by Tee, Marian
"In a way."
Drat. That meant she was right, didn't it?
Sasha, seeing the girl was about to start worrying herself to death, was torn between amusement and amazement. Dmitry had been an asshole to this girl from the very start, and yet somehow...
Lucky bastard, Sasha thought. If it had been any other guy, he'd probably have long tried stealing the girl away, just to teach the other man a lesson. But since Dmitry wasn't any other guy, and Sasha happened to be on his brother's side...
Sasha's voice turned deceptively sober as he addressed the girl. "If you want my advice..."
"I do," Tahey said without hesitation.
"I think it's best to give my brother some space for now. Obviously, he's not the type to ask for that out loud, which is why I'm asking it on his behalf. He's got certain things on his mind that he would have an easier time resolving if..."
A light bulb seemed to click inside Tahey's head as Sasha gave her a rather apologetic glance. "I should keep my distance...is that what you're saying?"
"It won't work if he knows you're keeping your distance," Sasha lied. "You need to be more subtle about it, maybe focus more on working with me or the other guys."
Tahey tried her hardest to understand how this was so. Mm. She had unwittingly reminded Dmitry of his ex with her choice of clothes, and this - according to Sasha - had made Dmitry realize he needed to make a decision on things. Things that required Tahey to keep her distance...
Oh!
Tahey felt herself pale.
What if Dmitry was so tired of having her frequently remind him of his ex that he had started wondering whether it was worth keeping Tahey around? After all, she also happened to be in love with him, and as far as her boss was concerned, her feelings were probably nothing but an added complication.
If she stuck to him like glue in the mood he was in, he might be more liable to fire her. But if he knew that she was deliberately keeping her distance, then Dmitry could think she was being too calculating, and that would still get her fired.
So in the end, Sasha was right. She had to be really subtle about keeping her distance, and just like Sasha suggested as well, she should focus on her job and remind Dmitry - from a safe distance - what a tremendous asset she was to Strakh Inc.
Maybe after that, he would finally stop seeing his ex in her and realize Tahey was her own woman.
And maybe...
Just maybe...
He could finally start being that with her.
WITH THE JET HAVING already landed and immigration clearing them to disembark, Dmitry reluctantly left the safe harbor of his office to rejoin Sasha and Tahey. Truth was, the sight of her had knocked him sidewise, and the billionaire had found her so fucking lovely and hot he had ended up fighting off the urge to lock her in a room with him and have his way with her body.
He could never tell her that, of course. But what he could and intended to do was to apologize. He might not be able to give her a reason for cursing at the sight of her, but he could at least say sorry.
And that was the plan...
But it was a plan that appeared impossible to execute, with the way Tahey suddenly seemed too busy to even meet his gaze.
The fuck?
Tahey forced herself to keep typing on her smartphone even as Dmitry's brooding gaze never wavered from her. Every once in a while, she'd feel the strongest urge to look up and plead for his forgiveness. I'm sorry. I don't want to act like I'm ignoring you, but I have no choice.
She had to be strong. She must remember that this was only temporary, and that concentrating on her job was the best way to remind Dmitry of the reason he and the other guys had her headhunted in the first place.
So stay the course, T.G.!
Stay the course!
Tahey could only repeat the words desperately in her mind as she continued to ignore Dmitry's brooding gaze.
Once out of the airport, a limousine had come to whisk them off to the hotel, where the rest of Strakh Inc. was already waiting.
A breakfast meeting was the first thing on today's agenda, and while the five men closeted themselves in a private conference room, it was Tahey's first time to meet the two other people working for the company. Sixty-year-old Ada used to work for the IRS and was now Stelios' executive assistant while "Panda", a Chinese-American in his thirties, worked under Drake and introduced himself as "someone who used to be real bad."
Sasha and Bastien hadn't any assistants, Ada shared complacently, but it should only be a matter of time until they did.
It was already half-past ten when the meeting ended, and Dmitry came out half-expecting Tahey to pop up with a ready smile on her face and a cup of his favorite coffee in hand.
Instead, he found her hard at work with Ada and Panda—-
Which is as it should be, he reminded himself forcefully.
Stelios, having received a rather informative and amusing text from Sasha, strolled out to the balcony where the other assistants were also having their own meeting.
Ada glanced up and noticed right away the gleam of mischief in her boss's eyes. Oh dear.
Panda, seeing the same thing as well, hastily excused himself from the table. Whatever trouble Stelios had cooking, he wanted no part of it.
"Bonjour, mademoiselle."
Tahey suddenly found her chin being tipped up by the Greek billionaire, and her confusion only grew when she saw the seductive smile that had curved over his lips. He had always been charming and flirtatious, and she knew of his playboy reputation from the tabloids, but he hadn't ever tried hitting on her...until now.
"Um...bonjour back?"
Stelios laughed, and Tahey could only smile weakly even though she didn't really think her answer had been funny at all. Bonjour, merci, and c'est la vie were pretty much the sum total of her knowledge of French.
Sasha came to stand next to his brother and allowed a feigned frown to crease his forehead as he watched Stelios continue to banter with Dmitry's secretary. "What the hell is Stelios thinking?"
Dmitry's lips tightened.
"Doesn't he realize how impressionable Tahoma is?" Sasha shook his head in disgust. "I enjoy teasing Ms. Baskerville once in a while myself, but I've at least made sure she knows not to read anything in it. Stelios, however..." He stopped speaking, with Dmitry having already stalked off towards the balcony.
Job well done, Sasha thought, and he could only hope that Dmitry would thank him for it one day.
Dmitry could feel his blood boiling hotter as he heard more of Stelios' conversation with Tahey. What the hell was the other man thinking, poaching on his—-
Shit.
His steps came into an abrupt halt as he found himself grappling with an internal dilemma. Sasha's observations had been entirely accurate, and Dmitry knew better than anyone else what a gullible little fool Tahey could be. And as for Stelios...if there was any man who could turn Tahey's head around, make her forget about her feelings for Dmitry—-
Fuck.
Who knew if she still had feelings for him anyway? And with Stelios around, and Stelios being Dmitry's exact opposite - maybe it was inevitable for Tahey to forget Dmitry and move on with the Greek playboy.
And if that happened...
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Now was the time to prove to himself that he didn't care for her in any way.
That she was nothing to him.
But then he heard her laugh—-
A soft, musical sound that was only supposed to be his.
Just for his fucking ears, dammit.
And Dmitry saw red.
Tahey let out a startled gasp when a strong hand suddenly gripped hers just before she was being yanked off from her seat. Her head jerked up, and glittering golden eyes immediately captured her gaze.
"We're leaving." Dmitry's voice was low and rough, and his big hard body seemed to be bristling with barely leashed violence.
Uncertainty crawled down her spine, and a ball of trepidation pooled inside o
f her stomach even as she heard herself stammer, "O-Okay."
Her quick acquiescence seemed to mollify him somewhat. She could sense him calming down a little even as the tightness of his grip didn't ease. Turning around, Dmitry led her out of the balcony in a swift, powerful stride that had almost had her running just to keep up with him.
With her boss not even bothering to look at the other members of Strakh Inc., she could only give them a weak smile of apology just before Dmitry had successfully dragged her out of the hotel's penthouse suite.
"Where are we going?"
But instead of answering, Dmitry shot a question back at her in a snarl. "What the hell do you think you were doing?"
"I was just talking to Mr. Diamandis—-"
"It wasn't just that," he snapped.
Before she could reply, Dmitry had unlocked a door at the other end of the hallway. He then shot her a look that had her gulping in instinctive fear. "Get in."
Tahey hurried inside, knowing better than to argue. The room they were in was smaller than the one earlier, but it was just as lavish and had its own balcony as well. Turning around, she watched Dmitry put the lock in place, and her heart hammered away. She watched him slowly turn to face her, and her mouth slowly went dry as she saw the look on his chillingly beautiful face.
He was furious.
Very, very furious.
But more than that...
"You're jealous," she gasped.
The glitter in his gaze intensified, and the growl he emitted was enough to make her take a nervous step back.
Tahey had always been fascinated with big, dangerous cats. Even as a little girl, she had loved watching documentaries that showcased their strength and agility, the way they could make their kill with the deadliest of grace.
And thinking about it now...she finally realized that was what attracted her the most about Dmitry. He reminded her of those predators, and he was like her own beautiful and deadly jaguar, with his bluish-black hair and glittering golden eyes.
As the billionaire strode towards her, she couldn't help but tremble in a mixture of excitement and fear, and Tahey felt a serious lack of oxygen when Dmitry finally came close—-
Just inches away now, so, so close that there was no mistaking the violent edge of his strength, no way but to feel the raw feral streak in him that could break free from its leash at any moment.
And right now, he was already on the brink of turning savage, jealousy burning so brightly in his golden gaze that her head started to reel—-
Just as no one could ever feel completely safe sleeping next to a predator...
It was the same with her boss.
Dmitry Adrianov, she thought dazedly, would never be safe.
Chapter Eight
She was doing it again. Doe eyes staring up at him with unconcealed yearning. Big dark eyes pleading with him to pounce on her. Devour her. Violate her. Beautiful dreamy eyes that promised everything of her was his.
And he was so fucking tired of saying no to those eyes.
Goddamn tired.
And pissed.
So fucking pissed that he had reasons to say no in the first place.
"Why the hell did you have to come into my life?" Dmitry gritted out. "Why couldn't you have just stayed away, damn you?"
Tahey couldn't believe what she was hearing him say, and she found it even harder to believe the things that she was hearing him not say in between those words.
"D-Dmitry..." She hadn't planned saying his name like that. She had always been careful, had always addressed him as 'Mr. Adrianov' or 'sir'. But all of a sudden, she found herself saying his name, and oh God...
When she saw the way his eyes blazed with lust at hearing his name on her lips...
Oh God.
"Dmitry."
She just had to say it again. Just had to see if she hadn't imagining it, and this time she didn't just see it. It wasn't just the same blaze of lust from his golden eyes. This time, she heard it, too. This time, his name on her lips had him growling - a sound that was as savage as it was erotic, and it had every inch of her body blossoming into life.
Her breasts grew heavy and swollen, and her nipples started to pucker up. The triangle between her legs began to quiver, and moisture gradually lined her now-throbbing folds.
She had never felt like this before, and it felt strange even as it felt right.
So perfectly right.
Because it was him, Dmitry, that made her body feel this way.
She raised dazed eyes to his, wanting and needing him to tell her what was going to happen next. Surely it couldn't just be this? Just couldn't be, right? And so her lips parted, and she found herself once again saying his name. "Dmitry?"
And third time proved to be the charm.
Because this time she didn't just see or hear the fierceness of his desire.
This time, she felt it, too.
The moment he came close and his large, strong hands clasped her face—-
Oh, how she felt it.
His hot, beautiful mouth crushing hers, his lips prying hers open, and then it was his tongue thrusting in—-
Oh God.
Slow, lazy strokes. Hard and fast stabs. His tongue knew every move there was to drive her crazy, and Tahey could feel herself steadily unraveling as his tongue continued to fuck her mouth in a way she had never dreamed of.
When he started sucking on her tongue, she could only gasp, and when he ordered her to do the same, she obeyed his command, tentatively then eagerly, so swept away that she found herself clutching at him - fingers first digging into the hard muscles of his arms, and when this wasn't enough, her hands moved up, and her arms eventually found their way around his neck.
The new position had Tahey's body molding instinctively against Dmitry's length, and the billionaire released a rough growl in her mouth at the feel of her nipples scraping his chest.
His kiss deepened even as he knew that he should take things slow and easy.
This was her first time, dammit.
He should be gentle and tender.
But then he heard Tahey whimper and felt her wriggling closer to his body—-
Fuck.
Fuck gentle. Fuck tender.
Fuck.
Tahey could only whimper anew when Dmitry suddenly swept her up in his arms without breaking his kiss. A moment later, and her heart was banging away against her chest, with the unmistakable feel of a soft, luxurious bed molding against her back.
Oh God.
For one moment, she was terrified, knowing that once Dmitry made her his, there would be no going back. No pretending that her feelings for him could be anything but love—-
But when he suddenly wrenched his mouth off hers and stared down at her as he asked—-
"Are you sure?"
The coldness inside of her thawed, the terror fading as the warmth of her feelings surged up.
She looked up at him, wanting Dmitry to see the truth in her eyes match her answer as she said simply, "Yes."
The weight of his body covered hers in the next instant, and she couldn't help but moan, couldn't help but wrap her limbs around the muscular length of his body. She had thought he would make her feel suffocated, but instead she found herself craving more of his weight. He was so much bigger and harder, and that he was made her feel so much more smaller and softer—-
Aaah!
His mouth had suddenly latched on to the side of her neck, sucking hungrily at a rather sensitive spot that she never even knew existed until that moment. Her eyes closed, and her neck arched. Her nails scraped his back, and her body began to writhe. But still he went on, sucking for such a long time that she could almost believe he was a vampire claiming her for eternity.
When his mouth finally lifted, she was able to breathe a little more easily, but it was a short-lived reprieve, and soon she found herself panting once more, with Dmitry now working on getting rid of her clothes.
In moments, she was naked, but she barely
had time to process this as Dmitry pulled back to start undressing himself. She forgot all about her nakedness as more and more of his clothes were thrown to the floor, and the sight of his increasing nudity left her riveted.
Holy, holy mooooooly.
She knew he was hot. That was a given from the very start. But she had never seen him without clothes before, never even caught him shirtless, and so to go from zero to complete exposure to Dmitry's naked body in a single moment...
"Oh God."
Tahey wasn't even aware of whispering the words out loud until she heard Dmitry chuckle, and she found herself turning red even as pleasure spread inside of her. It was the very first time she had heard him laugh, and she couldn't savor its sound even as her eyes hungrily roamed Dmitry's body.
Dmitry couldn't believe how much pleasure he was deriving from having Tahey staring at his body. "You like what you see?" he asked gruffly and received such a fervent nod in response that he couldn't keep his lips from twitching.
Oh my God. Tahey couldn't believe it. Dmitry had just smiled. Well, it was barely one actually, but still. And more amazingly...
"You have dimples," she blurted out.
"Shut up."
Tahoma watched in awe as a dark flush stained her boss's high-boned cheeks. My. Oh my. Dmitry was embarrassed by the fact that he had dimples?
"Is that why you rarely smile?"
Dmitry was torn between irritation, exasperation, and amusement. That he was a scary son of a bitch was a fact. He had been born one and was likely to die as one, too, and in most cases, he was scary enough that most people, from both sexes, never asked him questions that they knew would only likely result in having their heads chewed off.
Tahey, obviously, wasn't one of those people. She was scared of him in some ways, but other times like now...
"Will you just shut up and let me fuck you?"
Tahey's eyes widened.
Wasn't that his way of saying she had guessed right?
Wasn't it?
