Page 13 of Saint
“Fine,” he grunted. Though the powerful streak of lust heating up his body told a different story. One he planned on ignoring.
Eventually, she fell back asleep. Being in such close proximity to her was driving him crazy, but what could he do?Smoke, that’s what.Saint grabbed the pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and stuck one in his mouth. After this one, he only had one left.
Muttering a curse in Russian, he lit up and proceeded to smoke it down to the filter.
???
After managing to sleep fitfully on and off, Mia opened her eyes and yawned. She stretched—well, as much as she could with the handcuff on—and when she sat up, the blanket tumbled down. Nik must’ve covered her up at some point during the night. But why?
There was no sign of her captor, but she noticed the bathroom door was partially closed. She tilted her head, trying to get a glimpse inside when the door suddenly opened.
Her heart skipped a beat. Nik stood there, shirtless, and she may have temporarily forgotten her name as her gaze slid downhis body. He had broad shoulders and a smattering of dark hair on his extremely firm chest. Black ink covered every square inch of him—from his neck, down his entire torso and disappearing into his unbuttoned jeans. So many markings that made no sense to her. An eight-pointed star, a Madonna and Child, a skull, random Russian letters, dots and squares.
And the muscles. Good God, there were muscles upon muscles. Thick biceps, firm pecs, rippling abs for days. In all her life, she’d never seen such a potent display of masculinity. The man oozed strength, power and testosterone so strongly, her uterus had no choice but to contract in response.
His black eyes locked on her and she shifted uneasily. “I need to use the bathroom,” she managed to say, finally finding her voice. As hot as he was, the knowledge that he could snap her like a twig couldn’t be ignored. But, for whatever reason, he didn’t inspire fear. Deep down, she knew Nik wouldn’t hurt her. He might be a little uncivilized and brutish, but he wasn’t the type to hurt women for his own pleasure. She’d had the misfortune of meeting a man who liked to hurt people—a friend of her father’s who gave her the creeps. Nik was nothing like Dr. Grendel.
With a nod, Nik came over, unlocked her wrist and, for once, he didn’t smell like smoke. A soapy smell clung to him, light and pleasant, and she found herself inhaling deeply.
“There’s toothpaste, toothbrushes and a bar of soap, if you want to wash up,” he said. “I found some extra clothes in the closet, too, if you wanna get out of that dress.”
Oh, boy, did she ever! Mia hopped off the bed and headed straight over to the small closet where she found a pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt. Perfect.
Taking the clothes, she paused and chewed on her lower lip. “Can I close the door?” she asked.
“No.”
“Jerk,” she muttered and headed toward the bathroom.
Her pulse skittered out of control as she approached him, and she slowed her pace just enough to really take him in. God, he was so much taller than her. She’d never considered herself short at five and a half feet, but he dwarfed her. As she walked by, she noticed scars mixed in among the tats. Lots and lots of scars.Oh, my God.She paused, spotting an especially deep, jagged one that ran down his side and disappeared into his jeans. As much as she wanted to ask, she hadn’t earned that right. It was none of her business.
Schooling her features into an impassive expression, she continued past him, but she could’ve sworn he growled as she stepped into the bathroom.
She spent the next ten minutes cleaning up as much as she could, using a washcloth to wipe her face, neck and arms down. After brushing her teeth, she felt like a new person. Morning breath was the worst. She imagined almost as bad as kissing a smoker.
She had one problem left to deal with. Two, actually. Getting the zipper on her dress down by herself and then changing with him right outside the door. Reaching around, twisting her body, she grasped the zipper and tugged. After sliding down a couple of inches, the stupid thing got stuck.Dammit.She stubbornly fought with it another three minutes before dropping her aching arms in frustration.
“Need some help?”
Turning, she met Nik’s amused gaze and had the urge to smack that smirk off his stubbled face. As much as she wanted to tell him to shove it, she wanted out of that uncomfortable dress more.
“Yes,” she finally admitted. “The stupid zipper got stuck.”
The moment his larger-than-life presence stepped into the tiny bathroom, her stomach did a slow tumble. Her gaze slid down his naked chest. Why did he affect her so much? She didn’t even like him.
Nik lifted a hand and twirled his index finger in a circle. Turn around. Yeah, she understood perfectly. The moment he touched the zipper, her pulse began to hammer madly. Swallowing hard, she tried to ignore his warm hands. After tugging a few times, he cursed in what she assumed was Russian.
“It’s stuck,” he finally said.
“Clearly.”
“Can’t you drag it over your head or something?”
“No, it’s too tight to do that.” She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wanting out of the dress and into the leggings and T-shirt she’d found. A risky thought flitted through her head and she swallowed hard before suggesting, “You could cut it off me.”
Silence. God, her heart was thumping so hard she was scared he might be able to hear it.
“Nik?”