Penalty Kill (Love on Thin Ice Book 4) Read online

  Kevin rolled his eyes, again. Vasily had only been around the kid for a few minutes, but he could tell the kid resorted to it often.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m not talking about that. She’s going out to a bar or something tonight and I want you to buy her a drink.”

  “You want me to buy your mom a drink?”

  The kid was crazy. Where in the world had he come up with the idea, and why did he think Vasily would go along with it? There was no logic behind it.

  “You think I’m insane, but you don’t know how messed up my mom is because of my dad. I’ve tried to get her mind off him, but it doesn’t seem to be working. She needs to know he’s not the only guy out there. Since I know you’re stuck here, I figure you do me a favor, and I’ll do you one.”

  “How old are you?”

  If Vasily closed his eyes, he could imagine the words coming out of someone older. His eyes weren’t closed, though, so he had no idea where the freckle-faced kid was getting his lines from. Someone had to be feeding them to him. It was either that or he had a weird disease where he somehow aged backwards. That would probably put his mom at a hundred, which Vasily knew was ridiculous, but it did cross his mind.

  “I’m twelve, but people tell me I’m an old soul.” His eyes rolled. “I’m joking about that. That phrase is so stupid. Look, I know who you are and your reputation. It shouldn’t be too hard to say a few nice things to her. In return, I’ll get you out of this hellhole.”

  The last of Kevin’s words were a whisper, said as he darted a glance over to Melanie. Since she didn’t yell at him, apparently her hearing aids weren’t turned up all that high. It was those words that did spark an interest.

  “You’re going to get me out of here?”

  “I see it this way. When you’re assigned a buddy, you don’t have to come here and spend hours coloring. It just so happens that they’re finding it hard to find me a buddy. I can set it up so we’re both through our punishment as painlessly as possible. It’s a win-win. You’ll never have to sit in these hard ass chairs again.”

  “Kevin, this is your final warning. If you don’t watch your language, you’re gone, and you and I both know that if you’re gone, you won’t be going back to the same school next year.”

  Melanie appeared behind Kevin and looked like she wanted to strangle him. The boy knew how to push buttons, and the smirk on his face made it clear he enjoyed it.

  “No worries, Mrs. Burke. I have a feeling I’ve finally found a buddy I won’t scare off. Give us the word and me and Ox here will be out of your hands.”

  The exchange brought up some questions, starting with why the kid was so confident Vasily was going to agree. Kevin’s eyes were amused, daring Vasily to say otherwise.

  As if to help his decision, a cramp started in his upper thigh and trailed up to where his ass curved into the chair. He’d do almost anything not to sit in one of the chairs again. He’d thought about it abstractly, but the kid had to remind him.

  “Is that right, Mr. Oxentenko? You’re willing to buddy up with Kevin?”

  Her voice didn’t exactly give the idea a vote of confidence. Vasily had to wonder exactly what Kevin had done to scare off other buddies, and how many there had been. He should have probably asked for a little more information before he said his next words, but something in the last fifteen minutes caught his interest. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he was slightly curious about the old soul who was already friendly with his teammates.

  “Let’s give it a try.”

  Chapter 5

  The smoke filling the space around her wasn’t from cigarettes, thankfully. The last time Lacey was in a bar, she’d found herself wheezing around the puffs of smoke. The current smoke wasn’t as thick and had some kind of flavor, along with a blue hue. It lingered on her tongue, but the Moscow Mules she continued to slam hid the exact taste.

  How many had she had? Four? Five?

  She could feel the cold liquid trail down her throat, settling warm in her stomach. It had been years since that feeling accompanied the haze filling her head. She couldn’t say she missed it, but right now, it was just what she needed.

  It would’ve been smart not to go out on her own. She’d never been a fan of crowds, but this was her night. If she’d let Nina come along, she’d have no say in how things went. They’d go to one of the clubs Nina owned, with her friend probably pushing her at guys left and right.

  That wasn’t the kind of night Lacey was looking for. She wanted to just sit at the bar and get drunk. The thought of trying to make some new friends was forgotten. It was a silly idea in the first place.

  If she wanted to make friends, a bar was the wrong place. She supposed there were other mothers in here somewhere, looking for a night of escape. For the most part, though, what she saw were horny twenty-somethings grinding against each other.

  She knew the moment she walked through the door that plans for finding a friend here were for naught. She couldn’t bring herself to be sad about that. The alcohol drove that realization. Her focus needed to be on her troubled son and what she can do to help him.

  Since he was at his friend’s, going out for one night and drowning her sorrows wasn’t shirking on those duties. That didn’t mean she didn’t feel like crap for doing it. Even with the lovely buzz flowing through her, she felt like a horrible mother.

  “How’s the vodka in there? I’m sure it won’t be up to my standards, but if you say it’s decent, I’ll try some.”

  The voice came from Lacey’s left. It was deep, and the accent sent a chill up her spine. She wasn’t great with pinpointing where a person came from by their voice, but he wasn’t from the States. It was more than likely the name of the drink she sipped that made her think the accent could be Russian. It was definitely from that part of the world. There was a harshness added to every syllable.

  “If you have standards, you might want to ask for something a little higher quality.”

  Lacey couldn’t help scowling when her ears registered the slight slurring in her voice. How many drinks had she slammed back? She hadn’t been sipping, but she didn’t think she’d lost count from drinking too fast. That had to be why his voice sent that chill up her spine and her body started to feel warm.

  The sensation was unfamiliar. Lacey always had issues getting excited about a man, which was why she ended up marrying George. He seemed safe at the time, even though his tastes eventually evolved, and her plain Jane way of being didn’t. She knew without looking at the guy speaking to her that he was way above her league. His words dripped with something deep and sexy, hence the chill. He had to be good to make her feel tinges of a dirty promise.

  What was she thinking? She shook her head and tried to will some of the alcohol to clear away from her head.

  “Do you care to up your standards and let me buy your next drink?”

  Blinking a few times, Lacey wondered if she’d imagined the words. She hadn’t looked over at the man, but in the hour or so that she’d been on the barstool, not one person had spoken to her other than the bartender.

  She’d watched, at least out of the corner of her eye, as people walked up to the bar and minded their own business without giving her a second glance. She excelled at fading into the background, so she thought nothing of it. Her time had been spent nursing her drinks and people watching. She enjoyed making up stories as she watched groups and couples, and even the occasional single person, moving around the room.

  And through it all, the roughly two hours she’d been there, not one person said a word to her, other than the person supplying her drinks. Yet, a man with an accent thick enough she could cut through it had decided to buy her a drink.

  Her face was a bit numb, but she imagined she mastered a scowl on her face anyway as she looked over to her left. The scowl only lasted a few seconds as her eyes widened and her mind blanked. In the few seconds she had to decipher how to deal with the offer, she’d thought of who the man could be.
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br />   She’d come up with a bet sending him to the bar to talk to her, the lighting tricking him, him being totally blind. There were more, but she couldn’t think of them as she took in his cheekbones. Other features wanted to take her eyes away, like his skewed nose, icy blue eyes and full lips. But, it was his strong cheekbones that muddled her brain.

  It couldn’t be him, so it had to be the drinks messing with her head. Even in her addled state, she knew who he was, which meant he wasn’t asking to buy her a drink out of the goodness of his heart. She hadn’t told her friends where she was going, but someone had to find out. There was no way Vasily Oxentenko just happened to be in the same bar as her and sought her out.

  Lacey had heard about his exploits. Not hearing about them was impossible. They rivaled George’s. He was a playboy, and in fact, his face probably appeared next to the word in the dictionary.

  That thought snapped her out of her blank state. It didn’t rid all the haze from her brains, but she was clear enough to deal with the man in front of her.

  “I take it Nina sent you.”

  Her voice was dull, not hinting at the fact that for a brief second her body felt like fire ran through her veins. There was an awareness she hadn’t felt in her entire life. It had to be the alcohol, she thought as she shook her head slightly.

  For his part, Vasily’s brow furrowed, giving the appearance he didn’t follow her words. Two glasses clinked on the bar in front of him. He looked away from her for a second to acknowledge the addition of the drinks. Picking one up, he held it out to her.

  When had he ordered? He’d asked, but she’d given no indication she’d take him up on it.

  The copper mug beckoned her to grab it. For some reason, she felt incredibly thirsty, which was impossible given the amount she’d been drinking. With a skeptical eye, she took the glass.

  Their skin brushed together as she did, giving her an odd sensation of burning and freezing. The mug was cold, but Vasily was anything but cold. It wouldn’t come up again, but Lacey made note to never let their skin touch a second time.

  He took his mug and drew a deep drink before slamming it on the bar. Through every motion, his eyes stayed on her. After meeting his eyes briefly, she looked away from the intensity hidden in their depths, but it was impossible not to feel them. It was as warm as his touch.

  “I take it my intel saying you wouldn’t recognize me was misinformed.”

  Lacey sighed and downed the drink in her hand. She knew she needed it when she heard his deep voice again. If nothing else, she could claim the flitters in her stomach were from the alcohol and not the six-foot Russian standing in front of her.

  “You get points for not playing dumb,” Lacey whispered.

  She couldn’t believe the level Nina could stoop to. The big question flowing through her mind was how in the world Nina knew where she’d be. After mentioning going out to her kids, she’d neglected to tell her friends. The night, she’d decided, was just for her. Clearly, someone wanted to spoil that plan.

  “I’ve been called many things, but dumb isn’t one of them. Since there doesn’t seem to be any pretense of why I’m here, do you mind me saying that the picture I was shown didn’t do you justice?”

  He took her mug from her and put it back on the bar. She hadn’t expected it, so she couldn’t stop their skin touching. Her breath held as the heat penetrated again.

  There was no doubt it had been way too long since someone had even pretended to show interest in Lacey. She needed to get out more. The thought caused her to huff.

  As much fun as people watching had been, Lacey was miserable sitting there by herself. Also, the people watching wasn’t that fun. She just kept telling herself that to not feel like a complete idiot.

  “I’m pretty sure you’re free to say anything you want.”

  Lacey’s brow creased as she watched him take the seat next to her. She was surprised she still safely sat in her chair. She’d heard about how being around Vasily made a woman an instant idiot, and she couldn’t believe she’d almost fallen into those ranks.

  Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and tried to right her wandering thoughts. If she let things continue, she’d start wondering where else his touch could burn her.

  Maybe Nina was right. She needed to get laid. As solid as that truth seemed to be, the man sitting next to her had nothing to do with it. She didn’t want emotion, but she also didn’t want to be another notch in Vasily Oxentenko’s bedpost. Rumor was there were hundreds of notches to compete with there. Lacey didn’t want to be a one and only, but she sure as hell didn’t want to be someone who was pitied.

  As the thoughts rolled around in her head, she tried to figure out what to do. She should just leave. She’d gotten her night out. There was no reason to sit around while Vasily fulfilled whatever Nina had told him to do. Lacey hoped her friend hadn’t detailed her sorry ass life to the massive man, who she could tell was still staring at her. Thankfully, the lighting in the room was bad enough that he probably didn’t notice the scarlet edging up her neck and cheeks.

  Why was he staring at her?

  There were plenty of women in the place for him to run off and play with. Lacey almost laughed, thinking about the fact that he was sitting next to a woman who had to be almost ten years older than him, while there were sure to be at least twenty women closer to his age dying for his attention all around them.

  “Whatever mission you’re on,” Lacey said, her spine straightening a little, “go ahead and tell your sender that everything went perfect. I won’t keep you from your night of fun.”

  She went to stand, but a massive hand covered hers on the bar. If she thought the heat from the brushes of their skin was hot, his full touch set off an inferno. It was an inferno that kept her rooted in her spot instead of running as fast as she could away from the fire.

  Vasily leaned in closer to her. With the hum of music and chatter around them, maybe he hadn’t heard what she said. That was at least what she told herself as he invaded her bubble to slide his face next to hers. She could feel his breath hot next to her ear.

  As she heard him take in a deep breath, she did the same, engulfing herself with a thick woodsy scent mixed with what she imagined was soap. The cleanness mixed with nature in her nose seemed to be at odds. Nature could have a clean scent, but his woodsy smell spoke of dirt and wildness.

  “What I want to do with you has nothing to do with my mission, as you call it.” He took another deep breath just before she felt the flick of his tongue against her ear. “The question is whether you want to be clearheaded when I take you again and again tonight, or if you need a little more liquid courage.”

  His voice dropped impossibly deep, making his promise of things to come seem even more dangerous. Lacey forgot how to breathe, even with the niggling sense she could feel his breaths coming harsh on her ear. She should copy his movements to restart her lungs.

  As the thought entered her head, his head moved, and fiery kisses made their way down her throat. There was so much fire that if she didn’t get out of there immediately, the whole place would go up in flames. She’d never given a thought to the supernatural idea of a person being able to start fires with their mind, but she was sure if she let Vasily continue to touch her, there would be proof it was possible.

  Fortifying her muddled mind, Lacey convinced her lungs to take in air and the fog lifted a little. Vasily Oxentenko was out of her league when it came to seduction. The need he immediately triggered told Lacey he was not the one to scratch any itches she may have. There was an addiction that lied underneath the blue t-shirt and tight jeans Lacey patted herself on her back for finally noticing. Vasily was best taken in little pieces when observing his body, and Lacey only noticed the last as she pulled back and grabbed her purse from the bar.

  “I hate to tell you, but you’re going to have to find some other willing woman to pleasure over and over tonight. Because this one is old enough to know being with you only leads to heartbre
ak. I’m sure you and my ex-husband have plenty of notes you could compare on that subject.”

  She kept her tone free of any emotion, which was another thing Lacey would need to pat herself on the back for. As she moved out of his grasp, his eyes were back in view, and it was impossible to deny what they promised. The icy blue she’d noticed at first had turned darker. She had to tell herself his heavy lids were normal for him and not in response to some lust she induced. That idea was completely irrational, but a small part of Lacey wished she had that effect on a man.

  With her bag in hand, Lacey started weaving her way out of the bar. The crowd had filled while she hadn’t been watching, making the direct path to the door turn into a maze. Her head wasn’t cleared from all her drinks, so her slight swaying didn’t exactly help matters.

  Lacey felt the heat behind her before she heard his voice. Why did both things make a tendril of pleasure snake up her back?

  “One night, Lacey.” His voice was still thick and low like when he whispered in her ear. “Then you can go back to living only for your children.”

  He pulled her back against his hard body. Hard wasn’t the right word. It was too minor for the stretch of granite that she notched against. She cursed herself for the thin dress she wore, because it made a certain part of him easy to feel through the fabric of the dress and the front of his jeans.

  That couldn’t be for her. His words amplified the fact one of her friends, most likely Nina, had been telling him all about how sad Lacey’s life was. He probably had a pre-Lacey appetizer that he had to recall to bring him back to life for the pity romping he’d promised Nina he could pull off.

  His hardness rubbed against her as his head tilted down and his kisses resumed against her neck. She bit her lip as something inside her longed to feel more. It had been too long, and now, she was putty in the first man who showed any interest in her. Well, he clearly hadn’t been schooled on everything. George made it very clear that the reason he had to look elsewhere had everything to do with the fact that Lacey had turned into a wet fish.