Page 30 of Savage Bratva King

I set off in the same direction as Gianna. I can’t see which path she chose at each fork in the maze, but I can smell the jasmine scented body wash she has been using, and I can see the imprint of her footsteps in the spongy grass. I can see each wrong turn she has taken, and where she has backtracked on herself.

Smiling to myself I stroll leisurely around the maze, taking my time, and imagining Gianna coming to me naked, right here between the dense hedges, with the sun beating down upon her golden hair. And in the image, her legs are spread wide, and she has that mischievous glint in her eyes.

Even so, I’m waiting at the entrance when she arrives, slightly breathless, her cheeks pink with a combination of the day’s warmth and frustration at getting lost.

She stops abruptly when she spots me. “I… How did you…?” Her eyes narrow, accusing me of somehow cheating. “You’ve got a plan of the maze on your phone, haven’t you?”

“I can assure you that I haven’t. What would be the fun in owning a maze with no secrets?”

Her eyes drop to my mouth, and she swallows hard. Then, she steps closer, her gaze never faltering, and my cock starts bobbing along to its own tune. It’s a game, I tell myself. Only, I’m starting to lose track of my own rules. Either that, or Gianna is rewriting them as she goes.

She comes so close that I breathe in the smell of her, mingled with freshly mown grass and dewy leaves. Gianna is nothing like the women I meet in the casino. Or the trophy wives at the golf resort who flutter their eyelashes at me, praying that I’ll give them the attention they so desperately crave while their husbands practice their swing. Everything about her is fresh and raw and honest, and I’m already rethinking this war against Xander Amory to include the Irish pank Seamus.

Her eyes hold mine. The turquoise is deeper in the shade of the hedges, like the ocean as the sun sinks behind the horizon, and it takes all my self-control not to order her to lie down on the grass and beg me to fuck her.

Her lips part, and I’m mesmerized by them as they come closer, closer, her pupils dilating until the turquoise almost disappears. I can almost taste her when I grip her wrists and hold her at arm’s length.

What the fuck am I doing? I was supposed to secure the asset, hold her prisoner, and corrupt her as quickly as possible to get the job done and send her back to Xander. But here I am driving myself crazy by delaying the inevitable.

She blinks slowly, confusion dancing behind her eyes. “I lost,” she says, her voice husky.

“I’m going to give you a second chance.” I don’t miss the flicker of mistrust in her eyes and wonder if I have perhaps misjudged this tactic, but I force myself to stay on track.

“Why?”

Does she want this?

“Because this is my game, and I can change the rules whenever I like. We’ll try again tomorrow. Best of three. It will allow you time to think about where you went wrong.”

She shakes her head. “Tomorrow, you’ll take me a different way, and I’ll be in the same position as I am today.”

“You have my word that I won’t.”

“Your word?” Her eyebrows shoot upwards.

“Gianna, you and I both know that if I wanted to kiss you, I would.”

I realize, too late, how that sounds when she lowers her eyes and sucks on her bottom lip. And I can’t stop myself. I pull her closer, her hips pressed against the bulge in my pants so that there is no mistaking how much I want her, and I lower my face so that our lips are almost brushing.

“Same time tomorrow.”

Then I release her and watch the curve of her butt cheeks beneath the dress as she walks back to the entrance.

“Gianna!” I call her back on impulse. I don’t want her to think that I’m going soft in the late morning sunshine. “Tomorrow, the condition changes.”

Her smile fades.

“Tomorrow, if I win, I get more than a kiss.”

Her eyes flash, but she quickly recovers and tilts her chin towards the sky in defiance. “More than a kiss? How much more?”

“I haven’t yet made up my mind.”Here is where I blow it, I think to myself. “Do we have a deal?”

She nods once and walks outside to rejoin Sergei and Tamara.

* * *

The following day, Gianna is wearing a black and white polka dot dress with a full pleated skirt that sways around her hips when she walks. The dress has a low neckline that reveals a glimpse of her pale breasts, and she seems totally oblivious as she walks along between Sergei and Tamara.

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