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Chapter Three
Raina
I blinkin confusion as the gorgeous Russian tugs me forward, out of the reception hall and into a short hallway that then breaks off into several sitting rooms. My feet seem to move forward of their own accord, but my mind is awhirl with excitement.
What am I doing, going with him? What was I thinking, asking him to kiss me?
No matter how impulsive I am, I’ve never done anything as crazy as asking a complete stranger to kiss me, and definitely not anyone who looks anything like Aleksei Ivanov. I’d never even heard of the man before I found his name in his phone. Then I Googled him, of course, but there was nothing other than a mention of a real estate mogul with several holdings in major U.S. cities, along with a picture that was only a shadow of how devastatingly gorgeous the man is in real life. But Google wasn’t enough to satisfy my curiosity. It was all I could do not to snoop through the man’s phone…but I couldn’t do it. I was sure he’d somehow be able to figure out I’d done so, and I don’t think anyone who looks like Aleksei Ivanov would take kindly to someone invading his privacy.
Aleksei Ivanov.Even the name sounds exotic and exciting and beautiful, like the fantastic Russian art exhibit I saw just this month at the Art Institute of Chicago. One of its pieces, a painting of a woman with the world’s most extraordinary tiara, called to me like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It reached all the way into my heart and pulled me forward, and I was as powerless to resist it as I am now with Aleksei pulling me along.
He draws me deeper down the corridor. The doors to the side rooms all stand open, revealing small rooms with heavy curtains masking their walls. He picks one at random, ushering me inside then closing the door behind us.
Even before it fully shuts, he reaches for me, and I’m once more in his arms. I feel my body melt against him as I hungrily continue the kiss that I so boldly—and crazily—asked for in the reception hall, the kiss that I wanted so desperately since the moment after I delivered my rings to Mr. Kavenev and could catch a breath.
Kissing Aleksei is everything I ever imagined kissing could be…and I’ve imagined it a lot. But Aleksei is big—so much bigger than me, that he practically lifts me up and into his body, and there’s no mistaking the fact that he’s fully aroused. I thought I’d noticed as much in the reception hall, but here, in the intimate confines of this sitting room, it feels so much more dangerous to be alone with this beast of a man. But no sooner do I think that when Aleksei’s mouth pulls away from my lips enough for me to breathe, and then he’s lifting me higher, brushing his mouth with infinite gentleness over my cheeks, my jaw, my neck…
He reaches the sensitive spot just below my ear and my insides practically turn inside out, my body melting to liquid fire in his arms. The caution that was building inside me suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke, and I reach up to twine my fingers in Aleksei’s beautiful thick hair, pulling his face closer to mine, guiding his lips back to my mouth. The instant he kisses me again I press my own tongue against his lips. They part, and then I taste him more fully, plundering and conquering in a way I didn’t think I’d ever attempt with anyone—let alone a man who recognized the name of my jewelry store, who probably knows…
Who probably knows…
Oh my god!
I give a little gasp of horror and startle Aleksei enough that he lets me push away from him and regain my feet. I take a few quick steps back, then lift my hands to my cheeks as a sudden blush burns my skin.
“Mr. Ivanov, I’m so sorry! I completely wasn’t thinking.”
He quirks a smile at me. “I don’t think that’s entirely true, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“No, I mean—I’m at this wedding as a representative of Donatelli Jewelers. I should have conducted myself with more, ah, decorum. I mean, I should have—”
As I speak, Aleksei steps toward me again and reaches for my hand. When his strong fingers close around mine, my breath catches at the jolt of pure electricity running through me. I sway toward him and he pulls me back into his arms, bending his face toward mine.
“Perhaps we should go back to you not thinking,” he murmurs.
Behind us creaks the unmistakable noise of a door handle turning.
Moving so quickly I would have gasped if his hand wasn’t suddenly over my mouth, Aleksei pulls me back behind the edge of the heavy, floor-length curtains, and flips the trailing end over to hide us. There’s a surprising amount of room between the curtains and the temporary walls, but we can hear everything, even if we can no longer see it.
I stare up at Aleksei as a woman giggles, my eyes wide, and he puts a finger over his lips to keep me quiet. What are we even doing back here? How can we escape without being seen?
“Oh my god, we can’t be back here,” a soft voice protests, and my eyebrows leap higher as Aleksei grins.
“Sure, we can.” The unmistakable sound of kissing follows, and I purse my lips together, struggling not to laugh. Did the reception planners set up these rooms specifically to cater to guests who couldn’t keep their hands off each other? Because they seem to be ideally suited for it.
Still, I’m desperately trying to come up with some way for us to exit gracefully, when the woman’s breathy sigh stops me. “And did you see that rock on her hand?” she asks dreamily. “That’s exactly what I want, when the time comes. Though I would have done it differently.”
I go completely motionless, and beside me Aleksei cocks his head, noticing the change. I wave him off, and his eyebrows go up, but this I want to hear. Who are these people? And how would she style her wedding set differently?
“Baby, you should have whatever your heart desires,” the man says, his voice earnest. “The kind of money your daddy has, anyone who wants to marry you needs to make sure he does it in style. So, what does my princess want?”
I lean forward to hear more, and then freeze.
Aleksei is no longer staring at me. He’s moved down my body in one seamless, silent motion…and he’s now pushing up my skirt.
