Chapter 17

Laney jumped and snapped back to reality as Boris' hand came down on her shoulder. She focused on the two men in front of her and shook off the memory of her emotional goodbye with her friend. Boris was studying her face with an expression of concern. She wondered what she revealed to him. She was too like her mother in that way. Dropping her eyes, she reached for her bag, but he lifted it from her hands and began following the captain.

Laney trailed after them, staring around curiously. She wanted to explore her very first cargo transport ship and see what it was all about. Despite growing up in the heart of the Yakuza she was really quite sheltered. Except for the times when she was sent out on assignment, she spent her time at the compound training herself into lethal precision. The United States was the furthest place she'd been except for her early childhood spent in Britain. But those memories were faded now.

"This will be your cabin," Oleg was saying to Boris, which brought Laney's attention back to the two men. She wanted to ask where her cabin would be, but they were again speaking in rapid Russian.

Finally, Oleg finished speaking, turned on his heel and walked away. Laney opened her mouth to call after him but Boris pulled her by the arm into the room, using his strength to maneuver her easily over the threshold. He slammed the door shut behind her and locked it.

The click echoed in the small room, sounding eerily significant to her ears. She crossed her arms and glared at him. He ignored her and tossed their bags on the tidily made up bed. It was larger than a single, but smaller than a queen. Probably as wide as Boris himself. Laney forced her eyes away from the too small bed and looked around the cabin. It was nicer than she thought a cargo ship cabin would be. The room sported a couch curving around the corner wall with a small table in front of it. There was also a small desk with a tiny chair that Boris' massive frame would most definitely not be able to make use of. There was another door in the room, which probably led to a washroom.

"Nice room," Laney observed in a neutral voice. "Where's mine?"

Boris turned and looked at her, a wolfish grin curving his lips. "This is it, moy kotenok."

She nodded. "Fine. Then where's your room?"

He approached her, backing her into the corner next to the door. A sudden rumbling made Laney jump and look around. The ship shook and shuddered under her feet. She reached out and placed her hand against the wall, her heart pounding in her chest. They were leaving the dock. Her chance to leave the ship and Boris was about to sail away. He stalked closer.

Laney reached under her jacket and pulled her gun. She pointed it at him. The grin didn't slip from his lips, but it twisted, becoming slightly more feral. He continued stalking toward her.

"We have had this conversation before," he growled, reaching for her wrist. "You will have to fucking shoot me if you want me to stop."

Laney willed herself to put her finger on the trigger, but as the seconds passed she knew she wouldn't do it. She closed her eyes instead and allowed him to take her wrist in his hand, slam her arm overhead and push her body back against the door. He covered her body with his much bigger one. The vibrations of the ship leaving dock shuddered through both of them.

"Look at me," he rumbled from over her head.

Laney shook her head and kept her face tilted down. She was so much smaller than him that her head was well below his shoulder anyway. He sighed in annoyance and reached for her chin, forcing her head up until she had no choice but to look into his dark eyes.

He looked stern, closer to the Russian enforcer that held sway over an entire city than the gentle giant he sometimes took pains to let her see during the long half a year he attempted to woo her. "You knew what would happen when you agreed to come with me to Hong Kong, Laney."

He seemed to expect some kind of answer from her. She nodded as much as she could in the hold he had on her chin.

"We share a cabin, kotenok. There will be no more discussion." His voice was so unyielding that she had no trouble picturing him as the head of the Grekov empire he would soon claim.

At the same time as the ship stopped shuddering, indicating they were leaving the dockyard, Boris bent to claim Laney's lips.

Before his lips could touch hers and take away all of her good sense and ability to reason, Laney used her free hand to unsheathe one of her blades and hold it to his throat.

He immediately tried to reach for her blade hand. Laney growled and pricked him to show that she was serious. A bead of blood bubbled against the tip of the blade. Boris froze. She could feel his brain switching into fight mode while his body continued to seduce hers. He wanted her very badly and he had waited a long time. He breathed heavily above her, his massive chest rising and falling against her breasts, causing sweeping breaths to shiver against the silken strands that escaped her braids. His massive erection grew even harder against her belly, as though the added danger of a blade and the blood spilled turned him on even more.

"Drop it," he snarled. "Do not want to hurt you, little Japanese."

She laughed coldly. "I may have known your reasons for wanting me here, Boris Grekov, but you didn't know mine. I won't be falling into bed with you that easily."

"Da, you will," he said with supreme confidence.

His words pissed her off enough that she quickly calculated exactly how much pressure it would take to stab him just enough to maim him without killing him. He began squeezing her gun hand, clearly trying to draw her attention elsewhere. She simply stared at him coldly, refusing to be distracted and unwilling to give up the gun. Finally, when he pressed his thumb into the bones between her wrist, she was forced to open her fingers and drop the gun.

Laney grunted in annoyance as the weapon clattered to the deck. Boris released her hand now that she couldn't shoot him and reached for the wrist that held his throat hostage.

Expecting such a move, Laney quickly dropped her blade hand, slipping it between his legs and pressing it hard into the denim against his heavy ball sack. When Boris froze once more, this time in shock, Laney pressed her advantage by pulling another blade and pressing it against his throat once more.

He stared down at her, awe, passion and frustration warring in his eyes. He wanted her more than ever. And her weapons ensured she was further out of his reach than ever before. Amusement lit her features and she shrugged slightly. She'd never quite been in a situation like this before either. Boris clearly outmatched her as far as ability and strength, but his distraction for her would be his undoing. If he ever got over that, she would be screwed. Probably literally.

Finally, he seemed to come to some kind of decision. His huge shoulders and jaw relaxed. He smiled down at her and nodded slightly. "You have forced me to chase you for over seven months. I think I begin to enjoy this game of ours. Let us see if the ninja can beat the Russian bear."

She raised an eyebrow. What was he getting at? Of course she couldn't beat him at hand to hand combat. That's why she was holding a blade to his throat and balls.

He continued. "I give you two minute head start. If you can evade capture, then you win. If I find you, then I keep you."

"Why should I play along with you?" Laney asked cautiously, though she was intrigued. She did want to explore the ship and she was terrified of being forced into bed with the giant Russian enforcer. Maybe this was her opportunity to escape that fate for a little while longer. She was smart and she was fast. This could be her only chance. The ship was huge, she could make herself scarce for ten days if she really put her mind to it.

His expression grew serious, his eyes hard. "Because we both know I could disarm you right now."

Laney's heart thundered in her chest. He was right. "I would make you bleed though," she whispered.

He shrugged. "Maybe. It would not be the first time I've been pricked and I would be buried in that little pussy before I even noticed."

She shuddered against him, fear and lust warring within her. She could just drop the daggers and let him take over. He would do his best to make it good for her, like he'd done at the wedding reception. He was generous and he cared for her.

She stared up at him, blue eyes blazing into bronze and nodded. "I accept your two minutes."