Execution (Off Balance, #2)

by Lucia Franco

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

"Malysh," he whispered only for me to hear. "Take this."

"This has never happened to me before and I do not understand what to make of it, malysh," he stressed. "I was ready—"

"Every time I am near you, every time I think about you, I feel this way, malysh. You have awakened a beast inside me."

I feel like when two people are in love with one another, they should be completely consumed with each other."

"My guilt does not compare to my need for you, Ria."

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

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

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."

Am I yours, Kova?"

"Some things are better left unsaid."

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

"Ohhhhh, malysh," he moaned, "bite harder."

"What, malysh, only you can play the game?

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

"Fuck. Me. Malysh,"

Pushing his thigh between mine, he said, "Malysh,"

"Malysh…"

"There is no better way to wake up than with you in my arms. I wish I could wake up like this every day."

"I know what my girl likes. I always know what she likes, even when she cannot admit it to me."

You are mine and only mine."

I do not want to live with this regret anymore, malysh. It is killing me,"

There are moments when I need to breathe in the air he expels, but then I want to turn around and suffocate the life out of him at the same time.

I do not do anything. It is all you, malyshka.

"No. Malysh. Trust me, I did not."

"You win, malysh. You win."

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

Ria, I will always find you. You have a part of me that no one has ever had, as I do with you."