Ivan's Captive Submissive (Submissive's Wish) (34 page)

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you need to know that you are the first woman Ivan has ever been serious about.”

She laughed, and it sounded forced and choking even to her ears. “I find that hard to believe.”

“It is true. I would not lie about this. He worships you, Gia.”

“No he doesn’t,” she said in a sad voice. 

“Yes, he does. He invited all our family to his estate outside of Moscow for dinner so they could meet you.”

Her heart lurched and she moved further away from Ivan. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he is serious about you.”

“Don’t you see how crazy this is? I hardly know him.”

“I understand. But you will never get to know him if you run away.”

She bit her lower lip and considered his words. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Come work for me.”

“What?”

“I’ve recently bought two properties, old homes that are desperately in need of massive renovations. I’d like to hire you to work on them.”

She shook her head in disbelief, looking at a lovely impressionist work of a fall day without really seeing it as she talked. “You don’t even know me.”

“Actually, I do. Before I arrived at Ivan’s apartment I had you researched. I know how hard you’ve worked and struggled to rise above the situation you were born into. I admire you and I’ve seen your portfolio. You have excellent taste and I really would like you to help me in renovating my properties. Pardon me for a moment.” He said something in Russian and woman’s voice responded, then she laughed. “My wife said that I needed to tell you I bought these properties for my two youngest daughters to try to encourage them to live closer to me. She warns you that they may burn the places down in order to avoid having me as a neighbor.”

Gia smiled and took in a deep breath, then let it out. “I’m not sure. This is a lot to take in.”

In the background the woman spoke again and Petrov translated. “My wife wanted to add that part of your benefits package, if you take the job, is housing of your own as well as your own driver. We will also find a translator that you like and who also has experience in the building world. If you and Ivan get married someday and give us beautiful brown eyed babies, wonderful. If you do not wish to see him anymore it will in no way affect our business relationship. This will, however, look wonderful on your resume.”

She clutched the phone and tried to still her racing heart. “I’d like to see a contract first.”

“Of course.”

“And I’ll need to go back to the States for some of my things.”

“Agreed.”

“And I’d like a Russian tutor as well. I need to be able to speak to my workers.”

“Smart woman.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because Ivan loves you and he doesn’t love easily.”

Shock had her swallowing hard and trying to still the trembling in her legs. She lowered her voice to a whisper, “Do you really think he loves me?”

“Gia, I had to talk him out of proposing to you tonight.”

Her knees went weak and she stumbled. “Oh…wow. But he doesn’t even know me.”

“I didn’t know my wife for more than two weeks before we got married. Sometimes you look at someone and know you can’t sleep another night without them at your side.”

“Oh.” 

The words rang true in her soul and she realized that despite her best efforts, she’d fallen in love with Ivan as well. The thought of not sleeping in his arms tonight was unbearable. He was her man, her Master, and if she let him go she was beyond stupid. 

The thought of marriage terrified her, but at the same time a part of her, becoming stronger with each beat of her heart, really liked the idea of growing old with Ivan. Her life wouldn’t be dull, that was for sure. She’d never taken a leap of faith like this for anyone. 

She stole a glance at Ivan, finding him watching her with such intensity her nipples hardened to points. Her body was certainly onboard for being around Ivan as much as possible. The thought of having her own place here, hopefully near Ivan, was nice. More than nice, it was awesome. Like his uncle had said, even if things didn’t work out between them, she’d still have the experience of working in Russia on her resume.

And Ivan loved her.

A silly giggle tried to escape while at the same time she fought back tears. She shook her head at her own foolishness. Damn Ivan for making her just as crazy as he was.  

“Now talk to my nephew before he throws himself off a bridge. He is beside himself, even if he doesn’t show it. Unlike the men of your American culture who weep like a woman when they break a fingernail, Russian men are strong and we endure. That does not mean we do not hurt.”

They said their goodbyes and she turned to face Ivan with her pulse beating hard enough to thud in her ears. Across the room stood the man who could someday be her husband, the father of her children, and her partner in life. She slowly looked him over, putting together what she knew of him and what she suspected. When her gaze reached his face and she saw the pain eating up his soul bit by bit, she decided to make Ivan pay for turning her world wonderfully upside down and inside out.

Ivan wasn’t the only one who got to act all irrational in this relationship.

She hoped his uncle was right that Ivan loved her because if Ivan said no her heart would break into a million, jagged pieces and cut her soul to ribbons.

Chapter Nineteen

Ivan held his breath as Gia strolled back towards him, the golden light of the sun setting over Moscow painting her features in delicate shadows and giving her skin a delicious bronze glow. Amber highlights glittered in her eyes and she reminded him of a lioness with her graceful walk. Her hair was back in a braid that he wanted to hold onto while he fucked her, but she was leaving him. There was something about her expression he couldn’t read, and he wanted to kick himself in the ass for pushing her too quick. 

Petrov had warned him, but Ivan was so sure Gia loved him that he moved too soon and frightened her off. His anger certainly hadn’t helped the situation. Plus, Gia was right. He was trying to seduce her so she wouldn’t leave him. To capture just another five hours with her, to have her taste imprinted on his mind so he would be able to remember her long after she’d vanished from his life.

His gut clenched and every muscle in his body screamed at him to stop her. 

She set his phone on the table and let out a long, low breath. The anger had gone from her eyes and she seemed more relaxed. For a second, he thought that his uncle had talked her into staying, but he didn’t dare hope. Not again. Not after she shot him down so brutally.

After she took a few more deep breaths, he began to worry that she might be getting faint.

So when she looked up at him and said, “Ivan, will you marry me?”
he
almost passed out.

He tried to make his lungs work so that he could speak, his lips move so that he could shape words, but the raw emotion tearing through his mind had him momentarily paralyzed. Searching her face, he found amusement, passion, a little bit of sadness, and the first beautiful gleam of love. So extraordinary…he could stare into her eyes for the rest of his life and never tire of it.

Unable to stop himself, he crossed the room and brushed his lips over hers. “Do you love me, Gia?”

“Yes.” 

The truth of her words could be heard in her voice. Then she added something that convinced him she was being honest. “It’s totally insane, I know it is, but I can’t seem to think rationally around you. I see you and all I want to do is kiss you. I kiss you and all I want to do is touch you, I touch you and then I can’t remember my own name. I become so lost in you I forget myself and that scares me.”

He gently ran the tips of his fingers down her neck in a light caress, enjoying the way she swayed towards him. “You consume me. I can’t be around you without wanting to feel you beneath me, your little nails prickling my back while you scream my name, the ways I can make you purr for me.”

She shivered as his fingers gently ran down her chest, stroking her breasts. “Wait. Before you steal my will, I want us to have a long engagement and I will have my own home.”

The joy of someday having Gia as his wife gave Ivan the strength to bite back his initial impulse to demand that she stay here with him. Demanding things of Gia only made her get all snarly. He would try to sooth her instead. While he loved his woman’s strong spirit, a purring Gia was much easier to deal with.

“I haven’t said yes, yet.”

Her eyes grew wide and she clutched at his shirt. “Ivan?”

“Of course I will marry you, and I agree to your terms. Now, here are mine. I want to be able to travel with you, to show you the world. My company has reached the point where I can start delegating work to people I trust more, which means I’ll have time to do all the things I’ve wanted to do. I would ask that you work a similar schedule. Six months on, six months off. I believe it would be in your best interest to start your own company, here, in Russia.”

“My own company?”

“Yes. That way it is something that you have. I will help you work through the details and get the right permits, but it will be completely your business.”

“My own company,” she got a dreamy look that made satisfaction surge through him. “That would be awesome. Of course it would be a company of one, but I’ll be busy with your uncle’s project long enough for me to really think about how I want to do this.”

He placed a soft, tender, heartfelt kiss on her neck and began to gently lick her skin.

 The tremble in her voice was audible as she sighed out, “Do you think we can spend three of those six months in the United Sates? I still want to see my friends and family.” 

Lifting his lips for a moment he said, “Of course. Find an older home in the area you would like to live. Preferably one with some land around it then we can make our home base in the United States there.”

She let out a long sigh, the tension leaving her body in a visible wave of relaxation. “Well, I guess when you’re richer than God it’s pretty easy to live anywhere you want.”

“It is.” 

He didn’t try to defend his extravagant lifestyle. Nothing came easy and he worked his ass off for every bit of success he had. The memory of all the nights he’d stayed awake until dawn, trying to close one deal or another, flew through his mind. He was infinitely grateful that he’d met Gia after that period of his life, during a time when he could treat her in the way she deserved and spend time with her in the way she needed. 

“This could work.”

“It will work.” 

He tried to make her see how much she meant to him because he couldn’t put it into words, willing her to acknowledge that they were meant to be together.

Suddenly she smiled. “Hey, you’re my fiancé.”

Caught up in the light filling her gaze, he smiled back. “Yes, I am.”

That made her giggle and he watched her, bemused as happy and tender emotions flew across her expressive face.

Licking her lower lip, she stepped back and gave him a sultry look. “Want to celebrate our engagement, fiancé?”

“Come to me, my Gia.”

Gia couldn’t help but shiver. When Ivan said her name like that she went all warm and fuzzy inside. He said it like she mattered to him and he made her feel as if she actually belonged with someone for the first time since her mother died. It was a good, comforting feeling. The kind of warmth that could only come from someone you loved and loved you in return.

She took his hand and he led her through the apartment to the corner room of his penthouse. It had floor to ceiling windows looking out over Moscow as the lights began to come on in the softly falling twilight. The sun was nothing more than a burning orange sliver on the horizon and the beauty of the city made her breath catch in her throat. The floor of this room was made up of pillows and she’d been surprised to find out that Ivan liked to meditate in here.

Now he placed her among the pillows in the slowly darkening room. He still wore his suit and she grinned up at him. “Hey, fiancé?”

He gave her a happy smile. “Yes?”

“Do you think we could do a little role playing? Seeing you in this suit has reminded me of a fantasy I have. And you fit it perfectly.”

His smile turned predatory, making her feel like he was thinking about eating her. 

“What is it?” He grabbed her hand and pressed her hand against his straining erection. “Feel what you do to me when you tell me your dirty secrets? I find it incredibly arousing.”

Fuck, he was so carnal he reduced her to a hormonal mess beneath him. Wanting him. Her Master. Her fiancé, and someday, her husband. She had a feeling that wedding was going to happen before she knew it if Ivan had his way. As soon as she could she’d move into her own place…and probably have him over constantly. 

“Gia?”

“Sorry, Master, I was thinking about having you sleep in my bed.”

“Mmm, that is a nice thought, but I don’t think it is your fantasy.”

He abruptly leaned down and locked his teeth on her shoulder. A rush of excitement filled her and she squeezed his cock, loving how he throbbed in her hand. “Okay, let me start out by saying that if you ever treat me like this out of the bedroom, I’ll kick your ass and I don’t care who I have to do it in front of.”

He growled against her before removing his mouth from what was, no doubt, a new bruise. In a strange way she felt like it was his way of establishing dominance over her. The sore spot of her bruise certainly sent a confusing stream of low-level pain through her, but the big handful of his cock had her wanting him inside of her. 

Now.

She looked at his chest and stroked his tie with her free hand. “I’d like it if you would pretend to be my boss. You’re going to blackmail me for stealing office supplies.”

“What favors will you do me, my Gia, to keep your job?”

She slowly licked her lips and gave him big, innocent eyes. “Anything you want.”

Beyond Ivan the sky had darkened, but the lights of Moscow made it impossible to see any stars. “When we’re on vacation, can we go places where we can see the stars?”