Chapter 1: The Red Square Rendezvous
The crisp Moscow air bit at Anastasia’s cheeks as she strode across Red Square, her black leather boots clicking against the cobblestones with purpose. Her crimson coat flared behind her like a flag of defiance, and her sharp green eyes scanned the crowd. She wasn’t here for the tourists or the history—she was here for him. Dmitri Volkov, the enigmatic bastard who’d been playing cat and mouse with her for weeks. A smuggler with a silver tongue and a body carved from sin, he’d slipped through her fingers one too many times. Not tonight.
She spotted him near the GUM department store, leaning against a lamppost, a cigarette dangling from his lips. His dark hair fell just over his piercing blue eyes, and his leather jacket hugged his broad shoulders like a lover’s caress. He smirked as she approached, flicking the cigarette away with a casual arrogance that made her blood boil—and, damn it, her pulse race.
'Anastasiya, my little tsarina,' he drawled in Russian, his voice a low, smoky growl. 'You’re late. I was starting to think you’d stood me up.'
She stopped a foot away, hands on her hips, her gaze cutting through him like a blade. 'Don’t flatter yourself, Volkov. I’m here to end this game, not play it. Where’s the shipment?'
He chuckled, stepping closer, the scent of tobacco and musk wrapping around her. 'Always so direct. What’s the rush? We’ve got all night, and I’ve got a few ideas on how to spend it.' His eyes roamed over her, lingering on the curve of her hips, and she hated how her skin prickled under his stare.
'Keep dreaming, mudak,' she snapped, though her voice betrayed a hint of heat. 'I’m not one of your cheap conquests. Tell me what I want, or I’ll carve it out of you.'
Dmitri’s grin widened, predatory and infuriating. 'Oh, I like it when you threaten me. Makes me wonder how fierce you’d be in other… situations.' He reached out, brushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, his touch electric. She slapped his hand away, but not before a shiver raced down her spine.
'You’re insufferable,' she hissed, stepping closer despite herself, their faces inches apart. 'But I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.'
His breath was hot against her lips as he murmured, 'And what if what you came for isn’t just information, hmm? What if it’s me?'
Her heart thudded, but she refused to back down, her eyes locked on his. 'You think you can handle me, Volkov? I’d break you before you even got started.'
'Try me,' he challenged, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent heat pooling between her thighs. Before she could retort, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the shadowed alley beside the store. She could’ve resisted—should’ve—but the thrill of his audacity, the raw hunger in his gaze, had her following, her body already betraying her mind.
He pressed her against the cold brick wall, his hard body pinning hers, and she felt the unmistakable bulge of his cock through his jeans, pressing against her thigh. 'Tell me to stop, Anastasiya,' he growled, his lips hovering over hers. 'Or I’m going to take what I’ve been craving since I first saw you.'
Her breath hitched, but her voice was steel. 'You don’t get to take anything. I decide.' And with that, she yanked his collar, crashing her lips into his, a battle of wills igniting into raw, desperate need. Their tongues clashed, her hands fisting in his hair as his roamed down to grip her ass, pulling her tighter against him. She was wet already, dripping with a hunger she hadn’t felt in years, and as his fingers slid under her coat, teasing the edge of her panties, she knew this night was about to explode.
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