Execution (Off Balance, #2)

by Lucia Franco

There was something downright magnetic about Kova that drew me to him. An allure, a fascination. And something as powerful and as captivating as him could only ever end in utter destruction.

The man was gorgeous on the outside, but I had to question the color of his soul.

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

but what killed me the most was that even after all he's done to me, I was still spellbound by him in an obscene way I couldn't comprehend.

"Another time, another life… You look absolutely breathtaking tonight, malysh."

Suffer now and tomorrow you will reap what others cannot. It puts you one step closer to your goal, and goals should never be easy to obtain."

I knew in my heart he wasn't like other coaches. An enigmatic essence with a touch of darkness and exceptionally gorgeous, Kova had a commanding aura that made me want to succumb to every word that rolled off his Russian lips.

Where there was perfection, there was pain hidden in darkness.

"Bloom under pressure and show them what you are made of. I want you to shine out there. I know you can do it.

Kova was my strength, but I was his weakness.

God, the complexity of that tore at my center. We were going to sleep in different beds with the same appetite, wake up with the same drive and same focus, work together to come out as one. We were a team.

"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."

We had a way about each other that was so utterly confusing. In this moment it wasn't black and white, right or wrong. There were no colors, no ages, no blurred lines. I wasn't that girl, and he wasn't that guy. We were just two people who shared the same ambitions and a connection that couldn’t be explained, only felt.

Hurt what is mine and there will be consequences."

There was something about Kova that turned me into a savage.

"You are so tight, baby." He breathed against my mouth. "Do not fucking move or I will tear you up."

"Ride me hard and fuck me good, Ria. The way I fuck you. Let me inside."

Kova was a poison, a drug. He made me wanton and untamed.

I was mad at myself for not being strong enough to refuse him, because the reality was that I wanted him. Needed him on a primal level it scared me.

"Feel that between us? That chemistry, that fire. The harmony of two people who are so wrong for each other but somehow come together, throwing everything off balance to the point that nothing makes sense but it feels right. That is us. That is trust. You do not let someone into your body you do not trust. Look how wet you get when my cock is inside you, how wild you get when our lips collide, how hard I am every single time I am around you. I do stupid things, I know I do, but when it is just us, it all makes sense."

wish you could see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how much you mean to me."

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.

"I want to fuck until we both cannot walk. Why, why, why…only with you do I ever act like a goddamned savage." His face was a field of ruined emotions. "Only you…"

"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."

He kissed me like he loved me.

"Your silence will be your success."

Strength didn't come from what you could do, it came from the power within one’s heart, a determination unlike no other to thrive.

This was Kova I was talking about. Of course he did. He had balls of steel that hung from a body made of stone. A delectable body that had to be derived from cocaine because all it took was one hit and I was addicted.

I knew without a shadow of a doubt what it would lead to. Us being alone had always been a bad idea because no matter what, we always, always, surrendered to our darkest, most forbidden desires.

An energy between two people so powerful it couldn't be contained, no matter how much they tried. No matter how wrong, how illicit, how morally sinful. Some things were meant to be without reason.

We were forbidden chemistry. A lethal attraction.

We had nothing and everything in common. It made no sense. The only thing I was positively certain about was that we were inexplicably wild about each other.

Look into my eyes and see what I see. A warrior, a fighter, someone who gets kicked out but finds another way in. You are braver and stronger than you know. You are a fire that burns. Do not feed your doubts, Ria, feed your dream. Do not lose your focus."

I was a cub, and he was the lion who breathed strength into me.

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

I can always leave it to you to really cut me deep."

"Grebanyye yamy,"

This was Kova. He either gave all, or he gave nothing. And he was all in.

"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." Then he was gone.