Behind the Palace Walls

by Lynn Raye Harris

  “I have wanted to get you out of this uptight suit since I first saw you this morning,” he said, his voice hot and sexy as he slipped the coat from her shoulders and tossed it aside. The hat and scarf followed, and she tugged off her gloves so she could feel his skin beneath her fingertips.

  This morning. Was it really only this morning that they’d faced each other in a boardroom? Paige extinguished the thought before she could dwell on it. She knew who she was with, and she knew why it was wrong.

  But she didn’t want to stop. She wanted to race recklessly forward, before sense caught up with her. She wanted to feel alive for one night, wanted to feel the passion and power of a man moving inside her.

  This man.

  It was only once, only tonight. Tomorrow, she would go back to being staid Paige Barnes, efficient secretary.

  Alexei got out of his coat before she could do it for him, and then he started to work on the buttons of her blouse. Paige slipped his shirt from his waistband and ran her hands beneath, finally touching his hot skin.

  He flinched, laughing. “Your hands are cold.”

  “So are yours,” she said when he slipped a finger beneath the edge of her bra. But she was too hot to care. His touch soothed the sizzle, gave her hope he would quench this fire before the evening was through.

  Crazy, crazy, crazy.

  She could hear the chant in her head, but she didn’t want to listen to it. There would be plenty of time for self- recrimination later. Now, she only wanted to feel how good it could be with him.

  Alexei’s mouth sought hers as he slid the blouse from her shoulders. Paige met him eagerly, arching into his touch like a cat. Don’t think; just feel.

  He broke away and ripped his shirt over his head, then kissed her again, his hands sliding to the waistband of her trousers. A cold shot of fear darted through her, threatening to douse her ardor.

  Should she explain that she was inexperienced? That she’d only done this once before, and she wasn’t even sure if it counted?

  But if she did, would he stop? She couldn’t stand the idea that her inexperience might make the difference in whether or not he found her desirable, so she didn’t say anything.

  Another moment, and her pants were gone, sliding down her legs to pool at her feet before she stepped out of them.

  The heat in Alexei’s eyes was so intense she felt scorched from the contact. He spoke in Russian, exotic words she had no hope of understanding. She started to fold her arms beneath her breasts, but he stopped her.

  “I would have never guessed that you had naughty undergarments beneath that suit.”

  Paige blushed. “They aren’t naughty. They’re just lacy.”

  And maybe a little bit racy. Her bra was white lace, fairly staid, but she’d worn a thong beneath her pants because it left no panty line.

  Alexei made a spinning motion with his finger. She turned in an awkward circle before facing him again.

  “You are very beautiful, Paige.”

  Part of her wanted to tell him to stop saying it, that she wasn’t beautiful at all, but another part wanted to believe every word.

  “You have too many clothes on,” she said, unable to bear his scrutiny a moment more while he was still partially clothed.

  “Then help me to lose them.”

  She reached for his belt buckle, slipped it open. His bare chest radiated so much heat she thought she would burn. Last night, she’d seen the shadows of muscle and sinew beneath his open shirt, but that hadn’t prepared her for the sight of him. He was broad-shouldered, beautifully made, with tight muscle and silky skin. Heart in her throat, Paige tugged his zipper down.

  He took over, shedding his trousers until he stood before her completely naked. Paige swallowed a bubble of apprehension. He was magnificent, tall and broad, with clearly defined stomach muscles, and a dark, sexy arrow of hair pointing a trail down his abdomen.

  “Do you like what you see?” he murmured, and Paige’s gaze snapped to his. She’d been staring at his penis, hadn’t she? But he was hard, ready for her—and clearly unembarrassed by his state of arousal.

  Oh, God.

  Paige felt as if she were stuck to the floor. She didn’t know how she was supposed to act now. What would a sophisticated woman do? Would she go to him, wrap her arms around him and purr in his ear? Or would she shed her underwear and drape herself artfully across the bed?

  Thankfully Alexei had no such problem deciding what to do. Sweeping her up, he carried her to the bed and laid her down. She could hardly process the luxury of her surroundings—the bed was canopied, gilded, and draped with thick, rich velvet. Inside the canopy dome, someone had painted a scene of a man and woman in a troika, the horses stretched out as they flew across a snowy landscape.

  “You are trembling,” he said as he came down beside her on the crisp cotton sheets. “Do I frighten you?”

  “No, but it’s been a long time,” she admitted.

  It was true, in a way. It had been a long time since she’d lost her virginity to a guy from her accounting class. Bob, who drank too much, botched the job and never called again. She’d always imagined it was out of embarrassment rather than because of anything she’d done.

  Now she was beginning to worry that she might have been wrong.

  “Then we will take our time,” Alexei said, removing her glasses and placing them on the nightstand. “I can imagine nothing more pleasurable.”

  His mouth came down on hers, and her body melted by degrees. When Alexei kissed her, she felt that she would do anything he asked. It must be true, considering that she was naked in his bed and more than four hundred miles away from where she was supposed to be.

  Except that he hadn’t kissed her at all tonight until they’d gone on the troika ride. Everything that she’d done up to that point was her own doing, not a result of coercion.

  Nor was this, she admitted to herself.

  Alexei reached beneath her, found the catch to her bra and unsnapped it. Then he tugged it off and tossed it aside before cupping her breasts in his hands and kissing first one nipple and then the other while she squirmed beneath him.

  “You are most sensitive,” he murmured against her flesh. “I like you this way.”

  When his lips closed over her nipple, sweetly sucking it into a hard point, Paige gasped and arched her back. He obliged her by sucking harder.

  “You like this,” he said. Goose bumps rose on her flesh where his hot tongue left a wet trail to her other breast. Then he was repeating the motions again and again, sucking each of her nipples until she thought she would scream from the pure pleasure of it.

  “Alexei,” she gasped. “I don’t want to go slow anymore!”

  She was burning up, aching for him in ways she’d never experienced.

  He chuckled. “Patience, sweet one. We have plenty of time.” He kissed her stomach, rolled his tongue around her belly button and then traced a line across the top of her thong. “This is very sexy underwear, Paige Barnes. You make me wonder what other surprises you have in store.”

  And then he pushed her panties down her hips until she had no barriers left. Her breath caught in her throat.

  She thought she was prepared for what he did next, but how could you be prepared for a thing you’d never experienced?

  Alexei pushed her legs open, teased her with hot kisses along the insides of her thighs—but when he spread her wide and touched her with his tongue, Paige couldn’t suppress the little scream that escaped. She thought she would literally fly apart.

  Her entire body was on fire. Her hair tingled. And Alexei’s mouth did things to her that no man had ever done. She wanted it to last forever—

  But it was over in a matter of seconds as her body reached an impossibly high peak, and then dove into a free fall. Paige cried out, gasping and sobbing for breath during the long journey to the bottom.

  The experience was intense, amazing, far more than she’d ever dreamed.

  Yet still it wasn’t
over.

  She thought Alexei would enter her body now, but he brought her to the peak once more with his mouth, and, when she thought she couldn’t possibly take any more, he did it a third time.

  She was wrung-out, sated, her body quivering with pleasure—and still she craved more.

  “Please, Alexei,” she said as he moved away from her. “Don’t go.”

  His laugh was deep, sexy. “I’m not leaving, Paige. Not for a long time.”

  He reached into the table beside the bed, and then he was rolling on a condom and settling himself over top of her. She wrapped her legs around him, knowing instinctively that this was what she was supposed to do. He kissed her sweetly while he entered her body, moving forward on a long, slow glide that made her moan.

  The pleasure took her breath away, even while the size and feel of him was almost too much. There was a moment of pain, a sharp sensation of tearing—and then he was inside her fully, his body throbbing in the very core of her.

  “You should have told me,” he gasped out.

  When she opened her eyes, the expression on his face tore her heart in two. He looked lost, alone—confused, as if he’d expected one thing and gotten another.

  Paige’s heart dropped. “Told you what? Have I done something wrong?”

  “You’re a virgin.” He seemed angry, intense.

  Shock momentarily stole her voice. “I can’t be.”

  He groaned as she moved beneath him. “Trust me, you are. Were.”

  “I’ve been with one man. He, um…” She could feel her face turning red as she struggled to say it. “He barely started before he was finished.”

  Meaning he’d started to enter her body, and then stiffened as his climax hit him. Her first sexual experience had been over before it ever really began. Which meant he’d not taken her virginity as she’d always thought. He’d only started the job. Alexei had just now completed it.

  Alexei’s expression changed, grew fierce suddenly. But it wasn’t the kind of fierce that scared her. Or at least not in a bad way. No, it was an intense, possessive, determined kind of look that said he wasn’t about to quit until they were completely, thoroughly finished.

  “My God, Paige,” he said. “Just when I think you cannot surprise me any more than you already have.”

  His mouth came down on hers, hot, possessive. She relaxed into his kiss for only a moment before he set her body on fire with his own. He was gloriously hard, moving, his body showing no signs of being done.

  Her heart soared. This was really happening, they were really making love—it wasn’t going to end with him apologizing, grabbing his clothes, leaving her alone and wondering what the hell had just happened.

  She couldn’t think of anything but him as the wave caught her and tossed her higher than she’d ever been.

  She learned very quickly how to shift her hips up to meet him, how to open herself to him, and how to prolong her pleasure and stave off the inevitable—but only for so long, because Alexei was relentless, driving her toward a completion more intense than any she’d experienced before now.

  When her orgasm hit her this time, she couldn’t hold back the scream that had pooled at the base of her throat. Vaguely she was aware that he followed her over the edge. Moments later he rolled over, taking her with him until she was lying on top of him, his body still buried deep inside hers.

  Instinctively she knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  NOTHING HAD GONE the way he’d expected. Alexei lay beneath her, wondering what in the hell had just happened to him. Everything had spiraled out of control the instant he’d kissed her in the sleigh. He had not meant to move so fast.

  He’d intended a slower seduction, perhaps unfolding over the next few days. And he’d intended to get inside her head, to have her open up to him and trust him before they went to bed.

  He’d intended, bastard that he was, to make her think he was falling for her. Paige Barnes was the kind of woman who should be eating out of his hand.

  And yet she was not. Nor did she seem likely to.

  Which, paradoxically, might explain this intense attraction he felt toward her. She was so much more than he’d expected, and every moment he spent with her only increased his fascination.

  My God, she’d still been a virgin. He hadn’t counted on that at all. Guilt stabbed him in the gut. She’d trusted him enough to give him her virginity, and all he’d intended was to take advantage of her.

  But how could he have known? He’d entered her so easily that he’d barely noticed the slight resistance until he’d broken through it. Then he’d been blown away.

  She’d turned the tables on him with her sweet innocence and earthy sexuality. The contrast between the two fascinated him. Compelled him. Even before he’d known she was still a virgin, he’d wanted her like he couldn’t remember ever wanting another woman in recent memory.

  Or ever?

  Alexei closed his eyes. No, of course not. He must have wanted another woman this badly. What about Fermina, the supermodel? She’d had the longest legs he’d ever seen.

  But, no. She’d been delightful, not compelling.

  He ran through a succession of women in his head. None conjured up more than pleasant memories. None conjured up violent need that spiraled out of his control.

  Perhaps it was the excitement of making love to Chad Russell’s secretary, of taking something from under his cousin’s nose that the man had been too ignorant to see for himself.

  But, no, it wasn’t that, either.

  Paige’s warm body was limp, her breathing even, and he knew she’d fallen asleep. He wanted to sleep as well, but he could not. He was still inside her, still hard, but he needed to withdraw while the condom was still tight.

  Except that he didn’t want to move. He wanted to lie here, sated and content, and enjoy the warm woman in his bed. He wanted to enjoy the companionship with her, however brief.

  Paige knew what it was like to lose family too soon. It was a connection they shared. Another reason everything about this night seemed so strange to him. He didn’t usually share details about his family with the women he dated.

  Hell, he didn’t usually share details of his life and family with anyone. He’d learned that life wasn’t fair, and that you couldn’t trust another soul with the burdens of yours. No one was what he or she seemed. Everyone had an agenda of some sort.

  And his was to destroy the Russells.

  Not that he’d told her much, but he’d said more than he usually did. In the instant when he’d told her that his family was in the crypt, he’d felt a wall of loneliness pushing down on him that he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Somehow, she’d recognized it. He’d wanted to open up to her even more in that moment, but he’d stopped himself from doing so.

  She did something to him, something he did not like. She made him long for things he’d forgotten, and feel remorse for things he could not help if he were to avenge his family. He had no room for sentimentality, no room for tender feelings of any kind.

  A glance at the bedside clock told him it was nearly ten. A few more minutes, and he would wake her—though part of him wanted to keep her in his bed all night, to slide into her body in the dark hours before dawn, to lose himself.

  But he would not. The sooner he returned her to Moscow, the better.

  The sharp, insistent ringing of a cell phone startled Paige into wakefulness. Beside her, Alexei whipped back the covers and shot from the bed. His phone was still clipped onto his trousers, but he managed to grab it before it stopped ringing.

  “Da?” he barked.

  Paige sat up, her body protesting the movement. Though she wanted to stay snuggled into bed, where it was warm, it was time to return to reality.

  Reality for her was not a naked billionaire pacing the room and barking into his phone in a language she didn’t understand.

  She took the opportunity, while he wasn’t paying attention, to slip from
the bed and start collecting her clothes. It took a few moments to locate her underwear, but when she had everything she darted into the attached bathroom.

  Paige leaned back against the closed door, blinking in disbelief. Yet another beautiful, fairy-tale room. Though at least there were modern fixtures—a shower, toilet and claw-foot bathtub with jets. Clearly Alexei had upgraded a few things.

  She wondered why he and his mother and sister had been sent away from this place, but she’d hardly been able to ask. What must it have been like to be so young and to not only lose your father, but to also find yourself thrown out of your home? How had his poor mother handled everything with two young children to look after?

  Paige felt a pang of emotion for the woman lying in the church crypt. And for the man who seemed so in control and detached when he spoke of his family, yet who was so alive and full of fire. A fire that had nearly incinerated them both when he’d focused it on her.

  She set her clothes on a tufted bench and turned on the water in the sink so she could wash her face.

  And did a double take at the woman staring at her in the mirror. My God, was that her?

  Her hair was mussed, of course, but it was her face that shocked her. Her lips were red, swollen from kissing, and her eyes were lazy, sensual. Her mascara had smeared, but instead of looking like a Gothic vampire, it made her look tousled. Like she was a sex goddess who’d been making love all night long.

  She took a step back, let her gaze wander down her body. Her skin glowed. She looked happy. Pretty. Was that what sexual satisfaction did to a person?

  If so, she’d certainly missed out on a lot. She could barely process that she’d technically still been a virgin. She was slightly sore, but not so much so that her body didn’t leap at the idea of doing it all again.

  A sharp rap sounded on the door and she jumped. “Yes?”

  “We must go, Paige,” Alexei said. “The helicopter is waiting.”

  His voice was impersonal, sharp, and her stomach dropped. Whatever she’d expected after tonight, the indifference in his voice hadn’t been it. Hadn’t they just shared something beautiful? And, more than their bodies, hadn’t they shared a bit of their souls with each other?