by Bella Rose
He nudged her entrance with the tip of his cock. She gave a tiny moan and shivered with anticipation. Then he slipped through her wet folds and sank deep inside her body with one long thrust. The instant gratification was almost more than she could bear. Her eyes slid closed as she gasped in delight. It felt so good! She was full to bursting with Mikhail. The friction of his cock sliding through her inner muscles pushed her perilously close to a second orgasm.
“Mikhail!” she cried, her voice breaking on his name as she came hard and fast.
“Yes!” He thrust hard. Each time he pushed his cock inside her, she felt him bottom out deep as though he were impaling her with the very essence of himself. “Come for me, Courtney!”
She could not have disobeyed if she wanted. Her body shuddered as a third orgasm sent her flying to the stars. It was profound. She felt as though her eyes were rolling back into her head, and her body was clenching and unclenching with the sexual tension he poured inside her.
Then Mikhail began cursing in a language she didn’t understand. Russian perhaps? The sound was erotic. He grabbed her hips and held tight as he pounded her pussy so hard the only sound she could hear was that of their flesh slapping together. The sensational feeling only sent her flying higher until she finally felt something snap inside her.
Mikhail shouted and gave one last stroke before he strained against her with all of his strength. Courtney wrapped her legs around his waist and tried to get him as deep as possible. The feeling was incredible. Perhaps she was still enjoying little zings and leftover jolts of her own incredible orgasms as he poured his seed into her body and marked her once again as his own.
MIKHAIL WAS UTTERLY spent. He rolled to his side and yawned. Courtney was naked in his bed. The building was secure. His apartment was safe. He could finally relax and know that everything was exactly where he wanted it. Nothing else mattered. At least not right now.
He was nearly asleep when he heard her whisper in the dark. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m not thinking anything,” he said lazily. “I’m content. Aren’t you?”
She didn’t answer. The lack of an answer made him uneasy, though he wasn’t sure why. Was she unsatisfied somehow? The woman had come three times, and the last one had seemed to go on forever. Surely that was plenty for her?
Mikhail gave another lusty yawn. “What are you thinking?” There. That was probably a question that would get him some answers.
“I was thinking about the baby.”
The thought gave him an instant jolt. His eyes popped open. Somehow in all the confusion, or perhaps just because of his complete obsession with the need to be inside Courtney, he had forgotten the whole baby thing. He was certain that would not be news well received by her.
“What about the baby?” he said, deciding those words sounded neutral enough.
She seemed to be thinking very deeply about all of this. Mikhail wondered what that would mean for him and then decided it was probably nothing good.
Courtney rested her cheek on his chest. “I know you’re not really into this whole fatherhood thing.”
“What makes you say that?” he demanded. Even if it were true, he didn’t like being that transparent.
She shrugged. He felt her shoulders move in the darkness. “You’re not the paternal type. I get it. You even thought that you were unable to have children and you were apparently okay with that.”
“It doesn’t mean I don’t want our baby.” There. That sounded neutral enough. “I love you, Courtney. I truly do. I want you in my life.” He didn’t say the rest of what went through his head.
“Oh, you mean you want me in your life, even if it comes as a complete set with your kid. Is that what you’re thinking?” Her tone suggested that there was no way he could weasel out of this one.
“I wouldn’t have used those exact words, no,” he hedged. “It’s certainly a surprise and not exactly the way I planned to live my life, but I’m sure you know about that as much as I do.”
“I’m not getting rid of this baby.” Her tone was flat. She pulled away from him in the darkness, sitting up and crossing her legs. She pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts. She was pulling away from him right before his eyes.
Mikhail refused to let that happen. “Courtney, I would never ask you to do something like that. You are carrying my child too. It’s my baby. It’s a part of me. I might not know what to do with that sometimes, but my readiness doesn’t change facts.”
COURTNEY WAS JUST beginning to think that this might work when Mikhail decided to let her in on his plan for parenthood. “We’re not poor people, Courtney. Parenting when you have money is different from parenting when you don’t. We can hire an army of nannies and around-the-clock caregivers. Really our lives won’t have to change at all.”
She froze. Very carefully modulating her voice, she tried to pretend that everything was all right. “So you’re not intimidated by this parenting stuff because you can afford experts to sort of help you through it?”
“Or do it for me,” he said with a chuckle. “Not that I don’t or won’t love my kid. I just know that I can make sure the child has the best care available, and that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m the one giving it. Neither of us was raised with little kids around, Courtney. And I didn’t have much in the way of parenting models anyway. I’m clueless about this stuff. Doesn’t it make sense to hire an expert to make sure we don’t screw it up?”
Courtney lay back down on the bed. He hauled her up close beside him, and she didn’t fight it. She took a deep breath and forced herself to respond to his asinine comment. “I suppose you have a point.”
“Of course I do.” He gave her a squeeze. “I love you. We’re going to have a family together. But that doesn’t mean our lives have to change, and that’s okay by me.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to have empathy for this man who was obviously terrified of fatherhood. He was certainly right in one aspect. He hadn’t had anything in the way of parenting models in his life. He’d raised himself. She could remember that much from talking to him when he was only a teenager. But the fact that he didn’t even want to try was disturbing. That wasn’t what she wanted. When she had decided to do this—really do it—she had resolved to put everything into this parenting adventure and let the chips fall where they may.
Sure. Having money did change things. But Courtney was willing to try being a parent without money too. She had a little bit of inheritance from her mother. She had some savings. She’d been going to find a place here to start renting. Maybe it was time to go further away. Maybe it was time to start over in a place where nobody would know her or where she’d come from. She could just be Courtney Pierson. A woman who was struggling to make ends meet while raising her child all by herself.
She wasn’t romantic enough to believe that this was going to be easy, but she absolutely intended to give it a chance to work. After everything that had happened in her life, she wanted the chance to try it all over again.
Chapter Twenty-One
Courtney blinked sleepily. Something had awoken her, and now she had the horrible sense of being disoriented and having no idea where she was. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. It was white and coffered with little lights recessed into the paneling that gave off a soft, unobtrusive glow. It enabled her to see the details of the bedroom around her, from the tall highboy in the corner to the ornate dresser across the room. The furniture was dark wood and very masculine. Even the dark amber-and-cinnamon-colored brocaded curtains that were pulled across the windows reeked of masculinity. Everything was heavy and dark. Even the bits of floor she could see were polished dark wood.
“Hello, my love.”
The tender words startled her. She rolled to her other side and saw Mikhail getting dressed. The sight surprised her, though now that she saw him in this room she couldn’t imagine why she hadn’t known immediately that it belonged to him. It was hard and forceful just like the
man who called it home.
“Morning,” she said sleepily.
Mikhail walked to the bed. It was a strange sort of intimacy to see him with his shirt unbuttoned and his feet bare. The thought struck her as odd considering the fact that the two of them had slept together several times by now. He bent over and brushed a featherlight kiss over her brow. He was smiling when he pulled back. There was inordinate amount of satisfaction on his face. Why?
He gently stroked her cheek with his fingertip. “You can sleep as long as you like. I’ve posted one of my men out by the elevator. If you need anything, just ask him. I’ve had my personal shopper take care of your wardrobe. There should be plenty of clothing and other toiletry items available before I leave this morning.”
Courtney had a little bit of trouble processing all of this. Mikhail had his personal shopper go out and buy her clothing? Of course, she did remember that he had completely decimated what she’d been wearing last night. Still, that seemed excessive. She had clothing. Bella would have been happy to bring her some things.
“I want to take care of you, Courtney,” Mikhail crooned. He knelt beside the bed and gently pressed a bevy of kisses to her forehead, cheeks, and even the end of her nose. “I can finally do everything for you that I dreamed of all those years ago. Let me have this. Please?”
His words shocked and dismayed Courtney all at once. “I don’t know what to say.” At least that was the honest truth. She didn’t have any idea how to respond to this information at all. He had always wanted to treat her like this? Like what? Like some sort of princess cloistered in a tower somewhere who couldn’t provide for herself? What about what Courtney wanted?
Mikhail glanced at his watch. “I have to go.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I’ll see you this afternoon. We’ll do a little shopping and talk some more about other things.”
“Like what?” She immediately wanted to know.
“Just things.”
Marriage.
Without asking she knew that was his next step. What was with all of these men that they just made assumptions about her future without ever asking if she had any plans? It was infuriating. But for now she smiled and rolled back to her other side to avoid any further conversation. Closing her eyes, she feigned sleep until she heard the elevator ding.
MIKHAIL FELT THE most profound sense of contentment every time he thought of Courtney closeted safely away in his penthouse apartment. One of Frank’s best men was guarding her, and Mikhail was well prepared to spoil his woman rotten for the rest of her days.
And the kid too, of course.
That concept still wasn’t entirely real to him yet. As his driver navigated downtown traffic on the way to the office, Mikhail attempted to reconcile the notion that Courtney was going to give birth in—truthfully, he had no notion of how long these things took—so sometime within the next year.
He was whistling by the time he snagged the private executive elevator to the top floor of the large office building he had purchased to be his company headquarters nearly ten years before. This was the life that had eluded him for so long. The little boy who had watched his mother suffer as his father struggled to make a name for himself with the Russian mafia was now living a normal life. Yes. He had certainly made it to the pinnacle of all things.
“Hello, Mikhail.”
Vasily’s presence in his reception area was not unexpected, but it wasn’t necessarily welcome either. Mikhail almost laughed at the way his administrative assistant was eyeing the Russian mobster. She obviously knew the man was not entirely safe, although she probably couldn’t put her finger on exactly what the problem was.
“Annette, hold all of my calls,” Mikhail told the woman with a pleasant smile. “I’ll take this meeting in my office.” Mikhail turned to Vasily. “Do you want coffee?”
“Please,” Vasily said, all politeness and urbane manners.
“A coffee tray please, Annette?”
“Yes, sir,” Annette said eagerly. “Right away.”
Vasily snickered once the woman was gone. “She certainly didn’t know what to think of me.”
“Undoubtedly,” Mikhail murmured. He led the way into his office and closed the door. “Dare I ask what this visit is in regards to?”
“You left rather suddenly last night,” Vasily said slowly, making himself comfortable on the couch. “I thought I would bring you up to speed.”
“Is this where you inform me that my future father-in-law is dead?” Mikhail asked mildly. “Because that would be rather awkward.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Vasily rolled his eyes. “Killing the man would be far more trouble that it was worth.”
Annette chose that moment to push a coffee tray into Mikhail’s office. Mikhail cursed inwardly as the woman’s eyes grew huge. He would have to do some very serious damage control later. That was for certain. Of course, any association with Vasily was going to be a continual occupational hazard for Mikhail.
* * *
“Ms. Piers-Cameron?”
Courtney looked up from the cappuccino maker she was trying to figure out and smiled at the guard. The man looked almost frazzled. “What can I help you with?”
“Your clothes are here.” The guard—she thought he had introduced himself earlier as Ryan—appeared overwhelmed. “There are a lot of bags. Shall I just take them into Mr. Krachenko’s room?”
“Um, sure.” Courtney wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to get away with all of this, but she did know the perfect person to help her. “By the way, my best friend, Bella, will be here in just a few minutes. Can you please make sure that she gets up here?”
“Of course.” Ryan ducked his head respectfully. “Bella Pinckney?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Courtney had momentarily forgotten than Toby and Mikhail were practically bosom buddies.
“I’ll keep an eye out for her.” Ryan turned and walked away, most likely on the pretext of hauling her shopping bags to Mikhail’s bedroom.
Courtney picked up her perfectly brewed cup of cappuccino and sipped the fluffy foam from the top of the liquid. The hot chocolatey goodness slid down her throat, but not even that comforting sensation could stop her from feeling melancholy at the moment.
Then the elevator dinged, and moments later Courtney heard Bella’s laughter. “Where’s my crazyass friend?” Bella’s exuberant voice drifted through the apartment. “I can’t find her in this mausoleum!”
Courtney smiled at her friend as Bella walked around the corner and entered the kitchen. “I know, right? This place is so pristine you would almost hate to attempt sitting on one of those couches.”
“It definitely needs a woman’s touch.” Bella hauled one of her designer suitcases around her right side and deposited it upright on the floor between them. “And honestly I don’t know how a suitcase is going to help you make this place more homey.”
“Hush,” Courtney admonished. “I’m not decorating with the suitcase.”
“Oh my God, you’re leaving,” Bella whispered excitedly. “Does he know?”
“Of course not,” Courtney murmured. “Do you think I’d be here with just one guard if he suspected me of planning something like this?”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Good point. So? What do we do?”
“We go through all of those clothes that he ordered and pick out the ones that are salvageable. Then I pack and get the hell out of here.”
“My God, you’re really going through with this.” Bella put her hands in front of her mouth.
“You can’t tell anyone where I’m going,” Courtney reminded her. “If you can’t keep my secret, I’ll just go without telling you where.”
“No!” Bella said quickly. “I can keep a secret.”
Courtney eyed her friend suspiciously. “Even from Toby?”
“In this case? Especially from Toby.” Bella looked upset. “Although I’m going to miss you horribly.”
“I’ll miss you too.” Courtney set her cup down an
d headed toward the bedroom with Bella and the suitcase right at her heels.
* * *
“So,” Mikhail said in a conversational tone. “If you aren’t here to tell me that my future father-in-law is dead, why have you come?”
“To talk about Dimitri.” Vasily raised his coffee cup to his lips and took a sip. He looked surprised. “Russian coffee?”
“I happen to like it.” Mikhail didn’t know why he felt so defensive. There were plenty of things about his heritage that he liked very much. The food tended to be exceptional, the culture was colorful and engaging, and if he were going to claim a religion it would be Russian Orthodox. Thinking about religion reminded him of the priest. “By the way, were you really going to make old Father Gorsky marry Kemper to Courtney against her will?”
Vasily shrugged. “I’d have gotten her to agree one way or another.”
“You don’t know Courtney,” Mikhail snorted. He felt smug in his supreme knowledge of his woman and hid a smile behind the rim of his coffee cup. “So you wished to talk about Dimitri? Talk, then. I’m listening.”
Vasily cocked his head to one side. “Your arrogance is going to get you in trouble.”
Vasily set his cup down and sat back in his chair. Mikhail didn’t appreciate the expression on his cousin’s face. It was almost condescending but not quite. Vasily seemed to be staring at Mikhail as though he pitied him a little. Mikhail was far beyond the point of needing such a thing from Vasily. The man was a Russian mobster. Mikhail was a legitimate businessman. They had almost nothing in common.
“I remember when I was your age,” Vasily mused. “I was so sure of myself. I went to Oksana’s father and asked for her hand in marriage, and the old man agreed. He was a boss in his own right in another city. I took it for granted that Oksana would be thrilled to be my wife. Why wouldn’t she? I was rich and powerful in this city. I had a home and I could take care of her in grand style.”
“What happened?” Mikhail found himself somewhat enthralled by the tale, simply because he couldn’t imagine Vasily and Oksana not being a couple. It was something that Mikhail had always envied Vasily. The man had a wife that loved him to distraction.
