Sergei (20 page)

Slapping the table and clutching at his shoulders, Bianca let him have his way with her. He could feel her passage tightening around his fingers, squeezing him as he found the perfect rhythm with his tongue. "Sergei. Sergei.
Sergei
!"

Giving her two orgasms so quickly left him feeling rather accomplished. Grinning victoriously, he wiped his mouth on her soft belly, stood up and kicked the chair out of the way. He tugged her into a sitting position, pulled her down off the table and spun her around. One quick glance between her body and his told him she was too short for this position to work properly. Unless…

"Back on the table," he growled.

She gasped when he picked her up and deposited her on the table. Kneeling there, she glanced back over her shoulder with bemusement. "Why am I up here?"

"Put your elbows on the table and offer me your pussy, Bianca."

She gulped but did as he had asked. He applied the condom and smiled at the perfect positioning of their two bodies now. Sometimes his extraordinary height was a real pain in the ass—and sometimes it was a real pleasure.

Gripping her hips, he dragged her back a few inches. He smoothed his hands along her thick thighs and caressed her bottom. Remembering the way she had reacted last night when he'd touched the pucker there, Sergei decided to see how hard that line was. He gathered some of the slick cream from her pussy and smeared it between her cheeks.

Her sharp intake of breath filled the kitchen. He drew leisurely circles around her anus. Tiny bumps raced across her skin like gooseflesh. Part of him wanted to know what she was thinking right now. He imagined her brain was racing with all the reasons why she shouldn't allow him to play with her like this.

Watching her carefully, he slowly penetrated her virgin ass with one finger. He had no intention of going any further than that tonight. That impossibly tight pussy of hers could barely take him. There was no way she was ready to take him here, but that didn't mean he couldn't teach her how good it could feel to stimulate her there.

When she didn't stop him, Sergei pushed in a little deeper. "Tell me how this feels, Bianca."

"Wicked," she said finally. "Sinful."

"Wickedly good or wickedly bad," he asked, slowly thrusting his finger in and out of her.

"Good," she admitted on a long sigh.

"Let's see how this feels." Lining up their bodies, Sergei sheathed the full length of his dick. There was no stopping the groan that escaped his throat as he relished the snug, hot fit. "I can't get enough of your pussy. You're like my drug, Bianca. I crave you." He retreated almost completely, leaving just the head of his cock buried inside her before plunging deep. "I want you."

"I'm yours." She pushed back to meet his thrusts. "I'm all yours, Sergei."

The old table beneath them started to squeak and thump as Sergei increased his speed. It was going to be one very long—and very pleasurable—night.

Chapter Eleven

"I can't believe you've never eaten at Samovar." Sergei held my hand as he led me down the sidewalk to the five-star restaurant Vivian's husband owned. We were meeting friends for Benny and Dimitri's last hurrah before the baby arrived.

"Russian food isn't really my thing. Besides, when Vivi wanted to go out for dinner, the last place she wanted to go was the place she worked."

"Fair point." He paused before we reached the main doors and gave my gold hoop earrings a playful flick. "I'm sorry our first date plans had to be put on hold."

"The baby is coming any day. This will probably be the last time we get to hang out with Benny and Dimitri for a while." Laughing, I added, "Besides, I don't know about you, but Lena scares me. I wasn't about to tell her no."

He chuckled and slid his hand to my back, pulling me against him in a protective gesture. Lowering his head, he whispered, "Don't tell her I told you this, but the guys at the club she worked at used to call her the Dragon Lady."

My jaw dropped. "You're joking!"

He shook his head and smiled. "Some men are afraid of a strong woman."

"Not Yuri," I said, spotting the couple as we entered the lobby of the restaurant. The billionaire tycoon sat a few feet behind her, his ankle propped up on his knee, and watched as Lena chatted with a couple of oilmen. Living around Houston my entire life, I had developed a sort of sixth sense for picking out those types.

She took a business card from one of them and tucked it into her clutch before patting their arms. Yuri smiled at her as she approached and said something that made Lena grin. She reached down to adjust his tie, but he didn't let her draw back her hand until he had kissed each fingertip.

"Bianca!" Lena smiled at me and dragged me into a hug. Not wanting to stain my cheek with her lush red lipstick, she air kissed my cheek. "I'm so glad you guys could come." Her gaze skipped to Sergei before returning to my face. With a conspiratorial whisper, she said, "I have to hear this story."

"Later," I promised and turned to greet Yuri.

I was still shaking his hand when Nikolai appeared to take us to one of the best tables in the restaurant. Sergei's hand between my shoulder blades felt so right as we crossed the floor to join Dimitri, Benny and Vivian. I was falling fast for Sergei and becoming hopelessly addicted to his presence. When I had thrown the sheets in the wash earlier that morning, I had actually been sad to wash away the eucalyptus scent of him. Only the knowledge that my deliciously big Russian would be heating up those sheets again had eased the sadness.

I didn't think it was possible, but Benny's pregnant belly looked even bigger than it had at Erin and Ivan's wedding only a week earlier. She looked adorable in her empire waist dress and had a huge smile on her face as we hugged, but I sensed she was nearing that point in her pregnancy where she was tired and ready to get the show on the road.

How her extremely petite frame managed to bear that load perplexed me. A bit selfishly, I realized I was probably going to lose the pool we had running on the baby. I had been sure that the baby would be a healthy seven pounds, but something told me Erin's seemingly outlandish guess of nine pounds was probably going to be closer.

Seated between Nikolai and Sergei, I shot Vivian's husband a pleasant smile. We hadn't spoken since that night outside their home. As far as I knew, Vivian remained completely in the dark about what had gone down. I wanted it to stay that way.

When Nikolai returned the smile, I couldn’t help but think that he
owned
my man.
Listen to you!
I couldn’t believe I was thinking of Sergei as my man. Of course, I suspected Sergei had been thinking of me as his woman since before the night he'd kicked my door down. That was simply his way.

When our waitress approached the table, I noticed a slight tightness to Vivian's mouth. It was that micro-expression of frustration that she sometimes had, and it vanished quickly. Smiling at the waitress, she addressed the stunning redhead in Russian. Whatever they said didn't seem to bother anyone else at the table so I brushed it off as one of those work things. Maybe the woman—her nametag said Lidia—had been a pain in Vivian's ass when they were both waiting tables here.

Or maybe Lidia had made the mistake of trying to come onto Nikolai…

Sergei's arm moved to the back of my chair, reminding me of that night at the wedding. "Do you want some help with the menu?"

I was relieved to see it had been printed in both Russian and English but had no idea what was good and what might be too much for my decidedly Southern palate. "Please?"

While Sergei pointed out dishes that might interest me, I kept an ear on the conversations around us. Everybody was talking business—new deals, expansions, recent successes and investment tips. Well. Everybody except for Sergei.

When I was drawn into a conversation with Benny about offering the quinceañera dresses, I couldn't shake the feeling that Sergei might be feeling left out tonight. He was in a weird position. Sure, he was Vivian's friend, and Nikolai treated him like family, but that didn't change the facts. Nikolai owned Sergei's body and used him as he would any other weapon in his arsenal.

As if that wasn't a bizarre enough power shift, Sergei was the only man at the table who brought in significantly less money than his partner and who wasn't a business owner of some kind. I believed Sergei was proud of my success, but was he the smallest bit embarrassed or disappointed in his career situation?

After learning he had gone to college to pursue his dreams of being an architect, I could only imagine what a bitter pill his position as an enforcer was to swallow. Did he imagine how his life might have been if his older brother hadn't been so miserably stupid?

With that uncomfortable thought rattling around in my head, I glanced up from my menu to catch Sergei staring at the waitress as she approached the table. They exchanged a smile before he dropped his gaze to his glass of water. Because he was friendly to everyone, I didn't think much of it…until Lidia walked around the table to stand behind Sergei while she took our orders.

The gorgeous, willowy waitress placed her hand on Sergei's shoulder with a touch that was much too familiar. An unwelcome idea began to form. I batted it away, refusing to even go there, and chalked it up to nothing more than friendship. Sergei spent a lot of time with Nikolai, and his boss was probably at Samovar most of the day. It was only normal that Sergei would be friendly with the staff.

Ever the alpha male, Sergei placed my order for me and made sure to tack on a glass of wine. I pinched his thigh under the table, but he one-upped me by sliding that big, rough palm of his under my skirt. His fingertips encountered the whisper-thin and exquisitely soft lace of the special panties he had given me. I had nearly died laughing when I had discovered the crotchless undies amid the gorgeous silk, satin and lace intimates, but after a little persuasion from Sergei, I had promised to give them a chance.

Recognition flashed in his dark eyes. He tried to push aside the lacy fabric to discover that secret part of me, but I squeezed my knees together, trapping his hand and denying him. Leaving his hand right there, he shot me a look that promised yet another night for the record books.

After his self-imposed celibacy, Sergei seemed to be making up for lost time. I didn't think I'd had as much sex in all the years I had been active as we had had in the last week. The man was insatiable—and inventive. Some of the things we had done together made me blush when I thought about them later. In the heat of the moment, that megawatt smile and sexy charm of his could induce me to try anything. As of yet, I hadn't been disappointed by his adventurousness or skill.

When our appetizers arrived, the conversation around the table turned to the baby and its precarious breech position. Benny was still hopeful the baby would decide to turn, but I had a feeling that kid was packed in there so tightly there was no room for maneuvering. I understood her fear of a C-section, especially the possibility of complications and recovery, but I sensed Dimitri preferred that route instead of attempting a breech delivery that might go badly.

Thinking of Benny's situation, I couldn’t help but imagine myself giving motherhood a try someday. With my career in an upswing and the demands of the business rising, I assumed motherhood was a few years away. Sipping my wine, I glanced at Sergei who was deep in conversation with Dimitri and wondered what he would be like as a father.

The thought made my heart stutter. I shouldn't have even gone there—we were way,
way
too early in our relationship to even be thinking about strollers and cribs—but I couldn't help myself. After hearing how far Sergei was willing to go to save his mother and brother and having seen with my own eyes what he was willing to do to protect me, I harbored no doubts about his instincts to nurture and love.

But his current line of work was much too risky for raising a family. So many bad things could happen to him or the people he loved because of his association with Nikolai. Pushing a strange dumpling around my plate, I wondered if that was the reason Vivian seemed hell-bent on keeping her pregnancy a secret. She had already survived so much violence in her short life. The desire to protect her baby from Nikolai's enemies must have been strong.

The sound of Lidia's husky voice drew me out of my thoughts. She had stopped by to refill glasses and sweep away empty plates between courses. I watched the way she spoke to Sergei, making a point out of conversing with him in their shared language so I couldn't understand what she was saying. Her slender hand slid from his shoulder to brush the spot right above the collar of his steel blue blazer.

Is she for real?
I couldn't decide if this lady was just clueless or actively trying to bait me. Sergei seemed totally oblivious to her come-on so I decided to let it slide for now. Refusing to cause a scene, I pretended not to notice and let Lena draw me into a discussion about her fledgling crisis PR firm dipping their toes into the fashion waters.

When Lidia returned with our entrees and a couple of runners in tow, she made another point of bending low to chat with Sergei. This time I actually understood one of the words that left her mouth. It was a term I often heard Vivian call Nikolai—and wholly inappropriate for the situation.

Sergei's low laughter and murmured reply hit me like an ice pick to the chest. I recognized they weren't simply on friendly terms. No, they had been much, much closer than that. So close that she felt comfortable calling him darling...