Conflicted (Undercover #2) by Helena Newbury Read Free Book Online Page B

phone calls. When he’d dumped her, she’d angrily reminded him, in her precise, clipped tones, about all the wonderful things she’d done for him. The things she’d let him do to her.
    “You were telling her”—I felt myself redden, which hopefully made it seem authentic –“you were telling her you were going to take her up the ass again,” I said.
    And for the first time ever, Luka dropped his eyes from mine. Was that a tiny hint of a blush in his cheeks? If it was, it was gone in a second. “Okay,” he said.
    Whew.
    Then he frowned. “How did you understand what I was saying?”
    Shit! I hadn’t thought of that. I wasn’t supposed to understand Russian, let alone muttered Russian sleep-talking. I decided to go for broke. “You said it in English,” I said nonchalantly, digging my nails into my palms.
    He frowned again. Then he seemed to remember something and nodded to himself, as if he now understood. “Ah. I see.”
    “What?”
    He shook his head. The matter was closed. But, now that the danger was passed, I was intrigued. “No, tell me—what?”
    “Is sex thing, is not for you.” His English always got mangled when he was flustered, or excited.
    “Because I’m an innocent?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
    “Yes.”
    “But it’s okay for you to corrupt me when you want to?” I asked.
    Now there was a gleam in his eye. “Yes.”
    I kept staring at him and, eventually, he relented. “I must have been dreaming about a sex game I used to play with Natalia,” he said. “I used to speak to her in English, when we played it.”
    “Why?”
    “I’d be interrogating her.”
    “ Interrogating—”
    He smirked. “She used to pretend to be an American spy.”
    My stomach did a full somersault and then plummeted into my feet. “Oh.”
    He patted my shoulder. He’d cheered up, now, amused at how shocked I looked. “We will be sailing, soon. I’ll go and see about some dinner.” He nodded at the torn panties on the floor. “You find some new ones. Or just leave them off.” He kissed the top of my head and strode out the door, his shoulders almost brushing the door frame.
    I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. Now that he’d gone, the adrenaline washed through me, leaving me a trembling mess. I’d come that close to blowing my cover. I’d got angry and Natalia’s name had slipped out. All it had taken was for me to lose control.
    And around Luka, losing control was inevitable.

 
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
    It soon became clear that Luka had dispensed with all of the crew who’d normally look after the yacht and its guests on a voyage. I figured there must be a captain, somewhere, to steer the thing, but there were no cleaners, maids or deckhands. Just us, Yuri and all the guys dressed in black. From their muscle and haircuts, I presumed they were ex-army, maybe even ex- Spetsnaz: Russian Special Forces. They didn’t smile at me or glare at me. They treated me like luggage Luka had brought aboard.
    There were huge refrigerators in the galley stocked with plenty of food, pre-prepared for easy reheating. We loaded up and, back in the stateroom, we sat at the table and feasted. There was pork with marinated apples, gravy and mushrooms and some very good red wine.
    As we ate, I felt the throb of the engines. We were underway. Heading off into the night across a freezing, dark ocean, heading who-knew where. My stomach tightened at the thought. And, at the same time, I was getting into some sort of twisted relationship with Luka. I didn’t know where that was heading, either, and that was even more dangerous.
    “No,” said Luka suddenly. “You’re not another Natalia.”
    “What?” I’d zoned out for a second.
    “You’re not another Natalia.”
    I caught my breath. “What am I, then?”
    He looked at me for a long time, then gave a wry little laugh and shook his head, muttering something I couldn’t quite hear.
    “What?”
    “Nothing.”
    I played it back in my mind,