Chapter 1

Khira's POV

Five months.

Five whole months had passed without me seeing my husband, Alex Blackwell. Today was our one year anniversary and I was on my way to surprise him.

Alex was a very busy man. He was the only son and only heir to his late father's legacy and company. He had to work on a new project that required him to travel. He didn't take me with him because he knew how hard it would be for me to leave my father behind. My mother died when I was born and ever since then it's been me and my father against the world until I met Alex and then he joined our family. I almost convinced him to move in with my father and I but he was against it because we needed our privacy.

But I had been thinking recently and being with Alex was very important to me plus my dad had started making friends. So here I was in a private room on a train headed to New York with a bag of my belongings, to not just surprise my husband but to move in with him. He'd be so happy.

I couldn't wait…

I smiled wildly as I lay down on the makeshift bed. A little nap never hurt anyone.

Just as my eyes closed, the door to my cabin creaked as it slid open and I jumped up. Immediately alert. My eyes widened at the sight in front of me.

It was a man, he looked to be in his forties but fit enough to be in his thirties.

My breath caught in my throat.

He had on a white shirt that was stained with blood on the sides, his hair was disheveled and a scar ran down top to bottom of his eyes. Tattoos laced his arms. He screamed danger and I wanted none of that.

“Who…” my words cut in my throat as my gaze landed on his hand. He had a gun in his hand.

Oh shit.

“Please don't hurt me” I threw my hands in the air immediately to surrender.

“I can give you anything you want. Please don't hurt me” my voice cracked as tears gathered in my eyes. All I wanted was to see my husband. I didn't want to die.

Not now.

Not when we hadn't even…

The man stepped closer, shutting the door tight behind me.

I swallowed hard as my heartbeat increased.

My hands shook and my chest rose with each breath.

He didn't say anything, he moved closer and stopped right in front of me. I shuddered at the distance between us. He was so close that one movement could be my end.

“I'll give you anything… please” my voice came out in a whisper. I wanted to reach for my purse and hand him everything I had in there. I could add the jewelry I was wearing, it was worth a lot.

“Anything?” he asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes. His eyes ran over my body and I swallowed hard again…

I didn't mean that...

I flinched as his hand curved around the back of my neck.

“Help!! Somebo…” his hand covered my mouth and the other went around my waist, pulling me close enough that I could smell the danger off him.

“Stay quiet”

I became silent instantly.

“One more sound” he murmured close to my ear, his voice low and lethal

“and you’re dead”

The words stole the air from my lungs. I froze, every muscle locking as if stillness alone might save me. I hoped it would. My forehead felt wet as sweat gathered.

When he released me, the sudden absence of his heat made me tremble. My skin buzzed where his fingers had been, a confusing echo of fear and something far more dangerous.

A noise scraped from outside.

He reacted instantly.

His shirt was gone in one sharp motion, I gasped at the sight of him bare chested. Those toned abs did not belong on the chest of a man in his forties.

Before I could step back or breathe his hand closed around my waist. He lifted me with ease, a gasp left my lips as my legs betrayed me, curling around his hips on instinct.

We hit the couch together. His body was solid beneath mine.

I could feel his chest rise against me, I could feel him too close, too real.

This wasn't some bad dream

I was terrified.

And painfully aware of every place our bodies touched.

“I want you to moan for me” he said, urgency threading through his voice.

My thoughts spiraled. Fear clawed at me, freezing me in place.

“I… I don’t know how”

His gaze flicked to my hand.

“You have a wedding ring”

My breathing turned shallow. How was I supposed to explain to a stranger who looked more than capable of killing me that I had never once shared a night with my husband? And therefore knew not how to moan.

His hand slid up my waist, as if he already knew how deeply it would affect me. He dipped his head, his breath was warm against my skin before his mouth followed, moving along my neck with unsettling ease.

I had never felt anything like it. My eyes closed without my consent, my body betrayed me as his hands anchored me in place and slid over my laps. His lips refused to stop.

A sound slipped from me.

Then another.

The door suddenly creaked open again.

My heart lurched. I forced myself to look, masking my fear as best I could. Two broad men stood there, their presence filled the doorway. Instinct told me immediately they were the ones he was running from.

I had to save him to save myself.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” I

snapped at them. His lips didn't leave my neck. Every kiss he gave me made my hair stand still.

“We’re in the middle of something” I yelled when the men refused to leave

One of the men scowled.

“Next time” he hissed, “don’t do this on a train”

The door slammed shut. The lock slid back into place.

Only then did I release a shaky breath, relief washed through me tangled with everything else I was still feeling. I turned back to face him. He had stopped kissing my neck but I still felt the tingles. His eyes pierced into mine. For a brief second, I thought he was going to say something but then his hand slid under my legs with a gentleness I didn’t expect, he picked me up and placed me on the empty space beside us.

I couldn't find any words. I was speechless from fear and everything else that he had just made me feel. I loved Alex but even he had never made me feel so many things at once.

“What's your name?” He asked picking up his shirt

“My name? You expect me to tell you my name after that?”

“Be careful, Sweetheart. I could still end your life”

I sucked in a breath

“The men have gone. You should go too”

“Tell that husband of yours, I said hi”

He then opened the door and just like that he was gone.

But I knew it was far from over when I looked to the ground and saw he had dropped…