressing a little harder. I felt how wetness had soaked the fabric of my panties and leggings but I didn't even care. My orgasm, the second one that evening, crashed through me as hard and bright as the first. "Good girl," he praised as he helped me ride out the waves. "And now we're ready to leave."