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

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

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

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

Illyra’s beautiful face came into focus. “Lyra and I have been fired like this before.” Her eyes were pleading as she clutched his arm. “You don’t know what it’s like, to always know that your boss or a single customer can just snap his fingers and take away your livelihood and your pride and your ability to feed your family.” She swallowed, her heart-shaped face stricken. “Please don’t do this.”Andrei’s lips parted. He didn’t even realize he’d agreed to her request until he saw Illyra’s beautiful face light up with happiness. He dimly heard the grateful sobs of the Russian girl, but as Illyra threw her arms around him, he felt only her. Saw only her.“Thank you,” she whispered. She drew back, tears sparkling in her eyes. “And thank you for that huge tip you gave her as an apology. I never expected that.” A smile lifted Illyra’s trembling lips. “I’m starting to think you might have a heart, after all.”Huge tip? Looking down, Andrei saw that his wallet was indeed open in his hand, an