Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“And I thought I’d seen it all,” Amber breathed as they stepped out of the elevator into the underwater observatory.
This was the sort of wonder his money could buy, and he’d never had anyone to share it with.
Because they were moored offshore in deep water, the sea life beyond the toughened glass was extraordinary.
All shapes and sizes, multicolored and varied, it was an incredible sight.
Amber leaned her head against his chest. He looped his arms around her waist. It was one of those rare moments when nothing needed to be said.
But of course, it couldn’t last. He couldn’t allow it to last, not with the closeness between them growing all the time.
“You can only ever pay a fleeting visit to something that soothes you, can’t you?” she said as he nuzzled her neck and moved away.
“I thought it might be time to test the strength of the toughened glass.”
“Liar,” she murmured, staring at him with a mix of pity and disappointment on her face at the idyll so quickly lost.
“So?” he pressed with an unrepentant hum.
She shook her head and gave him a wry smile. “So, I’m totally up for a challenge.”
“You can still watch the sea life,” he promised.
“Like I won’t be distracted?” she said as he removed her towel and made a start on her bikini.
She wanted Alexei so much it hurt, and not just physically. Her feelings had changed toward him, and she didn’t know how to hold them back.
Murmuring what she had no doubt were outrageous suggestions in Russian, far too advanced for her sparse understanding of the language, he was steadily backing her toward a viewing bench. He was so sexy and she was so hot for him. But… “No,” she said, holding back at the last minute.
“No?” he queried. Stepping out of his swimming shorts, he stood in front of her, utterly beautiful and completely unabashed. And he certainly didn’t need to tell her that there was nowhere else he would rather be.
“I want you,” she said softly, wishing this could be enough for her.
“I know,” he murmured. “I feel the same.”
“So I see.”
And then they were smiling into each other’s eyes with the type of understanding that only lovers have, and everything was all right again.
He lowered her down to the bench and arranged her legs over the wide spread of his shoulders.
She came the moment he touched her. That was how she felt about him.
Alexei moved deep to take her completely.
Throwing his head back, he lost himself in pleasure, while she was completely possessed by him, body, soul, and mind.
What am I doing? Where is this going?
Ever sensitive to her smallest change of mood, Alexei forgot about his own pleasure and stopped moving. That made it worse. She wanted this too much. She hadn’t realized how deeply embedded he’d become in her heart. And she knew he shunned close relationships. She knew that, so what was she doing?
“Amber?” Searching her eyes, Alexei kissed her, and he kept on kissing her until she relaxed, but inside, she knew.
He was like an island. He was like the fabled Isla Celeste, a destination to enjoy for a short time before moving on.
That was how she should be thinking about him, but she was having a major fail in that department—
“Do I have your full attention, myshka?”
She smiled ruefully. “Stop with the mouse.”
“Stop with this too?” he queried, moving his hands so they cupped her buttocks.
She groaned with pleasure as he slowly rolled his hips from side to side. “You don’t play fair.”
“Do you want me to? Why don’t you just let go, when you know you want to?”
He knew her too well. It was so easy to do just that—too easy.
Alexei took her from one peak to the next and showed no interest in slowing down. He was devoted to her pleasure, and her ecstatic cries rang around the viewing room while the marine life provided a silent spectacle behind them.
“Isn’t it your turn?” she asked at last. She didn’t wait for Alexei to reply.
She arranged herself on the bench with her hips held high, tempting him.
Her reward was his ragged groan of pleasure.
Much later when they were still entwined, she teased his lips with hers for the pleasure of watching his hard mouth soften into a smile, and when he kissed her back, there was so much feeling between them, it overwhelmed her.
“Tears, myshka?”
“Exhaustion,” she lied, brushing off her reaction and the tears with a smile. If she said too much, she’d drive him away, and whatever time they had left, she was going to hang on to it with everything she’d got.
“Bed?” he suggested.
“Yours or mine?” she asked as they kissed and kept on kissing.
“Mine,” Alexei whispered.
Should she be quite so happy about that? Wasn’t this slipping deeper into his life everything she’d vowed not to do? But could she stop herself, even had she wanted to? Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and knew the answer to that was a definite no.
“Happy Christmas!” she called out as she backed into Alexei’s stateroom with a tray.
“What’s this?” he asked, opening one eye.
“Room service?”
“Excellent,” he murmured, raising himself up in bed to view her dressed in a skimpy robe.
Putting the tray down on the side, she sat cross-legged on the bed in front of him.
“Presents?” he exclaimed, frowning as he weighed up the contents of the tray.
“Only little things,” she explained.
“You didn’t tell me you’d bought presents.”
“But these don’t count, because they’re only small. Well, aren’t you going to open them? You can’t expect Santa Claus to bring the reindeer all the way out here only for you to ignore his lovely gifts.”
“You bought these for me?”
“Yes.” She shook the gaudy red stocking. “Take a look.”
“Mints?” Alexei’s frown deepened as he brought out the packet of mints.
“For your polo ponies? Come on—hurry up.”
He hummed as he reached inside again. “Glow corks?” Angling his chin, he stared at her in bemusement.
“So you can find your vodka in the dark,” Amber explained.
“Excellent.” Nodding, he concealed a smile as he put the glow corks to one side. “I take it they form a set with the light-up ice cubes?” The next thing out of the stocking.
“Belt and braces?” Amber agreed solemnly.
“Build my own yacht?” Alexei queried, finding it even harder to smother a smile as he brought out the next small gift.
“It’s always good to have a spare,” Amber assured him.
“And last, but not least…” He delved inside.
“The billionaire bath duck,” she announced as he brought it out. “You do love your bath,” she observed, “and this duck is a billionaire by day and a vigilante crime fighter by night, as you can tell from his uniform—”
Reaching for her wrist, he caught her close. “You do know I haven’t got you anything else, don’t you?”
“Mouse is enough. I don’t want anything else.”
“Of course you do,” he argued. “You need a good man—someone who appreciates you and who can give you all the little things you need.”
“I don’t need little things,” she assured him with a steady look and an attempt at humor, but there was hurt behind her eyes.
The day rolled out like the most perfect Christmas Day, if they could just forget that it was a moment in time and not forever, Amber thought.
They swam and they sunbathed and ate all the lovely food the chef had prepared for them, and then they made love as if there was no end in sight and only endless, perfect now.
It was suppertime when perfect got tarnished.
They had decided to dress for dinner and were loading the trolley in the galley before taking it onto the deck, where the beautifully set dining table was waiting for them.
Alexei had chosen her dress, a slim column of silver silk.
He looked like a film star in exquisitely tailored taupe linen pants and blue shirt.
He’d just wheeled the food trolley onto the deck, when he remembered something.
“I almost forgot to give you this,” he said as he plunged a hand into his top pocket.
Of course her mind went into a spin. What is he going to pull out? For a moment, she was floating, but then she crashed down. The thick wad of banknotes in his hand choked off her exclamation of pleasure.
“Your wages,” he explained.
For a moment, she couldn’t compute what he was saying. Her wages for what?
Alexei frowned when she remained frozen and made no attempt to take the money from him. “You are a crew member on board Russian Thunder, aren’t you?” he pressed.
“Yes,” she agreed on a dry throat.
“Then, take it,” he insisted. “There’s holiday pay, and whatever else.” His frown deepened when he saw her expression. “You’re being treated exactly the same as all the other crew. I always give them a good Christmas—”
She would have preferred him to slap her in the face. It might have woken her up faster. “Of course I’m a member of your crew,” she agreed, battling hurt and humiliation.
“Come on, take it,” Alexei insisted impatiently.
No chance. She tucked her hands out of sight behind her back.
“Don’t be silly, Amber. There’s pride, and then there’s foolishness.”
“Well, maybe I am foolish,” she agreed as she backed away from the dining chair Alexei had pulled out for her. “But I don’t want your money, and I’m sure you can find a better use for it.”
Thrusting it into her hand, he brought his face close. “What makes you think you’re better than everyone else, Amber?”
“Absolutely nothing,” she fired back. “That’s not how I think.”
“Then take the money,” he repeated.
“You take the money—” And shove it, she wanted to say, but she had a better idea. “Take that money and make sure it gets to the women you saved. Let them have a decent Christmas.”
“That’s all taken care of, as I’ve already told you.”
“Okay.” Taking the money from him, she laid it at the side of her place setting. “I haven’t earned this and I don’t want it, but there must be something those women need, or something for them in the future going forward.”