I heard the boots before I saw them. Two sets thudding down the hall, the third fainter, circling wide, maybe heading for the back.
They were coming fast.I wiped my knife on the second man’s sleeve and darted into the nearest doorway just as a flashlight beam sliced through the hallway. I crouched behind the desk, heart hammering. No time to catch my breath.One shadow appeared in the doorway. Then another. Guns raised. Sweeping the room. Talking in low, tense murmurs.“Check the kitchen. Sweep left. I’ll clear the study.”Okay.The third one peeled off toward the kitchen, boots retreating. One lingered in the hall, watching their six. The last stepped into the study.I shrank lower, flattening behind the desk.He moved closer, another cautious step, and I gripped the knife tighter. He turned the corner. Saw me. I launched upward, slamming into him before he could raise the rifle.We crashed into the“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
“What do you mean by that?!” I nearly screamed, eyes wide, frantic, and barely keeping Misha steady in my lap. “He’s wounded and freezing to death. I won't let him die. He needs a damn doctor!”James shook his head, jaw clenched, blood soaking through the rag pressed to his side. “No hospital. Not an option.”Now, I knew for sure he'd lost his mind. “Misha’s barely conscious. He could have internal bleeding. He’s—he’s ice-cold, shaking—this isn’t something I can fix with a first-aid kit!”“Because, duh! They’ll see the bullet hole and we’re both screwed,” James muttered, taking a sharp turn. “Hospital’s out. But I’ve got a private doctor. Used to be licensed until she got caught doing lines in an on-call room. Now she runs quiet, no-questions gigs. One hell of a surgeon, though.”“What—”“Long story. Point is she’s fast, discreet, and already on her way. Won’t call the cops. Or the Vatican.”I looked down at Misha’s face. His ski
Everything went crazy and I didn't know what to do. But, I ran. Slipped on blood once, caught myself on the doorframe and kept running.Blankets. Anything. I didn’t think, didn’t breathe, just grabbed what I could. An old wool coat from the hall closet. A few towels. The blanket from the sofa. My own sweater from the chair. I dropped half of it in my haste and had to scoop it up again with trembling hands.He was dying.Misha was dying and I couldn’t even keep my grip on a towel.I stumbled back into the bedroom, arms overflowing, heart threatening to crack my ribs open from the inside.He was still on the bed, barely upright, barely conscious. His face looked wrong. Pale, waxy. Lips cracked and blue-tinged. Eyes half-lidded and glassy. Blood soaked the sheets. Soaked him.I couldn’t even tell how much was left in him. So, I dumped the blankets and tore into them, wrapping him with frantic, clumsy hands. My voice shook, cracked,