Chapter 23
EVGENY
Feeling the walls and the crowd closing in, I lift my gaze to the high, domed ceiling and trace the bright mosaic, the sun’s wavy spikes in deep oranges and golds catching and throwing the light below.
The Friends of the Public Library lit up the L.A.
Central Library until it blazed with light, the marble floors so shiny I could almost see my reflection.
L.A.’s elite packed the place, dressed in their glittering best, the gowns’ colors trying to compete with the vivid murals and mosaics on the walls.
“Evgeny Kucherov. I’m glad you made it tonight. I thought maybe you wouldn’t.”
My gaze drops from the ceiling to the man in a tux weaving toward me through the crowd. He shakes my hand and flashes a broad, too-white smile, and I tense at his words. The man is the L.A. County district attorney.
My poisoning hasn’t been made public. Dmitri guaranteed he’d taken care of both the hospital and the restaurant. Still, I don’t know how much has slipped to the police. I’ve seen district attorneys come and go, but this one has a slick smile and an even slicker way of learning things he shouldn’t.
I have my suspicions about the man’s connections but have never been able to pin anyone down. Instead, we remain wary of each other, both suspecting, but never able to prove anything.
“Oh?” I go with the simplest reply, one that gives nothing away.
“I heard you fell ill and were out of commission for a while?”
He is suspicious and fishing, so I give him a wolfish smile. “Oh, stories tend to exaggerate, do they not? The truth is, I’ve been far too busy winning the bid for the redevelopment of the Northgate parcel to do much else.”
“Winning, eh?” He flashes an easy smile at a passing woman in a tight, sequined dress. “Last I heard, you were still in the running. Aren’t you counting your chickens before they hatch?”
“It’s only a matter of time.”
That is a fact, and the slight rise of the man’s eyebrows tells me he believes me.
“Holy shit.”
An unusual expression crosses the DA’s face, his eyes fixed on a point across the large room. His mouth lifts, his tongue sweeps his bottom lip, and something almost predatory flashes in his gaze.
Curious about what has caught the man’s attention, I follow his line of sight to a vision in flowing red, drawing the eyes of nearly everyone she passes as she slips through the crowd.
My breath catches, and for a moment I can’t breathe. I’m uncharacteristically caught off guard, frozen, and I can only stare at the woman approaching me.
“Who the hell is that?” I dimly hear the DA’s appreciative question.
My mind takes a moment to realize what my heart already knows. The woman is Eva.
She’s dressed in an incredible red gown that stands out among the darker blues, purples, and blacks the rest of the crowd wears, like a beacon on a foggy night.
The color makes her olive skin glow, the deep plunge of the neckline showing just enough to hint at what’s underneath without revealing too much.
The full skirt swells and flows as she floats across the floor to me, her dark hair in a long, sleek ponytail cascading over one slim shoulder.
Her dark brown eyes, rimmed in smoky black, meet mine, and I’m suddenly on fire from the inside out.
Dmitri told me Eva would knock my socks off, but I wasn’t prepared for this. From the corner of my eye, I see the DA’s gaze lock on Eva as she comes closer, and possessiveness joins the fire.
The DA thinks Eva is approaching him, so he steps forward, his hand held out in welcome. Yet her dark eyes merely slide his way before finding my gaze again, her full lips curving into the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen.
“There you are,” she says, standing on her toes to press a kiss to my cheek. I move my head at the last moment and kiss her soundly on the lips. Surprise flashes in her eyes, but only for a moment before I slip my arm firmly around her waist and turn to the DA.
Mine.
“Trevor Morris, may I introduce Eva Volkova. Eva, sweetheart, this is Trevor Morris—”
At my use of the endearment, Eva stiffens against me. Outwardly, she reaches for the DA’s hand, a warm smile on her face.
“The L.A. County DA,” she finishes for me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
It’s clear she’s caught the man off guard. I added the “sweetheart” more for his benefit, setting a very clear boundary. But it also felt right, and after her momentary surprise, Eva settles more decisively into my hold.
“Well, well,” DA Morris says faintly, returning Eva’s handshake, a deep line still between his eyebrows. “I would never have guessed the beast would find a beauty.”
“The beast?” Eva asks, angling her head toward me before turning her question back at the DA.
Not entirely recovered, he manages a weak smile with a nasty flash in his eyes. “That’s how he’s known in our circles. Didn’t you know?”
“Because I’m a beast to deal with.” I don’t keep it a secret that I revel in the nickname, using it to my full advantage to gain the upper hand in many circumstances.
“Oh.” The clouds lift from Eva’s face, and I nearly smile at the thought.
She would have been angry if the nickname were for my scars and not the beastly side of me she’s witnessed on many occasions.
Then she surprises both of us with a cheeky smile as she glances up at me. “I can’t say I don’t agree.”
DA Morris, for once, is at a loss for words, and I let a chuckle slip at his discomfort and Eva’s quip. Is he shocked she knows who and what I am? Or who and what he suspects me to be?
“Let’s go.” Eva slips from under my arm, gesturing toward the dance floor. “I want to dance. It was nice meeting you, DA Morris.”
The man manages a muddled reply that might be goodbye. Either way, we turn resolutely from him, and I place my hand on Eva’s lower back to steer her toward the designated dance floor.
“You look stunning,” I bend to murmur in her ear. Eva smiles over her shoulder, her cheeks slightly red at the compliment.
“You look pretty incredible yourself tonight,” she replies as I take her into my arms, one wrapped around her waist so she’s snuggled up against me, the other holding her hand as I start guiding her around the dance floor.
I would have thought our height difference would make dancing difficult. Instead, she fits perfectly with me, like we’re two puzzle pieces tailor-made to fit together.
“So, what’s this about being a beast?” Eva asks as we sway and step to the swells and dips of the music.
I chuckle again. “You’ve come to know who I am. Are you surprised the people I deal with in this city, the people I do business with, think I’m so beastly? You didn’t seem surprised.”
Again, Eva’s cheeks flush, and her gaze drops from my eyes.
“Eva?” I prompt, bemused by the response.
“I, um…” she starts, swallows, and takes a deep breath. “I might have called you Mr. Giant in my head the first time I was at your house.”
She chooses the words carefully, aware of how many people are around us. I also see anxiety and regret cross her face before the emotions turn into surprise as I start laughing.
“I’m glad you think that’s funny,” she mutters as she stares straight at my shirt. From my vantage point, I can see the tips of her ears are red.
“I think it’s fitting. I know who I am. And I’m grateful you know, too, and still choose to stay with me.”
Her gaze flicks up to meet mine again, surprise registering at my unflinching honesty.
“Of course I do.” Her ears are still red, her words quiet, but Eva smiles at me.
As Eva and I sway around the dance floor, the gala attendees a shifting kaleidoscope of colors around us, I realize this moment is significant. Far more significant than I thought when I asked Eva to accompany me.
I made the right decision by asking her to come. I liked showing her off, showing others that this stunning woman in my arms was mine and mine alone.
More than that, I realize I simply like being with Eva. I love and have come to rely on the way her fire warms me, the way she has brought brightness into my life that had been missing for far too long.
Even Alona, as prickly and judgmental as she is, likes her in her gruff way. Dmitri likes her, too. Vasya hasn’t said anything to me since I warned him off her, but I know the two of them get along.
I can remember life before Eva, but it’s distant and dark, a stormy place to which I do not want to return. No, I want this incredible, fiery woman in my arms and my life.
I dip my head, press my lips to her ear, and whisper, “Moya lyubimaya.”
My darling. My love.
Again, Eva stiffens, her breath catching at the same time her feet tangle.
I grip her waist so she doesn’t fall, and her eyes, wide with wonder and astonishment, lock on mine.
A brilliant smile stretches across her face, dazzling in its glowing happiness, and she lays her head against my chest as we continue to dance.
With my strength still returning, and aware of my purpose here beyond the books, we begrudgingly return to mingling.
Eva is a light at my side, brilliantly engaging, allowing people to open up in my presence in a way I’ve never seen before.
But all I want to do is take her home and rip that gown off so I can get her under me.
Over me. Any way I can get her. I resist as long as possible before whisking her out of the gala and into my waiting car.
Downtown L.A. rises above us, the tops of the glowing skyscrapers touching the fog-purple sky as I slip in beside her in the back of the car. Eva slides a sly smile my way. No doubt she can see how badly I want her, how desperately I need her, and she’s enjoying her power over me.
We buckle ourselves in, and the car starts moving forward, easing into late-night downtown traffic.
Silence falls between us, so different from the gala’s colors, lights, and sounds.
I take a deep breath of the peace, a breath that becomes a choked gasp when Eva reaches over and wraps her hand around my erection.
“Eva,” I warn.
She flashes me a wicked smile and begins to massage the straining bulge visible through my pants.
My driver, one of my men, is invisible on the other side of the glass separating the back from the front. I don’t think he can hear much, either, unless I press the intercom button. And the SUV’s windows are entirely blacked out from the outside.
No one will be able to hear or see a thing.
And I can’t fucking wait any longer.
I growl and put my hand over Eva’s, pushing her against my dick. Her grin only grows more wicked as she slips her upper body out of the seat belt and leans over.
Eva makes quick work of my pants and my briefs, and I bite back a groan as the cool air of the car hits my straining erection. The sensation doesn’t last long, though, as Eva takes me into her mouth and my entire body jerks.
“Fuck, Eva!”
Her giggle vibrates against my shaft, and it’s all I can do to hold still at the sight of her dark head bobbing up and down in my lap, her hair a shiny, dark river spilling over her back and onto the seat.
Her lips are like velvet, her tongue twisting and licking until I feel like I’m nothing but desire and lust and pleasure.
Then her hand joins her mouth, alternating between caressing my dick and moving up and down my shaft. She even uses her nails, painted a red as vivid as her dress, dragging them lightly over my skin until my breath comes out as a shallow rasp.
“Jesus fuck, Eva. You’re good at this.”
She pauses, but only to flash me one of her most wicked grins. “Thanks for the compliment.”
I don’t have a moment to wonder where she learned such technique before she’s sucking on me in earnest, my head swimming with pleasure.
She’s so intent she doesn’t protest when I reach over, pull the skirt of her gown up around her hips, and search for what I’m looking for. It’s there in the form of a barely-there G-string, which I nudge over before plunging my fingers into her wet, waiting pussy.
Her squeal vibrates against me, and I groan, which turns into a growl as I piston my fingers roughly in and out, faster, faster, in time to her bobbing head.
I shout when I come. The wave hits me so hard I can only sit there gasping as my dick finally stops twitching and Eva swallows every drop.
But I still have a job to do, and even though my head is buzzing, I apply myself to the task, hitting all the spots I’ve learned drive Eva insane.
She doesn’t try to muffle her scream when she comes, jerking and shivering, her pussy contracting around my fingers.
When she sits up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, I pull her close and kiss her until we’re both breathless again. I can still taste the salt on her tongue, see the hazy afterglow in her eyes.
We wait for the rest until we get home, until I can have her in every position on every piece of furniture in the suite I call a bedroom.
She is wild tonight, like she can’t get enough.
Even a touch of my hand on her skin turns her on, over and over, until we both head for the shower to clean ourselves.
We explore each other once more under the shower of warm water and steam before collapsing into my bed, where Eva falls asleep in my arms, her hair still damp.
As exhausted as I am, sleep takes longer to come to me, only because I’m too caught up in Eva, in the feelings that have exploded for her within me.
I spent the night memorizing her body, the expressions flitting across her face, every touch that drove her crazy, and the way her eyes gleamed golden in the room’s shadows.
A woman is in my bed, sleeping in my arms, and all I want to do is hold her for the rest of time. To keep her with me and keep her safe, away from the monsters lurking outside the walls of my estate.
I realize I would do anything for her. Anything to keep her safe. Anything to make her happy.
I’ve irrevocably fallen for the small, fiery, feisty woman who tried to take me on, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s a startling realization, but Eva is it for me. Eva has my heart for the rest of my days.