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His shirt had been tossed aside long ago, when he’d made love to me before we’d curled together and I’d drifted off to sleep, naked in his arms. I’d discovered from the very first night I’d spent in his bed that nothing compared to having his heat and commanding presence surrounding me. All those muscles. He would envelop me from behind, creating a cocoon of bliss and safety.
So much so that when he slipped away in the middle of the night I sensed it subconsciously.
“You didn’t mention you had work,” I said as he gently stroked my hair.
“Something occurred to me, and I had to speak with Nikolai. Different time zone in Moscow. It couldn’t wait and I didn’t want to wake him later on.”
I nodded. Dane and his legitimate investors were doing everything in their power to bring down the more corrupt members of a poli-econ secret society they belonged to, and I knew that was significant enough to weigh heavily on everyone’s mind, day and night. Regardless of time zones.
“I understand.” I shifted closer to him and he pulled me into his strong embrace.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“No, it’s okay. I have to get past all of this, find some way to stop freaking out every time you’re not right here with me.”
Granted, it wasn’t as though I could seek professional help for this particular ailment. I couldn’t exactly explain to a shrink that my boyfriend was part of a descendant Bavarian Illuminati faction that had turned dark and dangerous with insatiable greed. And he and some of the others fought desperately to extricate themselves from the oath they’d taken long before things had gone awry. Because, now, the actions of the corrupt members crept toward deadly—as I knew personally. Making time of the essence.
“Ari,” he said against my temple. “I love you. There’s nothing I want to protect more than you.”
My fingers grazed his tight jaw. “I know. But there’s something else that’s important to remain focused on, Dane. 10,000 Lux. It’s your vision, your dream. Everything you’ve been fighting for—something that means the world to me, too.”
With an agitated sigh, he untangled himself and stood. He turned toward the windows and stared out into the inky night, jamming his hands into the pockets of his loose, pewter-colored pants. Frustration and anger rolled off him in waves.
I climbed out of bed and, from behind, wrapped my arms around him. One hand splayed over the corrugated grooves of his abdomen, the other flattened against his hard pectoral ledge. He was too magnificently built not to touch. Six-foot-three, broad shouldered, tanned and toned, with lush, strategically mussed black hair and beautiful, mesmerizing green eyes.
I leaned into him, my bare breasts pressing to his heavily muscled back. I kissed his warm skin as his hands covered mine. The chill abated.
“I know you’re doing everything you can to save the Lux,” I said. “You, Ethan, Qadir, and Nikolai. Even Amano.”
Amano had been head of security for Dane’s father. Though Dane’s parents had died in a plane crash when he was just a month old, Amano had stayed on at the family estate in Philadelphia where Dane’s aunt had raised him.
The others were part of the small, generational secret society Dane had broken sacred rules to tell me about. For my own good, and because I’d insisted on knowing everything he was embroiled in.
Getting involved with a mysterious billionaire had posed a huge risk from the start, but it’d proven inevitable from the moment I’d laid eyes on Dane.
“We’re not far from the launch of the Lux,” I said. “A little over a month. Everything’s going as planned. No more mishaps. Clearly, the botching of Vale’s ransom attempt, combined with whatever it is you and the others have done to stand your ground, is working.”
It was two days before Thanksgiving. The grand opening of 10,000 Lux was scheduled for New Year’s Eve, with a jaw-dropping list of celebrities, global political and financial leaders, and other VIPs who had already RSVP’d to the event of the decade. The Lux was the height of opulence, and memberships were costly and exclusive. In high demand.
It had been seven or so weeks since I’d been kidnapped, a pawn to get Dane to reinstate the original investment team. Since then, we’d been blessed with smooth sailing—with the exception of my occasional nightmares, which left Dane tense with fury and remorseful that I’d been caught in the crossfire.
He said, “We’ve come to a silent truce. But I won’t take any chances.”
That meant I still had a bodyguard. The six-foot-six, solidly built, dark-haired, mid-fifties, incredibly formidable Amano. A man wholly dedicated to his charge.
“I know everything will turn out fine, exactly as you want it.” Dane was a perfectionist, and powerful enough to get what he wanted. “The only thing wrong at the moment is that I’m naked and you’re not inside me.”
He growled. A low, carnal sound that sent heat ribboning through me in the most alluring way.
He unraveled my arms from him and shoved off his pants. Lacing his fingers with mine, he led us to the bed. He climbed in first and held the covers up as I slipped in beside him.
We snuggled in the luxurious sateen bedding, facing each other.
Dane swept a curl from my temple. His touch was tender, though his eyes blazed.
“Believe me,” he said in his rich, intimate voice. “It didn’t go unnoticed that you were naked.”
I smiled. “I know.” My fingertips grazed his erection before wrapping around the base. Sliding my hand slowly up and down his thick shaft caused him to let out another seductive, sexy noise. Excitement flared low in my belly.
