‘I’m not with you.’
‘I asked Renata for the clinic’s name so I could send funds.’ Naomi still frowned and it annoyed him. It scared him just how much she trusted and how easily she could be hurt.
Had been hurt.
Could very easily still be.
‘Renata wanted me to send the funds directly to her.’
Naomi swallowed.
‘Mariya was never sick,’ Sev explained. ‘There never was any cancer. So you see now why lying about a family member’s health comes easily to me. It must be hereditary.’
‘You’re sure it was a scam?’
‘Quite sure,’ Sev said. ‘I now have nothing to do with Renata but I’ve sent gifts for Mariya, though they end up auction sites.’ He was brutal then. ‘Don’t go looking for hurt, Naomi. It’s the best advice I can give.’
‘We’re not all like that, Sev.’
‘I’m not talking about women,’ Sev said, thinking she was referring to his mother and sister, but Naomi was one step ahead of him.
‘I know you’re not,’ Naomi responded. ‘You’ve ruled out the entire human race.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SEV STILL HAD to work but, Allem noted, he looked more relaxed than he had ever seen him. ‘What are your plans for London?’ Allem asked, as Sev took him through the changes he was making to the system.
‘Just...’ Sev shrugged. He never told anyone that he went there in the hope of catching up with Daniil.
‘Will you be meeting Naomi’s family?’
‘No. Allem, Naomi and I aren’t going anywhere.’
‘But why not? It’s clear you two have strong feelings for each other. It was obvious at dinner but it’s fact now.’
‘Can we just concentrate on work?’ Sev snapped, but for once it was Sev who was distracted.
Sev dealt in facts and Allem was right.
Their walk on the beach and what Naomi had said about him mistrusting the human race had rattled him. Sev knew he had many reasons not to trust in others, except none of them applied when he thought of Naomi.
Tomorrow would be their last full day in Dubai. They had spent the morning in bed and then the pool and Sev, who was usually only too happy to head into work, hadn’t wanted to leave her. The day after tomorrow they would be boarding his jet and then Naomi would be gone. There was a part of him that was relieved—he would restore factory settings on his heart and get the hell on with his life.
‘Jamal and I knew within a week of meeting each other that we would be together. Our families weren’t happy about it at the time but I knew that she would be the woman I would marry.’
‘Allem,’ Sev warned. ‘We don’t all want a wife.’
‘Sevastyan—’
‘Leave it.’
‘I don’t want to leave it. Why would you not fight for her?’
This, Sev thought, was the reason he didn’t want friends. He had boundaries and Allem was overstepping them, and it needled at him.
‘Sevastyan.’ Allem said again. ‘How long have we known each other?’
‘Long enough,’ Sev said through gritted teeth.
Allem did not take offence.
Oh, he had taken offence when they had first met. Many times.
Most people, when they stepped off a first-class flight, would be pleasant and relaxed.
Sevastyan had arrived in Dubai looking grey.
He had refused basic pleasantries and had struggled through a lavish meal that had been prepared and then he had, on retiring, put outside the door, unopened, the gift that had been placed in his suite.
Yes, Allem had been offended.
He had knocked to enquire if the gift did not suit this very difficult guest.
‘Do you remember when I knocked on your door and asked why you had placed the gift outside your suite?’ Allem asked.
Sev actually let out a low laugh at the memory.
‘You thought it had been placed in the wrong room.’
‘Because I’d never had a gift.’
‘And then you asked if we could get out?’ Allem reminded him. ‘We went for a drive and to a bar.’
Sev stopped smiling when he remembered that night.
He had never been out of Russia before. The flight had been awful, the constant attention from the flight attendants had unsettled him. Then he had got to Allem’s and he had never been a guest in someone’s home, especially such a palatial one, and he had been completely overwhelmed.
They had ended up in a bar, one that was far nicer than the ones Sev had been used to frequenting.
‘You told me that night where you had come from.’
‘Allem,’ Sev pointed out, ‘I’ve come a long way since then.’
‘You have,’ Allem agreed. ‘Through your own hard work.’
And some help from a friend. Yes, Sev admitted then that Allem was one.
‘Allem?’
Sev gave up trying to work.
He had a question.
Several, in fact.
CHAPTER TWELVE
DUBAI, NAOMI DECIDED, was amazing.
Or was it that she was on holiday?
Her job meant that she had seen many beautiful places but these past couple of days had been so relaxing, exhilarating and wonderful.
Or was it the company?
She didn’t try to work it out.
She woke mid-morning to a note from Sev telling her he would be working with Allem till late to give them a clear day tomorrow.
Their last day.
No, she didn’t want to think about that and so she had a lazy breakfast in bed, going through brochures and trying to work out, from the many choices available, just what to do with her day. Just when she had decided on shopping she took a call from Jamal, who said it was her turn to take Naomi out.
Naomi found herself laughing as she got ready, thinking back to the day she had met Jamal, when she had been priming herself to hand in her notice.
So much had changed in that short space of time and so much would change again very soon.
‘Allem just called,’ Jamal said as Naomi got into the car, as arranged. ‘They will be working till late, which gives us plenty time.’
Oh, Jamal knew how to shop.
And her driver patiently took her purchases back to the car.
They went into several boutiques, though Jamal steered away from the names Naomi knew. ‘I dress more traditionally,’ Jamal explained, ‘and so I favour local designers.’
Naomi could see why.
The fabrics were stunning, the lines exquisite and Naomi found herself trying on dresses that she never usually would.
‘Try this one,’ Jamal suggested. It was in a grey silver and long, and should have been completely over the top, but with the delicate henna flowers on her feet and with her hair down it somehow worked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Naomi said. Oh, she loved it but it wasn’t anything like she usually wore.
‘It’s perfect on you. Let me get it for you,’ Jamal said.
‘Jamal.’ Naomi shook her head. ‘Please, don’t offer. I find it awkward.’
‘Of course.’ Jamal nodded.
‘I just want to like what I like.’
Jamal smiled and gave another nod. ‘It’s very beautiful, though.’
It was, and, the lines having been drawn, Naomi made one purchase to Jamal’s ten.
‘I’ve no idea when I’ll ever wear it.’
‘Tomorrow,’ Jamal said. ‘Allem and I want you both to come for dinner. You can wear it then.’
‘For dinner?’ Naomi laughed because this dress seemed over the top for dinner with friends but then realised that Jamal was completely serious.
‘We want to say goodbye properly; it is so nice to have Sevastyan here. We want him to come to our home so dress up, Naomi. I shall.’
They had their hair done and really it was just a lovely day and topped off by high tea, where Naomi ate date-infused scones topped with rosewater jam. It was the holiday
she had never really had.
No, it wasn’t just that she was with Sev, but the amazing city, the wonderful company and taking the time to do fun things.
She even bought camel chocolates for her sisters and mailed them there and then.
Yes, she understood what Sev had said and why he had chosen to pull away from his family; she just wouldn’t be pulling away from Kennedy and her other little sisters.
She imagined the two older girls’ excitement when they opened their little parcels and, Naomi decided, staying around for them, even if from far away, felt like the right choice to have made.
Given Jamal and Allem’s news, they found themselves in several baby boutiques and it was fun to see Jamal so excited.
‘We had two years of trying,’ Jamal said. ‘I was starting to really worry and Allem was so good to me, he said it was me he wanted.’
‘He’s a very nice man.’
‘He’s so kind,’ Jamal said. ‘So romantic. Is Sev?’
Naomi just laughed. ‘That would be a no.’
When surely they should have been finished, there was one thing more to do. ‘I want look at rugs,’ Jamal said. ‘We will wait till we know what we are having before we choose but I’d love your thoughts.’
‘I always wanted a Persian rug...’ Naomi admitted, looking around.
‘Not these,’ Jamal said. ‘We want to look only at the handmade.’
Oh, this baby would have everything!
They were exquisite and so expensive but, really, Naomi thought, when would she ever get a chance like this again? She was here in Dubai, shopping with an expert, because Jamal certainly knew her rugs.
‘That’s beautiful,’ Jamal said, when she saw Naomi running her hand over one. The colours were amazing—a pistachio green, cream and black. Jamal parted the rug and checked the knots to see that it really was handmade but, really, it was so intricate and lavish that you couldn’t doubt that it was.
It cost way more than Naomi could justify but it was far more beautiful than her conscience had allowed for and Jamal could see that she was wavering. ‘Do you want me to bargain for you?’ Jamal said. ‘It will be half that price.’
‘No.’ Naomi shook her head. It was ridiculous but she could feel her eyes starting to sting so she quickly turned so that Jamal couldn’t see. ‘No, thanks. Come on...’
It was a tiny moment in a wonderful day and yet it stayed with her long after it had passed.
Naomi got back to the hotel, had a light dinner and then lay on the bed, trying to work out how she felt.
‘God, it took for ever,’ Sev said when he came in.
‘Are you finished?’
‘I have to go in at lunchtime and speak with the head of IT. Allem was right to get me in. How was your day with Jamal?’
‘It was great.’
She went to get off the bed but he stopped her. ‘Stay there, we’ve got to be up early tomorrow. We’re going on a hot air balloon ride,’ Sev said, as he started to undress. ‘We’ve got to be there at five so we’ll have to be up at four.’
‘A hot air balloon ride?’
‘It’s supposed to be amazing. You go over the desert, you can see gazelles and...’ Sev shrugged. He was suddenly far more interested in devouring her body.
It would have been a crime not to respond. Sev was as beautiful as the first time she’d seen him and the sex that night was as good as ever.
She had held on to a part of herself, though.
From day one in his bed she had.
Her heart might be in the ring but she’d never let him know that.
And afterwards, Naomi actually wished that they did have separate rooms. Her mind was too busy and there was no chance of falling asleep. She lay staring into the darkness as Sev slept and imagined the rug rolled up in her mother’s spare room till she found somewhere to live.
How could you buy a rug when you didn’t know where you were going to be living?
Then she pictured it by the fire on the floor of her apartment that she’d just let go in New York and it would have looked amazing.
And then she did a really stupid thing and imagined it on the floor in Sev’s bedroom.
Its preferred home.
It went with the drapes, Naomi realised as she pictured it in her mind.
How long could she pretend that she wasn’t in love with the man who lay next to her?
Naomi lay there, hit by a wave of homesickness so violent she could have packed her case right now—there was a need to go home.
She just didn’t know where that was.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SEV WOKE TO his alarm and tried not to think of the date. So he lay there in the darkness, trying to motivate himself to get out of bed.
‘Naomi?’
She woke to the sound of Sev saying her name and it was just as beautiful as the first time she had heard it. His hand was stroking her breast and he was tucked into her back. ‘We have to get up.’
They did.
Bloody Allem and his ideas, Sev thought. He didn’t want to go up in a balloon and be happy today.
Not today.
Or tomorrow.
These were the days he dreaded all year in their lead up.
Nikolai’s last day.
He did not want to think about it.
‘Sev—’ Naomi started, but he interrupted her.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘If we want to get there in time.’
‘Can I tell you something?’
He was right up behind her and she had never felt more comfortable in her life, warm, turned on. Tomorrow they would be up at the crack of dawn to get on the flight to London and she wanted to stay here and linger this morning.
‘Tell me,’ he said, but Naomi lost her train of thought as his hand lifted her hair and he kissed the back of her neck as he had wanted to do the night when he had played with her zipper.
His hand moved down from her breast to her stomach.
‘Remember when I thought you were pregnant?’
Naomi smiled in the dark. ‘I do.’ Sev completely confused her—he’d turned down Emmanuel because he didn’t speak Mandarin and Dianne for a nervous smile yet he’d offered her day care for her baby and to cut back on travel!
He was hard and she wished the little circular movement his hand made low on her stomach would never end, Naomi thought, even if she wanted his hand to move lower. So heavy was her arousal that she didn’t want him to roll away and put on a condom, and her bottom pressed back into him. ‘I’m on the Pill, Sev.’
‘Thank God for that.’
He slid in unsheathed and let out a long sigh as the slippery warmth gripped him and they both ignored the sound of the snooze alarm.
‘Sev...’ ‘They were both on the delicious edge. On the edge of desire, on the edge of coming, on the edge of over.
‘Come on, baby.’ He was moving faster and deeper, bringing her to the rapid high that he easily procured.
And so she told him something that she’d been trying to say since he’d come back last night—a simple truth.
Not the simple truth—after all she had promised no declarations—but she voiced another one. ‘I don’t want to go on the balloon ride.’
Naomi was starting to come, which he’d been pushing her to do. As her deep orgasm gripped him tight it drew Sev not just deeper into her but further away from thought.
Now the pre-dawn sky was a rich navy and a quickie was no longer enough. Sev didn’t want to come down and face the day he dreaded, or go up in the air. He would rather be lost in the two of them.
And Naomi waited—for the delicious trip of him, for the intense pleasure to be topped. And it was, only not in the way she had anticipated.
He pulled out and Naomi thought, What?
What?
Then he turned her over.
‘Sev?’
The alarm went again and he turned it off, and Naomi tried to get her breath as he faced her.
‘We’re not going u
p in a balloon.’
They stayed down on delicious earth.
He kissed her in a way he perhaps shouldn’t if Naomi was going to keep her head.
Side on, eyes open for long enough to know what they were doing was breaking their rules.
Their legs were entwined, his cock nudged at her stomach, but now there was time for more. And so Naomi kissed him in a way perhaps she shouldn’t. Three months of restraint had ended on the plane, but a different restraint ended this morning. She had never known a kiss like it. Their tongues swirled, mouths played with mouths. She took in his lower lip just to feel it between hers, they stroked at each other’s mouths, caressed the other’s tongue. Yes, she had never known a kiss like it and, she guessed, after this morning she never again would.
Naomi tasted love for the first time and she gave it back.
She kissed him deep and slow, then his face, ear and down his neck. She breathed in the scent of him and savoured the taste of his skin on her tongue and lips as his hands roamed her body and read her like Braille.
He played with her breasts and then tasted them, lowering his head and his body too, so that his erection was on her thighs and they were rocking against each other as her hands went into his hair.
He took her nipple deep in his mouth and it felt like too much but not enough and then, in one motion, he lifted his head and found her mouth as his body came and fully joined hers.
Side on again, eyes open again, she looked right at him as he took her deep and slow.
If it was possible to be comfortable in scalding skin then she was. They were barely moving, face-to-face, with limbs entwined, both wanting the other’s mouth but preferring eye contact.
They moved as one, changing tempo without thought, glad of sunrise just because they could take in the other’s features.
Then they kissed, until each of Sev’s thrusts became all-pervading, spreading through her body and then concentrating at her centre. He watched her lip turn down but not from tears. Sev felt her not just around his cock but it was as if her whole body tightened and they said nothing.
Yet.
Neither dared.
He released and she took and then took some more.
‘Krasavitsa...’
She didn’t want to know what it meant but he told her.
The Cost of the Forbidden (Irresistible Russian Tycoons) Page 11
