Hayden suspected that both of them would be calling Viktor’s office, trying to get their stories in before Hayden. She didn’t care, not even a little. She wasn’t going to be pushed around by anyone. Not even Viktor!
Thinking about Viktor, her heart softened. This morning, he’d been so…wonderful. Gentle. Amazing! The only thing that could have made this morning better was if he’d said that he loved her.
Patience, she told herself. He’d taken the first step, she could be patient while he worked things out in his mind. Until then, she needed to just believe that there really were strong feelings inside of him.
Once she was alone, she took a deep breath, centering herself. When she looked around, she realized that she should be proud of what she’d accomplished. A couple of weeks ago, she’d been on the brink of disaster, ready to sell her house and land to Viktor.
But now…because of him, she was ready to tackle the world in a new way. She wasn’t an idiot. She was unskilled! She could learn to do this and, with Arianna’s help, she was going to make this place into a success!
Walking back into the house, she pulled out the huge paper she used when drawing up landscaping designs. It took her less than twenty minutes, but she had a plan. A good plan! It was different, interesting, and would capture the interest of people driving by on the street. What’s more, she could change it with the seasons.
With her drawing in hand, she marched back outside. Her normal employees were already hard at work and she even had a few customers. Smiling to her guys, she walked over to where the new team was waiting.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” she began, spreading her plans out. She pointed to several features, assigning each of the men a different task. “Any questions?” she asked.
When they looked up and smiled, she knew that they were all on board. “Excellent! Let’s get to work!”
She felt empowered and powerful! So, when Viktor called, asking her if she could come to his place for dinner again that night, she was on cloud nine!
What was even better, she thought as she pulled a simple dress out of her closet, tugging it over her head, he’d asked. In the past, he’d simply given her orders on what to do and where to be, and she’d have to argue right back with him, refusing to be ordered around. But he’d asked her if she could have dinner with him that night!
It was a wonderful day, she thought.
Waiting in his office, she stared out the window, nervousness hitting her all of a sudden. But why should she be nervous? It was just Viktor!
But then again, it was Viktor. From the first moment she’d met him, he’d made her nervous. Now, knowing him better, but not still not well, she knew that he still made her nervous, but in a very different way. He challenged her sexually, demanding that the sensual side of her come out. She couldn’t hide behind her “good girl” demeanor when Viktor was around. He wouldn’t allow it. And whenever he touched her, she didn’t want to be that woman.
Voices behind her stopped the introspection.
When she turned around, there he was, tall, handsome, and all hers.
Except…
“The data shows that several new areas for sales should be investigated,” a tall, beautiful woman said. Her blond hair was shining and twisted up on her head in an elaborate style that Hayden could never pull off. Her red lipstick perfectly matched her red shoes and Hayden felt frumpy in her dress while the red-taloned woman touched Viktor’s arm.
Hayden’s temper fired up as she watched that woman try to flirt with Viktor. Instinctively, she took control, tossing all of her insecurities away because…because another woman was touching Viktor!
Stepping in between Viktor and the woman, she felt small, but refused to show it. “Get your hands off of him,” she snapped.
The woman was stunned for a long moment, but she recovered quickly. “I beg your pardon?”
Hayden wasn’t fooled. The woman was eyeing Viktor as if he was a piece of candy and she was a toddler.
“No. You’re not excused,” Hayden snapped. She stepped backwards, feeling Viktor’s arm wrap around her waist. “You need to leave and, just a warning, if you ever touch Viktor again, you’ll have to deal with me.”
The woman’s overly glossed, devil’s red lips opened and closed, her eyes darting upwards to see how Viktor was taking this threat. But when the woman realized that Viktor was not only going to allow Hayden’s words to stand, he had actually pulled Hayden closer, the woman spun around, almost tripping on her four inch heels in her efforts to get away.
Hayden slammed the door closed after the woman was gone, then spun around to confront Viktor. “You let her touch you!” she hissed.
Viktor’s body reacted as it always did when Hayden was close by. But his reaction was even more pronounced as he watched Hayden, shy and gentle Hayden, become furiously jealous and almost tangibly angry. What was it about her that made this lust so intensely powerful? If she was happy, he wanted her. If she was angry, he wanted her. If she was jealous, he wanted her!
There was almost nothing this woman could do that didn’t excite, fascinate, and entrance him. She’d said that he loved her. Was this love? Was this warm, intense passion…love? Months ago, he would have said it was simple lust. But he’d experienced lust before. This was more. This was different.
Looking down into her flashing eyes, he knew that he wasn’t sure how to define it, but he wasn’t going to hide from it any longer. Not after being away from her for three days. “You’re jealous,” he observed, his body hard and aching for her now. He reached around her and locked the door to his office. The snick of the lock sounded loudly and he knew what she was thinking.
“Don’t!” she snapped at him, lifting her finger to ward him off.
“Don’t what, my dear?” he asked, taking her finger and lifting it to his mouth. His teeth nibbled on the tip and he laughed with the shivers that rippled throughout her body.
She tried to pull her fingers out of his grasp, but as usual, he wouldn’t allow that. “Don’t do this. I’m angry with you!”
“I can see that,” he told her. “And I’m angry with you.”
She tried to pull out of his arms but he held her firmly. “Why are you angry with me?”
“Because you’ve forced me to look at my feelings for you.
Her eyes widened with that admission. “And that’s a bad thing?” she asked, stepping backwards. They were heading towards the conference table. Again! He smiled, his body aching and he wanted to rip that dress off. It was an ugly dress. He made a mental note to take her out shopping tonight. Afterwards.
He loved her yelp of surprise when he lifted her up and placed her on the polished surface of the conference table. She looked beautiful sitting there, but not quite right. His hands pressed against her knees, spreading her legs and she gasped, trying to stop him. So he lifted the hem of her ugly dress, sliding his hands up against the bare skin of her thighs.
“What are you doing?”
He laughed, sensing her nervousness, but he also knew that she was almost as turned on as he was. “You haven’t set a date for our wedding. And you fired the wedding coordinator this morning.”
Hayden gasped when his fingers slid underneath her underwear. She tried to concentrate, but his fingers! They were…so good! Amazing! She closed her eyes, unaware of how her body arched into his fingers.
“I didn’t like her, she was rude.”
“Fine. I’ll have my assistant find another. Set a date, Hayden.”
She shook her head. “Just…touch me!” she gasped, grabbing his wrist.
Viktor pulled the condom out of his pocket. He’d learned to keep several close by after being with Hayden the first time. “Set a date and I’ll give you what you want.”
She shook her head, trying to pull away from him. But he was stronger than she was and…well, definitely more experienced. When she tried to grab his wrists and pull them away from their tormenting intent, Viktor wouldn’t allow it.
He smiled down at her, winning the battle with his intent. His fingers slid into her wet heat and he watched as he teased and tormented her slick folds. “Ya lyublyu tebya, Hayden,” he growled moments before she exploded from his expert ministrations.
When she quieted and was able to breathe again, she looked up at him. “What did you say?” she asked. He was busy rolling the condom down his length and she wasn’t concentrating too well.
He took her hand and pressed it against his chest, which was now exposed, then grabbed her legs, sliding her right to the edge of the conference table. “Touch me!” he commanded. He released her hand and pressed into her heat, his head bowing as she tightened around him. But her hands reached up, sliding over his hard muscles. Every thrust, every movement inside of her brought her closer and closer to release. “I love you, Viktor,” she told him only moments before her second climax hit her. When she screamed again, he absorbed her cries with his kiss even as he poured himself into her heat.
A long time later, as he held her curled up on his lap on the leather sofa of his sitting area, she looked up at him. “You love me, don’t you?”
Viktor lifted his head, the contentment evaporating as he looked first at her lovely, sated features, and then at the hopeful, yet wary, look in her eyes.
With a sigh, he stood up, carefully placing her down in the chair. With jerky movements, he walked over to his clothes and pulled them back on. He knew that she was doing the same thing, but he couldn’t watch her. If he did, he would only turn around and watch and…well, he needed to keep some distance between them. He couldn’t have her, so he needed to keep her away from him.
“Why is loving me such an awful prospect?” she asked softly, standing in the middle of his office, now dressed in that hideous dress.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, staring out at the dark skyline. He contemplated ignoring her question. He needed to take her shopping. She needed food. But he did neither. He simply stood there, staring out at the darkness and trying to figure out what to say.
“My father, he loved my mother more than anything,” he finally admitted.
He felt her move closer, but turned around, not allowing her comfort this time.
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked.
Thankfully, the lighting was dim enough that he couldn’t really see her eyes. He didn’t want to see them now. Not with this admission looming over him. But he also knew that he needed to make her understand. “Yes. His love…it was bad.” He sighed, shaking his head as he looked out at nothing. “My mother wasn’t…. She hated my father. She mocked him.”
He turned, looking at her now, trying to determine if she understood what he was telling her.
Her pretty eyes showed her concern, but he could tell that she didn’t fully understand. He could barely see them, but he knew. “But…why?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he moved over to his desk. He wasn’t really looking at the contracts or reports that were stacked to one side. He was keeping himself from pulling her into his arms. He wanted to hold her, desperately, but memories of his father’s pain held him back.
“Because my mother hated him. Despised him, actually.”
Hayden couldn’t believe that. Unfortunately, the truth was evident in every taut line of his body. “Why did she hate him?”
He shrugged. “Maybe because she hated the poverty that they lived in. She’d met him while they were both on vacation and believed that he was wealthier. She’d married him thinking he would take her out of the slums where she grew up. But he wasn’t any better off than her own family.” He sighed. “Worse in some ways.”
“Yes, but being poor doesn’t always go hand in hand with misery. Many families don’t have a lot, but they love each other,” she argued.
He looked down at her, enjoying the gentleness of her touch and her sincerity. She genuinely believed that, he realized. “My mother called my father names until the day she left. I never heard from her after that.”
Hayden wrapped her arms around his waist, tightening her hold when he tried to pull away. She pressed kisses against his chest, refusing to let him push her out of his arms. “Mothers should never leave. Nor should fathers, but…”
“Hayden, you live in a fantasy world.”
She shook her head. “No. My parents weren’t very well off either. In fact, my father was one of the worst farmers in the history of my family, which is why I was in such bad financial shape.” Looking up at him, she tried to get him to understand. “My parents loved each other and they loved me. We might not have had much, but we laughed and lived in that small house until they died. Those were some of the happiest times of my life.”
He couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around her any longer. There was just something about this woman that he needed, a nurturing that called to him, and he couldn’t resist her any longer.
“My father said that loving a woman makes a man a fool,” he explained.
She kissed his chest again. “You love me. You’re not a fool.”
There was a long silence as he contemplated the truth of that. He’d said it in his ancestral language many times, but hearing her tell him that, it made his mind…
No, this time, there was no panic. Not with Hayden. She was loyal, beautiful, and rejected everything his money could give her. She loved him for himself, not for his money or power. The truth of her words hit him like an explosion and he couldn’t deny the truth any longer.
“I love you,” he finally admitted in English. His arms tightened around her as he said it again. “God help me, but I love you, Hayden!”
She tightened her arms around his waist and he could barely breathe. Not because of her arms, but because of the release that he was feeling. It was almost euphoric. He felt the same this moment as he normally did when he was inside of her heat, feeling her inner muscles tightening around him.
Better, actually. “I love you!”
“I love you too!” she replied warmly. “I love you and you’re not a fool.”
He pulled back as gently as he could, glaring at her. “Then set a date!”
She laughed, thinking he was the most amazing man in the world. “Tomorrow,” she whispered.
He rolled his eyes. “You fired the wedding coordinator,” he reminded her.
She shrugged. “Viktor, I don’t need all of the elaborate wedding plans. I don’t need flowers, a church, and a dress from Paris or Milan. I don’t need a line of bridesmaids or an expensive reception with musicians, champagne, and a ten course meal.” She raised up on her toes and kissed his jaw. “Just you,” she kissed his chest, “and a minister.” She thought about it for a moment, “How about a beach somewhere warm?” she offered.
He thought about it, then nodded. “Done,” he told her. But in his mind, he was already planning to give her all of the fuss that she claimed she didn’t need.
Epilogue
“I do,” she whispered, tears in her eyes as she stared up at Viktor. She could see the emotions in his eyes as well and moved closer.
A few minutes later, his fingers tightened around hers. “I do,” he chimed in even before the minister was finished with all of the conditions. Hayden laughed softly, thinking he was the most amazing man she’d ever met in her life.
“Ya lyublyu tebya,” she whispered. “I will always love you,” she repeated in English.
The minister pronounced them husband and wife, giving them a blessing, but Viktor ignored him and pulled her into his arms. As always, his gentle kiss told her exactly what he was thinking. But this time, Hayden hoped it was the only time his kiss remained gentle and chaste.
“You are learning Russian for me,” he whispered in shock when he lifted his head.
She smiled, sliding her fingers underneath the linen shirt he’d worn for their wedding on the beach in Belize. “No. I’m learning Russian for myself. You mutter in Russian and I want to know what you’re saying.”
He threw back his head and laughed, thinking she was delightful. And he was going to have to mutter in French from now on!
The next story is the Secret Baby Story you ladies have been begging me for. So here is an excerpt!
Excerpt from Spanish Passions
Natalie’s Story
Book 2, Friends Forever Series
Click here for more Details

“No tossing him off!” Natalie sternly commanded, her green eyes staring into brown ones. “I don’t want you pushing this new guy up against a tree either. Got it?”
The big brown eyes continued to stare back at her and Natalie knew that wasn’t a good sign. “I know you understand me, Charlie. Don’t even try to play dumb!”
A snort was Charlie’s only response and Natalie paced back and forth along the straw covered path. “You’re going to be good today, got it? That’s your part of the deal. Mine is to make sure that you are protected.”
Charlie only shook his head and twitched his ears, telling her that he didn’t agree with her.
Natalie glared, pointing her finger angrily. “Don’t do this, Charlie. You agreed.”
Another shake of his head and he started to turn away but Natalie’s temper flared. “No! You promised! We agreed!”
The laughter behind her, deep and sexy, caused a long ago memory to flare into her mind. Spinning around, she stared but, because of the early morning sunshine streaming in through the open doorway, she couldn’t determine if….
“Do you really think the horse will listen?” the voice continued.
Natalie’s body froze. Even the air in her lungs refused to budge as her mind sifted through the shocking memories that incredible voice generated.
It couldn’t be! Surely she’d heard incorrectly! It simply wasn’t possible…the voice, that deep, resonant voice…he couldn’t be here! Natalie’s heart pounded and, for the briefest moment, intense joy filled her heart. Even Charlie sensed her excitement and nudged her forward. But then reality came back to her, the pain, the humiliation and she froze.
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