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Instead, I force myself to pull back, raising an eyebrow at her. “That’s the game of it all, isn’t it?” I say lightly, letting her see only desire in my gaze. “That’s what makes this so enjoyable–and why I can’t get you out of my head, Ekaterina.”
The words are more accurate than she knows, just not in the way she thinks. And as I step out of the car and walk around to open her door, all I can think is that I can’t wait for the moment when she finds out what I really mean by it.
By then, it will be far too late for her.
Natalia
I’d known this would happen, at some point. No man does all of this–dinners and dates and endless money spent in the champagne room and taking me out, without wanting more. I know that a drink at his apartment isn’t just a drink, that it will come with other strings. Other things that he wants, for more money.
“It’ll cost you,” I say as playfully as I can, leaning in slightly as we stand outside of the bar he’d taken me to at the end of our date. I feel his fingertips brush against my arm, sliding upwards, raising the hairs as my skin prickles under his touch. It’s a liberty, but one I’m willing to let him take, in exchange for the possibility that he might pay a good deal more for whatever it is that he wants from me tonight. “And we’re not going all the way yet.” I reach up, tracing his chest in the open v of his shirt. “I’ll have to get to know you a little better first.”
“Get to know my bank account, you mean?” Mikhail asks, but there’s no accusation to the words, only the same teasing playfulness that I tried to keep in my voice. “What if I offer the same amount that I gave you for tonight, again? For drinks,and–” his eyes slide down my body, resting on the scooped neckline of the dress as his gaze heats. “Whatever else I want to do to you–so long as we don’t go as far as intercourse?”
No one should ever be able to make the word ‘intercourse’ sound that hot.The silky, smoky sound of his voice wraps around me, making my heart beat a little harder in my chest, making it hard to think. I feel that ache again, the desire to be touched, pleasured, to have someone other than myself touching me.
It’s just business,I tell myself.He paid me at the beginning of the date, a huge sum. He’s willing to give me that again. If he keeps paying me like that–well, he’s going to run out of spare cash or get bored at some point. And by then, I will have accumulated enough to get out of Moscow, get new documents, and set myself up somewhere new.
If it keeps going like this, Ruby will have been right. Mikhail could change my life faster than I’ve been able to change it myself. All I have to do is let him enjoy me, a little at a time, dragging it out so that he keeps chasing the next boundary until I’ve gotten all I can. I’ve set the line for tonight–no actual sex–and so long as I don’t let him cross that, I’ll be able to keep him on the hook a little for longer.
“Well, with that kind of offer, how can I say no?” I smile up at him, soft and sultry, stepping back a little so that he can open the door to the passenger’s side. “I’d love to see your place.”
My heart is racing as I slide into the car. I’m about to go to his home, alone with him in private, and every woman knows the risks inherent in that. Natalia Obelensky would never have worried about it–she had security and protection. No man would have dared lay a finger on me when I was her. But Athena,Ekaterina, those names have no such protection. All I have is myself, and I know already that Mikhail is a man who likes to test my boundaries.
But he’s also shown himself willing to stop and make up for those moments when he’s pushed too far.
I’ve already made the choice. Now all I have to do is make sure I don’t lose myself in it.
He takes me to a part of the city that I know very well–one of the most expensive residential areas, not far from where I once rented my own secret apartment. The building is a high-rise that I know very well is one of the most expensive. I feel a small thrill as he drives into the parking garage at the idea of being in such a luxurious place again, instead of my own small and shabby apartment.
“I hope you’re impressed,” Mikhail says with a grin as he opens my door, offering me a hand. “I’m partial to it, and to the views, but I’m interested to see what you think.”
“How could I not be?” I flash him a smile. “I’m sure I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
It almost makes me hate him a little more, how eager he is to play Prince Charming, to show off his wealth to the poverty-stricken escort he hired.Idiot, I used to rent a place every bit as nice as this. If you knew who I was, you wouldn’t be so fucking patronizing.
I follow him into the elevator, and he hits a button for the penthouse. He raises an eyebrow, waiting for my reaction. I give him appropriately wide eyes, as a warm satisfaction ripples through me.
He has every bit as much money as you hoped. If you play your cards right, you’ll come out of this better than you could have imagined.
We step out of the elevator into a hallway, and Mikhail slips a matte black keycard out of his pocket, holding it up to the door. It unlocks, and he ushers me in first, stepping in behind me and locking the door.
I feel a shiver go down my spine at the sound of the lock clicking behind me, but I’m momentarily distracted by the beauty of the penthouse in front of me.
It’s an expansive, open-floor, loft-like space. The kitchen, dining area, and living room are all open, done in a very masculine, minimalistic black, white, and grey color scheme, with three of the four walls floor-to-ceiling windows. I see a door on one side that I imagine must go to a bathroom, and a twisting staircase leading up to the upper level. The view is, in fact, incredible, and I find myself walking toward one of the windowed walls despite myself, looking out over the city beyond. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a view like this, and I let myself relax a fraction, looking out over the lights beyond the apartment.
I feel Mikhail walk up behind me, his hand reaching for my clutch. He takes it out of my hand, opening it, and slides another envelope inside, before setting it aside on the table next to where I’m standing. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he murmurs, his hands resting gently on my waist. Something about the fact that he paid before touching me makes me relax a little more, leaning into his touch the slightest bit.
“It’s lovely,” I breathe, stepping back just a little, so that I’m almost brushing against the warm, hard line of his body. “I can’timagine having a view like this every day. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
“Never.” His head dips, and I feel his lips brushing along the edge of my ear. “Just as I could never get tired of looking at you.”
The compliments are as heavy-handed as his insistence on buying my time, and it should irritate me just as much–but I can feel myself softening, just a little. It feels good to be touched, complimented, to have someone want me in the way that used to be so commonplace that I expected it.
“What do you like to drink?” His lips are still against my ear, his fingers sliding up my waist, caressing just beneath my breasts. “I have the makings of just about anything here.”
Slowly, I turn in his embrace, arching the tiniest bit, so I’m brushing against him, teasing. “Make me whatever you think I’d like. I haven’t tried that many different things.”
There’s a slight innuendo to my words that I know he’ll pick up on. A smile twitches at the edge of his mouth, and he steps back, his hand sliding down my arm to take my hand and lead me towards the long black leather couch that’s the centerpiece of the living room.
