SOFIA’S LUNGS BURNED AS SHE desperately tried to get air into her body. She couldn’t get her breathing under control, and the lack of oxygen made her head spin. She was having a hard time trying to figure out what was real and what was an illusion. She could have sworn she saw Dom—heard his voice and felt his calloused palms against her bare skin, but the ache in her body reminded her it wasn’t real. He was just an illusion to mask the pain she’d been in.

The sound of chains rattling spooked her, and she tried to crawl back into a corner but her body spasmed and she cried out. She looked down at herself and saw welts from what looked like a cane across her naked flesh. Her pinky was bent at an odd angle, she had a burn mark—something close to a branding on her hip. She saw blood coat the inside of her thighs and on the floor where she sat. She was bleeding more now than when she first got here.

Where was here?

Sofia looked around, her mind putting her back in her grandfather’s care before she forced herself to calm down and focus. She was on the verge of a panic attack. The quick succession of breaths, the jerky movement, and her inability to actually see where she was unnerved her mind. She was feeling frightened, not an unusual emotion for her, but this was the first time it was trying to consume her and make her beg to be let go.

Steady, Saffi. The Council needs. I need you.

Dom’s voice was there again and she clung to it—focused on it. She slowed her breathing, kept herself still so she could try and force her mind to realize there’s no need to panic. The fear, while warranted, was not overpowering. She may have not been safe, but she was Sofia Barbati, and she wasn’t completely out of whatever game this was. Her grandfather taught her how to survive; she had the tools and the means to overcome this.

“Impressive, and here I thought you were lying when you said she wasn’t easily broken. You might be better off killing her, Boris. These games….” Zhao’s voice was the cold water she needed to wake the rest of the way up.

Sofia refocused and watched as Zhao pulled off a pair of black gloves and zipped up his pants. She fought to keep her gaze steady despite the sick feelings coursing through her—show no emotion, give nothing away. It wasn’t so much that she was surprised that Zhao was here doing what everyone on Boris’ team had done before. It was her loss of time during whatever happened with Zhao that set her on edge. She learned how to disassociate—how to not be in her abuse mentally, but she’d never blacked out before—never not knowing what was being done to her.

Zhao kneeled down in front of her, running his hand against the burn mark at her hip. She recoiled from his touch on instinct, a mistake going by the smile on his face. “Ah, so you’re not as tough as you’re leading everyone to believe.” His had gripped her chin, and Sofia had to remind herself to stay still.

“You have a lot of fire energy in you, but that can’t burn forever, and I have nothing but time, Sofia Barbati.” The lingering threat in Zhao’s words gave way to a new wave of unease. This was the first time since she’d been held hostage by both her grandfather and now Boris that she felt real fear.

Sofia knew she could out pace Boris and his men—Sofia had pegged Boris and Bruno for who they were the moment she sat down at the first meeting. She knew Boris would be the one to push back, and with that knowledge she hadn’t focused on Zhao, hadn’t gotten to know him the way she’d done everyone else. He was the unknown, and if there was one thing Sofia hated, especially while being held captive, was the unknown.

Zhao’s laughter was light as he stood to his full height. “I’ll need another lighter.” He spoke to Boris who looked surprised.

“You’re going to go again?” Boris couldn’t keep the skepticism off his face.

“You want her broken, do you not?” Zhao turned to face Boris. “You give her too much power here—give her mind too much time to regroup and whisper a false sense of security and impending victory that will not come.”

Zhao turned back to face Sofia. She wanted to recoil and press her back up against the wall to disappear. She never feared anyone, not outwardly. She learned as a woman she couldn’t show it because men like those in this makeshift cell with her would pounce on it like sharks.

“In fact,” Zhao taunted as he pulled out a cell phone. He pressed a bunch of buttons before he walked back to her and shoved the phone in her face. “Whoever is helping you on the outside will be dead before the sun goes down tomorrow night. You are utterly alone, Sofia. Watch.”

He shoved the phone in her face, and it took her a moment to realize what she was seeing. The footage was grainy at best, and there was barely any light so she had to squint to see what was playing out in front of her. She recognized no one on the screen, even once the gunfire started and bodies dropped. If this was their way of making her nervous, they needed work. All Sofia felt was utter confusion.

Sofia let out a small laugh and shook her head. There was one person on the screen she recognized, and it was the one man who’d been missing in her cell. Bruno was on the screen, and whoever he had with him was losing badly. They had him pinned down, and someone was going to shoot to kill Bruno but stopped. Instead, someone came up behind him, knocking him out, and tying him up. Sofia’s small laugh grew into a manic sound. “I think you need to check the footage again, Zhao. I don’t know anyone on that screen, but your boy Bruno, and he’s not looking too good.”

Zhao snatched the phone away just as Boris cursed. They both ran out of the cell, leaving her blissfully alone. Her laughter hadn’t let up, and the fear that sparked to life moments ago had quickly diminished. She knew this was Ethan helping them. She’d owe him an incredible debt when she got out of here, but it would be worth it in the end, especially when she was the reason those who sought to hurt her stopped breathing.

A heavy silence descended on the compound as Smoke walked Gia back to her room. The alarm that had gone off hadn’t been for Carter but for Dom. His heart stopped beating—his body giving up before the Council had gotten a chance to reunite him with Sofia. The sadness that lingered in the air hurt Smoke. Those painful seconds with everyone standing outside of Dom’s room, waiting for the doctors to tell them what was going on, had been the longest moments of Smoke’s life.

The news that Dom was still with them should have lifted the mood in the compound, but there was no shaking the feeling of death lingering in the air. Smoke had worn the grim reaper’s cloak enough times to recognize when the bastard was close by. The doctors had been clear in their diagnosis and what they believed would happen to Dom. This was the second time he flatlined, and the doctors were surprised he was still alive. They didn’t understand how stubborn Dom was. If it happened again, they weren’t sure what state Dom would be in if he ever woke up.

They were running out of time. They had to find Sofia and fast if for no other reason than for her to be able to say goodbye.

Please hold on, Dom, if not for anyone else in this compound but Sofia. She needs you as much as you need her.

Gia stopped in front of her door with her hand on the doorknob. She turned to face him, and something heavy settled in Smoke’s gut. With Dom’s less than stellar future ahead of him and the fact that Smoke almost lost Gia tonight, he was feeling unsteady and out of control. He needed to ground himself in something—in Gia—and he reached out to grab her neck, pulling her in for a kiss. He couldn’t stop himself even if he wanted to. He wanted to drown in her, lose himself in her taste, in the sound of her whimpers, and in everything she had to give him.

Smoke swallowed her surprise, loving the way she opened up to him. Her body melted into his, and just like their first kiss, she reached for him, pulling him closer and silently begging for more of him.

Gia’s door opened with a soft click, and the sound got Smoke’s brain back online. He tried to pull away, but Gia was right there, holding him steady to her. She kept her lips fused against his, her little murmurs of pleasure made his cock hard. She tugged at him and slowly pulled him into her room, and he realized then that he would willing follow her wherever she led them.

They didn’t break the kiss until she had him pushed up against the door, closing it with another soft click. He looked down at her, her soft lips slightly parted, and he ran his thumb across her bottom lip. He could spend a lifetime kissing her, and that thought made his pulse beat rapidly. He was trying to remember all the reasons why they should pause and take their time, but the longer they stared at each other in silence, the harder it was to come up with a reason why he shouldn’t take what she was offering him.

A cleansing of the soul.

A place to finally come home to.

They stayed silent, neither one dared move—but a million different words went unsaid in their eyes. The unspoken question hung in the air between them, knowing if they finally crossed this line, there was no going back—at least not for Smoke. She was already on his skin, in his body, and in his battered heart. Once he sunk into her, he would never be able to give her up.

Gia took a step back, and Smoke thought this would be goodnight, not surprised she had the good sense to pump the brakes. Emotions were running high—life and death had a way of making people react with the need to feel alive and in control of something. There was no better way to experience it than getting lost in someone’s body.

Smoke cleared his throat, ready to tell her to get some sleep and he’ll see her in the morning, but she gripped the hem of her shirt and quickly tossed it over her head. She wore a flimsy bra that barely covered anything, and his mouth went dry. Her hands went to her shorts next, and Smoke closed the distance between them, putting a stop to her movements.

“Sunshine,” Smoke tried to say her name in warning.

“We can keep dancing around this, Smoke. We can wait till things settle down, but we might not get a chance to enjoy peace. I don’t want to wait. We are inevitable. I knew the moment I met you, you were going to change my life in one way or another.” Her warm palm cupped the side of his face. “I want this—I want you, Smoke. I think we owe it to ourselves to feel alive for one night.”

“Jesus, Gia,” Smoke groaned, pushing her back toward her bed. He couldn’t deny her anything, not when she looked at him with all the trust in the world. He didn’t deserve her kindness, her softness, and neither did the world.

Smoke gripped her shorts and slowly pulled them down her body, surprised she didn’t have any underwear on. He fell to his knees before her, a pained chuckle huffed out of him as he looked up at her. “No underwear, sunshine? How often are you bare like this?” He put his hands on her hips and gently guided her to sit on her bed. He removed her shoes and discarded her shorts.

“A lot. I hate underwear. If I could get away without wearing a bra, I would,” Gia whispered, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession as she kept her gaze on Smoke.

Smoke grabbed the back of her knees and opened her up to him. He groaned. His heart stuck in his throat when he saw her pretty pussy glistening, already wet for him. “Do you have any triggers, anything that I should know about that might make this less than pleasurable for you?” Smoke’s voice was thick, his need to dive into her head first without a safety net was overpowering. His hands shook with his need to touch and taste her, but he remembered what she’d been through—what almost happened to her. He wanted to make sure he did nothing to hurt her.

Gia shook her head. “Not with you, no. I trust you, Smoke. I always have.”

Smoke heard the sincerity in her voice, watched as her eyes softened and she opened her legs farther, silently giving him her body. He dropped his head to the inside of her knee, pressing his lips to her skin. He was glad he was on his knees already. Her trust in him humbled him, floored him. He thought his darkness, his past, might have been too much for her, but from day one she met him head on, and he was going to savor every inch of her.

“Lay back, sunshine.” Smoke didn’t recognize his own voice. It was thick with need for her. He pulled her farther down the bed as she laid back on her elbows, eyes glazed over already and he hadn’t touched her yet.

He kissed his way up her inner thighs, nipping and sucking on her tender flesh as he went. She smelled like citrus and his mint soap, which she had used when she got back to the compound and took a shower. He glanced up at her, a smirk teasing his lips at the steady rise and fall of her chest. She looked absolutely stunning—her body on display save for the flimsy bra she wore—lounged like a queen on a throne waiting for her knight to serve her.

“Don’t be a tease, Smoke. I think we’ve waited long enough.” Gia’s husky tone made his cock twitch.

Smoke took a tentative swipe, groaning at the way her flavor settled along his tongue. He teased her opening but it hadn’t been nearly enough and he dove in again, teasing her opening, using his tongue to speak all the words he wasn’t ready to say out loud to her.

He took his time, coaxing more of her flavor on his tongue before he pushed her legs wider apart to accommodate his shoulders. He put one hand on her stomach and pulled back long enough to slip two fingers inside of her wet heat. Gia gripped the bedsheets and her hips moved, fucking his fingers. She whimpered his name—a praise that made him bring his mouth down over her clit.

Gia’s hips jerked. She rubbed her pussy all over his face, and he loved every second of it. He loved how uninhibited she was taking her pleasure from him with no remorse. She looked free, lost in the ecstasy of his fingers and tongue against her skin. She chanted his name, begging him not to let up, and any other time he would have obliged, but he selfishly wanted to feel her cum while his cock was inside of her.

Smoke pulled back and Gia shot up, wrapping her hands around his wrist. “Why did you stop?” Her face was wild—caught between anger and desire, and weren’t those two sides of the same coin?

“Because I want to be inside you when you’re cumming. I want to feel what it’s like to have your walls wrapped tight around my cock.” Smoke stood to his full height, pulling out of her grasp. “At least for the first time,” he winked at her.

Smoke grabbed her chin, forcing her face to his and he kissed her, letting her taste herself on him. She bit his bottom lip, causing him to grunt. He used his other hand to haphazardly undo the button of his pants and pulled the zipper down.

Smoke broke the kiss. “Lay back, sunshine,” he commanded, dropping his pants down to his ankles. He gripped his cock in one hand, slowly stroking himself and loving the way she licked her lips as she watched him. He toed off his shoes and slipped out of his pants before climbing up her body. Gia welcomed him, a smile teasing her lips as she looked down at his cock.

“Bold of you to think I can cum with penetration alone,” Gia teased, reaching in between them.

Smoke’s retort died on his tongue when Gia batted his hands away to wrap her own around his cock. He sucked in a sharp breath, watching her small hand try and wrap fully around him. He moved, pushing himself into her hand—loving the feel of her stroking him, teasing him. He dropped his hands to either side of her body, using the bed to keep himself up right so he wouldn’t completely fall into her. He whispered her name, trying to keep his eyes open and not get lost in the sensation of her touch.

Gia shifted her hips up and Smoke held his breath. He watched mesmerized as she guided the crown of his cock toward her entrance. She rubbed the head against her slickness, and his body shook. He cursed and his hand shot to her hip, in a punishing grip. He gritted her name, begging to be put out of his misery. This was a torture he would surely die from.

Her light laughter felt like she rained kisses down his spine, and he shifted his head so he could steal his own kiss from her. “Now who’s being a tease?” Smoke murmured into her mouth when she slowly guided him inside of her.

He felt Gia’s breath against his lips, felt her warm body welcome him home as he stretched her inch by merciful inch. A low rumble rattled around his chest once he was settled inside of her. He took a moment to feel how good she felt underneath him, how good her hands on him felt, and how right this felt to be here with her now. He knew the moment he met her she would be the catalyst that changed who he was on a fundamental level, and these past months had proven how right he was.

Gia was his friend.

His sunshine.

And after tonight, she would be his in every way that mattered. He knew the moment he first kissed her she was it, and the world was going to have to end before he ever gave her up.