I jumped from his gilded cage and landed in a fire.
Panic crawled up my chest, reaching my throat and constricting my breathing. The walls of the train seemed to close in on me, and I suddenly wanted off.
"Sir, you can't do that. Do you have a ticket?" A shrill voice sounded behind me.
"No," a deep masculine voice said, and I knew exactly who it was.
My blood turned to ice as the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
That voice.
His voice.
The one that had whispered filthy promises in my ear just this morning.
I couldn't help but laugh. There I was, sitting on a train, thinking that I had escaped, trying to figure out what my next move would be and spiraling instead, when in fact I wasn't even leaving the city.
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the small bag in my lap and ducked my head even lower, thinking maybe he wouldn't see me. Maybe he didn't know what train car I was in.
I looked up, sneaking one little peek to see if he had maybe gone the other way.
Instead, my eyes met his furious gaze.
Time stopped. My breath caught in my throat.
His steely eyes blazed with barely controlled rage, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle ticking. His entire body was tense, coiled like a predator about to strike.
But beneath the fury, there was something else.
Hurt. Betrayal. Desire.
He found me, and it didn't matter what I did.
There was no escape. There would never be an escape.
As he moved toward me with that raw grace that had my stomach flipping with both fear and desire, I knew I was in trouble.
The worst part? Part of me was relieved he'd found me.
Part of me had wanted him to.
And that terrified me more than his rage ever could.
CHAPTER26
ARTEM
Clearly this woman was sent to test me.
Whether by God or the devil, I didn't know.
But no one had ever pushed me so close to the edge of madness.
I wrapped my hand around her wrist, tight enough to leave faint imprints of my fingers on her porcelain skin, and yanked her off the train. The hoodie’s cuff bunched under my grip.
She was smart enough to keep her mouth closed.
I didn't know if it was from growing up with her family, seeing how people reacted to me, or just her self-preservation instincts finally kicking in, but she didn't attract attention or signal for help.
