Sickened, almost literally, she briefly closed her eyes in an effort to retain a sense of calm. Opening them again, her eyes pierced his own, held steady, controlled...when inside she felt like screaming.
‘He fired you, didn’t he.’ A statement, not a question. ‘And threatened to make it impossible for you to get a position with any electronics firm in the country.’ Her eyes locked with his own as she sought confirmation.
He didn’t confirm or deny it...but then he didn’t have to. The truth was there. Ugly, untenable, damning.
Did she realise how well he could read her? See the silent rage simmering beneath the surface?
She closed her eyes as Alexei reached for her and drew her close. There was magic in his touch, the way his lips sought the sensitive curve of her neck, savoured there, then he gently traced a path up to settle in the sweet hollow beneath her earlobe.
Evocative eroticism stirred something deep inside and spread through her body in sweet sorcery, dispensing with inhibitions and making her want so much more.
A faint groan emerged from her throat as he lifted and carried her into the bedroom.
He felt the warmth of her silent tears seep through his shirt, and brushed a kiss to the top of her head.
With care he slid her down his body to stand on her feet, and his gaze held her own as he carefully removed each item of clothing from her body.
She felt the warmth of his fingers as they trailed up her ribcage and unclipped her bra. Free, her breasts burgeoned in anticipation as he cupped each mound, and she bit back a gasp as his fingers sought the delicate peaks, traced them until they hardened beneath his touch.
Sensation arrowed deep inside, and she couldn’t utter a word in protest as he lowered his head to one breast and took its peak into his mouth to lave it with his tongue.
Liquid fire coursed through her veins, heating her body to a point of madness.
Almost as if he knew, he lowered her evening trousers, traced a path up the inside of each thigh and sought the throbbing clitoris...brushing his fingers against the sensitive folds as she arched against him, unaware of the whispering plea emerging from her throat.
She was beyond sanity, filled with an aching need for his possession.
His clothes became an unwanted intrusion and were quickly discarded as they sought to touch, explore, as she became lost in the delight of tracing warm flesh, tight musculature, the sheer strength of his arousal.
She didn’t want to wait. Wasn’t aware of her soft cries as he inserted a finger into the damp warmth between her thighs and skilfully brought her to orgasm, absorbing her guttural cry as she shattered.
It wasn’t enough. She needed more, so much more, and he knew, teasing a little, taking time to lay his mouth against her own in a slow kiss that became sensual foreplay as she met and matched everything he gifted...then she gasped as he used a hand to pull aside the bed covers and lower her down onto the sheeted mattress.
She kissed him, teasing as he had teased her, and explored his body with light kisses, circling the tight masculine nipples, using her teeth to nip, the slide of her lips to soothe, before trailing to his navel, delicately laved it, before she turned her attention to the thick jutting arousal pulsing beneath her touch as she stroked its length with her tongue, reacquainting herself with its shape and throbbing size...heard his husky groan, and delighted in his throaty you’re killing me an instant before firm hands took hold of her hips and eased her onto her back, holding her hands fast above her head as he trailed a path down the quivering flesh of her stomach. Lower, and she cried out as he suckled the damp flesh, nipped the sensitive folds with care, then used his tongue to send her mindless.
Her entire body felt as if it were on fire, and she gasped as he shifted over her and drove in deep, held still as she absorbed him, then he gently rocked, lengthening his thrusts until she reached the edge and came, as he did in unison, and there was only the euphoric ecstasy of two lovers in perfect accord...mind, body, heart and soul as they gave everything there was to gift...before easing down to the sweet exhaustion of sexual fulfilment.
‘Amazing,’ Natalya whispered, and felt his lips drift gently over her skin, soothing her rapid pulse-beats, before exploring her lips, caressing with such tenderness she fought to hold back tears.
Lost, so completely lost in him, there was no sense of time or place. Only the need to cling to the pulsing thrum deep inside her body, and exult in sexual nirvana.
The musky scent of sensual heat combined with the dawning knowledge they’d just shared unprotected sex...
Dear heaven, what had she done?
They, she corrected silently. There were two of them in this bed, two who had seduced, shared, and exulted in their mutual passion.
Alexei caught each fleeting expression as the reality widened her eyes, the brief few startled seconds as her eyelids shuttered closed, only to open again as instinct kicked in together with a sense of déjà vu. Unfounded, according to rapid silent calculation.
She pushed at him, endeavouring to escape without success as he caged her in, his eyes dark as the blackest slate as he took in her expression.
Without a word Alexei rolled off the bed, scooped Natalya into his arms and walked into the en suite bathroom, turned on the shower and carried her beneath the pulsing water, collected the liquid soap, and began smoothing the lightly scented fragrance over her body in a slow sensuous slide that drove her wild...wanting, needing to respond in kind. His mouth curved into a sensual smile. ‘Patience. You’ll have your turn.’
She did. Eventually. Only it took a while. And later, towelled dry, he took her to bed, drew her close in against him.
She couldn’t find the words—not the right ones. The extent of Roman’s intervention devastated her, and merely confirmed the extent her father was prepared to go to in order to rule not only his company, but his family.
‘There’s something you should know,’ Natalya said quietly. At the time she’d borne the heartache in the light of day, and let the tears fall during the dark of night when she was alone. Until there were no more tears to shed, and she gathered the resolve to get on with her life.
‘I discovered I was pregnant.’ She faltered in an effort to find the right words, and her mouth trembled as his hands shaped her face. His eyes were dark, silently questioning, and she couldn’t look away.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
Her features paled, her eyes dark with an edge of pain, and he swore softly beneath his breath.
‘I drove to your apartment after work.’
A lump rose in her throat, momentarily preventing speech, and she swallowed compulsively in an effect to allow her voice to emerge. ‘You weren’t there.’ The words tumbled out. ‘I rang your phone. No answer.’
Alexei stilled, his eyes almost black. ‘When did you ring?’ His voice was hard, urgent. ‘What time?’
‘Is time so important?’
‘Yes.’ He bunched his hands into fists. ‘Dammit.’ Yet he already knew. ‘Think...please,’ he added in a strained voice.
‘After six...maybe six-thirty.’
He closed his eyes briefly in silent anguish at the hand of Fate. Ten...fifteen minutes after the police had taken him from his apartment, arrested by the hand of her father. His phone confiscated.
‘Theos.’ The soft imprecation left his lips with the realisation she’d had to cope without his knowledge, or the benefit of his support.
Silent anger consumed him, together with the imminent need to take Roman Montgomery apart with his bare hands.
Her words hurt like a stab to the heart as memory surfaced in vivid Technicolor detail.
The anger...helpless rage