CHAPTER2
Candy
I’d been out of my mind for coming here. There was no other reason for being so stupid, especially in the middle of the night.
This was bad, extremely bad. It was the kind of really bad that might end up with my body disappearing in the back of his trunk, tossed in some dark location where no one would find me. His little firecracker? Was he kidding me? He had no idea what kind of spirited girl I was.
“I suggest you get away from me,” I said as boldly as possible. I didn’t even know his name. What was I supposed to call him or tell the police? This big scary dude called me dessert?
“And why should I do that?”
“Be-cause. Be… I have roommates. We watch out for each other.”
“You live alone.”
How the hell did he know anything about me? Was he watching me, stalking me? This was much worse than I thought.
“I do not.”
“I don’t like lies, especially when they come from the mouth of a beautiful woman.”
“I’m not lying to you. And stop calling me beautiful.” I struggled, but the immoveable force was determined to keep me exactly where he wanted. He was also goading me. Why?
“Why don’t you believe how luscious you are?”
Luscious. There hadn’t been a single man who’d ever called me anything so… decadent. Why did my mouth have to remain so dry?
“I’m just average, nothing more. That’s beside the point.”
What the hell is wrong with you?
“No, that is the point, the entire point.” He swept the rough tip of his index finger across my upper lip then floated it down the side of my neck, circling my pulse. Was this his way of explaining how he was going to kill me? He studied me intently, the intensity of his gaze burning a hole straight through me.
While I didn’t pull away, I gave him the harshest glare I could, even though I was quivering to the core. Even our prickly conversation wasn’t enough to stop the electric vibes swimming back and forth between us.
“Thank you for the compliment but it’s time for me to go.”
“Interesting. Tell me something, moya krasota. Why do you have a quiver in the corner of your mouth and why is the gorgeous pulse on the side of your neck throbbing? Is that from the desire burning deep inside of you?”
His chuckle pulled me out of some vacuum. What the hell did he just say to me? Desire? For him? A monster? Fat chance in hell. And what the hell did he call me?
“You’re crazy. There’s no way I could desire someone like you,” I barked, allowing my usual personality to kick in. He was serial killer crazy.
“Absolutely. I am stark raving mad, printsessa, which is exactly why you should have known better than to come to a mysterious man’s apartment in the middle of the night. Dangerous things could happen to a pretty young thing such as yourself. Don’t you know there are some very bad men on the streets of New York?” He kept the sexy smirk on his face as he trailed his finger further down my neck to the edge of my tee shirt, sliding it back and forth twice before dipping it just underneath the material. “Unless you have a hidden reason for your visit. If that’s the case, then it’s very likely we won’t get along.”
What hidden reason? His personality seemed to change every few seconds. One minute he was amused I’d bothered him, the next he was pissed. However, I didn’t need a lesson in Russian to know what he’d just called me. “I’m nobody’s princess, especially yours. And it’s obvious you’re one of those bad men I’ve read about in the news, but I was here first, renting the apartment months ago, and you aren’t driving me away. But you are driving me nuts. Just promise me you’ll cut the noise at midnight, maybe one in the morning. Is that a deal?”
His chest heaving, I could swear he was contemplating what I’d told him, gauging whether I was lying. I was the one who couldn’t trust him.
He cupped my neck and a good portion of my face, his big hand grasping and holding me in place. Everything about the man was terrifying, but especially his eyes. He had a desperate, unforgiving look in his iridescent eyes, but his gaze seemed soulless. Maybe he’d already sold his soul to the devil. “What’s your name, little fireball?”
“Candy,” I spouted off without thinking. My God. I must have lost my mind.
“Candy. The name isn’t regal enough for a woman of your stature, but it’s delicious enough.”
Every word out of his mouth oozed with seduction.
“What’s yours?”