Read Online Betrayed (Undercover #3) by Helena Newbury - Free Book Online Page B

were wrapped up in thick coats. There were more of them, standing at the gates and watching from balconies. They knew the threat to their masters was real, now. And they all knew it was somehow connected with me, that I’d betrayed Luka. I could feel their anger blasting down at me in hot waves as we walked the short distance from the car to the front door. Out of all of them, only Yuri didn’t seem to hate me.
    Inside, Luka grabbed my forearm and pulled me upstairs to the room he was using. As soon as the heavy oak door was closed behind us, he shoved me away from him, making me stagger, as if he couldn’t bear to touch me anymore.
    I looked at him. Swallowed. Opened my mouth to defend myself but couldn’t come up with the words.
    “I should kill you,” said Luka, his voice shaking with anger. “ Sooka. ”
    Which can mean traitor or bitch or whore. All of which were sort of accurate. Handy of the Russian language to combine all three in one word.
    “You betrayed me,” he snapped. “You slept with me. You made me think—” He broke off and glared at me.
    “What?” I asked, my voice weak. “What did I make you think?”
    He shook his head and muttered Wed’ma under his breath. It meant witch. Crazy, because I’m the last person who’d ever be able to cast a spell on anyone.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. I knew it wasn’t enough, but it was all I had. “I was wrong. I thought I could…” I closed my eyes. “... be with you and not feel it and—I couldn’t.” I shook my head.
    He let out a disbelieving snort. “I think you good person,” he said, his rage making his English slip. “You seem like an innocent.”
    “I am! I am an innocent. I’ve never done anything like this before! This is my first mission!” I opened my eyes and shook my head, blinking back tears. “I’m not even a real agent! I’m just a languages geek!”
    He took a step towards me. “Then why would you agree to do this?”
    I let out a long groan of self-hatred. “I thought I was working for the good guys.”
    He shook his head, but gently, as if he understood. “There are no good guys, Arianna. Only different bad men.”
    I nodded. I got that, now.
    He stepped right up against me. That big, strong hand came up and settled on my throat. I knew he could throttle me without even breaking a sweat. “So tell me. Why did you spill his drink? Why did you change your mind?”
    “Because I’m in love with you,” I whispered.
    He stared into my eyes. I’ve never felt so connected with anyone my entire life. There were no secrets, no doubts. Everything I was, was exposed to him.
    And he knew I was telling the truth.
    Has hand stayed on my throat but his mouth came down on mine, tasting my lips, then devouring me completely, taking control of me.
    I melted into him, clinging to his back. The heat was raging inside him, throbbing through his skin, that dangerous energy that had scared me so much, at first. Now, I gave myself up to it. I let it soak into me, right to my very soul, and thaw the parts of me that had been encased in ice for so long.
    We kissed for a long time, exploring each other, turning slowly, our hearts thumping gradually faster and faster, in rhythm with one another. We twisted so that he was the one with his back to the wall, and it was almost as if we were a couple of normal, regular lovers. His hands traced down my back to my ass, pulling me in close, and I let out a long, slow breath at the touch of those big palms there.
    Then he suddenly twisted us again and slammed me up against the wall. The mood shifted to a more primitive need.
    We stared at each other, neither of us daring to move. His eyes, burning into me. Telling me what he wanted to do to me. Every filthy way he wanted to corrupt my innocence.
    And me, for the first time, daring to meet his gaze full-on and telling him that I wanted it.
    He grabbed my waist and lifted me straight up, my feet kicking in the air. He pinned me against the wall like