Chapter 3 - Oleg

I hold back the growl of satisfaction that almost escapes me as her body presses against mine. The curve of her back just beneath my hand, my arm wrapped around her narrow waist. She fits against me like she belongs here in my arms.

I want to deny it, but I’m actually struggling with just how strong the attraction I feel towards her is. There is something electric between us that has charged the air with static. It feels dangerous and tempting at the same time.

She is an enigma pulling me in and I am trying to pretend that it is nothing but intrigue. A shallow curiosity, born of necessity.

It was easier to pretend this afternoon, when she was some distance away from me. When I was watching quietly from the sidelines, plotting and planning.

Now I am closer to her and feeling her presence more intimately. Watching her had me on the edge of my seat—touching her is a completely different game. I want to know everything about her. I have a possessive urgency to stare right into her soul and read her most intimate secrets.

With her in my arms as we dance to the heavy bass fueled music, my body is betraying me.

She is the flame and I am the moth.

She looks up at me and giggles. Her bright blue eyes are electric, enticing and teasing with one glance.

When the beat slows down, she steps away from me, pushing her hand against my chest, making me wonder what her touch would feel like against my naked skin. An image flashes through my mind of her sitting on my lap as I grab her hips and thrust up into her.

I clear my throat and clench my jaw, trying to pull myself together.

“I’m going to get some water,” she says, stepping towards the sofa and reaching for one of the bottles of sparkling water on the table.

Her two friends are making out rather intensely in the corner.

I chuckle.

Young love.

Any love.

They are all so naive. They don’t know what the real world is like. Sometimes I wish for that kind of ignorance—where I could just fall in love—and pretend like nothing else mattered in the world.

Raisa sits down, pulling the edges of her very short black dress down to cover her thighs. It barely helps and my eyes roam freely over her legs.

I take a seat next to her and she immediately shifts over to give me more room which I don’t like.

I resist the urge to pull her back up against me. I don’t want space between us. I want to feel the heat from her body.

“What do you do, Oleg? When you aren’t dancing your nights away?” she asks with a soft smile on her face. Her plump peach-colored lips perfectly outlined against her pale porcelain skin.

We start chatting about life and she mentions she came here to study medicine. She wants to be a doctor.

“That’s why we’re celebrating tonight. We all passed the entrance exam. So, we’ll be studying together.”

“That’s really impressive, Raisa.”

“Thanks.” A wide, genuine smile spreads across her lips.

This definitely means a lot to her. This must be what she was talking to her sister about earlier today.

She wants to start her own practice. But that doesn’t make sense—she came here with her family—to run a business. I know what type of business. Her being a doctor doesn’t really fit in with those plans.

“Your family must be proud of you,” I say, curious and wanting more information about how her brothers feel about her choice.

“Mm.” She shrugs. “Maybe, if I wasn’t hiding it from them, they might be proud, “ she giggles, touched by the tequila. A little more relaxed than normal, but she still appears completely in control of herself.

“Why would you want to hide something like that from them?”

“My family is— different . I guess that’s the best way to describe it. They want me to be involved with the family business and it’s just that I want something else for my life. Something more, “her words drift off and she licks her lips, looking around nervously as though she’s shared too much.

I change the subject, to try and put her at ease again.

We talk for over an hour which shocks me because it flies by easily and our conversation flows freely. It’s been such a long time since I have spoken to anyone about anything that isn’t related to work.

She’s sharp and keeps up with me while I discuss topics that I expect her to know nothing about.

My brothers will talk for hours about business plans and shipping schedules or how to get more power or territory for the family—I find it deathly boring. I feel like there must be something more meaningful.

But at the end of the day—nothing is more meaningful than doing your duty to your family.

I watch as Raisa talks about her new apartment and how she is loving this city. Her face is bright with excitement. She speaks enthusiastically and seems to glow with happiness.

Raisa is smart, sassy and confident. I find it incredibly attractive.

At the same time—she isn’t falling all over me like I expect her to.

I’ve seduced many women before. It’s easy. Too easy, actually.

I just suggest to them that they might be interested and they gush over me, embarrassing themselves with their own desperation.

I’ve never had a woman act as cool and calm as Raisa is acting.

But it doesn’t matter.

I don’t even know why I am thinking about this.

Raisa is just a means to an end. Everything else is irrelevant. I need her to solve this issue I am having with her family. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I can’t let myself get distracted like this.

She stands up, glancing at her wristwatch to check the time.

“I think we had better get going,” she says, looking around to try and locate her friends.

Jenna has wondered off and is talking to some other people and the other two are still entangled in each other on the other sofa.

I stand up too. Obviously, I am not ready to let her leave.

While her cool disinterest fuels my personal attraction to her—I am not here for those reasons. I need her to show interests so that I can lure her to follow me, even if it is only for the purpose of my goals.

It annoys me that she has even suggested leaving. Why would she not want to spend more time with me?

I need her to be captivated by me—if I can seduce her, I can get her to come home with me without risking a scene. But she seems to be ready to brush me off.

“Raisa, stay for another drink. I am really enjoying getting to know you. Your friends clearly aren’t ready to go yet,” I say, trying to entice a little more time out of her.

She looks up at me and bites her lower lip. Her eyes say she is interested. Her body language says she is—nervous perhaps.

A little shy maybe. She smiles and looks away again.

Her demure gestures are driving me crazy.

Without thinking about it, I wrap my hand around her jaw, lifting her face up towards mine and with my arm around her waist, I pull her right up against me.

I don’t give her a moment to react before I press my lips onto hers. The soft warmth of her mouth drags me away from reality for a moment.

I am completely lost in the kiss. Heat is running through my body. Intense electrical sparks like shards of lightning bolts up my spine.

I feel her hands running up my sides, her fingers brushing over my ribs and digging into me as the kiss becomes more passionate. My arm tightens around her and I can feel my cock beginning to respond. I should stop.

But I can’t.

A soft moan escapes her lips and it tips me over the edge.

My cock is rock hard.

I have never been this turned on by a kiss before. I wasn’t expecting my body to react like this.

It’s the most intense kiss I’ve ever felt and I don’t want it to stop. I want to lift her off her feet and slam her against a wall right now. In front of everyone. I don’t care.

I want to pull her dress up and thrust into her.

Raisa pulls away from me as she takes a deep breath. She looks as shocked as I am. Gently she reaches her hands up to her mouth and brushes her fingertips over her lips which are red and swollen from the kiss.

“I…. “ she murmurs. “I should go to the ladies to um… to freshen up.”

She turns away from me and I grab her arm. I really don’t want to watch her walk away. My entire body is alive with need for her.

It’s too difficult to suddenly not have her next to me.

“Don’t be long.” I grin. Then let my hand drop away from her. I need to get control of myself. This is crazy. Whatever is happening to me is crazy.

Raisa pulls her mouth to the side at the same time she smiles and the quirky little grin makes me chuckle.

“I won’t be long,” she replies, as she disappears towards the bathrooms.

I stand against the balustrade around the balcony, looking out onto the dance floor below and hiding the evidence of what she did to me. Waiting for my body to calm down.

It feels as though it’s taking forever, probably because I can’t stop thinking about her.

What the hell just happened? No one has ever had that effect on me before—not like that—and definitely not just from one kiss.

For a second, I consider that someone might have spiked the drinks. But I haven’t had anything that I didn’t pour myself. No. That it’s what happened.

It was just her. Something about her.

Something about her is so magnetic that even now, I don’t like the distance between us.

But again, I shake my head. No. I’m getting distracted. I’m letting this little fox get to me. I have to be vigilant around her or she is going to get the upper hand and ruin my plans.

My family is the most important thing in this situation. We have a serious problem and I am going to fix it—Raisa is just the solution I need and nothing more to me.

I flex my shoulder back. Where is she?

She’s been gone for ages.

Way too long. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even realize how long she’d been gone for.

I turn around and find her friends gone too.

What the fuck?

Fuck.

Dammit, I was distracted.

Angry with myself, I push away from the balustrade and march towards the bathrooms. I don’t even care when I push the door to the women’s bathrooms open and step inside.

Two girls scream and glare at me with horrified expressions on their faces.

“I’ll call security if you don’t get out of here,” one of them snaps while the other one’s gaze traces up and down my body. I chuckle, a dangerous sort of laugh that is more a warning than anything else.

“Go ahead, see what happens, “ I growl back at her.

She takes a step away from me with wide eyes.

I look around, Raisa isn’t here.

Stall by stall, I push the doors open, but they are all empty.

She’s gone.

She managed to slip away from me while I was distracted and thinking about that fucking kiss.

Fuck .