Sergei's Stubborn Captive (The Captive Series Book 3)

by Steele, C. M.

  “Lana, you will learn I’m not a man to piss off. So far you have managed to do that more often than I would like, almost since from the first time we met. Women do not usually anger me like you do.” He growled as he looked at the blood on his suit. He unbuttoned his suit coat, took it off and tossed it on the seat next to him. He needed more than a drink to deal with this woman.

  “What? Because you’re so charming?” Her dig stung, but he wasn’t going to let her get the better of him again. This woman had managed to discombobulate him at every turn. He didn’t know if he wanted to choke her or kiss her, but she wasn’t the shut up and take it type. No, he had a fight ahead of him.

  “No, because I don’t usually let their mouths and tantrums affect me,” he stated calmly, showing no emotion. He took another drink from his glass, which thankfully hadn’t spilled during her feeble attempt to run.

  Sergei could tell that she was getting more and more frustrated. Reaching the breaking point, she let her fear loosen her tongue. “What’s the point in this? Why don’t you just kill me already?”

  He set out to piss her off like she’d done to him. “Miss Grey, why can’t you just enjoy a beautiful vacation?”

  “Beautiful vacation?! You’re nuts! You’re fucking insane if you think I should consider this a vacation. What do you expect? For me just to enjoy myself? Did your last captive enjoy her vacation?”

  “As a matter of fact she did. Now sit back, shut up and relax. You’ve given me a fucking headache,” he growled. Why couldn’t I want someone like Bianca? His head was pounding, and he was truly rethinking keeping her with him for the next two weeks. She was a real piece of work.

  Pressing the button near his seat, he called Anika back out. Once she came near him, he asked Anika for some pain relievers as he wiped the last of the blood from his nose. She looked at him, then to Miss Grey, and shook her head at the captive. He knew Anika wouldn’t care for a young woman who refused to cooperate with Mr. Antonov, whom she adored. He’d been there when she had a serious family emergency, and there wasn’t anything she would do for him. Some say she had a crush, but he knew better. He’d been her hero and nothing more.

  Lana stared at him with pure hatred and hissed, “I hope it’s broken.”

  She had a lot of balls, he’d give her that. Sergei wanted to take her over his knee and let her feel the sting on her ass, but he let his calm nature ease him back into a relaxed mode. Not caring was the best way to get at her and he knew it, so he struck. “You hit hard for… a supposed lady, but no, you haven’t broken it.”

  He ruffled her feathers with that insult, and she let him know it too. “Supposed lady?! You asshole. Just wait. Come near me again and see what happens.” He didn’t doubt she was pissed enough to do something about it, but he wasn’t afraid of her. She would learn that soon enough. He’d endured more in his life than a green rookie detective looking to break into the ranks with a fighting spirit.

  “See? You continue to prove that you’re not a lady. Vulgar and rough like a man. I don’t care for it. It’s very unattractive.” He loved to tease her about her looks. In truth, he found her captivating, but he wouldn’t let her know how sexy he found her. Needing a distraction from the beautiful, stubborn captive, Sergei pulled a book from the briefcase he hadn’t read yet. He began to read and ignore the woman that drove him mad. He’d purchased the book on its release day because he loved to read, especially true crime novels. So far it was good, but her presence made it hard to get passed the first five pages. He could feel her eyes on him and the feeling was heady. He looked up angrily, attempting to dispel her power she had over him, but all it did was make him want to take her into the bedroom and strip her before burying his cock into her.

  “Well, frankly I couldn’t give a fuck what you like,” she replied when he put his head back down and continued to ignore her.

  “You are a real pain. As you can see I’m trying to read. Please be quiet,” he snarled.

  “No,” she stated in the same manner that he had earlier, full of pure spite and blatant disregard.

  “Very well.” He waited as Anika came with the pain medicine. He spoke to Anika sweetly, all the while ignoring Lana, then he requested duct tape in Russian. Anika turned to Lana and smirked before leaving them again. Sergei wanted to laugh at Anika’s annoyance, but that wouldn’t be good if he wanted to make Lana his woman. Where did that come from? I need to stop thinking those kind of things. She’s not right for me. I need a subdued and demure woman, not this hellcat.

  ~~~~~~

  “What was that about?” Lana hissed as she tilted her head toward Anika’s back as she walked away. She tried to fight the riotous feelings that confused her. On one hand she wanted him; on the other she hated all that he represented.

  “You’ll see.” He smirk was different than the stewardess. His was menacing. Once she returned, she handed Sergei a large roll of duct tape. Memories started to flood her brain. Her heart began to race and panic set in. She didn’t want to be a victim ever again, and she hated that she was starting to feel this way. So far this was the first time that she actually felt like a victim. Strange, as she’d been a victim of her obsession with him for over a month now.

  “You’re not really going to do that, are you?” Lana said fearfully. She started to fidget, afraid of what he was going to do to her. The tears started to gather in her eyes, but she managed to fight them back before looking at him again.

  “What is that phrase? Silence is Golden. Ah yes…and this is silver.” He waved the duct tape in his hand with a cheerful smile. “Festive, it will be.”

  “Please don’t,” Lana begged. The bravado that she had was starting to crack and the fear had crept in enough for Sergei to see it, plain as day. Her words had been shaky and full of fear, and she noticed that the look on his face changed from anger to actual concern.

  “Then please just be quiet,” Sergei growled, and she knew he meant business.

  ~~~~~~

  “You win,” she sighed in defeat. As much as he wanted her to be quiet and just do as he asked, he didn’t like the sudden change in her. The fear in her eyes and words had been real. As strong as she was, she’d blanched at the realization that he’d been serious about taping her up. It’s almost as if seeing the duct tape triggered a bad memory. He wondered what happened to her in the past. Did one of Santini’s enemies kidnap her? All of the sudden he felt like the bad guy, like she didn’t deserve his treatment toward her. Other than the actual kidnapping, he hadn’t really done anything cruel to her. As far as he was concerned, she should be grateful that he didn’t end her like most mobsters dealt with nosy-ass people who didn’t know when to quit.

  Sergei scoffed, then responded regretfully, “I’d wished it’d been this easy to get you to back off before. If you had, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “Me too,” she mumbled and looked down at her hands.

  Having had enough of her and her temper, and his guilt, he returned to his book. He hoped that the book would help get rid of the need to comfort her.

  He started to read and occasionally looked up from his book. Her anger subsided a bit as she started to drink the wine. Her wrist was hurting; he could see it because she was rubbing it. It bothered him, but he couldn’t trust her to behave. She leaned over and pressed her head against the plush back of the seat, closing her eyes to sleep. Her face was damn near perfect and innocent-looking, but he knew she was far from it.

  He sat there watching, admiring her and thinking about how he’d snatched her up.

  I stood outside in the light rain as I looked through the window. It was something I’d done for the last week. I hadn’t gotten the idea of her and another man out of my head. Once she’d confronted me in the store with him, I’d had enough. Now it was raining, and I needed to make this go down today before I let it go again. Wanting her for more than just to stop her from snooping had been becoming more obvious to me and everyone I was close to. The guys were on my case
to make my move. She forced my hand—or so that’s the story I’m going with.

  She had just changed into a light heather gray pajama short set. Her long dark hair was in a side ponytail flipped over her left shoulder. She had an innocent look going on, at least until I saw her banging body. She was built like a woman should be, tits and ass. I drooled like a schoolboy, or a perverted peeping tom. Her top was tight and revealed a great deal of her cleavage, something she’d always kept hidden. It was so sexy, the way her breasts were barely covered by that tank. The shorts exposed too much of her ass for my plan tonight, though. I’d have to make her dress fast because I didn’t want anyone of my men getting any fucked up ideas or fantasies about her.

  It was a warm breezy night, so she hadn’t closed the windows; even the light rain didn’t stop her from letting the freshness enter her home.

  That wasn’t a smart move on her part. Leaving a window open could be dangerous—someone might try to sneak in, I thought laughingly. I watched her move about with her ass cheeks sticking out of her shorts and a low growl came from within my chest. I didn’t understand the jealousy, or at least I wasn’t going to admit why I was jealous. She was so fucking beautiful but a huge pain in my ass. I wondered if she could be like Bianca and want me as much as Bee wanted Nikolai. That would be fantastic to have her grace my bed willingly. While absorbed in my thoughts, she turned out the light, and she walked out of the room. I knew it was go time.

  My team had everything set up to make it look like she left town for an unspecified time. On my word, they would come in and empty the house. A letter had been generated and my best forger signed her resignation. She had no idea who she’d been dealing with. I was forced into this lifestyle, so the least I could do was be great at it. I learned all I could, and I learned it well.

  I walked up to the open window and hopped right through it even with my expensive suit. I couldn’t abide by not taking her in style. With the wet ground, we knew a trail would be seen, so one of my handy helpers made sure my footprints were erased from the spot as soon as I got in the window.

  My years of experience made my entry easy as hell. I closed and locked the window so no one could hear her. I crept into her bedroom, putting my hand on the door just in time to stop her from closing it. She screamed out and ran to her nightstand without looking to see who was there. She was a smart girl. She pulled it open and searched around, trying to find what she needed to protect herself. I laughed because the gun she was looking for wasn’t there. My team already had been in her place earlier that morning while she’d been out stalking me for the hundredth time.

  She stood up and looked at me with shock and fear in her pretty blue eyes.

  “What’s the matter, Lana? You don’t like to be stalked?” I said as I stared at her hardened nipples through her top, causing her to stand straight as a board.

  “I didn’t sneak into your house,” she countered, trying to make a futile point.

  “You didn’t stay away when I asked you to; you didn’t stop when you were told to, and being suspended still didn’t stop you from following me around town. Now you’re going to have to pay.”

  “What are you going to do to me?” she asked boldly. I wanted to answer it in so many different ways. What I wanted to do to her was a loaded question. Burying my cock inside her was the first thing that came to mind.

  I gave her a smirk and continued to stare at her lovely peaked nipples. “You’re coming with me. The thing is whether you do it willingly or not, and that’s solely up to you.”

  “I would never go willingly with you.” I’d had a feeling her stubborn ass was going to say that, but it didn’t matter. It was still happening. She hadn’t realized how bothered I was by our last encounter. Nothing was going to stop me from letting her go.

  “Fine. Have it your way.” I walked up to her, trapping her in the corner. She tried to put up a fight, but she was no match for me. Lana’s struggle brought our faces inches from each other and her body was being held down by mine. Her potent beauty was even more dangerous up close.

  “Behave, beautiful Lana, and nothing will happen to you.” My hands caught hers as she tried to strike me. I smiled and shook my head at her. She was fucking strong and determined. I knew she was fighting for her life, but I had no intention of hurting her. I just wanted to teach her a lesson and get her to back off and maybe open up for me. Something about the way she had continuously pressed me about the disappearance of Claudio Santini pissed me off. I couldn’t explain why it bothered me so much, but it did. Nikolai and Luciano claimed that I was jealous, but I knew it had to do with the fact that she cared for a monster. He was the scum of the Earth and now joined his brethren in the dirt.

  She tried to use her legs against me, but I was prepared for this. She tried to knock me off balance, so I threw her on the bed and pinned her body down with mine.

  “So this is what you broke in here for?” Her insinuation was clear as day, but I wasn’t going to fuck her until she begged me for it. When she cried out my name, I wanted it to be cries of pleasure.

  “Not at all, Miss Grey. I don’t like my women unwilling.” I turned my face away from her because her beautiful blue eyes were hypnotizing and that’s when I saw it. On her beautiful white bedsheets lay a file opened with a picture of Santini and her at the altar. I growled and jumped off her. My rage was so all consuming. She’d been married to that bastard—hell, she could still be. That’s why she wanted to find justice for him.

  I was disgusted with the emotions coursing through me. I tossed the file on the ground and left the room. She had no way to escape because my men had the place surrounded, but I needed to get some air. I walked out into the light rain, tilting my head up to catch the cleansing water on my face. All of a sudden taking her seemed all the more important, like I had more to prove. I hated Santini even more than I already did. After catching my breath, I looked at my guy and took the ties he had in his hand. It was time to take her away now. She was closer to the situation than just an eager detective. Lana had graced his bed. Revulsion and pure jealousy coated my mind. I shook off the feeling and walked back into her tiny house.

  “It’s time to go, Lana,” I said as I entered the room. I knew she would try to hit me with whatever she could get her hands on so I came through the door in a roll, catching her off guard. I wrapped my hands around her thighs and took her down on to the carpet. My face landed right on her sweet snatch and I didn’t miss the opportunity to take a sniff of her heat. I could smell her arousal; she was actually turned on. It could stem from fear or from real desire. I’d find out soon. I kissed her covered mound lightly and pushed off before I used the zip ties.

  “Let me go!” Lana screeched. She didn’t even flinch when I touched her heat with my mouth. Damn, I what I could do to her. It’d be only a matter of time before I had her bouncing greedily on my cock.

  Lana continued to squirm as I used the ties. As a cop she knew that she was only going to hurt herself by struggling. “You can be quiet and this will go smoothly and painlessly…or you can continue to piss me off, and it won’t work out so well for you.”

  She tried to sound tough as I got up from the ground. “You’ll pay for this,” Lana hissed from her now seated position on the floor.

  My grin was so huge it should have frightened her, but she still had her tough girl panties on. “No, I won’t,” I said.

  I scooped her up and flipped her over my shoulder, her jeans brushing lightly against my face. Then it dawned on me that she slipped on some clothes. I smiled because she thought it was a barrier between us, but if I wanted, it wouldn’t be. I walked calmly to my car and dropped her in the trunk.

  “Where are you taking me?” Lana asked, shaking Sergei out of his thoughts.

  “You’ll see when we get there.” He looked at the defeated beauty and regret was starting to seep in. He didn’t like her tied up like that, but he also knew she wouldn’t behave if he let her loose again.

  “I
know why you’ve been looking for Santini.”

  “Why does it matter? Are you going to tell me where you buried him?”

  “I told you before, I didn’t do anything to him. Not that I didn’t or still don’t want to rip his heart out, but when it comes to Santini, my conscience is clean.”

  Lana just stared at him for a moment before she asked the question that was written in her expression. “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Not if you behave,” Sergei answered. He had no intention of harming her, let alone take her life. No, as every second passed he was certain the guys were right.

  “I’m supposed to believe you?” she asked with ridicule.

  Sergei was offended, but due to the circumstances he’d let it go. “No, but it’s your choice how you want to handle your captivity.”

  “Hmm…” Lana said, before turning away from Sergei to stare at the wall.

  He could see the fatigue of the past two hours was wearing on her, and he didn’t like that he was to blame for her being uncomfortable. “Are you tired?”

  “Yes, I am,” Lana said sleepily, eyes closed and head pressed against the head rest. Sergei stared at her, thinking about what was best. He would offer a compromise.

  “I can’t trust you to behave so I can’t remove all the ties, but there is a bed in the back that you could rest in until we land,” he said as he pointed to the back of the plane.

  She immediately opened her eyes and hungrily said, “I will behave.”

  “Lana, I don’t believe that at all,” Sergei said, giving her a look of suspicion. As much as he wanted to believe her, he’d already been at the wrong end of her deception. His face wasn’t in for a second round.

  Lana shook her head at him and rolled her eyes, adding, “What can I do? I’m trapped a mile high in the sky with nothing but the clothes on my back.”