Chapter 10
"I'm still pissed at you." She mumbled around the bite of potato and beef.
"I'm aware." He had ravaged her, starting in the kitchen and somehow had found their way into her bedroom.
Now they were naked and eating in bed. He had insisted on going to fetch the food and the bottle of wine.
Picking up a napkin, he dabbed at her mouth and sent her heart into a slow spin.
He was taking care of her, and she was not used to it.
Dark eloquent eyes noticed her reaction but kept silent.
"You brought this over from the farmhouse."
"I want to lie and say I slaved over a hot stove all afternoon, but I can't," he shot her a grin. Putting aside his bowl, he picked up his wine and leaned back against the pillows. Comfortable in his nudity, he crossed his legs at the ankles and sipped the dark red.
"You picked my locks again."
He angled his head to stare at her. "Your fault. I did ask you to give me a key."
Her eyes sizzled. "You didn't ask. You demanded."
"Ask, demand." His smile widened at the dirty look she threw him.
"There's something else. What did you tell your grandparents about us?"
"She wanted to know if we were just sleeping together. Or if it was something else."
Her brows shot up. "You discussed this..." She scissored a hand between them. "Us having sex with them?"
"Darling, be reasonable. Surely you did not expect her to think we were here playing bridge or watching old movies for an entire night?" His amused tone made her want to dump the rest of her stew over his head. "They're far from senile."
She shoved the tray into his stomach and caused him to wince. "What else did you tell her?"
Putting the tray on the table, he eyed her cautiously. "She wanted to know my intentions where you're concerned."
Her brow creased. "And what did you tell her?"
"That my intentions are noble."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Wine?" Turning, he picked up the glass and gave it to her.
"Dimitri."
"Hmm." He sipped, eyeing her over the rim. Clearing his throat, he lowered the glass. "I was hoping to wait a few more weeks... all right, another week before saying anything."
Tension had her gripping the slender stem of the glass and had her heart pounding. "For what?"
"To tell you how I feel."
"We're attracted to each other and we're having fun." She was desperately willing him to agree.
"Fun?" His tone was wryly amused. "You're a very intelligent woman, too smart actually to even think that." His levity faded as he continued to stare at her. "I think I knew it from the very first moment I laid eyes on you."
Lifting the glass to her lips, she gulped the wine and almost choked.
He took the glass from her and set them both aside. Taking her hands, he held on even when she started to pull away.
"Don't!"
His thick dark brows lifted.
"Don't what?"
"Don't say what I think you're going to say." She tried to tug her hands away, stopping when he held on tight. "We only just met and this is already insane. Yes, the sex is great and we're enjoying each other, leave it at that."
"And if I can't?" he asked her quietly.
She hesitated, searching his face for any sign that he was joking, but there was only sincerity in his gaze. The room seemed to close in around them, the intimacy suddenly sharper, almost overwhelming. She let out a shaky breath, realizing that this moment could change everything between them.
She tried again. "Look, I'm not interested in a relationship. Like I said before, the sex is great, and I have no problem continuing what we have."
"I'm not." The calmness and determined light in his eyes frightened her and made her want to run and hide.
She had loved once before, and that did not include her beloved parents.
She had tried with Michael and that had gone to hell.
At that point, she had sworn never to put her heart out there again.
She had struggled. First after her parents died and then when she lost Michael.
She could not do it again. What's worse was the sinking feeling that with Dimitri, her emotions were so intense, she had a challenging time keeping them at bay.
And she was trying to convince herself that it was attraction, plain and simple.
"I'm in love with you."
"No, you're not!" Her voice was sharp, eyes feverish. "Are you insane? We only just met."
His fingers gripped her, eyes steady. "I'm head over heels in love with you.
Irrevocably. I've never said that to another person before.
I lived my life flitting from one casual and meaningless relationship to the next and never thought I would ever fall in love.
But here I am. Here we are and I know you feel it too. "
"What I feel is good old-fashioned lust. Desire if you may.
" She was desperate to bring her point across.
Her chest was hurting, temple pounding and she was trying valiantly to bring up a mental picture of Michael to remind her of the folly of getting her heart involved.
But the image was fading away. Ever since she met Dimitri, she was having a challenging time thinking of Michael.
"Soon, you'll be gone. We're not compatible.
You live in Russia; I live here in the states.
You're wealthy and entitled. You don't have to work for a living.
I love my job..." She added fiercely. "This.
.. I cannot do this. Why did you have to spoil things? " She wanted to cry and rail at him.
"You're afraid..."
"I'm not!" She snapped. "I want you to take it back." She was breathing too fast, her chest painful. "Take back what you said. I don't want to hear it. Take it back."
He simply stared at her in that involved way of his and set her heart on fire.
"I'll wait."
"No." She shook her head with enough force to send the coils dancing. "I would like you to leave and never come back."
"No," he said quietly. "I'm not going anywhere. You will..."
"I'm in love with someone else!" She screamed.
Hating herself for using a man she had once loved, she blinked at the tears.
"His name was Michael, and he was sweet, kind, and gentle.
I loved him. We were supposed to get married, and he just happened to stop into a convenience store and interrupted a robbery.
" Her breath hitched. "They shot him. A drug addict just turned the gun and shot him in the chest. I lost him and I promised myself that I would never love again. I won't."
The silence that followed was very profound.
Dimitri felt as if his heart was breaking into pieces.
He could not compete with a ghost; he would not win.
But he knew she felt something for him. He understood her fear of course.
Hadn't he shied away from loving someone so deeply it goes through to your very soul?
And it had been because of losing his mother.
The pain had cut deep, slicing through him like a two-edged sword.
But he had fallen in love and was damned if he was going to turn away from that love.
"I'm sorry you went through something like that." His voice was soothing and instead of pulling away and leaving, he was gathering her closer to him. She could not bear to be this close to him. He was going to find out that she was a fraud. That she was lying about not caring enough.
"Don't, please."
Tilting her chin up, he wiped at the tears with his thumbs.
"Let me make it better. Let me heal the wounds and make things better for you.
" She was helpless to resist when he lowered his mouth to hers.
The kiss was gentle, a soft touch, a mingling of breaths.
He brushed his lips over hers, back and forth, until she was becoming dizzy with desire and need.
Everything was fading from her mind. And she could only feel.
One hand lifted to cup the back of her neck as he eased her down.
His body covered hers and she whimpered, a sigh escaping her.
He nibbled and she murmured his name. The thought sank in and took root that it was his name on her lips, not the man from her past. But his.
Tugging her bottom lip down, he soothed the sting of his teeth with his tongue and felt when she shivered.
Her slender curves fitted his body to perfection.
He would make her realize they belonged together.
If her intention was for him to disappear from her life, she was in for a disappointment.
He was staying. He had found someone... the only woman he would ever love.
.. the only one he wanted to share his life with, and he was staying.
She tried to look away, but his unwavering gaze held her captive, exposing every vulnerability she so desperately tried to conceal. The truth warred within her, emotions tangled and raw. Still, some part of her... small, stubborn... ached for the hope he offered, even as fear gnawed at her resolve.
"I love you," His rough whisper slid over her cheek.
He murmured something else in Russian before trailing kisses along her jawline to the seams of her lips.
He nibbled her lips open, taking the soft flesh between his teeth.
Her body moved restlessly, the force of her emotions clanging throughout her body.
There was no mistaking the passion, the heat of it seared her flesh.
He wanted his love, the warmth of it to sear her body and melt her bones.
He gave and she took her hands wrapping around his neck as she ached for more.
She wanted him like she had never wanted anyone before.
Fear clogged her throat, bringing tears to her eyes.
It burned behind her eyelids, sliding down first one cheek and then the other.
His lips moved upwards to gently sip, the gesture clogging her throat.
His lips trailed down to meet hers and she opened.
He tasted her sigh, her desire and met it with his.