Midnight Alpha

by Carole Mortimer

“Three,” he repeated slowly.

  She smiled teasingly. “I realize you’ve had many more than that.”

  “I’ve had encounters, not lovers,” he corrected softly. “A lover is someone you have a relationship with other than sex. I haven’t had even one of those.”

  “No conversations like this over cups of coffee in the middle of the night?” she said huskily.

  “No.”

  Gaia believed him. She already knew how regimented Gregori’s life was, how everything had to be planned down to the last detail, for his own security. That sort of life didn’t allow for a long-term lover. “Well I haven’t had any encounters, so that sort of makes us even.”

  “Sort of,” he agreed wryly.

  She nodded. “I had my first lover when I was nineteen. He was a guest lecturer at my university and a good twenty years older than me.” She looked up to give a slight smile when she heard Gregori’s breath catch in his throat. “No, he didn’t seduce or take advantage of me. He wasn’t married, and it was all consensual. The relationship lasted for three months, and I wanted what we had together.”

  Gregori took a sip of his coffee before answering her. “Did you love him?”

  “I—appreciated him,” she answered carefully. “He was gentle and kind, at a time when I didn’t have a lot of gentleness or kindness in my life.”

  Gregori guessed, from the information Nikolai had already put together on Gaia, that it would have been either shortly before or just after her mother died. A time when she would have been deeply vulnerable. No matter what Gaia might claim to the contrary, he considered this other man as having ‘taken advantage’ of her. He had been in a position of power, authority, and he should have been comforting Gaia, not fucking her.

  “He also had…a problem,” Gaia continued huskily. “Premature ejaculation.” Her cheeks bloomed with color. “We…experimented with ways in which to deal with it.” She gave an uncomfortable shrug.

  Hence the intensity of his own ejaculation, Gregori guessed. Just as he was inclined to think that any man, when confronted with a nude and shapely Gaia Miller, might have a problem stopping himself from coming too soon.

  “And the other two?” he prompted abruptly.

  “Also older. Maybe not twenty years,” she allowed. “But certainly fifteen or so.” She shrugged. “What can I say, I just prefer older men to boys.”

  Did the term ‘older man’ apply to him? Yes, he had briefly considered the age difference, but decided that twelve years wasn’t unacceptable. But maybe to Gaia he just seemed like those other three men—

  “No,” Gaia began to chuckle as she looked up and no doubt saw the scowl he knew had darkened his face. “You are nothing like any of those other men. In fact, you aren’t my usual type at all.”

  He eyed her curiously. “Why not?”

  “Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror?” she continued to smile, her lips red and slightly puffy.

  From the girth of his cock and the wildness of his thrusts into her mouth?

  He frowned as he reached out to touch the swell of her bottom lip. “Did I hurt you?”

  “Not in the least,” she assured without hesitation. “I enjoyed every moment of what we just did, Gregori.”

  He drew his breath in sharply. He was used to women—other women—telling him he was ‘a wonderful lover’ and ‘what a good time they’d had’ and ‘let’s do this again’. All of which may or may not have been true: he wouldn’t know, he never followed up on those relationships.

  Gaia was different. No matter what else she may be mixed up in, he knew she didn’t do trite comments. If she said she had enjoyed just now then she had.

  He continued to look at her searchingly for several seconds before nodding abruptly. “I did too.” His hand moved back onto the tabletop. “But what does looking at myself in a mirror have to do with anything?” he added quizzically.

  “Oh please!” She gave a roll of her eyes. “I’m used to pleasant men, homely men. Men I’m comfortable to be around. You—well, you’re—”

  “Yes?”

  “Hot,” she answered appreciatively. “Really, really hot. With a don’t-fuck-with-me attitude. And you have that remote, buttoned-up thing going on too.”

  Gregori really didn’t have conversations like this one. Least of all with a woman he had just— A woman he had just what? He may have started out in control of that situation, but Gaia had taken it away from him the moment she gripped his cock and ordered him to close his eyes.

  And he had enjoyed it. More than enjoyed it. He physically ached from the way she had refused to let him go even after he came that first time, hadn’t even known he had it in him to come again so quickly. A gut-wrenching ejaculation that had seemed to rise up from the tips of his bloody toes.

  Even though Gaia was still too shrouded in mystery and secrets for him to be able to trust her completely…

  Chapter 10

  “And just what am I supposed to do here on my own all day?” Gaia protested as she and Gregori stood in the cavernous entry hall late the following morning, his car and driver waiting outside for him.

  Gregori was once again dressed in one of those dark, tailored suits he favored, with a pale blue silk shirt and perfectly knotted dark blue tie at his throat.

  And he looked absolutely nothing like the man who had completely lost control just hours ago.

  Some of Gaia’s disgruntlement could be due to the fact that he had brought their conversation to an abrupt end after she told him how hot he was. As if that was stepping over a line, after all that had come before it.

  Whatever Gregori’s reasoning, Gaia had felt dismissed as she followed him out of the kitchen, waiting outside in the hallway as he paused to collect her bag from his locked study. He had then walked her back to her bedroom, and quietly closed the door behind him as he left.

  Telling her all too clearly that their ‘encounter’ was at an end.

  What had she expected? That the two of them would cuddle up in bed together and fall asleep in each other’s arms until morning? Fat chance. Instead Gregori had deposited her, and her bag, in her bedroom. In the knowledge that those sensors would once again be back on the moment he reached his own bedroom and closed the door, and so making a prisoner of her until Gregori chose to open that door again. Which didn’t happen until almost eleven o’clock, when he arrived looking like a male model posing for an advertisement for a designer-label suit.

  She really was disgruntled this morning.

  And feeling decidedly underdressed next to Gregori in her jeans and thin grey sweater. But at least she was wearing panties today, courtesy of Nikolai. Although the thought of him going through her underwear drawer still gave her the shivers, and was yet another reason for her to feel grumpy.

  “I have friends, you know.” She glared up at Gregori as he made no reply. “Ones who are going to be worried if they don’t hear from me.”

  He arched one dark and haughty eyebrow. “Male friends?”

  Coming from any other man that remark might have sounded like jealousy; coming from Gregori it just sounded censorial. “Isn’t it a little late for you to start wondering if I have a boyfriend?”

  Gregori’s jaw tightened at the rebuke, but otherwise he remained remotely formal. “Do you?”

  “No.” Color warmed her cheeks. “How about you?”

  “Do I have a boyfriend?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “Yes, I do,” he acknowledged impatiently. “And the answer is also no.”

  Gaia knew that whatever was going on between herself and Gregori was only temporary, so it shouldn’t really matter to her one way or another if he already had someone in his life.

  Except it did.

  “I have lots of male friends,” she maintained stubbornly. “I also have a job to go to later tonight. Don’t I?” she added uncertainly. She really hadn’t given that subject a lot of thought.

  And perhaps she oug
ht to have. She may have started working at Utopia looking for Angela’s boyfriend and possible murderer, but she had also been telling the truth when she said she needed the job. To be honest—apart from those dreadful shoes—she actually enjoyed working at Utopia. Claude was a great boss, Rick was an easygoing bar manager, her co-workers were friendly, and the pay was good. The hours were unsociable, but it wasn’t as if she had a family or boyfriend it was going to bother.

  Gregori was far too sophisticated to ever be referred to as anyone’s boyfriend, and she didn’t think he would want her to assume that’s what he was to her either. So what was he? Her fuck-buddy? She hated that term, it sounded so derogatory to both people involved. Even if it did currently seem to be what she and Gregori were…

  He straightened the cuffs of his shirt beneath his jacket. “I will tell Claude that you won’t be in for a few days.”

  “We’re short-staffed—”

  “I make the decisions on who does or does not work at Utopia, Miss Miller.”

  Gaia hissed her impatience with his arrogance, and she was sure he had deliberately used the formality just to annoy her. “Rick is a great boss, and Claude’s a sweetheart, but they’re both going to think it decidedly odd if the owner of Utopia tells them one of their waitresses is taking a few days off work.”

  “I am not in the habit of explaining myself.” Gregori raised arrogant brows.

  So Nikolai had already told her. If she had needed any telling.

  Gregori was also doing that thing again with his clipped and very formal voice.

  And it annoyed the hell out of Gaia. “You don’t have to explain yourself—I do!”

  “Rick is great?”

  “Definitely.” Was he even listening to her?

  “Claude is a sweetheart?”

  Well, obviously he was listening to parts of what she said.

  “Would you rather they were both horrible to their staff and awful at their job?” she challenged.

  “Are you attracted to them?”

  That clipped thing was beyond irritating now. This man had come completely unraveled last night, and his language had been graphic to say the least, and now he was trying to put those formal barriers between them again?

  “No, I’m not attracted to either of them in the way you mean,” she dismissed impatiently. “At the moment I appear to be attracted to you—although I have no idea why!” she added disgustedly.

  Once again Gregori was lost as to what to say in answer to this woman’s bluntness. She was hot-tempered, outspoken, stubborn, he had no idea who she really was—and earlier this morning she had sucked his cock with a perfection that still left him reeling. He had thought of little else since but having her do it again. And next time he wanted to watch her.

  How much he wanted to do that scared the hell out of him.

  He could no longer claim his desire for Gaia was due to his lack of sex in recent months. If anything, his desire for Gaia had intensified since this morning, not lessened. To a degree that he knew he was seriously in danger of being led about by his cock. Which, under the circumstances, he certainly couldn’t allow to happen.

  “And don’t even think about ‘Miss Millering’ me again,” she warned as he opened his mouth to do exactly that. “I don’t play the hot and cold games you seem so fond of.”

  Gregori’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not a game, Miss Miller,” he added that last part deliberately, as a warning. “I have things I need to deal with today, our continued safety being only one of them.”

  “You have to be the most infuriating—ugh! At this moment I could quite cheerfully shoot you myself!” She glared up at him.

  Gregori stared at her in astonishment for several seconds and then he began to laugh. Not a smile or a rueful chuckle, but a full-throated roar of laughter that caught him as much by surprise as Gaia.

  He was The Markovic, a man people knew to respect even if they didn’t like him. No one—man or woman—ever answered him back or challenged him.

  Gaia had never treated him that way, certainly had no awe or respect for who he was. To her he was just a man.

  A ‘really, really hot man’ with a ‘don’t-fuck-with-me attitude’.

  He found he liked Gaia’s opinion of him more than he would have appreciated her awe or respect. “How about we…compromise?”

  She quirked a teasing brow, a smile curving her own lips. “Ooh, I bet that hurt!”

  “It did, yes.” Gregori didn’t even pretend not to understand her. As The Markovic, he didn’t compromise, but where Gaia was concerned, he didn’t seem to have any choice.

  She eyed him warily. “Compromise in what way?”

  “You’ll find ways to occupy yourself while I am out, I’ll return in time for the two of us to have dinner together, and then you may accompany me to Utopia—not to work, Gaia,” he added firmly as her expression instantly brightened. “You may accompany me as my guest.”

  The only reason he was making this concession was because security was so tight at Utopia—cameras, guards, every person in the nightclub and casino either a member or the guest of a member—that he believed she would be as safe there as she was here.

  Unless, of course, Nikolai found anything out about her today which proved damning, in which case…

  Gregori determinedly pushed that thought aside, to be dealt with later if necessary. Locating and talking to Ivan Orlov was his main priority. He could deal with Gaia’s involvement—if that’s what it was—once he put an end to this situation with Ivan.

  “Your guest,” Gaia repeated doubtfully. She wasn’t sure that was any less damning than having Gregori tell Rick and Claude she wouldn’t be at work for a few days. But it would get her out of this house later today, and that had to be a positive thing. “I’m not sure that Nikolai packed anything suitable for me to wear as your guest at Utopia.”

  “I’ll ensure something is sent here later today—”

  “You’re going to buy me a gown?” Her eyes widened.

  “Do you have a problem with that?”

  Yes, Gaia had a problem with that. Several, in fact. For one thing, apart from the money left to her by her father—money that she had used to put herself through university—no one had ever just given her anything. Handkerchiefs, gloves or perfume for Christmas maybe, but nothing like the sort of gown she was sure Gregori could afford to buy for her.

  And there, right there, was the real problem. Gregori may be rich enough to buy her a hundred, a thousand new gowns, but having a man buy clothes for her felt too kept-womanish for Gaia’s liking.

  She gave a shake of her head. “I have some gowns at home that would be suitable—”

  “And I can’t spare Nikolai today to go and collect them. Nor will I allow you to go there yourself,” he added firmly.

  “I really think we need to talk about this ‘you won’t allow me’ thing—”

  “Not now—”

  “Then when?” she challenged. “When the great Gregori Markovic can spare me a little of his valuable time?” God she really was being a bitch today! But she couldn’t seem to help herself, felt wrong-footed and totally out of her depth.

  Gregori scowled. “Why will you not understand that after last night, we should assume that someone in now watching your apartment—”

  “Stop trying to frighten me!”

  “Is it working?” he grated impatiently.

  “Yes!”

  “Good,” he snapped his satisfaction as he gave a glance at his watch. “A gown will arrive here for you later today, wear it tonight or don’t wear it, it will be your choice.”

  “I think you might be just a little embarrassed if I decide to go to Utopia in my underwear!”

  “That would depend on the underwear,” Gregori drawled.

  Gaia’s cheeks instantly blushed a fiery red as that challenge completely backfired on her. “You don’t know what size dress I wear.”

  That hooded gaze swept over her slowly from head to toes, and then
back again. “Oh but I do, Miss Miller.”

  No doubt he knew as much about a woman’s dress size as he did about the rest of her, Gaia acknowledged irritably. “Something in black will be fine,” she dismissed off-handedly.

  Gregori gave her one of those superior glances down the length of his perfect and superior nose. “You may safely leave the color and size of the gown to me. Nothing else to say?” he taunted as she glowered at him. “Good.” He nodded abruptly before finally leaving the house.

  And no doubt locking her in again with the code once he was outside.

  Did Gregori make a habit of buying clothes for the women he was involved with?

  And if he did, how did Gaia feel about that?

  Was she now the one who felt jealous at the thought of all those other women who had been in Gregori’s life?

  Because if she was—oh God, if she was—then the question she had been avoiding answering since last night no longer needed an answer: she really was falling in love with Gregori Markovic.

  A man who was as dangerous as he was lethally attractive.

  “You seem to be unusually subdued this evening, Miss Miller?” Gregori eyed her curiously as she sat across the dinner table from him.

  He had thought she might join him wearing the gown that he’d had delivered earlier, and been disappointed when Gaia arrived downstairs wearing boots, a denim skirt, and the same grey sweater she’d had on this morning. She also looked a little pale.

  “Is your cheek paining you again?” He frowned darkly.

  She gave a shake of her head, her auburn hair loose and gleaming red in the overhead lighting. “It’s fine.”

  “Did you find something to do today?” he tried again, not at all happy with this quieter Gaia.

  “I read a book.”

  “Did Mrs. Moore make you something nice for lunch?”

  “She did, yes.”

  Gregori frowned darkly. “Did something happen today to upset you?” This was definitely not the outspoken Gaia Miller he had left this morning. Or the lover that had taken him to new heights a few hours before that.

  He hadn’t been able to get the memory of their lovemaking out of his mind for more than a few minutes at a time today. Nikolai had even had to regain his wandering attention several times, as the two of them discussed the extra security that needed to be put into place after last night’s shooting.