Dirty Obsessions - The Lion and The Mouse

No real happiness came. Perhaps I had been an empty shell of a man. A ghost floating along a planet that gave me no joy—no purpose.

And then one night I went with Valentina to the ballet. Ava had been an unexpected delight. Her dancing thrilled my mind. The pirouettes. The high athletic leaps into the air. The dazzling elegance of her body. Her cheerful spirit. Ava hadn’t even been the principal of the play, but she was the only one I remembered at the end of the night.

The brutal world hollowed me out and now Ava gave me the chance to be whole again.

That first night, Ava changed me. I now had a goal—to get her in my bed. I now had a purpose—to make her completely mine. I now had a destiny—to watch over her forever.

So, I confessed what I hoped to be the truth. “Perhaps I can change, Ava.”

Her face brightened with hope.

I moved my hand from her chin and ran my fingers through her hair. “I can promise you that I will do my best not to kill unless absolutely necessary.”

“Thank you, Misha.”

She owned me like no other. In the end, I would give everything up for her, if she asked—the Brotherhood, my hold on technology, and even my name in the underground world.

She looked away. “It’s not that I want you to change who you are completely. It’s just. . .the killing scares me.”

“I understand. Don’t worry about that.” I brought her view back to me, hating when I didn’t have her full attention. “You already promised to tell me if you get scared. Never forget that.”

“I promise.”

“If my killing scares you, I will do my best to stop. In the end, you walking away terrifies me even more.”Chapter 13

Ava

The next day I woke up underground, missing the warmth of the sun and the simple view that only a window could bring. But Misha lay next to me. I felt safe burrowed within his strong arms. My head rested along his numerical holy cross that will forever be the only way I could look at a crucifixion.

Someone knocked.

Misha stirred under me.

The knock came again.

I rose and sat up.

Misha opened his eyes and gazed at me.

Circuit’s deep voice sounded on the other side. “We have some news on the Xecutioners.”

Misha studied my face. “Good morning, Ava.”

Circuit yelled, “Misha, are you up?”

I grinned. “Are you going to deal with that?”

“I would rather not.” He kissed my forehead. “I would rather make love to you all morning.”

The knocks turned to booming. “Misha!”

“Baby.” I dragged myself away from him. “You have to deal with this.”

“Misha!”

Groaning, he rose and stood. His muscled bare ass served as a delicious view. He took a discarded sheet from the edge of the bed, wrapped it around his waist, and stalked over to the door.

“Go ahead, Circuit.” Misha touched the door with the tip of his finger. It slid open.

Wiping his forehead with a red towel, Circuit scowled on the other side. “You have us stay up all night tracking this band of. . .I don’t know what they are, and right as we find something you take your sweet time to get our report.”

“Is that a question about my egotistical selfishness or a statement on it?”

“Statement.”

“Noted.” Misha yawned. “What’s the news?”

“The Xecutioners landed in Tokyo and are camped out in a building across from the Dragon’s penthouse.”

“They haven’t met with Kenji or anyone in the yakuza?”

“They’ve only remained hidden in the building until ten minutes ago.” He pulled out a sheet of paper or maybe it was a photo. “They taped this to the window. It’s on the back of the building away from the Dragon’s view. We had a satellite zone in and snap a picture.”

Misha took the image and stared at it. “What time is it over there?”

“Ten in the morning.”

He continued to hold the picture. “I’ll be out in ten minutes. Until then, start the process.”

“We need to let Team Alpha go to sleep and put the Beta team on this.”

“Do it.”

Circuit frowned. “Am I going to get a thank you?”

“Surely, I pay you enough to not need to give you daily gratitude. In addition, your ego is bloated enough as it is.”

“But I still love those sweet words from your lips. It provides a sexy soundtrack while I masturbate.”

Still holding the photo, Misha sighed. “Thank you, Circuit. Where would I be without you? How would I live? Even more important, how would the world survive without your genius?”

“Ah.” Circuit winked at Misha. “I can feel the boner rising.”

“Tug it later and get Beta caught up.” Misha touched the door.

It closed shut.

He stalked back to the bed, set the photo on his desk, and headed to the bathroom. “I wanted to make love to you this morning, but life is doing what it always does where I’m concerned.”