Putting his hand on her cheek, he lowered his head to hers. As he kissed her lips, his hands stroked her satin-soft skin, cupping her breasts. Moving down her body, he kissed first one breast, then the other, with hot need, suckling her until she gasped. His fingertips caressed down her belly. When he reached the mound between her legs, he stopped. His body was shaking, screaming for him to push inside her.But he did not. He moved abruptly to the bottom of the bed. Taking one of her feet in his hands, he slowly kissed it, suckling her toes, tasting salt from the Pacific on her sweet, warm skin. He felt her tremble as he kissed the hollow of her foot, then moved up her leg to her calf, and the tender spot behind her knee. When he reached her thighs, he pressed them apart, spreading her.He risked a glance upward. Her face was rapt, her eyes tightly closed. He heard the rasp of her breath and felt the tremble of her legs as she nervously tried to close them. Smiling to himself—he could
“But, sir!”“My cartel and his can win in a fair fight.”“Of course we can!” the man replied indignantly. He continued in a bewildered voice, “It’s just that we’ve never tried.”“No more dirty tricks,” Andrei said harshly.“It will be harder—”“Deal with it.”The man cleared his throat. “You were expected in St. Petersburg today for the signing of the new operation and merger. How long do you wish us to delay...?”Andrei gritted his teeth. “I will be at the office tomorrow.”“Good.” He audibly exhaled. “With ten billion dollars on the line, we don’t want anything to—”“Tomorrow.” Andrei hung up. Tossing his phone on his desk, he left the study, with its computers and piles of paperwork. Walking outside to the courtyard, he stopped by the pool. Closing his eyes, he turned his face toward the bright morning sun. He felt the warmth of the golden light, and took a breath of the exotic, flower-scented air."I think the man I love is still inside you.""He’s dead and gone.""Are you sure?"
So much for his brilliant intelligence. Viktor had thought he was so smart,finding a loophole around his promise. Passing her in their race down the dune, he’d felt triumphant, his body tight, knowing he all but had her in hisarms.Then there was a scream, and she’d flown past him. She was such anaccomplished snowboarder that she’d had no problem handling the texturaldifferences between snow and sand. And she’d seen the source of thescream, the injured boy, half a second faster than he had. It was enough tomake any man feel slow. Stupid and slow.Which was exactly how Viktor had felt pacing the tent of the boy’sfamily as his uncle, a doctor trained in Marrakech, worked on the boy’sugly compound fracture with his limited instruments at hand. Viktor hadlooked down at the sobbing boy, wishing he could do more than order ahelicopter on his satellite phone, wishing they didn’t have to wait so long,and most of all, dreading the long, jarring journey the boy would facetraveling t
He exhaled.“Yes.”With tantalizing slowness, she ran her hands along the edge of thewaistband, and then—and then—he held his breath as she reached beneaththe silk. She stroked the hardness of his shaft, running her fingers along theridges and tip.He heard a low hoarse gasp, and realized it was his own. Her eyes werehuge as they met his. And then...She suddenly smiled.It was a smug, feminine smile, full of infinite mystery and pride—as ifshe’d realized the depths of power she held over him, as she held himcompletely in her hands.She pulled down the silk, revealing his body completely to her gaze. Sheran her hand over him, exploring. His breathing became ragged. He closedhis eyes. Her slightest touch made him wild. He felt as though he couldexplode at any moment...No. His eyes flew open, narrowed. With a growl, he pushed her backagainst the bed. Pulling at her panties, he tugged them slowly down her legsand tossed them to the carpeted sand. He stroked her calves, her kn
It could have been minutes later, or hours, when Lyra ’s eyes flew open inthe darkness. She realized she hadn’t just given her virginity to Viktortonight.She’d given him her heart.So this was how it was to fall in love. In all the books she’d read, all themovies she’d seen, she’d dreamed and wondered how it would be. What itwould feel like, when she gave herself to a man completely.It was like this. Overwhelming. Powerful. Sweet and full of longing. Butalso...Terrifying.Because loving him was an astoundingly simple thing to do. She’d beendazzled by him from the moment they’d met. Infatuated before they werewed. But now...she was in love. Truly and deeply in love for the first time.Lyra swallowed, slowly turning to look at the handsome face of the mansleeping beside her. One side of his face was turned toward the silvermoonlight glowing softly through the white canvas. The other side of hisface was in shadow, dark and harsh.And that was Viktor ’s soul. This was the man
As a child, Illyra had traveled down the rocky, forest-covered Alaskan coast with her father, seeking gullible tourists off cruise ships for poker games. Her favorite village had been Sitka, once the capital of Russian America. At twelve, she’d looked across the gray, frozen Bering Sea and dreamed of the distant, ancient, mysterious land of the tsars.When wooden Orthodox churches were being hacked out of the wilderness in Alaska, St. Petersburg was already a century old, built on the orders of a tsar. She’d dreamed of someday seeing the palatial Russian city, the onion domes of its cathedrals shining with silver and gold.But Illyra never dreamed she’d come here as the cosseted mistress of a prince. For two days now, she’d been living in his three-story palace outside the city, built like a fortress on a hill, overlooking the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. She’d spent her days shopping in the most exclusive boutiques of the city, accompanied by his bodyguards and his chauffeur.S
Andrei frowned, drawing closer. “What are you...?” People passed them in the hall, two men in suits and three women in tiny skirts, all looking at them with intense interest. Narrowing his eyes, he growled, “Come with me.”He pulled her into the nearest private office, closing the door behind them. She wrenched her arm away, blinking fast. Her eyes were stinging with unshed tears as she tossed her head. “You’re out of your mind if you think...”She gasped as, without a word, he roughly yanked open her oversized coat. He saw the lingerie, the white lace bustier,G-string panties and garter belt, and drew in a breath. He looked at her darkly.“And you are out of your mind,” he said in a low voice, “if you think I’m going to let you leave.”He ripped off her long coat, dropping it to the floor. Pushing her against the wall of the private office, he kissed her hard. Illyra’s body stiffened as his mouth plundered hers. She felt the soft, demanding steel of his lips against her own. Against
He stared at her, and the air around them suddenly became electrified. “Of course they matter.” He took a single step toward her. “Illyra—”A knock sounded at the door. An older man poked his head in, an American with wire-rimmed glasses and anxious eyes. “Your Highness. Excuse me.”“What is it, Anderson?” Andrei demanded.The man looked at Illyra and then cleared his throat. “We’ve reached an impasse, sir. Svenssen is demanding we retain every member of his company’s staff.”“So?”“Our company has a thousand employees we don’t need. Drillers. Cafeteria workers in Siberia. Accountants and secretaries. Dead weight.”Dead weight. Illyra ’s spine snapped straight. He would no doubt consider her and Lyra dead weight, too, with their ten years of backbreaking, low-paying cleaning jobs. Every month, they’d experienced the painful uncertainty of never knowing if their jobs would last, or if they’d be able to pay their bills. Biting her lip, she glanced up and saw Andrei watching her. His eye