by Selena Scott
Dora leaned in the window, peering to see if there were any clues she’d missed when a stick cracked in the woods behind her.
Dora froze, knowing full well that she was currently backlit by the dull glow of the security lights inside the building. It suddenly occurred to her that she was standing in the dead of the night in the middle of the Washington State wilderness. Though the reasons she’d gone to ask the Malashoviks about bears had been subterfuge, they now suddenly stood up. She supposed she would rather not meet a bear in the flesh right now.
Turning slowly, her back against the brick wall behind her, Dora peered into the woods, knowing with a crawling of skin, that whatever was in there could see her a hell of a lot better than she could see it. Well, worst came to worst, she could swing back up onto the roof. Hopefully whatever it was couldn’t climb.
A light night breeze ruffled the pines, throwing deep shadows through the already dark trees and Dora saw a glinting green for just a moment. A primal terror raced through her, lacing her blood with zinging adrenaline as she realized there was a large animal not fifteen feet from her. The breeze came again, tossing shadows, and Dora saw them again. Twin points of reflection. Two big, green eyes staring at her. And the flick of a tail. She blinked hard. Saw a flash of orange. It was ridiculous. Not possible. But Dora could have sworn she was looking right into the eyes of a-
No. Couldn’t be. Dora blinked and the night shadows swirled around, swallowing up whatever it was that she thought she’d seen. Her eyes couldn’t see it anymore. But her body could feel it. Something raced up her spine and for the first time since she’d hopped the fence, she felt real fear. She hadn’t been scared when she’d thought she might run into whoever was running that lab. But she was worried now about whatever had just slunk back into the forest.
Another night, she decided. The testing site was abandoned. Hadn’t been touched in at least a year. It would hold for another night.
***
Danil pulled a hairbrush through Dora's hair as she leaned back in between his legs and purred like a kitten. It felt so good. The sun on their faces, the scratchy hairs on his legs rubbing her soft skin. She knew they'd have to get up soon. But for now they spread out in the living room, the afternoon sun streaming in over them. Dora's eyes closed for just a second before they popped back open as he took her earlobe between his teeth.
"No sleeping," he growled, his accent thick.
One of his hands trailed down the side of her neck, tightening slightly in a delicious possession of her body. A body that he'd fully claimed. He touched her with the familiarity of a man who knew exactly what she needed and exactly how to give it to her.
His hand continued traveling south, down the center of her chest, between her breasts, intentionally ignoring the sensitive points of her nipples. She mewled in protest, wiggling slightly in his lap but he hushed her, his lips at her ear.
"Don't be greedy," he growled. "You'll take what I give you."
And she did. His searching hand found the wetness between her legs and it was all Dora could do to keep still, to let him work his magic. And magic it was. Her body bucked and arched as a powerful release took over her.
"Danil," she whispered his name like a prayer. Like an ancient, powerful word.
"Shit." Dora sat straight up in bed, rolling her eyes at the heavens and cursing herself. Her blood raced with her release and every centimeter of her skin was tingling and over-sensitized. This was getting ridiculous.
It was the millionth time in two weeks that Dora had woken up, panting and thinking of Danil. Damn sexy Belarusian lawyer. She rolled out of her bed and toward the shower. It was barely light outside but she knew she wasn't getting any more sleep.
He was doing dirty things to her almost every time she got a chance to get some shut eye and it was driving her crazy. In more ways than one.
Spokane wasn't a small town, but she'd seen him from afar or bumped into him almost every day since their almost-kiss. It didn't help that she'd gotten hauled into the precinct twice more. Luckily they weren't charging her with anything. At this point, most of the cops found it sort of funny. But not Danil.
Every time their eyes connected across the precinct, he stared daggers at her. She knew it was because his family was hiding something. She just didn't know how to tell him that she wasn't a threat to him. Not her problem, she thought as she turned the shower on full spray. If he wanted to be a suspicious ass, that was his prerogative. A hot, five o’clock-shadowed, suit-wearing, deep-voiced, good-smelling, suspicious ass.
She stepped into the punishing cold of a shower yet to turn warm.
She had better things to think about. Tonight she was going back to the animal testing site she'd found. She'd gotten scared away by whatever animal had been in the woods. And tonight was finally the night she was able to go back. She'd been staking out a package sorting facility almost every night for two weeks. But at this point, she knew their schedule. They wouldn't be receiving anything. So she had the all-clear to go back and explore to her heart's content.
She was glad for it. She'd gathered a lot of information on her stake-outs. But there was too much time with her thoughts for her liking. Which ultimately meant too much time with Danil. She was sick of thinking of him.
As long as he gave her a little breathing room to do her job, she didn't care.
Couldn't care. About anything but what she'd come to Spokane to find out.
CHAPTER THREE
"Chrystos," Danil cursed in Belarusian as he watched Dora Katsaros stroll out of his favorite coffee shop with a to-go cup in her hand. She scrolled through something on her phone and he sucked in a breath as she stepped off the curb without looking. A biker swerved around her, shouting.
Danil bounded forward, but before his very eyes, her smile and a few quick words had the biker blushing and smiling right back. And, Jesus, apologizing to HER. Even though she’d been the careless one.
Danil gave in and pinched the bridge of his nose against the headache that was quickly forming there. This woman had the world wrapped around her finger. He refused to be a part of it.
Unfortunately, she very clearly was a part of his world. As she was everywhere around town. He'd seen her almost once a day for two weeks. Mostly at the precinct. He'd been there taking care of his clients, and she'd been there for God knows what. Either because she'd been dragged in on more charges, or more likely, because she was using all that charm to make nice with a few cops she'd like to have in her pocket.
Either way, Danil had steered clear of her as best as he could. She was a complication that his family did not need. Hell, she was a complication he didn't need either. He scowled at her as she flirted with the biker.
He'd seen her in the supermarket the other day. She'd been buying apples. Turning them over in her hands to check for bruises. He hadn't liked how it had made him feel. Seeing her doing something like that. He preferred to think of her as Dora Katsaros, professional snoop. Not Dora Katsaros, human being. Very pretty human being. Very pretty human being with an ass that made a man want to beg for mercy.
Dora looked up from the biker, her eyes drawn by Danil's intense stare. Her body tensed when she recognized him. Good. So she wasn't immune. He considered turning and heading to the meeting he was already late for. But there she was, staring him down as if she owned the sidewalk she was currently standing on, one hip out and a little smirk on her face. Without considering any further, Danil tucked his hands in the pockets of his well-cut suit and strolled over to her.
He completely ignored the douche in the bike shorts whose eyes were glued to her chest.
"Ms. Katsaros."
"Mr. Malashovik."
"Goodbye," Danil said to the biker. The man's face recoiled at the tone, but he took the hint, pushing away on his bike with one last wistful look at Dora.
"That was rude," Dora said, hiding her smile behind her to-go coffee cup.
"You've been rude," Danil responded. "You've made me late
for my meeting."
"And exactly how did I do that?"
"You almost got yourself run over in the street and made me come over to see if you were alright. And now I'm late for my meeting and don't have time for coffee."
"I wasn't in any danger from Henry," Dora nodded at the biker's departing back. "He had my best interests at heart."
"Henry?" Danil scoffed. "Did you get his telephone number as well?"
Dora hid her smile again. "We didn't have the chance to exchange information as we were interrupted by a very rude man."
Danil opened his mouth to quip back but she beat him to it.
"How do you take your coffee?" she asked, swallowing some of her own.
"Black."
She took one more swig of her coffee before she shoved the half empty cup into his hand. “It’s the least I can do, Mr. Malashovik," she said, striding away from him down the street, a slight smile on her face like she knew she'd won that round.
Twice in less than ten minutes, Danil found himself standing on the street and scowling at her back. He took a swig of her coffee and scowled even further. It was black, the way he liked it. But he'd be damned if it didn't taste like her.
***
Dora parked her car in the same place she had last time, about a mile or so through the woods from the testing site. Far from the motion sensor lights or the cameras. She tracked soundlessly through the woods.
She wasn’t scared of what was in the woods with her this time. Not like the last time she was there. There were no tripping skitters up her spine this time. And besides, she was better armed. She held her bear mace in one hand and a small Taser in the other. In the pocket of her bomber jacket was her good camera and some rubber gloves.
She was leaving that site with evidence if it was the last thing she did on this earth.
She found the same place where she’d scaled the fence before and went easily over. Cursing as she tore her jeans at the exact same spot as before. “Come on, Katsaros!”
She could practically hear her father’s voice in her ear. Never make the same mistake twice. It was something he’d said to her a hundred times if he’d said it once.
Shaking it off, Dora landed like a cat and immediately trotted in the direction of the abandoned outhouse. She could see it in the distance, her mind’s eye already filling in the contents. It spurred her on and she picked up her pace.
“You there!” a voice yelled from her left.
Dora damn near jumped out of her boots. A small, panicked scream ripped out of her before she got a hold of herself. A bright light flashed in her eyes and by the time Dora could see again, she recognized the cop who was pacing toward her.
Well, it was time to pay the piper, Dora figured as she heard the familiar sound of handcuffs being removed from a belt. You sneak around enough, you get caught. She’d certainly been caught enough in the last few weeks to have her reconsidering a career in cat burglary. But she tried not to feel more than a mild disappointment. It was only setting her back a night. She’d come back and explore more a second time.
“You there!” the cop said again. “Put your hands in the air.”
Dora did as he asked. “Officer Crowley, it’s Dora Katsaros. We met last week when you, uh, arrested me? I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve been terribly lost for hours. Can you help me find my way home?”
When the cop called for backup from his partner, and slapped the cuffs on her wrists, Dora took it philosophically. There were only so many arrests a girl could talk herself out of in one month. Besides. If she couldn’t talk herself out of the precinct on this one, she knew somebody who she was pretty sure would bail her out.
***
Danil was running through the woods with his brothers. The weak spring sun was like lemon on the air. He could taste it. His excellent vision narrowed in on a glossy, wet spider web in the distance, but they tumbled on, the four of them. He heard a bird somewhere over his shoulder and jumped. It was a loud-ass bird. And it would not stop ringing. Wait. Birds didn’t ring.
Shit.
Danil scrabbled for his cell phone on the nightstand. He didn’t even bother opening his eyes. He knew by the scent in his room that it was still the middle of the night. Which meant that some prick was causing a ruckus in some precinct and the cops had had enough. They called in the lawyers when they needed the rowdy ones to calm the hell down and get the picture. It was just his bad luck that he’d apparently been assigned this case.
“Malashovik,” he growled into the phone.
“Hey there, Dan. This is Bill Mumford over at the Southern precinct in Cheney.”
Danil said nothing. He needed Mumford to get to the heart of the matter before the sun came up.
Apparently Mumford got the picture. “We picked up a woman over here who’s requesting your services.”
“I’m a public defender, Mumford. She can’t just pick my name out of the phonebook like I’m an ambulance chaser.”
“She’s not looking for a lawyer, she’s looking for bail money.”
And now Danil was wide awake, sitting up fast so that the sheets pooled around his hips.
He didn’t have to ask, he already knew exactly who it was.
“It’s a lady by the name of-”
“Dora Katsaros,” Danil interrupted. “I’ll be at the precinct in 40 minutes.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Man, thanks again,” Dora said as she stood outside the passenger side of Danil’s car. “I’ll pay you back right now, my checkbook is in my car.”
Danil said nothing. He just surveyed her over the hood of his car. His face lined and sooty in the morning light. He had an overnight beard and bedhead. Dora’s mouth absolutely watered. She knew that she probably looked terrible. She didn’t have bedhead, she had jail head. Which basically consisted of thirty minutes of scattered shut-eye leaned up against the wall of a holding cell.
She could’ve kissed the cop who’d known Danil’s phone number when she’d mentioned his name. She had no idea who else she could’ve called at that point.
Still, Danil said nothing. Dora found herself talking to fill the silence.
“Like I said, I’m really grateful. I told them they didn’t have to call you in the middle of the night. I was happy to wait until morning. And I didn’t expect you to come all the way out here so early, you know?”
He looked at her as if he were carved out of stone.
Okay. He was a real tough cookie apparently. Although cookie was the wrong word. There was nothing sugary about this man. He was more like granite. Or a thick strip of leather. Well, she must really be sleep-deprived because even her thoughts were rambling.
“Why are you standing at my car?” he finally said, biting off the words as if they tasted bad.
“Oh,” Dora laughed quickly, realizing that she hadn’t been clear. “I need a ride to my car.”
Danil muttered something in what Dora assumed was Belarusian, as he cast his eyes toward the sky. She pursed her lips. She didn’t want to grin and press her luck here, but the whole angry Belarusian thing was really frickin’ cute. Especially when he was in a rumpled t-shirt and jeans. He was even more attractive all casual than he had been in his suit.
He didn’t say anything more, simply unlocked his car and got in. Dora dove in as well, thinking that if she didn’t move fast enough, he might damn well leave without her.
She told him where her car was and he slanted a strange look at her. They were silent for most of the drive, his hands tight on the wheel. He shifted in the seat, apparently unable to keep silent.
“You are journalist,” he said, his accent thicker than she’d heard from him before. He cleared his throat. “You are a journalist,” he corrected himself.
Dora said nothing, just raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t seem to notice. Or care. He tumbled on. “But you’re not affiliated with any paper right now. You’re famous for investigating. For uncovering corruption. You were the one who exposed the CEOs who were e
xtorting their undocumented household workers. But you haven’t written anything in a few years. Your real name is Pandora. Like the box. The curious woman who opened the box.”
Dora ignored the pinch in her gut. She hadn’t written anything in four years. Since her dad died. She swallowed against the sharp pain that those thoughts always rode in on.
She put a smile on her face. One that she knew softened men right up. “Well, somebody had themselves a little party on Google last night.”
Apparently Danil Malashovik was immune to the smile. He stared blandly back at her.
“So. You’re investigating something now. In Spokane.” It wasn’t a question. He pulled up behind her rental car which she’d parked in a stand of trees off a lonely highway about a mile from the site she’d investigated last night.
Dora shrugged, nonchalant. “Like I said. I just moved here. I’m just getting the lay of the land. I like to get to know my neighborhood.”
“You’ve been arrested for trespassing three times in two days,” he said blandly. “You’re terrible at exploring your neighborhood.”
Dora pursed her lips again. “Must be.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. “Anyways, thanks for everything. The bail and the ride. Let me just grab my checkbook and we’ll be even-steven.”
She had her hand on the door handle when she felt his on her shoulder. His palm was warm and unexpectedly calloused for a lawyer. She had her suspicions that he wasn’t just a lawyer, though she wasn’t thinking about that now. She was thinking about his warm, gold-brown eyes that were currently lit sideways by the rising sun. His face, harsh and handsome, was more serious than she’d ever seen it.
“Pandora, why was I your phone call?”
Huh. The real question was why didn’t she want to answer that question? She cleared her throat, shot for an easy-breezy voice. “You’re the only person I know in Spokane.”
