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The flames flashing high in her gorgeous eyes were enthralling. I could have stood there looking at them all night long. But her words knocked me out of my trance. “I don’t want to ruin your personal transformation,babochka.” I liked how her face softened when I called her “butterfly.” She could fight it all she wanted, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she felt the spark between us. “You parents both confided in me that you have progressed far beyond their dreams with this new change. They are very proud of the person you turned into over the summer.”
Her throat worked for a moment, her only sign of showing emotion, before she crossed her arms over her chest. “Then what was with the necklace and trying to collar me?”
“You are not a goddamn dog, Sofia,” I growled, not liking that she kept circling back to that particular topic. A man only collared his dog or his submissive, and she was neither. I wasn’t into the whole Dom/sub scene, and even if I were, Sofia didn’t strike me as the type who would willingly surrender to me. “Stop referring to my putting a piece of my family’s history around your neck as ‘collaring’ you.”
“Your family’s history?” she repeated, her brows pinched together. “Why would you donate an heirloom?”
“Because I had every intention of winning the auction.”
Surprise filled her eyes. “That’s insane. Why not just donate something else instead?”
“It was all I had of any real value here with me in the States. When your mother asked if I would help her by donating something, I found I couldn’t turn her down,” I told her with a shrug. “It sparked a lot of attention, and when those who were bidding saw they wouldn’t win, they began making higher bids for the other pieces of jewelry on display. I consider that an all-around win for the women’s shelters your mother is so passionate about.”
“But if it’s an heirloom and you intended to buy it back, then why give it to me?”
I stepped into her personal space and lowered my head until my breath caressed her forehead. “Because I took one look at you and knew it belonged around your neck,dragotsennyy.”
She stamped her foot, and even though it was childish and bratty, it was still sexy as fuck. “Damn it, Zak. Why do you have to say the perfect things when all I want to do is ignore this, this…whatever this is between us?”
“Ignoring this thing we have would be wrong,” I murmured, brushing a hand down her side until I reached her hip. “I’m going to be real with you, Sofia. Your mother mentioned to me she thought the two of us would be a good fit months ago. I ignored her and the way she kept trying to get us to meet. But now I’m kicking myself, because I can see what she saw. I feel… Fuck, I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, but it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
She seemed to melt into me, and something eased in my chest. I was here to get her to fall for me, marry me, and produce the next Morozov heir. Give Oleksandr the blood connection of our two families and ensure him the power he’d always craved. Me catching feelings for her in return wasn’t part of the plan, but the burning in what I’d thought was my cold, dead heart didn’t seem to have gotten that memo.
Thankfully, my brain was a hell of a lot smarter than my heart and quickly tried to shut down those emotions.
I touched my lips to her forehead in a barely there kiss, forcing myself to remain in control, when what I really wanted to do was lift her up and carry her to my own limo. Where I would fuck her until she was screaming my name while I worshiped her goddess-like body and planted my kid in her belly.
There was no hiding how much I wanted her. The flush to her cheeks and the glaze of need in her eyes told me she was all too aware of how hard I was, my cock pulsing against her abdomen. But I had to take things slow to win her over. The goal was to marry her, not fuck her—yet.
“You said you aren’t looking for a relationship. I take it that’s because you’re afraid you won’t continue to progress with this personal transformation you are in search of?” After a slight pause, she nodded. “I promise, if you give me a chance, I won’t get in your way of finding the new you that you are discovering.”
She opened her mouth, but I touched my thumb to her plump lips. “If anything, I would like to help you find her.”
