“That I caught your interest because I work for Billows, and you’re very interested in him. That’s the reason you’re here with me now.”

“That’s hurt talking. Self-preservation. It isn’t what you know in your heart. Tell me the time we’ve spent together isn’t real for you. I’ll think you’re lying to us both, but you can say it if you really believe it.”

She parted her lips to respond, but he had already caught her chin and tilted her face up to his. His mouth came down on hers. It was a claiming. A branding. Not sweet and gentle, but a takeover. He demanded complete surrender. When he kissed her, her brain short-circuited. All thought vanished and there was only feeling. Pure feeling. Fire coursing through her. Need building rapidly. She was drowning in him. Immersing herself. Going over that cliff without looking first.

She found herself clinging to his shoulders, chasing his mouth when he lifted his head. He didn’t go far, just pressed his forehead to hers while looking her straight in the eye.

“Did that feel fake?” He took one hand and curled her palm around the thick, heavy erection he didn’t try to hide. “Does that feel fake?” He brushed soft kisses down her cheek to her jaw. “When I tell you things I’ve never told anyone, does it feel fake to you? Do you think I’m making it up for sympathy? Or to impress you? Just to get at your boss? Do you really believe that of me, Zelie? That I’m playing you?”

She didn’t believe it. That was the problem. She should. If she had an ounce of sense, she would, but he sounded so honest. So utterly truthful. He looked her straight in the eye. Everything about him screamed sincerity, yet the things he told her—and she believed—all pointed to him being right there with her because he was hunting Billows.

“Billows is a criminal.”

“He is.”

“You hunt criminals.”

“At times.”

“It stands to reason that you’re using me to get to Billows.”

His thumb slid over her lips, featherlight, but that brush of his hand set her heart pounding. She felt it as if it were a burning brand. She didn’t want to give him up, but she was concerned her heart was at war with her head.

“It makes perfect sense,” he agreed without hesitation. “But I’m not sitting in this apartment with you because of Billows. I’m here because I want you in my life permanently, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get you there and keep you safe and happy.”

She did believe that he wanted to be there with her. She had to believe that. She would shatter into a million pieces if he was with her and such a good liar that she couldn’t read him. She’d been so careful to learn how to read other people, and she had to rely on her instincts. Her instincts told her that despite what Andrii said about himself, he was a good man.

She needed to drop the Billows question for now and wait until she could process better. There were other important things she needed to know about Andrii.

“Are you prone to violence?”

“Absolutely. I was raised with violence. If someone like Billows threatens my family or friends, my first thought is to make the world a better place and take him out. What I do not ever do is harm an innocent, and certainly not someone I care about. Having said that, you and I will need to come to several understandings. That’s why we’re talking now. You need to understand that while I would never harm you, that doesn’t mean if you got out of line, I wouldn’t punish you.”

“Out of line?” She echoed the one thing that she could safely address. He had alluded to punishments before, and she’d put that out of her mind. She knew they would be discussing it eventually, but she needed her wits about her. Talking about punishments on top of everything else was way too much.

“Out of line. Don’t listen when it comes to your safety. I told you that to function properly and safely in my world, I need control. That means I have to know the person I treasure most in the world is safe. I need to know she trusts me to keep her that way. And when I ask her to do something for me, it’s because I have my reasons and she trusts me enough to know that whatever is happening, I’ll explain when I can. Or maybe I’m asking something of you because I need reassurance that I matter.”

Azelie frowned. “You’re confusing me.”

“You won’t be confused. I’ll lay out the few rules we have, so if you break them, I’ll know you did so purposely. That earns you punishment.”

“I’m not a child, Andrii. I like to think for myself, not just follow someone blindly.” She meant it, and yet what he was asking for didn’t seem too big a deal—without the punishment part. Punishment wasn’t attractive at all in a relationship.

“I don’t want a puppet, Zelie. I think you already know that. I like the way you think. You have a good mind. You’re intelligent. You’re able to laugh at yourself, and you find situations with me amusing when others would be afraid. I love all that about you. I wouldn’t change anything at all. You want to tell me off because you think I’m wrong, you do it. But when I tell you something to do, such as don’t move from where you are because it isn’t safe, I expect you to follow orders, knowing I wouldn’t give you an order like that unless it was necessary.”

Her frown deepened. “I doubt you’re going to give me unreasonable orders, Andrii, most of the time. But I might screw up, and I’m not a woman who would find punishments sexy.”

“Punishments aren’t meant to be sexy. They’re meant to be reminders never to screw up again.”

“Exactly what would a punishment entail?”

He didn’t flinch or look away. “You over my knee. It won’t be erotic or sexy. It would hurt, but we’ll both know you won’t forget the lesson.”

“Spankings may sound hot in a book, Andrii, but I wouldn’t like it.” She was absolutely certain of that. Absolutely.

“You aren’t supposed to like it. You’re supposed to remember to do as you’re told.”

Her heart was back to pounding. Hard. “What if you get out of control?”

“Baby, sit on the floor for me. Right in front of me.” He helped her slide from his lap but kept his hands on her waist.

She was happy to get a little space between them, even if it meant sitting between his legs on the floor. She sat tailor-fashion, staring up at him.

Andrii’s eyes lightened in color, almost to liquid mercury. “Control. That’s something we need to discuss further.”

She didn’t know what that meant, but she had to bite back a whimper. At least it wasn’t a moan. The way he said control, the way his eyes went dark with desire, sent her pulse racing. Heat rolled through her veins and emptied into a pool of melted lava right into the pit of her stomach and lower. That didn’t bode well for her, but he’d been in control of the two of them when he’d had sex with her, and she’d reaped the benefits.

“When I tell you I want to be the one in control, I’m not just talking about in the bedroom. You trusted me to satisfy you there, and I did. I’ll give you whatever you want or need—eventually. I like to play. I know you’re going to like playing. Some of the things we’ll be doing might be a little scary to you at first, but if you trust me enough, you’ll find you enjoy everything we do.”

“With the exception of your punishments,” she whispered.

“Then don’t fuck up. If you do, do it knowing what you have coming.”

Instinctively, she’d pulled back, but he reached down to take her wrist, pulling her hand to his thigh. His touch was gentle but firm. She knew if she pulled away, his fingers would tighten. He couldn’t fail to read her elevated pulse or feel the fine tremors going through her body. She felt mesmerized by him, under a spell she couldn’t quite get out from under.

“You’re asking a lot of me, Andrii. You want me to take everything on faith. That’s a lot of trust when I don’t really have any idea who you are or why you’re asking these things of me. You have to know that it feels very one-sided.”

He sighed but nodded, suddenly looking serious. “I guess now is as good a time as any to discuss our needs. I thought a date or two might be a good thing before I tell you what’s important to me in a relationship. I want to hear what you need, but I’ll admit I’m very good at reading you.”

She blushed. The heat was alarming under her skin. “I don’t think that’s good, Andrii.”

“Because you’re attracted to me? I like that you’re honest. No games with you. When I ask you a question, you answer me, even if it’s difficult for you. You don’t pretend you aren’t interested in me, or that you couldn’t care less about a sexual relationship. You show me every time you look at me that you want me. Do you have any idea how that can make a man feel?”

“Arrogant? Overconfident?”

He burst out laughing and her heart nearly stopped. She found him utterly attractive when he wasn’t smiling, but laughing turned her inside out. She slipped further down that slippery slope of no return.

“I am confident because I have reason to be. And if that makes me appear arrogant, so be it. Just know you can depend on me to take care of you. Men don’t fuck up around me. You aren’t flirtatious with other men. When you’re with me, you look only at me, and I appreciate that trait in you. Everything about you appeals to me.” He stretched out his legs on either side of her, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

“See, Solnyshkuh, I wanted you in front of me, looking up at me with your incredible eyes, and you sat on the floor without hesitation. Most women would think it was demeaning or that I meant it in a negative way, as if I put myself above you.”

Azelie didn’t know how to respond to that. She liked looking up at him. It hadn’t occurred to her that he might be elevating his position over her. If she didn’t like something, she would simply refuse to do it—unless she decided she wanted to do it to make him happy. In that case, she would weigh what it meant to him before she decided.

She waited in silence, her heart pounding just a little out of control.

“The fact that you’re willing to do things for me is important.”

Andrii rubbed the bridge of his nose, a small frown drawing his eyebrows together. It was the first time he showed that he was uncomfortable with the conversation. Reluctant even. That made her strangely happy. She knew he was going to share something about himself he didn’t share with others.