Hard Target by Marquita Valentine Page A

take my breath away. She doesn’t stop moving until my orgasm subsides. Her body is slick and hot against mine. The smell of sex and her shampoo fills the air.
    I search for her mouth again, kissing her with a passion that I can’t seem to shake around her. My body knows what my brain refuses to process. I can’t blame it really.
    “Ben,” she says in a breathy voice. “That was the best sex ever.”
    “For me as well.” I lean back to gauge her expression, then realize she’s still holding tight to the bloody necklace. “Let go, love.”
    Staring into my eyes, she removes the chain and places it around her neck. The flash drive looks obscene hanging between her breasts. “Let me carry this burden for a while, okay?”
    I nod, wanting more than anything to snatch the damn thing from around her slender neck. “But not too long.”
    Her sweet mouth frowns. “You don’t trust me?”
    “The burden is too great.”
    “If we carry this burden together , it won’t seem so heavy,” she replies softly and lays her head down on my shoulder.
    In that moment, I know the truth of everything. I know that I am unequivocally in love with a woman I have no guarantee will live to see the next day.
    *
    Later that night while she is asleep, I join Dmitry in the main part of the suite. He pours two shots of vodka and slides one over to me.
    “It’s not the best, but it will do.”
    I throw the drink back and gasp a little. “It’s horrid.”
    “Better than nothing.”
    He’s right. We drink in silence and after a while the taste of the vodka doesn’t matter at all.
    “I need a Plan B.”
    “Get your woman to safety.”
    “The safest places I know are with Koyla and Grandfather.”
    Dmitry rolls up his shirtsleeves, revealing the edge of a spider web. I cannot tell if the spider is going up or down from this angle—or rather if Dmitry will continue to work for the Bratva. “You could send her there.”
    “I could.”
    “I could take her for you.”
    “You could.”
    “But?” he asks.
    “She would no longer be at my side.” That is the crux of the matter. I need her more than life itself and yet to admit that…
    “Grandfather would guard her with his life.”
    “You’ve spoken to him.” It’s not a question.
    “ Da. He is impressed with her bravery. She’s different, that one, from your brother’s woman. Everly is soft, which makes Koyla soft.” He doesn’t mean this as an insult, but it’s not exactly a compliment.
    “In some ways, Morgan is more vulnerable than Everly, while in others…” I shrug, but Dmitry knows exactly what I can’t put into words.
    “Send her to Grandfather so you can concentrate on the problem at hand.”
    He makes it sound so easy, as if sending her to Grandfather is a foregone conclusion. “If I do this… I trust only you to get her there safely.”
    Dmitry smiles, revealing white teeth. “That’s because I’m the only one who can.”

Chapter Nine
    Benjamin
    T he next morning, with less than twenty hours to go, I drive the rest of the way to Paris. Morgan peppers me with questions about Paris, the bank, and what to look for when get closer.
    “The bank has a distinctive red cross. You can’t miss it.” I recheck my messages every ten minutes, but there’s still no word from Violet. “Give me the flash drive, love.”
    Slowly, she removes the necklace and hands it to me. I lift my hips slightly and shove it deep into my pocket.
    “I didn’t mind wearing it.”
    Yet another reason why I don’t deserve you, but will protect with you my dying breath. “We’re too close to the end for you to be caught with it around your neck. I don’t want to give anyone ideas.” The very real threat of kidnapping Morgan is at the forefront of my mind. “The Wraith Organization, if they are in fact the ones behind this, have no compunctions about murdering innocent women.”
    “You said that he thought I was Olivia.”
    “Do you think Olivia deserves to die?”
    “No.