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Chapter 2
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The Darkest Hour Chapter 3
The scents and sounds of sex surrounded Kenzie like a dark erotic haze. She clenched Royce's hand tightly as they wove through the maze of brocaded couches and past the imposing yet elegant drink bar. Kenzie stumbled as she noticed a woman clad only in expensive-looking lingerie who lay stretched lengthwise down the bar on her back. The bartender placed a row of shot glasses on the woman's torso, then retrieved a bottle of whiskey from the back of the bar and began to pour into the glasses. Men in expensive suits watched the alcohol drip over the tops of the glasses and trickle down the woman's skin.Oh God Kenzie pictured herself as that woman, every man's gaze on her bare body as she lay there exposed, whiskey dripping down her body. Would one of the men lick it off? Taste the alcohol on her skin and lose himself in her body? A shiver rolled through Kenzie, but it wasn't one of disgust. It intrigued her in ways she didn't have words to express. She wanted to experience that. Wanted
The Darkest Hour Chapter 4
They left the club. Royce nodded at Mistress Aria and the serious-looking bouncer beside her before they walked out to the parking lot."My car," she said as they passed by the Mazda."Leave it. I'll send someone to collect it. Tonight we're taking mine." He nodded to the red-and-black Lamborghini Aventador parked in a reserved spot. Royce opened her door, and it lifted up rather than out. Wow. He'd never driven this to campus before. He noticed her eyeing him and then the car before he shut her door. The man looked far too smug at her open appreciation.Royce walked around and got into his seat to start the car. The engine had a throaty purr, like a big jungle cat."Where's your motorcycle?" she asked as she buckled herself in.Royce chuckled. "Sometimes I don't go home alone, and the women here are dressed for straddling me, not a motorcycle."The thought of straddling him made her insides quiver. Stop it. Don't think about him or sex. She'd managed to be his TA for a whole yea
The Darkest Hour Chapter 5
Royce slipped into the hall and leaned against the banister by the stairs as he struggled to get control. Tonight was going to be a huge test of his strength. Letting his sweet, innocent and incredibly smart teaching assistant sleep under his roof was going to damn near kill him, because he wanted her.There were reasons he preferred visiting the Gilded Cuff. The safety and security of a place where everyone understood the rules, and everyone was a temporary player. MacKenzie Martin was not that type of girl. She was the kind a man fell in love with and married, and he wasn't the marrying kind.Having her under his roof was like waving an expensive glass of scotch in front of an alcoholic. Just the scent of her, the feel of her hair beneath his fingers, and seeing those wide brown eyes begging for his help She was a temptation he would do almost anything to possess.He hadn't hired her based on her looks, even though she was sexy as hell. He'd chosen to hire her after a stellar phon
The Darkest Hour Chapter 6
Kenzie took a minute to enjoy this moment, even though she felt some guilt that she did. She was in Royce Devereaux's mansion in a bedroom just down the hall from him. She was staying the night in an American castle with a man who starred almost nightly in her fantasies.Keep calm, girl! She tried to remind herself not to get carried away. She was here because he wanted to protect her, not because he wanted to sleep with her.She set the pajamas down on the bed and was starting to undress when she heard the strains of an old song drift down the hallway. It was a song she recognizedDinah Washington's "This Bitter Earth." A beautiful, crooning song that was half a century old. Typical Royce. The man could wear a leather jacket, a Van Halen concert shirt, and ride a motorcycle to work yet listen to Dinah Washington. He was a complete mystery to her sometimes. It was as though he was trapped in the past and yet streaking toward the future. It confused and intrigued her, knowing that she'
The Darkest Hour Chapter 7
Kenzie had fucking fainted.Royce cursed as he caught Little Mac in his arms and lifted her up. He should have known that would have been too much for her. Hell, it had been scary as hell for him too, and he'd had training for moments like this for almost a decade. Glass crunched beneath his boots as he carried her out of the kitchen. It had been a thankfully short battle, but violent. The three men had been in the room across the hall, waiting for them to come out. He and Hans had taken positions behind the walls and managed to put one man down. Another had shot his way through the large window and escaped. The third they'd captured, but not before he had riddled the pantry with bullets.And almost killed Kenzie.Royce would never forget the moment he'd run in after that man had started spraying metal death along his kitchen wall. Knowing he'd been the one to tell Kenzie to hide there. It would be his fault if she was hurt. His fault if she was killed.But the door swung open and
The Darkest Hour Chapter 8
Kenzie kept her eyes shut tight, but she couldn't keep out the violent flashes of memory of everything that had happened tonight. The gun barrel aimed at her head back at the office, which already felt like a lifetime ago. The escape through dark and wet streets to the Gilded Cuff, uncertain if anywhere would be safe. And then the shots, the shattering glass and wood of the pantry door exploding above her.I could have died. The panic filled her with an unexpected rage, and she shook all the harder beneath the hot water."Kenzie, honey" Royce's rough voice drew her slowly out of the depths of her thoughts. She didn't look up, not at first. She was too ashamed, too mortified he was seeing her like this."Honey, please." The shower door opened, and Royce stepped in, still in his clothes, but without his boots. He knelt beside her, then eased onto the tile floor, his arm touching her bare shoulder. He reached his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to him.Kenzie watched his o
The Darkest Hour Chapter 9
Royce stood beside his bed, quietly watching Kenzie as she slipped into sleep. Her breathing slowed and became deeper, and her hands unclenched for the first time in hours. The worry lines that framed her eyes smoothed as she slipped into dreams.Damn, he had to be careful. She was his, but she could never truly be his. And not just because protecting her meant not letting her ruin her career for him. No, it was because life was a cruel bitch.Whenever he thought of loving someone, he was overwhelmed with thoughts of the loss of his parents. The night they died and what had happened to them became a recurring nightmare as his imagination played out what their final moments must have been like. He was watching the runway through a small plane window. The blinking lights of the plane flashing and fading in the thick fog. The white dashes of the runway vanishingthe sudden flash before everything went dark.After the accident, waking up became a routine: His chest constricted until he c
The Darkest Hour Chapter 10
He had to be sure she knew what he meant to do. "Do you understand what you're saying? You were at the Gilded Cuff""I am going to Russia."Emery and Fenn laughed. Hans rolled his eyes. "I'm going to secure the perimeter. I do not want to see whatever you're going to do that poor girl. But considering I found leather cuffs under her bed, I'm guessing she'll be into it." He left the billiard room."Cuffs, huh?" Royce grinned.Kenzie glanced at Fenn, Emery, and finally at Royce. She gulped and didn't respond to his question about the cuffs. Royce nodded at his friend. Emery reached under the pool table and flipped a switch. Two panels by the end of the table opened on the felt surface and two silver rings appeared with handcuffs attached. Perfect restraints to keep a woman bent over the pool table.She stared at the rings, her eyes wide. "What are those?""It's not too late to back out, Little Mac. No hard feelings." Royce prayed she would give in and go back upstairs. Who knew whe
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The Darkest Hour Chapter 34: Epilogue
Six months laterKenzie held on to Royce's back as his motorcycle cruised down the private road toward their homeDevereaux House. She peered at the mansion through her helmet visor and sighed. She never got tired of looking at it. The gabled roofs and endless halls full of priceless paintings and lavish bedrooms and the study where Royce worked. It had all become a part of her life in the best possible way. He pulled up in front of the mansion and killed the engine. Kenzie let go of his hips and slid off. The sight of him astride the bike with his helmet, jacket, and jeans was utterly sinful.He pulled the visor up. "What's up, babe? You're looking at me funny.""I'm just picturing how much I want you to bend me over the pool table tonight."He took off his helmet, leaving his hair playfully tousled, but his expression was hungry and serious."Are you asking me to fuck you, Dr. Martin?""Oh, most definitely, Dr. Devereaux."He grinned. "That's too bad, Little Mac, because I have
The Darkest Hour Chapter 33
Royce came awake slowly, aware that he was in some sort of hospital, probably still at the embassy in Mongolia given the news station flashing on the TV in the corner of the room. Everything hurt like hell. Tubes were in his nose, and an IV bag hung on a pole nearby. His right hand was taped, keeping the IV needle in."Fuck," he groaned, his head falling back onto the pillow. Then he noticed a shape in a chair beside his hospital bed. Kenzie. She was curled up on the chair, her head pillowed by one arm and a jacket covering her. A man's jacket.Not my jacket."Thank God," a deep voice said from the doorway. Hans Brummer stood there, a paper cup of coffee in his hand and a relieved look in his brown eyes."Give you a few new gray hairs, did I?" Royce's voice came out a croak.Hans raked a hand through his scalp. "More than a few. I'll go full George Clooney in a month at this rate.""How did you find us?"Hans pulled a chair out and turned it around, not waking Kenzie. He sat on
The Darkest Hour Chapter 32
Vadym let go of her, and she retreated. He laughed as he turned to Royce. "She has just agreed to come back to Moscow and serve mein all ways."Royce's face was pale as he looked between them. "Kenzie, what's he talking about?""He said he'll spare you and Elena if I do. Please, Royce, don't cross him," she pleaded with him, hoping he would read her thoughts. It's just for a short time, until you can save me from him."You son of a bitch!" Royce moved fast, slamming his fist into Vadym's face before his bodyguards could move in. The attack stunned everyone."Kenzie, run!" Royce shouted as he tackled Vadym to the ground. Kenzie turned and smacked hard into Jov Tomenko's body. She hadn't even known he was in the room. His heavy hand clamped around her arm, squeezing until she cried out. Vadym's other guards grabbed Royce and dragged him off."Take them to the cars.""May I kill them?" Jov wrenched his hand down harder on Kenzie's arm. Her muscles seemed to tear beneath his hands, a
The Darkest Hour Chapter 31
The city of Ulaanbaatar was nothing like what Kenzie had expected. When Hans and Royce had spoken of mountains, lonely deserts, and yurts, they had been speaking of the countryside of Mongolia. But as the Trans-Siberian train pulled into the city, it left the valley hills with snowy pine trees far behind them. The horsemen who had darted alongside the train tracks like the Mongolian herdsmen of history vanished as the cityscape of Ulaanbaatar took over.It was a curious mix of ancient temples, crumbling Soviet-era apartment blocks, and newer glass towers, along with derelict suburbs of yurts and brick houses. A mesh of wire, concrete, and metal piping all crashed together. But Kenzie was stunned by the energy and warmth of the people, which was so at odds with the city itself."Welcome to UB," Royce said. "The city's name means Red Hero." He coughed. "But honestly, they should call it Black Hero in the winter." He pointed at the hazy dark clouds that hovered above the city like an om
The Darkest Hour Chapter 30
Royce was watching out the window as the private jet landed on the airstrip outside of Kyakhta. Kenzie and Elena were still close to him. For some reason Vadym had left them alone after he'd given Royce one hell of a beating. Perhaps it was some kind of mind game, allowing him to sit and think about what he had to lose if he didn't cooperate.But now that the plane had landed, Vadym would want his fossils. It went against everything Royce believed in to use his professional reputation to lie, but Royce wanted to live. More importantly, he wanted to protect Kenzie and Elena. The best way to do that was to play along with Vadym until a chance to fight presented itself or the cavalry showed up.Vadym came up to Royce, a cold smile on his lips. "Now, Dr. Devereaux, this way." He jerked his head toward the plane door, indicating it was time to go.Royce gritted his teeth but followed Vadym out of the plane. A truck of Russian officials was waiting for them."Royce?" Kenzie stuck close t
The Darkest Hour Chapter 29
"What's the fossil in Mongolia that you're trying to transport?"Vadym's gaze narrowed. "What do you know of fossils?""A lot," Kenzie said. She could feel Elena in the seat beside her, unmoving, terrified. "You didn't think I was sleeping with Dr. Devereaux, did you? He's a professor of paleontology, and I'm his teaching assistant. In five months, I'll be a professor of paleontology as well."Her announcement caught Vadym by surprise. "You? You will be a doctor like him?" He looked back at the room where Royce lay on the floor, two goons hovering over him."Yes. I can assist Dr. Devereaux with his inspections of the fossils. There's more to it than signing a page of authenticity. He'll need to verify the time period the fossils came from, among other things. I can help him with that."Vadym sat back, a smug smile on his face. "You will take Elena's place after the fossils are sold. I will make good use of youin many ways."Kenzie didn't rise to the bait. It was obvious that he l
The Darkest Hour Chapter 28
Kenzie was shoved into a black van outside the club, her hands bound in front of her. Two of Vadym's men tossed the poor unconscious woman onto the floor beside her, before they walked around to the front of the van and got in. Through the front windshield, Kenzie could see Royce being dragged to a black SUV parked in front of them.When they'd knocked Royce out, Kenzie had nearly fainted. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding and she felt dizzy with terror, but she'd managed to stay in control. This was so much worse than Gary and Monte attacking her at Royce's office. Compared to this, that had been child's play.Vadym had her in his clutches, and he'd made it clear he was going to use her to get what he wanted from Royce and then to hurt her after he disposed of this other poor woman. Kenzie crawled over to the woman and rolled her onto her back. The left side of her face was still red from Vadym's blow.She pressed two fingers under the woman's jaw and felt the steady pulse of a hea
The Darkest Hour Chapter 27
Hans could barely breathe. Hands dug into his arms, keeping him still as Royce and Kenzie were hauled away through the back door of the club.I can't let that boy down. His eyes burned and his vision blurred with tears. Am I fucking crying?"Brummer, everything will be fine. We'll go after them," Dimitri promised in a low tone only Hans and Tatiana could hear. The room was still full of armed men who were watching every move around them for signs that Royce and Kenzie had allies."He's right," said Tatiana, leaning into him by the bar. "If you tried to fight now, Vadym would only kill you. For now, Devereaux is safe and well, and if he's smart he can protect the girl."But all Hans could picture was a tiny child, one who sat quietly beside another boy with bruises and cuts everywhere. Royce had been only eight years old when Emery had been rescued.Hans hadn't been able to get the scene out of his headEmery on one bed, knees tucked up to his chin, eyes wide and gaze distant and Ro
The Darkest Hour Chapter 26
Royce felt the weight of the vial of ricin in his trousers.It seemed to be burning through his pocket. Soon he would be slipping it into a drink and giving it to Vadym. Never in his life had he imagined he would be a man who would take a life like this. He'd always believed in being a hero, someone who would kill a bad guy in a glorious shootout, not this shady, spy-versus-spy, fucked-up shitstorm he was currently trapped in. Soon this nightmare would be over. He led Kenzie outside of the room and buried all thoughts of what they had just shared deep inside. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way of what had to be done.He'd prefer to simply shoot the man in the midst of a fight. That would be fair, sure, but that was too dangerous. Innocents could get hurt in the process. They needed to be cold and calculated because they were putting more than just their own lives at risk.While he had some qualms about using these means to kill someone, he certainly had none about the targe
