The Darkest Temptation (Made, #3)

by Danielle Lori

“THE DEVIL IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN A GENTLEMAN.” —Diane LaVey

Je ne pleurerai pas. Tu ne pleureras pas. Nous ne pleurerons pas. I will not cry. You will not cry. We will not cry.

“How old are you, moy kotyonok?”

“You were assaulted in my alleyway. It is my responsibility to make sure you will be okay.”

“You will be safe here.”

But before his dark silhouette disappeared from view, I remembered what “moy kotyonok” meant. My kitten.

“Don’t be,” he said. “You shouldn’t give a fuck about what other people think. Trust me, they don’t care about you.”

“You have a soft heart.”

“Don’t,” he said, as if I could simply change it. “The soft ones are easier to break.”

“It’s not a crime to look for the best in people.”

“Stop giving away the things I buy you.”

“Kotyonok.” He drew the word out in a low warning. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Do you usually kiss your dates like that?”

“You’re the first.”

The amusement in his eyes faded to pleasure. Heat. Something soaked in intensity and satisfaction. He stepped forward, forced my back to the door, and rested his hands on the frame above my head. My pulse was a distant whoosh in my ears, overwhelmed by the tremor that rolled across my skin and the closeness of his body. I couldn’t find enough air to breathe.

“Ty dazhe na vkus sladkaya.”

I liked Ronan. I liked him a lot.

“I’m twenty, by the way, not nineteen.”

“Are you?”

I swallowed. “My birthday was a few days ago.”

“I’m thirty-two, k...

Oh.

I wondered what he would do if I touched him right now. If I ran my hand across his thigh to even higher. Would he finally put his hands on me? Warmth rose to the surface of my skin and slowed my breath. He must be able to see the soft heat in my eyes because his darkened. With lust or anger, I wasn’t sure. “They must not teach self-preservation in Miami.”

“Are you warning me away from you?”

“Yes. If I were you, I’d get out and run now.”

I stared at him. His gaze returned to mine, and a slow smile pulled on his lips. He was joking. But something in his eyes didn’t relent. I swallowed and glanced back out the window.

Ronan removed my coat, and the glide of his fingers down the fabric of my dress dropped my heartbeat between my legs.

“Zholtoye,” he said thoughtfully, his eyes on the dress, as if he’d been wondering what was beneath my coat. Yellow.

My breath slowed. “Tebe . . . nravitsya zheltoye?” Do...

“Do svidaniya, kotyonok.”

“You want to play?” His voice was a growl. “Fine, we’ll play.”

“Don’t fight me,” he said roughly against my lips. “You won’t win.”

“Idealnaya,” he said roughly. Perfect.

“Pomni.” His lips pressed against my ear. “Ti eto prosila.”

“The sight of your legs that morning in my office made me hard.”

God, that was hot. I’d had no idea he was sitting behind his desk with a hard-on. He found me attractive from the beginning, and I relished in the knowledge.

“Malen’kaya lgunishka.” Little liar.

I’d never told him to scrub a floor, but the fact he wanted to protect this girl from me . . . Well, that pissed me off. She was mine for the time being, and I’d do whatever I goddamn pleased with her.

“Moy kotyonok.” I ran a thumb across her parted lips. “I told you this city would eat you alive.” I just didn’t tell her I owned Moscow and everything in it.

“Just remember . . . you have a goddess inside you.”

“You just have to find her.”

Ivan rolled through my mind while I blew out a white cloud of smoke. A whisper of tension tightened in my body. I wanted to find the man who had dibs on my pet when I was finished with her.

“Medovik, kotyonok?”

She was mine for the time being, every goddamn inch of her, whether she liked it or not. I refused to analyze the feeling. I had enough shit to do.

I gritted my teeth, and a murderous buzz flared to life beneath my skin. “Run, Ivan,” I warned with a deadly calm. “Run fast. Because if I catch you, I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands.”

Je suis calme. Tu es calme. Nous sommes calmes. I am calm. You are calm. We are calm.

“Tell me why you are here.”

“I’m collateral.”

“Whose collateral?”

“Yo...