He was becoming . . . fond of the little thing. That wasn’t a problem if she was interested in marrying him, but if she was going to change her mind, he needed to put the brakes on his own feelings. Liking a girl more than she liked him hadn’t happened to him since the days when he’d been poor. If there was anything Konstantin detested, it was not being in control.
And yet he’d spent all four days of this trip thinking about her, missing her, and trying to figure out what the hell was happening at his house. He’d sent Kate and Everly to check on Varushka several times, and had called the girl himself. All three of them kept saying everything was fine, but he had a serious suspicion that something was going on that no one was telling him about. He was half surprised when he pulled up in front of the house and the place was still standing.
The sun was getting low in the sky when he walked in, but the house was completely silent. Varushka wasn’t in the great room or his office. The only hint that she’d been in the kitchen recently was a cooling pot of borscht on the stove. There wasn’t so much as a spoon in the sink. The bedrooms were tidy but no one was in them.
If it hadn’t been for the borscht, he might have guessed she’d run back to her family. After they’d gotten home from church he’d wondered if the threat of eternal damnation was enough to make her abandon the idea of marrying him. His religious upbringing nagged at him sometimes, but he couldn’t go back to being a good boy. Not when the road to hell was paved with pretty girls to defile.
Right now there was only one girl he wanted to defile, no matter how many women at the LA office had tried to catch his interest. He was getting obsessed with his little bird. He hadn’t strayed from her since they’d been matched, all those months ago, and now that he had her, she was like a drug.
Maybe Everly or Kate had picked Varushka up to go out somewhere? He wandered into the backyard, on the off chance that she was out enjoying the mild weather. A mug of tea sat next to one of the lounges on the deck. He felt like he was tracking her. What did he get to do to her when he captured her?
When he stood still on the steps leading down to the lawn, he heard a noise that seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Curious, he followed the sounds behind the stand of high, decorative hedges.
For a moment, all he could do was stand there and stare. Was The Twilight Zone airing an episode on the grounds of his estate?
Varushka, wearing one of her old dresses, her hair tied back in a kerchief, was on her hands and knees in the middle of a huge garden which had miraculously appeared in his absence. Not a decorative flower garden either. It looked like she was planning to supply vegetables to several of Everly’s homeless shelters single-handedly.
Behind her stood a wooden structure that hadn’t been there the last time he was on the grounds, and through the chicken wire, he could see . . . chickens. Actual fucking chickens in his motherfucking backyard. There was even a fenced-off area where they could wander without danger from predators.
Anger tried to rear its head, since she’d basically destroyed the place without so much as a text asking for permission, or even a small hint that she was turning his yard into a fucking farm. But between the fact that he wanted her to feel like this was her home, and the fact that the situation was so absurd, he couldn’t be angry. He was too stunned.
She looked ridiculous and adorable and the only urge he had was to whisk her into his arms and swing her around.
“Varushka . . .” He made his way to her where she stood in the garden. “You’ve been busy.”
The girl whirled, eyes wide. She looked so sweet and girlish in the too-big dress, with wisps of red hair straggling out of her kerchief. Before he’d left, she’d begun to seem more worldly in the things he’d bought her, but he had to remember that she was still an innocent village girl. It wasn’t an illusion or a role-play.
“Konstantin, I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.” She rose, putting a self-conscious hand to her covered hair. She looked down at her dress and slapped some of the dirt off, but no amount of brushing was going to help. She needed a bath. And he wouldn’t mind giving her one.
The wall he’d decided to keep between them until he could be sure of her feelings melted on the spot. He stepped closer to her and brushed some dirt off her cheek, but more was smudged underneath. They stared at each other and attraction sizzled between them in the twilight.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. One of her silly chickens was sneaking across the lawn like a feathered ninja.
“Is that one supposed to be loose?” He pointed at the thing.
She said something that sounded suspiciously like a Russian curse word, and snuck quietly toward the wayward bird. Her quarry, however, wasn’t stupid. It kept out of her way, and every time he thought she was going to outsmart it, the silly thing dodged. He moved in, and tried to shoo it toward her. It veered off, and he followed. This was harder than it looked.
Giving up on subterfuge, he lunged at it, and it flapped and went left. Varushka was there, but it scooted between her legs. She laughed, and gave chase, with Konstantin hard on her heels. It backtracked, and Varushka tripped over Kon’s foot then sprawled into some wet muck. He helped her up, and got splattered when she slipped. It was so completely ridiculous, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud.
As though it was mocking them, the hen scooted past. With a final burst of speed, Konstantin caught up with it. He grabbed it up and hauled it, flapping, to the coop, then released it into the fenced yard. Together, they looked over the structure but couldn’t figure out how the Houdini chicken had escaped.
Konstantin collapsed onto the ground, and laid with his arm over his eyes, laughing and trying to catch his breath. “Where did you get those crazy things?”
“A farmer called Malachi sold them to me. He’s a friend of Everly’s. They’re good laying hens.” She sounded defensive, so he grinned at her to let her know he was teasing. “They might be a little too smart.”
“At least it’s not goats.”
The girl settled next to him on the lawn, and leaned on him with a familiarity that warmed him. “No, not for two weeks. I have to build the pen first.”
He chuckled, then looked up at her when she didn’t laugh too.
Oh shit, she wasn’t joking.
“Goats, Varushka? There are laws here about keeping livestock. You can’t just have chickens and goats in our yard without making sure it’s allowed by the government.”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s what Everly told me. So she helped me call City Hall, and the nice man there told me that because we live so far away from the city, we are zoned for almost any kind of livestock. I will use the money you gave me for shopping for supplies, so you needn’t worry about me asking for more. And when the vegetables come, their harvest and sales will help pay for animal feed as well as feed us.” She smiled proudly.
That face. How could he ever say no to that face?
It wasn’t exactly in keeping with the general theme of the house, but if it wasn’t going to be just his house anymore, he had to give her some say. He wanted her to feel at home, and he knew she desperately wanted to feel useful. Besides, it was nothing a landscaper couldn’t fix if she left him.
If it would keep her busy and give her a sense of purpose, he could tolerate it. They’d have to hire someone to babysit the operation whenever they went on trips, but it wasn’t impossible. “But why goats?”
“I like goats. They’re small, and funny, and their milk is very useful. I’ve already made arrangements for them to be delivered, so I need to get the pen built soon.” She was watching him, and seemed disappointed he wasn’t happier. “Not buying the cow was a good decision, I think.”
Konstantin struggled to stifle a belly laugh, not sure what to say. “Yes, that was a good decision.”
“You’re not happy with me,” she observed. She sagged, and he wondered if he should have pretended he was excited, for her sake. Humoring people wasn�
�t something he normally did so he was out of practice.
“It was just a surprise. When I had this house built, it never occurred to me to have a vegetable garden and animals on the grounds.” He put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “But if it makes you happy, then I’m happy. If you want to add anything to your farm, though, I expect you to ask me first. The next time I go away on business, I don’t want to come home to a petting zoo with a rhinoceros.”
Varushka blinked at him, then frowned in disapproval. “Don’t be ridiculous. That isn’t the same thing at all.”
“Isn’t it?” He chuckled.
She frowned, looking insulted. “Have you been rich so long, that you’ve forgotten your roots? Are you too good for farming and farmers now? Because if you are, then maybe you’re too good for me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” Between the long flight, the chicken chase, and the shock of coming home to a farm, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with a lecture.
She had pushed away from him and was sitting up stiffly, chin raised. “Farming is not a thing to be mocked. Where do you think the food you eat every day comes from, rich boy?”
And so it begins. Her timid demeanor was only going to last for so long, but he needed to take her in hand before she decided she was the boss in their relationship, and that sassing him was acceptable. Plus, the temptation to spank her naughty ass was too much to resist.
Konstantin rose, and pulled the girl to her feet. “‘Rich boy’? What happens when you’re rude to me?”
She looked sullenly down at her toes, but said nothing.
“I would never mock farming. I know how hard the work is. I did enough of it as a child. However, there are appropriate times and places for things, and having a farm in the backyard of this kind of house is a different idea.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the house. “That’s not saying it can’t work here, because it can. I told you that.”
“I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. Sorry.” Her tone didn’t make her sound sorry at all. She was dragging her feet, but he didn’t give her a choice about following.
“You will be, but only about your attitude.”
When he reached the stairs to the deck, he sat down on one and pulled Varushka facedown over his lap. She didn’t struggle or try to get up.
“W-what are you doing?”
“I didn’t like the tone you were using with me, girl. Hopefully this reminds you to be polite to me.” Konstantin brushed up the back of her dress, amused and slightly turned on to discover she’d reverted to her ugly white granny panties. Although he paused and let go of her, she didn’t try to get away. Curious to see how far she’d let him go, he slowly pulled her panties down, exposing her bottom to the sky—possibly for the first time in her life.
Damn, she had a sexy ass.
“Oh my god,” she whined. “Don’t spank me. I don’t like it. Pull my panties back up.” She could have done it herself, but she didn’t try to do so.
“I will when I’m done,” he promised. “I think you’re lying to me, though, Varushka. When I swatted your bottom before church the other day, I think you did like it.”
“No, I—”
“I’m going to spank you now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She’d agreed quickly, and had almost sounded eager. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on his part. The “Sir” though—that had sounded sincere.
He brought his hand down on her sweet little bottom. She squeaked and wriggled, but he held her in place. After each swat he paused, waiting for her to insist he stop. Instead, she melted against his legs. Her whimpers became moans as her pale ass gradually turned a bright pink.
“Is it your place to be disrespectful to me?” he asked, smacking her again.
“No, Sir.” Her voice was hoarse, and she was sniffling.
“You can disagree with me politely, but I will not stand for a sassy mouth. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He rubbed the pink splotches he’d made, soothing them with his palm. She gasped and squirmed in his grip, but not to get away.
Maybe she was sweet and innocent, but her body seemed to know what it wanted even if she didn’t agree.
He was getting painfully hard, and it frustrated the hell out of him that he couldn’t work it off on her. It was like making out with a girl in the back hall at a high school dance. Everything she did or didn’t do made him crazy and there wasn’t much he could do about it. Not without being a bastard.
When he pulled her panties back up, she yelped and protested.
“You can take them off. I don’t mind. I just promised that I’d pull them back up and I’m a man of my word.” He pulled the hem of her dress back down into place and urged her to her feet. She stood in front of him, pouting and rubbing her bottom.
“Come with me.” He brought her into the house, where she toed off her muddy shoes. When they got to his room, he started to run a bath.
She tried to back out of the room, but he caught her hand.
“I’ll go take a shower in the other bathroom,” she said nervously. “The priest said I shouldn’t do any more bad things with you before we’re married.”
Konstantin let go of her hand. “If that’s what you want, that’s fine. I’ll wait.” He unbuttoned his now-smudged white dress shirt and stripped it off. The way she was watching him said she didn’t want to leave the room any more than he wanted her to. “You may go, if you want.”
The one step she took back toward the door was unconvincing.
“Or you could stay and take a bath with me.”
“Naked?” her eyes widened. “Together?”
He bit his lips together so he didn’t laugh. “That’s usually how baths work in America. Taking a bath in your clothes wouldn’t be very comfortable.”
Varushka’s gaze fell to his chest again, and she bit her lip. At her side, her fingers moved like she was thinking about touching him. He was going to have to teach her how to play poker because her expressions and body language gave everything away.
“I won’t take your virginity until you tell me I can.” He moved closer to her, but didn’t touch her even though he could think of a million easy ways to seduce her. “I won’t trick you into having sex with me.”
She didn’t reply, but seemed torn.
Time for a gentle push. “Take off that dirty dress. You’re getting mud on the floor.”
When he sat on the edge of the tub and waited for her to obey, she turned a pleasant shade of pink. She averted her eyes and reached for the button behind her neck.
“Look at me when you undress for me.” He kept his voice low, trying not to scare her. Letting her do it her own way would probably have made more sense, but if she was going to be his, it was better to start training her now.
Gazing up at him from under her lashes, she slowly pulled her dress off over her head. She stood there in just her ugly white panties, and slouchy socks, her head ducked and shoulders rounded.
Fuck.
Hell or no hell, he wanted her.
No matter how many times he reminded himself she wasn’t his type—at all—it came back to this. She was so damned submissive that a Dominant would have to be dead not to respond to her. The worst and best part was that she didn’t even know it. Completely natural and unstudied, she was perfect. Beautiful.
“Underwear and socks off,” he commanded. He stood and finished getting undressed, ignoring the way she was staring at his hard-on with horrified fascination.
He stepped into the tub, and beckoned to her. With only a slight hesitation, she obeyed, and he lifted her in. The tub was so big they didn’t even have to touch each other, but he settled her with her back to him and wrapped his arms around her, far too aware of how much his dick liked being wedged against the crack of her ass. She squirmed.
“The water stings where you slapped me.” She shifted again.
“When you wiggle like that it reminds my cock that it wants to
be inside you.”
She swallowed and stilled. “But you said you wouldn’t.”
“If I put it in your ass you’d still be a virgin where it matters.” He growled in her ear.
Varushka smiled at him over her shoulder. “It doesn’t go there, silly man. Maybe I’m a good girl, but I know how things work.”
She thought he was joking? He really was going to hell. So much work to do. At least she hadn’t asked him what a cock was, or assumed he was discussing her chickens.
Both amused and frustrated, he opened the vanilla-scented bodywash he’d bought for her. He lathered it, then washed her trembling hands and arms before moving to her shoulders and rinsing her. Next, he soaped her clavicle and worked his way down to her pert breasts. Still not used to being handled, she gasped and shuddered, rocking her ass back against him while he mauled her pretty pink nipples. It had been so long since he’d had a woman that the feel of sliding up and down the crack of her ass was ecstasy. He tried to stop her from moving before he did something embarrassing.
The girl squirmed in his arms, trying to get comfortable, but apparently was just as frustrated as he was.
“So you know how things work, do you?” He asked when he’d regained a semblance of control. “What do you know?”
She lifted her chin and her blue eyes flashed in response to his challenging tone. “I know how sex works. I’m not a child.”
“You know how it works in theory, or have you seen it?”
“Seen it?”
“On television, or online.”
“Pornography is for men who aren’t afraid of God watching them.”
“Pornography is for every adult who has internet access.” He wasn’t about to tell her about the magazines he, Ambrose, and Banner used to get from the neighbor kid down the street before they were even old enough to shave. The boy’s older brother had been into some kinky shit. “So you’ve never watched people having sex?”
Varushka sniffed virtuously. “I once caught a girl from my village having sex with her boyfriend in the forest behind my house. I didn’t see anything, but I knew what they were doing.” She looked disgusted.
To Have and to Master Page 9
