My breath caught in my throat.
I hated Misha for saying it. For meaning it. For standing there like he hadn’t just ripped open my chest and exposed everything I’d buried.“You’re disgusting,” I spat, even though my voice trembled like the rest of me.He looked patient. Like a predator. “You didn’t answer me.”I wanted to scream. Or slap him. Or run so far I forgot what his touch felt like. But my feet didn’t move. My hands stayed clenched at my sides. And my thighs–God. I shifted, subtly. Too subtly.But his eyes caught it. A muscle flickered in his scarred cheek. “You hate me, right? Then show me.”His fingers brushed mine. Just a whisper of contact. But it was enough to send sparks down my spine.“I want you gone,” I whispered.“A deal. Prove me wrong and I’ll never touch you again.”My back hit the wall again, and he was in front of me. Not touching me. Just breathing the same air I was, anI looked over at Misha.He didn’t respond to Sadie's question immediately. Just sprawled on the couch like some dying poet with his matcha latte pressed lightly against his lips. His expression was unreadable. It was eerie.“Misha,” I said gently, hoping maybe he’d answer me instead. “Sadie’s right. You owe us—no, you owe me an explanation. I need to know.”Misha exhaled slowly, but didn’t look at either of us. “There’s nothing to tell.”Sadie snorted. “Oh, please. You expect us to believe that seven fully armed men stormed your house with the intention of killing you for nothing?”“Maybe it was a robbery gone wrong,” he muttered.“Bullshit,” Sadie snapped. “They had rifles. Silencers. Tactical gears. That’s not a robbery, that's a hit.”James shifted in the armchair, finally setting down the burrito. “I mean, she’s not wrong. Someone wanted you dead, and I want to know why I had to personally haul seven corpses out of a
Misha leaned his head back against the cushion, lips pale and dry. “I’m sorry, what? Who said I want your forgiveness?”Sadie snapped at him, “It's common decency, you psycho.”“Guys, that's enough.”“Where the hell did you find this crazy bitch? She’s worse than him.” Misha jerked his thumb toward James, making me smile.James’s jaw dropped in offense. “Excuse you?! I bought breakfast!”“With my credit card,” Misha croaked from the couch.“Obviously,” James replied proudly, puffing up like he deserved a medal. “Be glad I got you food because I was in a good mood,” James said with exaggerated patience, “Until someone drop-kicked you in the nuts.”Sadie raised an unimpressed brow. “You mean when I was saving my best friend from what I thought was a manipulative, psycho kidnapper?”James pointed a finger at her. “You also made me drop two bags of perfectly packaged breakfast outside the front door.”Sadie
“Misha Ashford!”The front door slammed open with the force of a hurricane. I barely had time to turn before I saw my best friend Sadie storming in, fury blazing in her eyes and fire in every step.“Sadie—”Too late.Crack!Sadie’s boot connected with brutal precision right between Misha’s legs.Misha dropped like a stone. Folded over like a collapsing tent, a strangled, breathless groan broke from his throat as he hit the floor hard. One hand flew to his groin, the other clamped over his mouth like he was seconds from puking.Behind her, James stepped in through the doorway and froze mid-step. He crossed his legs, hands clutching at his own groin in sympathy. “What the hell!”I froze in horror, then scrambled to Misha’s side, heart lurching. “Misha?! Oh my God—Misha!”He was wheezing, curled in on himself, body trembling. His face had gone ghostly pale, lips pressed together so tightly I thought he mig
“What do you need? Name it.”Misha grinned, “A kiss might—”I didn’t let him finish.I leaned in and kissed him before the rest could leave his mouth, silencing the request with the press of my lips. His breath hitched, and I feared of hurting him somehow. But then he kissed me back, with more hunger than I expected from someone who’d nearly died a few hours ago.When I finally pulled back, flustered and breathless, I started to curl in beside him again. But Misha didn’t stop.His hand slid to the back of my neck, drawing me down into another kiss that was firmer, slower, claiming. Heat bloomed low in my belly, all thoughts scattering under the weight of it. My fingers clutched the edge of the blanket as he deepened the kiss, and then—Everything shifted.I gasped when the mattress dipped. Before I could blink, Misha had rolled, turning me onto my back with a gentleness that didn’t match the burning stare in hi
I woke up feeling too hot.Sticky warmth clung to my skin, and for a moment, I couldn’t understand why. The sheets were heavy, the air thick, and my body was pressed against something radiating heat.My eyes fluttered open, heart skipping as I stared at a ceiling I didn’t recognize. This wasn’t my room. The space was too quiet, too clean. My mind scrambled to catch up, sluggish and disoriented.Then I felt the steady rise and fall beneath my hand. The solid warmth of another body beneath the blankets.Misha.Memory crashed back in all at once. The gunshot wounds, the blood, the doctor’s voice, skin to skin. Climbing into bed beside him, hoping to keep him alive. Eyes widened in panic, I slowly took everything in mind. My hand was splayed across Misha’s bare chest, rising and falling slowly beneath my touch. His heartbeat pulsed steady under my palm, and I realized I had curled into his side during the night, drawn by instinct an
“One more thing,” the doctor said, glancing at Misha’s pale, still form under the blankets.“What is it, doc?” James responded before I could. “His core temp’s dropped. He’s hypothermic.”James frowned. “The heater’s on.”“Won’t be enough if it keeps dipping,” the doctor said. “Fastest way to raise his temperature is body heat. Skin to skin.”She said it casually, like it was just another part of her job. Then her gaze slid pointedly to me.Before I could respond, James recoiled like she'd just told him to suck venom from a snake itself. “Hell no. Don’t look at me, I’m not gay.”The doctor rolled her eyes. “Didn’t ask you to be.”Skin to skin. That’s what she said. And suddenly, finally, I understood. That was what Misha meant. Right before he passed out.‘Strip,’ he’d said. I thought he was delirious. Dying. Making some dark jokes. But he was trying to save himself. Trying to tell me what wo