I swallowed the lump in my throat. My whole body screamed at me to run but I couldn’t. 

I knew I was playing with fire. But nothing prepared me for the moment Ace Andreev stood up.

It was subtle at first, the scrape of his chair legs against the polished marble floor, the soft click of his boots echoing in the quiet room. But the moment his full height unfolded in front of me, it felt like the air itself shifted, like the walls leaned in to listen. His presence was crushing and dangerous. 

And I was suffocating in it.

He didn’t speak. He just stared at me. His eyes were icy, sharp, predatory, locked onto mine like he could read every shaky thought tearing through my skull. My throat went dry. My palms started to sweat. My pulse pounded so loud it drowned out all my reason.

Was this a test? Was he playing me?

I forced myself to meet his gaze, even though every instinct screamed at me to look away. Ace Andreev didn’t just look at you, he looked into you. Like a man used to peeling secrets from the inside out, one stare at a time.

He took a slow step forward. Then another.

My breath hitched, caught in the tight cage of my ribs. I wanted to move, to step back, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. It was as if I’d been nailed to the floor by the sheer gravity of him. Yet some traitorous part of me didn’t want to run.

"You’re nervous," he said quietly, voice like velvet wrapped around steel. Smooth, cold and lethal. 

I swallowed hard. 

“I’m not.”

Which was a lie.

He smirked, the small, unreadable curl of his lips that never quite reached his eyes, studied me. 

“Then prove it,” he said, his voice low and deadly soft. “Show me you’re not just here to play games with me.”

And before I could breathe, before I could even blink, he kissed me.

My brain exploded into white noise.

His mouth was heat and force and fire, unrelenting, intense, and so devastatingly good it made my knees tremble. There was no gentleness, no hesitation. He kissed like a man who took what he wanted, and Ace Andreev always got what he wanted. He had broke too many womens’ heart and didn’t want to be oart of them but then…His lips pressed hard against mine, firm and demanding, dragging me deeper into the blaze with every second.

And the taste.

God… the taste.

It was intoxicating, a mix of something dark and sinful, like aged whiskey and power and smoke. I never knew a kiss could taste like danger. Like sin. Like a promise of destruction and pleasure all wrapped into one.

My hands moved before I could think,  traitorous things, sliding up his chest, gripping onto the sharp lines of his suit, until I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck. My body molded into his like I belonged there. Like I belonged there.

My first kiss… and it was with him.

I should’ve been ashamed. I should’ve pulled away. But the butterflies in my stomach exploded into a full-blown storm, and all I could do was sink into it, deeper and deeper, until the world outside that kiss no longer existed.

Until suddenly, he stopped.

Ace pulled back, slowly, almost cruelly, leaving my lips parted, my breath caught, my heart suspended in some place between heaven and hell.

I blinked up at him, dazed.

His face was unreadable, that cold mask slipping back into place like the moment hadn’t happened at all. Like he hadn’t just stolen the air from my lungs.

The space between us felt colder now. Emptier.

“You’ll do,” he murmured, like he was talking about a weapon. A deal. Not someone he just kissed like the world was ending.

And just like that… the magic was gone.

I stood there, silent, trying to gather the broken pieces of my breath, still tasting the phantom of him on my lips.

He didn’t glance back as he walked away.

And I hated how desperately I wanted him to.

This man wasn’t just dangerous. He was lethal in every way, not just with a gun, but with that infuriating smirk and the way he looked at me like he already owned my soul. I hated that he knew what he was doing. I hated even more that it worked.

As I stood there, breathless, still tingling from the kiss that had completely rearranged my insides, he had the audacity to smirk, satisfied, like I’d just passed some silent test he hadn’t warned me about. And I, blushing like a tomato under his gaze, couldn’t help but smile back.

Damn him.

“So, I’m your fiancée now?” I asked softly, trying to reclaim at least a sliver of control.

His reply was a simple nod, but the glint in his eyes said more than words. “Like I said, you’ll do. You’ll move into the mansion soon. I’ll send my men to collect your things. Be ready.”

Just like that with no question and no discussion. It was all a command that was sealed with that kiss that still burned on my lips.

Once everything was in motion, and his men had taken over the logistics, I slipped into my car, finally alone with my spiraling thoughts.

The engine hummed beneath my fingers as I drove down the highway, headlights casting soft glows on the wet pavement. The city lights blurred past, but my mind was stuck somewhere else, somewhere between the pressure of his lips and the low growl in his voice.

God… that kiss.

My fingers brushed my lips instinctively. They say no woman can resist his charm, and I had become one of those women…

My first kiss was taken, and it was him who took it, the Tsar, the devil wrapped in tailored suits and steel eyes. 

I didn’t know if I was cursed or blessed, maybe both.

My phone buzzed on the passenger seat.

I glanced at the screen.

V.

Valentina.

I’d expected this call eventually, but not now. Not when my lips still tingled with the taste of the man I was supposed to…

“V, what’s up?” I asked, putting the call on speaker, eyes still on the road.

Valentina’s voice was smooth, almost too casual. 

“Hope you enjoyed your little playdate.”

I snorted. “If by ‘playdate’ you mean kissing the most dangerous man in the northern hemisphere, then sure. I’ve had better Tuesdays.”

There was a pause. A long, sharp silence that made me grip the wheel a little tighter.

Then Valentina’s tone shifted. Cooler. Calmer. Lethal.

“The mission will proceed.”

I groaned.

“Kill Tsar Ace Andreev.”

The air inside the car felt like it dropped ten degrees.

I didn’t answer right away. My heart skipped and my thoughts scattered.

Valentina continued, her voice cutting clean through the storm in her head.

“You’ve been given the green light. Full clearance. Do whatever it takes. We want him dead as soon as possible.”

I wanted to laugh. Or scream. Or throw the phone out the window. How can I possibly do that? As if it’ll be that simple.

Instead, I kept driving. My voice didn’t shake when I answered, unsure.

“…Copy that.”

My knuckles were white against the steering wheel. Because I didn’t know what was worse,  the kiss I couldn’t forget or the fact I wasn’t sure I wanted to kill him anymore.