“I would like to keep the same room, if you do not mind. It has a lovely balcony and I enjoy watching the night sky unfold over the tall buildings of your city. It is quite soothing.”
Julia loved the exotic cadence of his voice, could have listened to it for ages, but all too quickly her fingers flew over the keyboard and in less than a minute his stay at their hotel had been successfully extended a week. Almost reluctantly she handed back his credit card and room key. His long, strong fingers caressed over hers as he reached to take the items, and a shudder of pure longing wracked her body.
“Have dinner with me tonight, fair Julia of the soft hair.”
If the world had stopped spinning on its axis she wouldn’t have been more surprised than she was upon hearing his words. If he hadn’t mentioned her name in the charmingly eloquent request she would have looked around to make sure he was actually speaking to her. “With m-me?”
“With you. Only you.” A devilish twinkle entered his eyes then, lending him a less dangerous and more boyish quality.
Dinner with the sexiest man she’d ever clapped eyes on? Was there a chance in hell she would—could—say no? Then, her heart fell as she remembered how late it would be before she could leave work…and how empty her pocket book was to boot. The only restaurants that would be open so late would be very expensive indeed.
“I don’t get off work until eleven. And I doubt I’d look good in my work uniform in any respectable restaurant just now.” She laughed nervously, a little shamefaced that she would never be worldly or comfortably rich enough to play in the big leagues as this man probably did.
“I do not care if you have to work until three in the morning, so long as you will share a meal with me. As for your clothes, you look delectable as you are, but if it makes you feel more comfortable we can eat on my balcony and I will order us some room service. Whatever you like, it will be…my treat, as you Americans say.”
Oh, how tempting it was to accept his offer. She barely knew him, true, but wouldn’t it be lovely to get to know him better? And better, and better if she were lucky. She almost laughed in giddy excitement at the thought of having this incredibly sexy man all to herself tonight. Any moment she feared she’d wake up and find this whole exchange a dream, a hopeless fantasy, thanks to a deprived and overtired mind.
Before she even planned to say the words she heard herself say, “Okay. That sounds great. I’ll just come up to your room when I get off work then, shall I?”
“I will come down and escort you,” he promised in a velvet voice.
Julia shivered again and watched, dazed, as he captured her hand and lifted it to his lips. He first smelled her skin, inhaling deeply through his nostrils, then darted his tongue out to taste her. She almost fainted with shock and desire. Then he pressed his lips fervently to her hand. His lips were like silk and scorching hot against her and she felt the slight rasp of his evening whiskers. It seemed forever that he held her there against his mouth, then, as if he wasn’t happy with only the kiss, she felt the small, faint prick of his teeth as he softly bit into the softness of her flesh.
Nikolai pulled back but kept her hand held captive in his. He turned her hand over and let his strong, faintly callused thumb scrape slowly, lingeringly, over the frantic beat of her pulse in her wrist. Then he bent and pressed a quick, hard kiss to the palm of her hand, closing her fingers over it when he pulled away. “Until later, Julia. Do not forget our date. I will be here promptly at eleven.” Then, as if the hounds of hell were on his heels, he rushed to the elevator at the other end of the lobby, stepped into it and was gone.
As if she could forget. Odds were she’d remember that kiss on her hand for the rest of her life.
Julia squealed, hopped up from her chair and did a little dance around it before settling back down with a lunatic grin playing on her face. Thank goodness George had taken the night off!
Chapter Two
The rest of Julia’s shift passed by with unbearable slowness for her. The steady ebb and flow of new arrivals dwindled to a trickle, making the time seem to stretch on even longer. Julia did everything she could to pass the time. She read, she cleaned, she sketched, and she counted the squares on the geometrically designed carpet beneath her feet. But alas her self-appointed busy work only served to fill in a short amount of time, or so it seemed to her eager mind and heart. She was just too excited about her anticipated evening to keep from looking at her watch every few moments, an action that was sure, in and of itself, to make the time seem to crawl by ever more slowly.
After what seemed like an endless eternity, Julia’s watch read that it was no less than twenty minutes until her shift ended and one of her co-workers arrived to relieve her of her post.
“Hi Julia. Looks like George bailed on you again, huh?”
Julia smiled at Nora as she joined her behind the reception desk. Nora was a lovely, youthful thirty-something aspiring actress ”slash” model. And she was just as lovely on the inside as she was outside. Julia liked her very much and knew that although she wasn’t often successful in finding work in her chosen field, she was nevertheless worthy of her aspirations.
“Yeah, you guessed it right the first time.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come in earlier.”
Julia hadn’t called Nora because she knew that she’d been spending the evening with her young daughter. Nora worked two full time jobs when she wasn’t lucky enough to have a modeling gig—the better to support herself and her spunky six year old—and Julia wouldn’t have taken away what precious time Nora had at home no matter how tired she was. “Well I figured I could use the extra cash, you know? And I knew you and Amy were going to have dinner tonight before you came in.”
“Oh Julia, you’re such a sweetheart to remember that. But I would have come in if you’d needed me.”
“I know you would have and that’s why I didn’t call.” The two women smiled at one another. “How is Amy doing?” Julia asked.
“Great. She’s had one of her finger paintings hung in the hallway for parent teacher night next week.”
“That’s great. I’ll bet she’s really excited.”
“Oh yeah. She’s been talking about it non-stop for the past two days.” Nora laughed, a husky, breathless sound that on anyone else might have sounded over-practiced, but it was all part and parcel of who Nora was.
“I remember the first time I had one of my drawings hung up in school. I was so proud. I was in kindergarten too, but I’ll never forget how thrilling it was to have perfect strangers come through and see my work.”
“One day you’ll have that, only it’ll be hundreds—thousands—that see your work. Can you imagine how excited you’ll be then?”
Julia smiled back, marveling at how sincere and positive Nora could be when she talked about her art. But she’d always been that way, and when Julia had given Nora a painting of her and little Amy the previous Christmas, Nora had grown even more encouraging and generous with her praise. “And one day you’ll be a star yourself, gracing the pages of every slick fashion magazine.”
Nora sighed and with a tired little smile she sat in a chair next to Julia. “It’s fun to dream, isn’t it? But I do have some news—I’ll be in the Fall Aurora catalog. It’s not much but it’ll keep the bill collectors at bay for a few months.”
“That’s great! Aurora is a big department store and a lot of posh people shop there. The exposure for the magazine could be great for you.”
“I know, but I’m trying to play it down so I don’t get my hopes up, ya know?”
Unfortunately Julia did know, all too well. In the big city of New York, it was never good to count ones chickens before they hatched. And that was especially true of anyone in the arts or entertainment industry. There were just too many people around in that field to assume that any one person could shine like a diamond amongst them without having made it somewhere else first. It was hard to break into mainstream, harder than anyone outside o
f the business could imagine.
Julia smiled in sympathy and understanding then remembered her own good news. “Oh Nora, you won’t believe what just happened to me tonight.” She proceeded to divulge to her friend the details of her meeting with the dangerous and exotic Nikolai Tamits in room 1203 and his romantic and unexpected dinner proposal.
“Oh, I’ve seen him Jules and he’s a total hottie! Betty and I worked the shift he checked in on last week. He usually comes in late at night, alone, and heads up to his room without even stopping to ask if he’s received any messages. Betty and I thought he was gay at first because he barely spared us more than a passing glance when we checked him in.”
“Now you’re just saying that to build up my ego, so I’ll feel honored that he asked me to dinner when he could have asked you or the lovely—gag!—Betty.” Julia rolled her eyes exasperatedly.
“No, I’m telling you the truth. Betty was making goo-goo eyes at him the entire time but he barely looked at her. He looked at me—politely is all I can say about it—but that look made my knees turn to water right on the spot even if he wasn’t meaning for it to, and I’m sure he wasn’t. I’m so glad to hear that you caught his eye, it’s so exciting! When was the last time you went out on a date? A real date, I mean, not an outing with a classmate or whatever.”
Julia thought for a moment and was more than a little chagrined to realize that she couldn’t precisely remember when she’d last gone out with anyone. “High school I think.” She laughed at Nora’s shocked expression. “But it’s mostly because I just haven’t had the time to pursue the opposite sex with all the work I’ve been doing since I moved here, preparing for school and whatnot.”
“Honey, no matter how hard I work I always have time to pursue the opposite sex,” Nora said in a deliberately sexy drawl. “If I didn’t then I wouldn’t have my baby girl now would I? And Lord knows that she’s my pride and joy. Were would I be without her? I’d be as lonely as you are—no offense.”
“None taken. I am lonely sometimes, but I handle my life the only way I know how and unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it, that leaves little time for me to date or play hanky panky. Plus the only men who ever show an interest in having a relationship or, at the least, bumping uglies with me are usually the kind I try my best to steer clear of.”
“Oh honey, you’re just never around the right men, that’s your problem. If you’d make time to go out on the town you’d find some downright hunky men who’d give anything to ’bump uglies’,” Nora snickered at the phrase, “with you.”
“I don’t care about the hunky part so much as I care about the ‘give anything’ part. I don’t want a slave, don’t get me wrong, but I do want a man who’s not unwilling to work his way up to earning my heart. I want a man, a good man, who’ll love me no matter how I look in the early morning hours, who’ll rub my feet after I’ve been on them all day and so on and so forth. I want a man who’ll want me, not just for sex, but also for conversation—intelligent conversation. Someone who’ll try to bring down the moon should I want it and cherish me forever through thick and thin. That’s what I want.”
The two friends sighed dreamily.
“But honey,” Nora said gently, “men like that are few and far between—if they even exist at all beyond the covers of a romance novel. Why not set your sites a little lower? You might not find the great, magical romance of your dreams, but at least you’ll find happiness. Don’t shut out your chance at contentment with a normal, flawed, man and wait in vain for the gentle perfect knight on a white charger. They just don’t exist.”
“I know that. But I’m not ready to stop dreaming that there might be, somewhere out there, the perfect man for me. When I’m ready to settle down I’ll set aside my silly dreams but for now…”
“Yeah, I understand. Like I said, it is fun to dream. Now, let’s change the subject, I’m getting too depressed. Have you got any clothes to change into for this date?”
“No. I’m going to have to wear this. At least it’s black. I’ll need all the slimming down I can get, whether it’s a visual trick or not.”
“Oh shut up about your weight, Jules. You’re not fat. You’re curvy. There’s a big difference.”
“Wow, thanks for the pep-talk Nora. Coming from someone as skinny and statuesque as you that makes me feel oh so much better.”
“Quit looking like you’ve just eaten a lemon. Your face will freeze that way if you keep it up. Didn’t your mother ever tell you that? Anyway, I can’t help it that I’m like I am—I’m not a health fanatic that’s for sure—I’m just lucky that my metabolism is so high because I eat like a horse. It’s good genes I guess.”
“My heart bleeds for you, it really does,” Julia joked.
“Oh hush. And really, you don’t need to be so hard on yourself about your appearance. I’ve seen how you hunch all the time to hide your chest, you need to stand up straighter and flaunt those puppies. I wish I were as well endowed as you. But,” she sighed for dramatic effect, “I guess someone has to help Victoria’s Secret stay in business. Thank goodness for Miracle bras.”
“I don’t hunch to hide, I hunch because they’re so frickin’ heavy.” Julia said this with a straight face but couldn’t help laughing when Nora choked and sputtered in her own surprised mirth.
“Ah, Jules you always make me laugh.” Nora wiped a tear from her eye with an artfully manicured hand. “But seriously, you’re too hard on yourself about your looks.”
“I’m not really that concerned with my looks, or at least I didn’t used to be. But I grew up in a small country town where image meant less than nothing so my weight and build were never an issue. But after coming here…”
“Everyone is concerned with image here. It’s hard not to notice that and get caught up in it.” Nora finished for her with a wise look in her eyes.
“Exactly. I’m still adjusting to that. The first week I lived here I was turned away from I don’t know how many jobs and I know it was because I didn’t look like I belonged here. I could see it in the way people looked at me, like I was a stray wet dog. I immediately had to change my wardrobe and start wearing my hair differently. I would have starved if I hadn’t.”
“Well I’m glad you got a job here. You’re a lot of fun, Jules. And one day you’ll meet the right guy, someone who’ll make you very happy to just be yourself. Who knows…maybe that guy is Nikolai Tamits?”
“I don’t know. I very highly doubt it. But it’ll sure be fun finding out.” Julia affected her most wicked grin.
“Ain’t that the truth, honey? Hell, that’s the kind of experimentation that spices up a woman’s life.”
Julia spent the next few moments straightening the work area and joking with Nora about inconsequential things. But all the while she was trying her best to tamp down on the rising excitement that raced through her whenever she thought about what might happen in the hours ahead. The anticipation alone was whipping her into a frenzy. She was almost dancing on her toes as she went about her final shift-change duties.
Julia was in the office situated just behind the receptionist area, squaring away the register earnings she’d accumulated during her long day, when she heard Nikolai’s voice through the open door.
“I’m looking for Ms. Julia Thurman. Is she still here?”
“Yeah, she’s just finishing up in the back. I’ll get her for you.” Julia let Nora come into the office and get her, not wanting to seem over eager to the sexy Nikolai by following her first impulse, which was to vault from the room with an excited smile on her face.
“He’s here! Hurry up, girl, before he gets away,” Nora whispered excitedly.
“How do I look?”
“Good enough to eat. Now go get ‘em. And for God’s sake, hold your shoulders straight. Make his mouth water!”
Julia muffled a laugh with her hand, straightened her shoulders as Nora had instructed, and walked out to meet her date for the evening.
S
ure enough, as Nora had obviously intended—the woman knew entirely too much about men—Nikolai’s eyes went straight to her breasts. And stayed there. Julia sent a quick glance to Nora, who gave her a sly wink and a smile, before she walked around the desk.
He was so much taller, so much broader than she would have thought, but when they’d met before she had been sitting behind a counter and he had been leaning low over it. Now that she stood next to him—a unique thrill all its own—she realized that he had several inches on her in height. It made her feel positively dwarfed, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in Julia’s opinion. Perhaps, given his large size, he wouldn’t find her all that large in comparison. Maybe he’d find her merely…curvy. He was dressed differently now than he had been earlier, in a loose fitting, gray button up shirt and black slacks. The strong line of his jaw was freshly shaven and she could smell the very faint scent of his spicy aftershave. Though she’d found his whiskered look irresistibly sexy, she was impressed that he’d bothered to groom himself so thoroughly for her.
“Are you ready to dine, fair Julia? I find I am positively famished.”
Julia didn’t fail to notice that his eyes barely strayed up from her breasts as he spoke to her. For the first time in her adult life she felt truly powerful in her voluptuous femininity. She decided to savor every last moment of it. “I’m ready. Shall we go?”
Nikolai took her hand and laid it in the crook of his arm. With anyone else the gesture might have seemed a little overdone, but it seemed a normal and almost reflexive move on his part. He finally dragged his eyes away from her chest and turned to lead them towards the elevator. Julia spared one last glance back at her friend and gave her what she knew was a silly and excited grin. Nora returned the look, bounced in her seat happily, and waved them off as they strode away.
The doors closed around them, cutting them off from the outside world. Julia found herself eager to start off the night’s adventure. It had been far too long since she’d felt so excited, so anticipatory of a dinner date, and she reveled in the joy of the moment. There was little doubt in her mind that the night would prove to be well worth the long day she’d just had.
Bitten: Moon Lust 2 Page 3
