Chapter Sixty-Two

Chapter Sixty-Two
The kiss happened because neither of them stopped it.

That was the truth of it.

No dramatic confession.
No carefully planned moment.

Just pressure building past the point of containment.

The estate had quieted for the night by the time Lizzy escaped upstairs with a stack of reports tucked against her chest. The halls glowed dim beneath low security lighting, the distant hum of generators vibrating faintly beneath the floor.

Everyone else had finally settled.

She rounded the corner toward the library alcove and nearly collided with Maksim again.

At this point it was becoming a pattern dangerous enough to qualify as fate.

His hand caught her elbow automatically before the reports could spill everywhere.

“You move too quickly,” he said.

“You stand too silently.”

Neither let go immediately.

The air between them felt different tonight.

Closer.

Tighter.

Like something had finally worn thin.

“You’re avoiding sleep again,” he observed.

Lizzy narrowed her eyes. “Do you monitor everyone this obsessively or am I special?”

His gaze held hers steadily.

“You are not everyone.”

Her pulse stumbled traitorously.

Damn him.

“You can’t keep saying things like that,” she muttered.

“I know.”

That surprised her.

Usually he deflected.

Tonight he just… admitted it.

The hallway suddenly felt too small.

Maksim’s hand remained lightly around her elbow.

Not controlling.

Just there.

Like he’d forgotten to let go.

“Why do you fight this so hard?” she asked quietly.

Something flickered across his face then — quick enough most people would’ve missed it.

Not fear.

Closer to resignation.

“Because I know exactly what this is capable of becoming.”

The honesty of it hit harder than she expected.

“And that’s bad?”

“For you?” His jaw tightened slightly. “Potentially.”

She stared at him.

“There it is again,” she whispered. “You act like caring about someone is equivalent to putting them in danger.”

“It is.”

No hesitation.

No softness.

Just brutal certainty.

Lizzy exhaled slowly through her nose.

“You know,” she said, “normal people usually flirt before emotionally self-destructing.”

“I am not normal.”

“That is becoming aggressively clear.”

That almost pulled a smile from him.

Almost.

Silence stretched between them.

Not empty.

Charged.

Somewhere downstairs, a door closed softly. A radio crackled briefly through another corridor.

The estate breathed around them.

And still neither of them stepped away.

“You should sleep,” Maksim said finally, though his voice sounded rougher now.

“You keep saying that.”

“You keep ignoring it.”

“Maybe I don’t sleep well lately.”

His eyes sharpened slightly at that.

“Why?”

She laughed softly under her breath.

“Look at you trying to ask personal questions.”

“I ask effective questions.”

“That is the least seductive thing anyone has ever said to me.”

This time the corner of his mouth actually moved.

Tiny.

But real.

The sight of it hit her unexpectedly hard.

God.

That was the problem.

Every crack in his composure felt earned.

Lizzy shifted closer before she fully realized she was doing it.

Not much.

Barely half a step.

Enough that she could feel heat radiating from him now.

Maksim noticed immediately.

Of course he did.

His breathing changed slightly.

“Elizabeth,” he said quietly.

Warning.

Plea.

She wasn’t sure which.

“You only use my full name when you’re losing control,” she murmured.

“I am not losing control.”

“Liar.”

His hand tightened fractionally on her elbow.

That tiny movement sent warmth racing down her spine.

Neither of them spoke after that.

They just stood there suspended in the space between restraint and inevitability.

Then Lizzy made the mistake of looking at his mouth.

And Maksim noticed that too.

Everything after that happened very fast.

One second he was holding himself rigidly still.

The next his free hand was against her jaw and he was kissing her like restraint had finally snapped somewhere deep inside him.

Hard.

Controlled only by effort.

The reports slipped from her arms and scattered across the floor.

Lizzy kissed him back instantly.

No hesitation.

No surprise.

Like some part of her had been waiting for this since the first time he’d said her name softly.

Maksim backed her against the wall with enough force to steal her breath but not hurt her, one hand braced beside her head while the other settled firmly at her waist.

Possessive.

Certain.

God, the man kissed like he fought — precise, overwhelming, impossible to ignore.

Lizzy’s fingers caught in the front of his shirt, dragging him closer.

He made a low sound against her mouth that nearly destroyed her composure entirely.

“Maksim—”

Her voice broke on his name.

That seemed to hit him harder than anything else.

He pulled back abruptly.

Breathing rough.

Eyes dark.

For one suspended second neither of them moved.

Then reality crashed back in.

The hallway.
The estate.
The fact that anyone could walk upstairs at any moment.

Maksim stepped back first.

Of course he did.

His chest rose once sharply before he forced himself still again.

Lizzy stared at him, stunned.

“Well,” she breathed. “That happened.”

“Yes.”

His voice sounded wrecked underneath the control now.

Which somehow made it worse.

Better.

Dangerous.

She touched her swollen mouth lightly, still trying to catch her breath. “Okay… that was definitely worse than the first kiss.”

Something dark and heated flickered through his expression.

“Worse?” he repeated quietly.

“You know what I mean,” she murmured. “Now I actually understand why you’ve been avoiding this.”

His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth again. “You should not say things like that.”

“Why?” she asked softly. “Afraid I’ll distract you?”

“Yes.”

Immediate.

Honest.

Her heartbeat kicked harder.

“Oh,” she whispered.

Maksim dragged a hand down his face slowly like he was actively trying to regain control of himself.

“This cannot interfere with security.”

Lizzy blinked at him.

Then laughed incredulously.

“We just made out in a hallway and you’re giving me an operational briefing.”

“It is relevant.”

“You are unbelievable.”

His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth again before lifting back to her eyes.

“Elizabeth,” he said quietly, “if this continues… it will not be casual for me.”

That stole the rest of the humor from her immediately.

Because she believed him.

Every word.

The vulnerability in the admission sat strangely exposed between them.

Lizzy swallowed hard.

“Good,” she said softly. “Because casual would’ve pissed me off.”

Something shifted in his expression then.

Not relief.

Something deeper.

More dangerous.

Footsteps echoed faintly downstairs.

Both of them froze instinctively.

Maksim looked toward the sound first, professionalism snapping back into place with brutal speed.

But when he looked at her again, the restraint in his face had cracks in it now.

Visible ones.

“Go to sleep,” he said quietly.

Lizzy tilted her head. “That sounds less like an order this time.”

“It is not an order.”

A beat.

“It is concern.”

God.

That word again.

Her chest tightened painfully around it.

She bent quickly, gathering the scattered reports from the floor mostly so she had something to do with her shaking hands.

Maksim crouched beside her automatically to help.

The tension somehow felt worse now that they’d crossed the line.

Maksim stood first and handed her the final report.

“Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

His voice was quieter now.

Softer.

Lizzy looked up at him, heart still pounding violently against her ribs.

“Goodnight, Maksim.”