“You have nothing to apologize for, Ana. You’re breathtaking.” He reached out his hand and I went to him. He put his large hands on the curves of my hips and held me in front of him. I ran my hands through his dark hair and he leaned forward, resting his forehead on the gentle curve of my belly. For a moment, he seemed strangely vulnerable. It was a side to him I’d never seen. I dropped my hands to his broad, strong shoulders.
“What is it? Max, has something happened?”
He stood then, and pulled me in, kissing me until I had to lean against him for support. I looked up to see him, towering over me, strong and confident. His eyes were bright in the darkness, while his outline seemed to disappear into it. He smiled at me. “It’s nothing, Ana. Just a business… issue.” He kissed me gently. “This time tomorrow, it won’t even exist.”
“Now,” he said, taking me by the hand, “come... help me dress for dinner.”
We sat in the most beautiful dining room I’d ever seen. The entire room seemed to sparkle with excitement. Cream colored linens and cut crystal decorated the tables and the golden candlelight brought it all to life. We’d been late for our reservation. I smiled, remembering how helping Max to dress had resulted in the undressing of us both…
I smoothed my hair self consciously and caught him watching me.
“No one knows… but me,” he said reassuringly, smiling across the table. He refilled our wine glasses as the waiter set our plates in front of us. “Only me.”
Max had ordered the filet mignon. I had my favorite, coq au vin. I took a bite and sighed with pleasure, sinking back in my chair.
“How is your sister? She called you yesterday…” He cut into his steak, watching me intently. “Is she well?”
I swallowed and took another sip of wine. “She’s really well, actually. Ally’s met someone too.” I touched my napkin to my lips. “It’s just so amazing… that it would happen for us both…”
“Is it serious? Have they gotten close?” Max’s expression changed, his face darkening.
I smiled at this protective side of him. “Just drinks at a local club, is all. It’s sweet of you to worry, Max. Ally’s young but she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She won’t rush into anything.” I blushed and took another sip of wine, thinking of how quickly things had gone between me and Max. He took my hand across the table, visibly relaxing and seeming to read my mind.
“What exists between us Ana, exists apart from the rules of... convention.” His voice was quiet and suddenly thick with his accent, and for a moment I thought of Anton. “I’ve never felt this way before… and I think you haven’t either.”
I looked into his eyes and felt like I was falling, falling into those brilliant green depths. And there was nothing I wanted more in that moment, than to stay.
“I feel like I’ve known you my whole life Max, even though it’s only been a single week. I feel like…”
“Like we’re part of each other,” he finished.
I nodded silently as our plates were cleared and the waiter appeared with coffee and and a plate of tiny lemon tarts.
“Ana… I know how important Ally is to you, how important it is to have family…,” Max began.
“Do you have any family, Max? You’ve mentioned your mother…”
“She died when I was still young. I have an uncle who raised me and more distant relations who… are part of the business we share.” He took a sip of coffee. “My uncle’s the only close family I have left, Ana. All my life I’ve looked up to him. There’s never been anything I wouldn’t do, if he asked me…”
“I can understand, Max. It’s how I feel about my sister. Family matters so much…” I put my hand over his large one. “We all need someone in our lives, someone’s who’s known us from the very beginning… someone we’d give everything for. And someone who’d do the same for us.”
He took my hand in his, his look so intense. “Ana, will you come with me? There’s so much I need to tell you, about my life, my family… what I do. But I… there’s something I need to do first. Something that I hope will matter far more to you. Will you come home with me Ana, tonight?”
I leaned forward to touch his face. “There’s nothing I want more.”
Less than an hour later, I pulled my car into the drive behind Max. He’d taken me to my apartment so I could gather a few things I needed and some fresh clothes for work in the morning. I insisted, over his protective objections, that I take my own car. I wasn’t going to risk getting Stu angrier than he already was, by having Max drop me off… on a Monday morning.
Max carried my bag inside, dropping it on the sofa and turning to take me in his arms. “I’ve been wanting to do this since we sat down to dinner,” he said softly into my ear, running his hands lightly over my breasts and down to cup my behind. He ran his lips tantalizingly over my neck and lingered on the hollow of my throat, tasting me with the tip of his tongue. He sat down, pulling me to him. He slipped the hem of my dress up… just far enough to allow me to straddle his hips. I sat, our eyes meeting at the same level. He held my face in the dim light, kissing me lightly, savoring my lips. I felt safe… content. I felt like something precious in his hands.
“Ana… there’s so much I want to say,” he started. “So much… and yet when I hold you like this,” he stroked the length of my back soothingly. “All I want to tell you now… is how I feel. The way that you make me feel inside, Ana.” He moved his hands up the back of my neck and held my head, weaving his fingers through my hair. He locked my eyes to his. They glowed with passion and something more. Something deeper, more serious.
“Never in my life have I said this, not to anyone… There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Ana… nothing I wouldn’t give…”
He put his warm lips to mine and I felt his breath mingle with my own, his heart beating under my hands and keeping pace with my own.
“Ana, my Ana. I love you.”
21
Max
Holding her in my arms was everything. She was all the family I needed, here and warm in my arms. I’d planned to tell her so much more, but in that moment, the love I felt for her seemed to be all that mattered. And I wasn’t yet willing to risk what was so new between us, by telling her all the rest…
“Max… oh Max…,” she breathed, molding herself to my body, surrendering. “You have to know I love you too. It feels like something that existed all along… and we found it at the same time, when we finally found each other.”
I crushed her to me, kissing her, touching her, desperate to possess her. All of her.
I carried her up the stairs to the bedroom, before stripping her bare. I had to see her. To see her soft, delicate perfection.
I settled her on the bed and minutes later had a fire blazing in the fireplace. The light moved on her skin like a living thing as I walked to her. She watched as I stripped down, and stood before her. Every inch of my skin was roused in anticipation. My cock stood like an iron rod, moving with the pounding of my heart. This was so new, so exciting. I’d never been with a woman I loved… ever before…
Ana’s eyes were locked to mine as I moved toward her. Her skin glowed in the flickering light, her dark eyes blazed with need. The closer I came, the farther down my body her gaze dropped. When I reached her, she stretched out her arms to pull me down on top of her. The feel of her skin against mine was exquisite. Every curve of her body was made to fit into my hands, just as my body was made to fit inside of hers. She spread her legs as I shifted my heavy cock to lay between her slippery folds. I rocked myself back and forth over her and she arched, pressing herself to me. I wasn’t going to enter her yet. I was going to work her clit with my cock until she came…
“Max…,” she moaned softly, as I stroked her. “I want you inside me…” She pushed her hips up and wrapped her legs around my hips. I pushed my cock hard against her and stroked until my tight, heavy balls rocked against her ass. Then I worked all the way back again, until the wet, swollen head of my
cock was all that touched her. I could feel the muscles working in her pussy, wanting me as desperately as I wanted her.
“Not yet, baby… not just yet…,” I said through my teeth. I wanted to hilt myself inside her, but I wanted her to come this way first. “Let me give you this, Ana. I want you to come for me, just like this…”
I slid my length along her again, working my hips. She was panting now and rubbing herself against me, her ankles locked around back. “That’s it… rub against my cock, Ana. You’ll be so wet when I take you, sweetheart. You’ll be so fucking tight on me after you come.”
I was thrusting fast now. She was so wet and working herself against me hard. I dropped my lips to hers and kissed her deep, then captured her luscious breast and sucked the nipple hard into my mouth. My tongue lapped and teased, working her nipple as my cock worked her hard little clit.
“Oh… my… g…,” she gasped as I felt her rise up and plummet over the top. “I want… I need you…”
I took her hips in my hands as she bucked with her climax and in one single movement I was inside, my entire fucking length buried deep. She was tight as hell, at the peak of her orgasm, and her muscles worked convulsively, squeezing my cock… I took her almost violently as she met me thrust for thrust. I could feel every spasm that shook her and worked myself inside her, making it last as long I could. She was so tight,so wet. Even as her climax started to subside, I could feel another start to build as I kept moving inside her. I slowed then, working each thrust long and easy. While her first climax had been fast, explosive… I was going to make the next one long and deep and shatteringly powerful.
“Max…” She looked up into my eyes as I rocked her body gently beneath me. We fit together perfectly, moving in unison, building together toward something greater than both of us.
“So… this is how love feels,” I said softly, stroking her cheek with my fingers.
Ana had left for work only minutes ago. I was left lingering over coffee, remembering the night before, and waking with her this morning.
Ana had still been asleep, warm and tousled beside me. I’d watched her, taking in the dark curve of her lashes against her cheek and the fullness of her bottom lip, relaxed in sleep. I would have given anything in that moment, for things to have been as simple as they seemed. A man and a woman who’d found each other, with nothing ahead of them but whatever future they chose…
With the transfer of the Strastnyy still more that a week away, and the exhibit of the entire Russian collection many more weeks in the future, I knew now was the time to deal with Savvin and his threats, once and for all. I emptied my cup, feeling both a deep sense of relief and an even deeper sense of dread about what was coming. I knew there was a chance, maybe a good chance, that Ana might understand about the Strastnyy alone. That it needed to be returned to my family and that I’d been sent here to make it happen. She knew the importance of family, and I was counting on that, as a way for her to understand what I’d come here to do. I was also counting on her love for me, and mine for her. She felt that as powerfully as I. It was undeniable.
What she could never forgive was any kind of threat posed to the entire collection. Fuck, neither could I. That idea was all Savvin’s, and it was time for it to end. That he was threatening Ana too, made me want to tear out his throat. As far as I was concerned, it all ended today. And I would do whatever was necessary to finish it. Family or not, Savvin’s part in all of this was over.
I showered quickly and dressed, tucking a small automatic inside the back waistband of my jeans. I wanted the future with Ana to be as simple as it could be, given my complicated past. After today at least, there would be no lingering threats in our way.
I parked the car and headed up to Savvin’s room, ready for what would be an ugly confrontation, maybe a dangerous one. But the thought of Ana drove me forward. Once Savvin was neutralized, I was almost there. Surely in a week’s time, I could explain to Ana. And I could confirm the authenticity of the inscription she would soon find on the pendant. At least I could give her that.
I beat a fist against the hotel door, adrenaline pumping. I waited a moment and knocked hard again. “It’s me,” I said. “We need to talk… Now.”
I heard a scraping noise long before the door finally opened. But when it did, I was face to a stranger, a grey haired gentleman with a sad face, supporting himself with a cane. An open suitcase was spread on the bed behind him.
“Did you bring up the rest of my bags, young man?” he asked softly. “Let me get your tip…” I felt my heart stop in my chest as he spoke and reality registered.
Savvin, the one man who stood between me and my Ana, was gone.
Long gone.
22
Ana
I knocked gently on Stu’s door, precisely two minutes before eight. He had been so moody lately, I wasn’t going to risk being a second late for his Monday morning meeting. He’d been so severe on Friday night when he’d reminded me. And so unhappy at seeing me with Max.
“Come,” Stuart called out dully. I opened the door and slipped in. “Close it, please,” he said, without looking up from his desk. I did and sat down, waiting.
Minutes later, Stu closed the folder in front of him and leaned back. I glanced toward the door uncomfortably. The others should have been here by now…
“I asked them not to come until eight thirty, Ana,” he said. “I wanted a few minutes with you, alone.”
I shifted in my chair, trying to keep the smile on my face. My mind was racing.
“What is it you need, Stu?” My paperwork was up to date. And the upcoming date for the transfer of the diamond was set… I’d forwarded all the current changes to his email.
“I’ve spoken to Doris, over at the Smithsonian. I know the two of you had agreed about moving up the date of the transfer.”
“That’s right. It’s set for the thirteenth… next Thursday.”
“Yes, well… there was an issue with the security service, I understand.” Stu took a sip from his cup and frowned. “I, however, am not completely comfortable with using a different one with this particular diamond. The Strastnyy is an amazing piece… very valuable.” Stuart’s eyes shined a little brighter and he smiled.
“I’ve pulled some strings, and you no longer need to concern yourself with that end of things. I’ll take the pressure off you, for now, and deal with all the communications myself. All you need to manage is the stone itself. I know how much it means to you.” Stu poured the dregs from his cup into his trash basket, shaking the mug.
“I thought you might enjoy the extra time to examine the diamond, Ana, and I want our original service to take care of the transfer. The date has been moved up. The transfer is set for the sixth now. This Thursday.”
Stu leaned forward, voice gentle. “I thought about what you said, Ana, about us being friends. I want that too… and I’m sorry… For everything. I want you to feel safe around me, and to feel like you can come to me. Like the way it was… before.”
“Stu… thank you. Just thank you,” I said, gratefully. He looked so kind… and reminded me of the same Stu I’d liked, so long ago. We shared a friendly smile, the first in a very long time, as the rest of the staff began to come in.
I felt so excited, like everything was finally falling into place in my life. Max, and the diamond… now Stu. And there was so much to do, with the diamond arriving an entire week sooner. I was busy making plans in my head as the rest of the meeting droned on around me.
“You look positively glowing today,” Terry whispered, after Stu had dismissed us. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone got…”
“Teresa,” I whispered back, blushing all over. “Don’t you dare.” I headed for my office with Terry hot on my trail.
“Don’t I dare what, Ana? How long have we known each other…” She plunked into a chair.
I smiled, sitting, and feeling a delicious tenderness down below. A lovely reminder of Max…
“He’
s incredible, Terry. Everything I always wanted and more. He has these old fashioned manners, this feeling about him… like he just walked out of the past somehow. And when we’re together… He’s confident and strong… and passionate.” I put a hand to my overheated forehead. “We spent the whole weekend together and we… well, we…”
Teresa watched me as I spoke. She was quiet a few minutes longer. “It’s already more than just sex, isn’t it?” she asked gently. She was so sensitive, in spite of her brisk manner.
“It’s so much more,” I said, my thoughts far away. “For both of us.”
Terry came around the desk to give me a big hug. “I couldn’t be happier for you, Ana,” she said, kissing my cheek noisily. “But if you ever get tired of him…” she winked, smiling mischievously. “I’m just sayin’…”
She headed for the door and then turned. “Almost forgot… Do you have those loan forms ready, the ones for the testing equipment? Thanks to Stuart, we need to change the dates on all the paperwork and speed things up. The lab’s gonna need those, asap.”
I rummaged in my laptop case and stopped, suddenly remembering I’d left the stack of forms on the chair in Max’s bedroom. I grabbed my keys. “Don’t worry about it, Terry. I can make the changes and fax them over in less than an hour.”
I headed back for Max’s house fast, hoping I’d be able to catch him before he left for work… Maybe he worked from home… I wondered briefly.
Minutes layer, I parked behind his sportscar, relieved he was still there and excited at the idea of surprising him. “Max?” I called out softly, pushing the front door open. “Max, where are you? I forgot something…” There was light coming from the library upstairs. I headed up, toward the sound of Max’s voice.
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