Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

small and press tight against the wall so Aleksandr can try to get by?”
    “Great,” Joley groused. “You just had to be a big man with shoulders as wide as the Mississippi.” She tried to squish herself against the rock.
    Aleksandr managed to squeeze past Joley muttering his apologies. He caught Abigail by the shoulders and tried to slide past. The moment his body was pressed against hers, the moment he felt her soft skin, as wet as she was, smelling of the ocean, his body recognized hers. She fit. She belonged. Every part of him, body and soul, wanted her. Even needed her. He swore softly, his fingers tightening on her shoulders as reaction slammed into him hard and wrenching and far more powerful than he expected.
    Abigail looked up at him, compelled by the heat and hardness of his body, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. The torch she held illuminated his face, the lines etched so deeply, the eyes that had seen too many horrors in life. She had thought she knew him, the things he was capable of to keep others from harm. She had always thought herself one of the protected yet he had sacrificed her in just the same way he did the others he used for information. For his career. To reach his ultimate goal. She understood that now and she had learned the hard way.
    Abigail shook her head, denying the way something deep inside of her reached out to him. She would not be drawn in by the lingering melancholy in his eyes. She wouldn’t let him touch her with his sadness, or his need, or even his terrible solitude. She wouldn’t let the greatness she saw in him persuade her.
    Yes, he dedicated his life to catching monsters, to tracking criminals. She knew he had a sense of honor and loyalty to his homeland, but she also knew that he was as merciless and as ruthless as any of the criminals he was after.

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    She let him see it in her eyes. She would not risk herself again. Not her life and not her magic. She turned her face away.
    Joley tightened her fingers around Abigail’s, drawing her attention. Magic bound them together along with their blood. What one felt, so did the other, and Joley blinked back tears, understanding something traumatic had happened to Abigail. Abbey squeezed her fingers in reassurance. She couldn’t protect her younger sister from the strong emotions they shared. It was the last thing she wanted to happen. She dreaded telling her sisters the truth of what she’d done, but she knew she had no choice.
    Aleksandr leaned down, his lips pressed against Abigail’s ear. “You used to have an open mind.”
    Her heart jumped in her chest. “That was a long time ago.”
    “Not to me, baushki-bau , never to me.”
    “You’re hurting me.” The words slipped out before she could stop them. Four years was a long time and she should have been over it, but it was all there, every vivid detail, cutting into her when it should have been long buried.
    He slid past her without another word, taking the torch from her hand. “Stay here until I give you the okay.”
    He was all business again as if the small exchange had never happened. Abigail clung to Joley, not realizing she was doing so. He could turn his emotions on and off at will. Why hadn’t she seen that when she’d been so in love with him? It was a glaring flaw she should never have overlooked.
    Joley made a single sound of distress as the light from the torch moved away from them, leaving them in darkness. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry, Abbey. I have to go back. I can’t breathe. My heart’s going to explode.”
    “All right, honey. I’m so sorry. I completely forgot about your claustrophobia.”
    “I’m nearly to the other stairway,” Aleksandr called back. “I’ll need a little help, ladies. Joley, why don’t you sing for me so I know how far away you are.”
    “Aleksandr”—Abigail was suddenly afraid—“don’t mess with anything lethal. We’ll just go back. The shooter has to be gone by now. We can swim for it.”
    “I’ve almost gotten to the other side, malutka.” There was a distinct drawling caress to his voice.
    Abigail didn’t trust him. He said all the right things. He was distracting Joley, his voice sexy and filled with reassurance and concern, but in the end, what mattered was that he wanted to follow the smugglers’
    route. He wanted to go up the stairs and see where the smugglers went. She always had