Execution (Off Balance, #2)

by Lucia Franco

"Listen, human nature is fucked up. It’s more honest, and more humane, to just lie."

"Lyubov' ne to, chto vy mozhete ponyat', eto to, chto vy chuvstvuyete v svoyem serdtse. Net slov, eto prosto tak."

I half-smiled against his chest. My big brother being protective was adorable. "I can take care of myself, you know." "I know you can, but you're my little sister, and that's what I'm here for."

It shouldn’t have been right how naturally comfortable we were together.

"You have not made my life harder—if anything, you have made it brighter. Pozhaluysta, do not doubt that for one minute."

"Good. Now up," he ordered and gestured to the floor mat. "On your back. Hands by your side." "Words I'm sure you love saying." I slapped my mouth. The sarcasm flew from my lips without thought. I squeezed my eyes shut. Controlling my mouth around this man was my greatest challenge.

"I want you with me." His voice was raspy, barely above a whisper.

No one got me the way he did.

"What's your weakness?" "You," he said without hesitation.

"You are my strength, Kova."

He didn't gloat. "What inspires you?" "You," I said softly. "Ask me what inspires me." I asked him. "You," he said. My stomach fluttered. "What drives you to push harder?"

"We are a team—I exhale, you inhale. We fight together. We work together. It is an amazing feeling when you find someone who shares the same passion as you. The possibilities are endless. I am the beast beneath your beauty, pushing you. From here on out, we do it together. You come to me for anything and I will do everything in my power to make it happen."

"You know you just unveiled another piece of yourself, right?" His forehead bunched together. "You care about me." I didn't think it was possible for him to ever look bashful, but Kova self-consciously shifted in his seat. I caught him. He knew it and he tried to brush it off. "Of course I care about you." He bristled.

"You said mine, though. You said, 'hurt what is mine.' I think you care about me way more than you let on. Am I yours, Kova?"

He huffed out a low laugh as he continued writing. "I always know when you are around.

"Believe me, malysh, I notice everything about you." Kova chuckled.

"I know what it is you want," he whispered as he slowly thrusted in and out of me. I was so damn tight, I could feel every inch of him, every groove, every vein. A hot breath escaped me. "I always know, Ria. Let me give you what you need. I just need you to trust me."

He grasped my neck again, this time a little harder. "I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how much you mean to me." His voice shook with candid raw honesty. It was almost unbearable. We were beyond lust, beyond infatuation. This was way more, a crazed obsession with deeply seated emotions we didn't want to acknowledge because everything in society told us it was wrong.

"Yes, Kova. You have my trust."

Kova stiffened. "There is no better way to wake up than with you in my arms. I wish I could wake up like this every day." His voice was rough from sleep.

He did know me, sometimes better than I knew myself.

You are mine and only mine."

"Only you, Ria," he groaned, "only you. I cannot live without you or this feeling you bring me. I want to be in you every day, all day, for the rest of my life. I want to wake up next to you, make you only mine, and do this every fucking day. This is heaven. You are my everything."

I feel like I'm on another dimension when I'm with you."

All I know is that I am hooked on all of you. Hooked on your body, hooked on your smile, hooked on your personality, hooked on your ambition, hooked on you. I can only hope you feel the same way." "Yes," I said softly.

"I would never put my time and effort into someone who was mediocre. I know God given talent when I see it, and Adrianna has it." Kova turned defensive. "She is brilliant, artistic, and imaginative. There is nothing even remotely mediocre about her. Mark my words, she is a rare pearl that is about to shine in the gymnastics world." I was flabbergasted he spoke about me in such a way to his girlfriend.

"Ria, I told her you still had a way to go because the truth is I am not ready to let you go yet."

You do not even need to speak for me to feel your emotions. You have so much compassion inside. I see it. I see you, Adrianna."

He saw me. Not just as a coach looking to polish the flaws of his athlete, or in a carnal way full of sexual desire. He saw me on an entirely different personal level. He cared about me and wanted to see me flourish. He paid attention to me and my needs, both on the mat and off. He didn’t look over me.

"I told you I am here for you. Take what you need from me, Ria."

got him, he got me. We complimented each other in the most unusual way, and it just worked…when it shouldn’t have.

"Why is it so hard for me to be faithful when it comes to you?" His lips were ridiculously close to my naval. "It is like my resistance breaks and you are all that I see, everything I want."

"You should probably go home. It's getting late." And I'm sure Katja is wondering where you are, I wanted to add. "I am right where I want to be. Now go to sleep."

Coach: Trust me, these are far better than a boudoir picture. It is you in your natural environment. Beautiful. Beautiful. A word suddenly laced with want and desire. I'd never forget it.

Coach: You make me crazy when I am around you. All I can think about is touching you.

We were forbidden chemistry. A lethal attraction.

We had nothing and everything in common. It made no sense.

It was in that moment that I realized how much I relied—and trusted—in him.

I will always be by your side, that is, if you will have me.

"By the way, I would find you anywhere." I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "You said you are going to move so I cannot show up whenever I wanted. Ria, I will always find you. You have a part of me that no one has ever had, as I do with you."