Chapter 8

Chapter 8OliviaIlooked up, startled, just as Viktor walked into view wearing that faint, mild-eyed smile that I remembered. His real smile, from what I could tell.He looked better than I remembered as well, though I didn’t want to admit it. His hair was a little longer, his skin a touch less pale, and his eyes just a bit less hard and exotic looking than I remembered—maybe from gazing into Michael’s soft ones for so long. He was still as handsome, still wore a suit better than any other man I’d met, and still wore very little in the way of jewelry or adornments. He wore a tie tack with an eight-pointed star on it, and I saw the same motif on his cufflinks.He didn’t look like someone who had probably killed at least a few people in his lifetime, if not dozens. He looked like someone who had built a real estate empire, or maybe conducted a famous symphony. Rich, hot, cultured…those thoughts were dangerous by themselves.“Thank you,” I managed after a few moments of taking him in. “I honestly never thought we’d meet again.” Should I apologize now? Should I at least shoo that elephant out of the room so we can breathe a little before continuing?But I couldn’t bring myself to. I only smiled and gripped my briefcase tightly.“Please, follow me,” he said, gesturing gracefully down the hall. “We will handle this in my office.”I followed him down the hall, admiring all the carved and polished wood, the dark, patterned wallpaper, the refurbished timber floors and shaped plaster ceilings. “The remodel looks fantastic,” I commented.“Ah, you remember. Yes, it took the better part of the intervening years to complete everything. My uncle insisted on as much authenticity as possible, without sacrificing modern conveniences. Striking that balance was a bit of a challenge, especially with a lack of local contractors with such antiquated skills.”“I can imagine.” I longed to live in a house like this one someday, once I had made some more big commissions and Michael was old enough. Everything I had that didn’t pay for necessities was going toward three funds—an emergency fund, one for Michael’s future schooling, hopefully including being able to fully pay off his college, and one for a down payment on a house. The market was insane right now, but I hoped it wouldn’t stay that way forever, and I believed in moderate, dept-free living now so that I could finally, finally feel like I could breathe one day and not have the constant fear of finances living in the back of my brain in the future.“Well, it certainly looks like it was worth all that time and effort,” I said as we walked through his halls. “Who was your stained-glass artist?”“I had to import him. A Frenchman, barely spoke English, but absolutely brilliant. He’s responsible for some of the post-fire restorations on Notre Dame.”“Wow. That’s one hell of a thing to have on your resume.” I followed him into his office, which was expansive, bookshelf-lined, with a huge mahogany desk and massive chairs and benches to match, all seats upholstered in royal blue velvet. He settled behind his desk, and I sat in a chair across from him, setting my briefcase on the desktop and opening it.“I did a little background research to prepare. Summer is the middle of prime time for classic book sellers around here, so we’re good, and I may already have some interest.” I felt a pleasant little jolt whenever I looked him in the eyes, which somehow looked greener when surrounded by all the plush blue velvet. I tried to ignore it, but the tingling between my thighs was growing stronger, and he wasn’t even doing anything, other than existing.Did he really have such a strong, animal magnetism? Or was the memory of our night together triggering some kind of a Pavlovian response in me? Probably both, if I was honest with myself.Viktor was the only man in my life who had gotten me into bed without there being a developed relationship between us, and being in his presence now was reminding me exactly why.Calm down, I told myself. This is business. He’s a rich mobster. He’s probably dangerous. At least save the personal stuff until after what you came here for.“Fast work,” he said approvingly, and it took me a second to bring my racing thoughts back to the present and remember what he was talking about. He leaned forward a little and fixed me with that piercing gaze. “How have you been, Olivia?”“I…” He wasn’t sticking with just business. “My life’s changed a lot, but mostly for the better. Thank you for asking.” That sounded ridiculously formal and evasive all at once. I felt my cheeks start to prickle with heat.“I see. Well. That’s lacking in detail, but I’m not surprised. You’re not sure whether you can trust me, are you?”My mouth went dry. Oh God. He really was getting straight to the point, and, apparently, the point had little to do with selling old books.I felt a shiver race down my spine.“I’m sure it’s none of my business what you do,” I started, the nerves building into a pit in my stomach now that I couldn’t hide behind business, “but…”“But you saw the gun and the tattoos,” he said calmly, and I couldn’t help my small gasp at those words. I began to wring my hands in my lap. “You have some idea of their meaning, and it sent you running.” Now his smile turned tight, his eyes a touch regretful.“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely, if quietly. “That was probably rude, but I…” I looked down at my hands. “I don’t know anything about the world you walk in. What you’ve done, who you associate with, or how much danger is involved. I didn’t know how to handle it once I did the math.”“Well, you do catch on quickly. But you don’t seem to have told anyone about what you deduced, or I would have heard about it.” He lifted an eyebrow, and I suddenly wondered if he’d done surveillance on me. Could he? Did he have that kind of power and connection? I swallowed and did my best not to panic as I looked around once more at his private office. In the lush, gigantic lodge that he owned. Just who exactly was he, in this organization? Clearly someone at least fairly high in rank, if not all the way at the top.“That was a bit of a surprise,” he continued smoothly, “a pleasant one. Like you.”My breath caught in my throat, never having felt more grateful for not reporting something in my life.I had braced myself for a lot of things regarding this meeting. Explaining. Running off. Dealing with anger or irritation over it. Apologizing. Maybe even starting the process of bringing up Michael. But I hadn’t expected this. I hadn’t expected Viktor to still show interest in me. And the way he was looking at me now didn’t leave me guessing.And I didn’t expect for me to still want him, so much that the warmth in his words and the heat in his eyes melted me inside, despite the conflicting flecks of fear racing through my body at the background danger surrounding this man.“W-well,” I murmured. “I suppose that’s good. I mean, the truth is…”“Do you regret our time together?” His voice stayed mild, cool, silky, like the feel of his hands on my body had.“No. Not at all. Just the circumstances.” My smile was wobbly. I tried to get my professional cool back, but it was gone. The gleam in his intense eyes had stolen it.“Good. For I have no regrets at all. But I certainly would have regretted passing up a night with you.” He just plain didn’t blink enough. Being under his stare was like being under a hot spotlight.“O-oh. Well, I’m flattered.”He fought a smile. “I’ve embarrassed you.”“No. Just a little flustered.” And way too aware of how he’d completely taken over the conversation, steered it where he wanted, with such direction and confidence that all I could do was keep up.He had me off balance. I could barely catch my breath. My whole body was humming with the sensual promise in his words.“I’m sorry, this is just…unexpected.”He tilted his head slightly. “Inappropriate?”I blinked at him, knowing I should say yes. I had come here on business. I needed to refocus on that. But instead, what came out of my mouth was the truth. “If it was anyone but you, I would say so.”He let out a shivery breath that almost undid me. If he had started putting the moves on me right then, I would have fallen for it instantly. My body was screaming for a reunion of a whole different kind. I couldn’t help but stare at the broad shoulders hidden beneath his elegantly tailored suit, at the defined line of his strong jaw, at the way his eyes kept flicking down along my body… I could almost feel the caress of his gaze on me.He didn’t move from his seat, simply gave me the slow, satisfied smile of an apex predator as his electric green gaze slowly dragged back up my body and met with mine. His eyes were hooded with lust, but he simply said, “Good to know.”“I…” I had to tell him about Michael, I realized. If this man started pursuing me, he’d find out about Michael fast, and then he’d have all kinds of questions about why I hadn’t said anything sooner.“Yes?” His fingers were steepled, and I couldn’t help but remember how they’d felt running along my skin. He didn’t exactly mock me, but there was amusement in his patience.“I came here to talk to you. Well, the main reason is the estate sale, but I did have ulterior motives too, and, um… I don’t want to waste my employer’s time, or yours, but—”“You’re not wasting my time. I enjoy every moment I spend with you. Though if I had my preference, we wouldn’t be spending time in my office.”My breath caught and I bit my lip, immediately catching myself wondering what the master bedroom of this place looked like. What its sheets would feel like under my back. And whether the sex would be as good as I remembered.I squeezed my thighs together hard, realizing I was giving him a deer-in-headlights look. “That should probably be a conversation for later, once we have completed our business.” My voice came out breathier than I’d intended, and his fingers interlocked, looking like they were squeezing together as he leaned forward, his gaze intense.It should be a conversation for never, I chastised myself, but what was said was said. How did he get the truth out of me so easily?“I suppose you’re right,” he said softly, his voice deepening slightly, but there wasn’t much disappointment in his face and that small smile still played at the corners of his mouth.He was teasing me. It infuriated me and charmed me and turned me on even more, all in the same instant of realizing it.I shook in my seat as I stared at him. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, and he was enjoying it. “Don’t make fun,” I said quietly. “It took me a lot to come up here.”“You’re not afraid of me, are you?” His eyes glittered.“A little. I never planned to do anything that would put us at odds, though.” I said that carefully, while my heart started pounding even harder.“So what I tell you in confidence will remain so?” He licked his lips briefly, just a flash of tongue.“Of course. Just, it may be safer for you to keep from telling me too much about your…business.”He chuckled, and I was thrown back four years and straight into the memory of that wild night together. The memory of his agile mouth closing around my nipple hit me hard, and I gasped aloud.He lifted an eyebrow. “Now that wasn’t fear, was it?” He leaned back in his seat, head tipping to touch against the backrest as his eyes made another lazy perusal across my body from under his hooded lids. “No, that wasn’t fear at all.”The air between us crackled. “I…I should…”He got up fluidly and moved around the desk, looming close. One slim finger crossed my lips. “You should do nothing but come with me out of this office.”“Go with you where?” I managed, although I was surprised he could even hear me with how softly my voice whispered out against his finger.His finger brushed lightly across my bottom lip once, before standing to his full height with something of a smirk.“Will you follow me?” he asked without explanation, and my traitorous body complied with a nod as he slipped his hand into mine and drew me up to stand.***I shouldn’t be doing this, I thought as he led me upstairs. But my body kept walking. My stomach was still jumping with that mix of anxiety and desire I couldn’t control. He was in control. And that turned me on so much I couldn’t think straight.The master bedroom was cavernous, with mullioned windows, velvet drapery, and heavily carved built-ins. There were more bookcases stuffed with leatherbound volumes, window seats deep enough to sleep on, and the biggest antique Turkish rug I had ever seen on the floor. The bed was a massive four-poster, its heavy purple velvet curtains throwing the interior into shadow.He stripped me insistently, and my hands moved to help him instead of trying to hold my buttons closed, my skirt unzipped. He lowered me into that dark cave of fabric, and I felt velvet slide under my bare back.I suddenly felt shy as his feral eyes swept over me, and I curled in on myself a little.“I did not get to look at you this clearly before,” he purred. “Don’t hide yourself now.”I uncurled a little, but my hands didn’t leave the fronts of my breasts. As he stepped back to take off his suit, my heart started pounding again, and my hands dropped slowly.His broad, pale, deeply inked chest heaved as he unbuckled his belt. He stripped down and reached into his bedside table for a rubber. I gazed at his erection as it jumped slightly between us.He rolled on the latex sheath without dragging his eyes from me. “Beautiful,” he murmured. “Now. Lie on your back, reach over your head and grip the head of the bed.”I hesitated, wondering if he planned to tie me. The carvings I saw, had smooth handles worked into them. I wondered as I gripped them if he’d chosen the design for that purpose, or had ordered it specially. “What are you going to do to me?”He smiled wickedly and slid onto the bed, coming up onto his knees at my feet. “Just hold on. If you let go, I may have to tie you.”The threat sent a shiver through me, and I started aching inside. “I’ll do my best.”“Good girl.” The rush of pleasure I felt at his little praise made me blush, half in embarrassment. But it also made me ache for him more.I hung onto the bars as he tucked pillows under my back, and then slid between my thighs on his knees. I felt his cock slide against the lips of my pussy and moaned. But then he leaned forward and started kissing my breasts, taking his time as I squirmed under him. Then he took one of my nipples in his mouth and suckled deeply, turning my moans into whimpers.My clit tingled with frustrated pleasure with every lash of his tongue against my skin. My hips jerked reflexively, rubbing against his erection again and again without his entering. I wanted to grab him, run my hands over him, dig my nails into his skin, but I kept my fingers obediently wrapped around those handles. My heels slid back and forth against the velvet coverlet as I struggled against the urge to beg for his cock.Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Please,” I whispered.He chuckled and sucked harder, but didn’t make a move to push himself into me. I writhed on his lap, gripping those handles like I wanted to squeeze through them.“Please, please fuck me,” I sobbed finally.He lifted me slightly and I felt him press into my aching pussy, slow and smooth, while I bucked my hips and groaned with relief. His fingers dug into the globes of my ass and held me steady as he started thrusting.He was stronger than I remembered. More limber, more relentless. His cock and his mouth together sent jolts of pleasure through me that I could barely endure. Within the first minute, I could already feel my first climax building.Then it hit, and I arched like electricity was running through me, gripping the wood behind me and thrashing in time with my contractions. My cries echoed around the huge room, and I couldn’t stop them.He groaned against my breast and switched to the other nipple, forcing himself to slow down a little while his surging hips drew out my pleasure. I ground against him, my clit tingling with hunger yet again as he pounded into me over and over.He was so cool, so in control, so focused on my pleasure that every tremor and groan my desperate movements coaxed from him felt like a triumph. And when he finally lost control and started pounding against me, it excited me so much that I came again, clenching around his surging cock while his groans shuddered with bliss.We collapsed together onto his bed, my head falling back in surrender. He gently worked my hands free from the woodwork and I slid them over his back, caressing his beautiful body while he shivered and moaned softly in my ear.I drowsed, feeling him slip free of me long enough to get rid of his condom. I didn’t think I could move. Every muscle in my body was tired.I shouldn’t have done this, I thought even as I lay entwined with him, enjoying every second of it. There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t have done this.But it was done.And now, I had to figure out how to live with the consequences.