by Julie Miller
This time she didn’t just look away, she got up and walked her phone back to the bedside table. Hesitation wasn’t a side of Carly he was used to seeing. Since being forthcoming had never been an issue for her before, he didn’t push for an explanation. But it worried him. Surely, there was nothing in these files that made her think that he had built and detonated those bombs.
Ivan turned to the last page of her notes. “I see one more entry. Vasily Gordeeva. Mob boss who used to run illegal arms through Lukinburg. Significant influence on the previously corrupt government. His people were the ones responsible for my parents’ deaths. He spent his last years in prison and died of cancer.” The hate he’d once felt as a younger man had mellowed to a melancholia that hit him when he thought of all that had been taken from him. As a grown man, he replaced the anger and sadness with a good memory from his childhood and then refocused on the tasks at hand—eliminating suspects who wanted him dead and finding out what was bothering Carly. He scratched through Gordeeva’s name. “It is rumored that one of Vasily’s last acts before his death was to kill the business rival who murdered his daughter. I do not believe there is anyone left with any significant power in either one of those criminal families.”
“Unless this terroristic campaign against you is their bid to regain power.”
Ivan shook his head. “The new government is too strong for that. They do not have the financial backing they once enjoyed.”
“I hope you’re right.” Carly returned to her perch on the foot of the bed and leaned forward to rest her hand atop his knee. The same nerve impulses that had skittered with delight a few minutes ago now went on alert, bracing him for whatever she was about to tell him. “Speaking of criminals and Vasily Gordeeva... I couldn’t find any record of your parents being murdered in your file. No mention of your aunt and uncle raising you in Moravska. That’s why I thought the files might be mislabeled. You said they were victims of a mob hit, that the Gordeevas had influence with the government back then. Was the crime not investigated?”
That information was in Aleks’s file. The one she couldn’t read. The one he couldn’t tell her about. He’d given his word to hide the truth.
Even from her.
“Why do you think he was in prison?” Ivan pushed to his feet. He tossed the legal pad onto the bed and paced to the far side of the room before an idea hit him that chased away all the sorrow and guilt. “Enough work.” He crossed back to the laptop, found the site he was looking for and clicked on the file he downloaded. He turned up the volume as the melodic strains of a waltz began to play. “You wait on your family, do your job as a police officer, take care of me... It is enough. The rest of the night is about you.” He took her hands and pulled her to her feet. “May I have this dance?”
“Touched a sore spot, huh? Okay. I’ll stop asking questions.” She tossed her hair behind her back and rested one hand on his shoulder as he’d taught her. “You’re willing to put your toes through another lesson with me?”
She didn’t fight him when he slid his hand to the small of her back and pulled her hips against his. If their knees touching had raised his temperature, feeling her sleek curves nestled against his harder frame nearly made him combust. He rested his forehead against hers, looking down into her upturned eyes. “I am willing to hold you. Always.”
Her feet didn’t move as he took the first step. Ivan let the music play without dancing until she shared what was keeping her from joining him in the waltz. “We don’t have always.”
Ivan tightened his hold around her waist and pressed his cheek to hers, wishing he didn’t share the same hopelessness about their relationship. “Then I want to make the most of any time I do have with you,” he whispered against her ear. “I care about you, my sexy lioness.”
“I care about you, too. I want...” Her toes curled into the rug beside his stockinged feet. But her upper body began to sway in time with his.
“What do you want, dorogoy?”
“I know it’s only been a few days, but I want you.” She glanced at the bed and blushed. “There.”
“Carly—”
“I know you’re attracted to me, too. I mean...” Her thigh slipped between his, brushing against his arousal. He groaned in helpless pleasure. Her astute powers of observation did indeed make that difficult to hide. “I’ve had sex. Ages ago, so I know the nuts and bolts.”
“Nuts and bolts?”
“But it wasn’t great,” she hurried on without explanation. “I haven’t had a lot of experience, and...” Her cheeks deepened to a rosy hue and she pushed against his chest, ending the dance, though not completely pulling away. “I don’t know how to seduce a man.”
Her honest confession made him embarrassingly, wonderfully hard. She wasn’t the only one who reacted to a suggestive word or familiar touch. Knowing she felt as strongly as he did about how good the two of them could be together triggered an equally strong response in his heart. With all the lies swirling around him these past few weeks, Carly Valentine was one truth he couldn’t deny. “Do you want to seduce me?”
“Yes.” She broke away to dash into her bathroom and come back with a handful of condoms. That meant she’d been wanting this, hoping for this as much as he had. “I stole these from Jesse’s nightstand. I don’t know how long they’ve been there. I don’t want to assume anything. But we have all night. And the enemy’s at bay right now. No one can get in here.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “We only have until you leave. Maybe it’s crazy, but I don’t want to miss out on my chance to be with you. Because I think it might—we might—be really great. Will you please say something, so I stop rambling?”
Ivan took the wrappers from her grip and tossed them onto the bed. He pulled her back into his arms and pressed a kiss to her warm cheek. “It is not crazy. I want you, too.” He felt her trembling beneath his touch, but then she wound her arms around his neck and resumed their sensuous dance. They cared about neither the style nor the rhythm, only that they were close enough to feel the heat and shape of each other’s bodies. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to kiss me.”
He dipped his mouth to capture hers. He tunneled his fingers into her hair to hold her lips against his as he took his fill of every delicious inch of her beautiful mouth. Her feet stopped moving and she hummed in her throat. Her fingers cupped the back of his head and neck, demanding the same freedom to explore his mouth. The music was drowned out by the pulse throbbing in his ears before he found the strength to end the kiss. Her breathing was as quick and uneven as his own. “What else?”
“I want to put my hands on your skin again.”
He’d never truly understood how wickedly seductive true honesty could be. With a nod he stood back to unbutton his shirt, but Carly’s hands were there, butting against his as she untucked it from his waistband and pushed the shirt off his shoulders. Her fingers trailed along every inch of skin she uncovered. A sea of goose bumps chased after every caress. His muscles quivered beneath every bold touch. Shoulders, arms, neck, chest, stomach—every part of him craved her touch. He wasn’t going to be able to play the patient gentleman for much longer.
Her eager fingers dipped beneath the button of his slacks, yet she hesitated at his belt buckle to lift her gaze to his. “Shouldn’t you be telling me what you want, too?”
He curved his fingers over hers, guiding her to undo the belt and gently unzip his pants. “Trust me, I am enjoying every moment of this seduction.”
“I’m doing it right?”
“Yes, my love.” The desire that flushed her skin when she freed him nearly undid him. “Yes.”
“Will you...undress me?”
Classical music swelled in the background as he peeled the T-shirt over her head and dropped her cutoffs and panties to the floor. As she stepped out of them, he pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. When he felt her shiver, he pressed another kiss t
o her weepy center, testing her readiness for him. Carly braced her hands against his shoulders, moaning with pleasure. “Your beard...tick...tickles there.” He palmed her bottom and kissed her again, loving the grasp of her fingers digging into his shoulders as she came against his mouth. “Ivan. Please. I want...”
Ivan smiled and stood, shucking the rest of his own clothes before unhooking her bra and covering her small, responsive breasts with his hands. He angled one up to his mouth and laved the rigid tip with his tongue. “Tell me what you want, dorogoy.”
He was amused that she struggled to speak, but then found himself robbed of words when she tugged him toward the bed. They tumbled onto the quilt, the music long forgotten as this new dance consumed them.
Her hand boldly gripped his arousal and he growled his desire against the curve of her breast.
“Ivan? I don’t understand.”
Lukin. He’d used Lukin. He paraphrased his need in English. “You have a beautiful body. I want to be inside you. Do you understand what I am saying?” He grabbed the nearest foil packet and tore it open to sheathe himself. “Out loud. Say it. Say you want this, too.”
“I want this. I want you. Now.”
She swept her arms across the bed, clearing a place for them, tossing aside the legal pad with her notes. A moment of clarity and conscience pierced the haze of wanting Carly that filled his brain. He swung his legs off the bed and sat up. “There is something I need to tell you... You are so honest with me. I must...”
She pressed her fingers to his lips, shushing him. “No more words.”
“I am not who you think I am.”
“I feel everything I need to know about you. I don’t want to waste another moment on anything but this.” She climbed into his lap and slid herself over him. The pleasure of their connection robbed him of breath. Her body was magnificent. Tight. Warm. Perfect. “This feels so right, I want to scream. You’re sure you locked that door?”
I feel everything I need to know.
“I am sure.” Ivan moved inside her. He anchored her with one hand on her sweet, sweet bottom and the other fisted in her hair. He claimed her mouth in a kiss that muffled her scream as she climaxed around him. And while the aftershocks of her release still caressed him, he buried his face in the juncture of her neck and shoulder and squeezed her lithe body tightly to his, hiding the noise of his own completion before collapsing onto the quilt with Carly still snugged in his arms.
He’d never been this satisfied before. He wanted more. He wanted forever to feel like this.
But he was spent, and Carly had fallen, limp, on top of him. They lay there like that for several minutes, his fingers gently stroking up and down her spine until her skin cooled and she rolled onto the quilt beside him. “That was...” Her gaze locked on to his and her lips curved in a drowsy smile. “I knew we’d be great.”
He nodded, understanding that there were no words to adequately express the connection they shared. He leaned over to give her swollen lips a quick kiss. “Never doubt your powers of seduction. I will treasure this night always.”
“Me, too.” She yawned, and her eyes drifted shut, breaking the connection between them.
Ivan slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom to clean up. When he returned, the only light left on was a dim lamp beside the bed. Carly had crawled under the covers and curled up with her pillow. Ivan took a mental snapshot of this serenely tender moment before slipping beneath the covers beside her. He spooned against her back, sliding one arm beneath her cheek and wrapping the other around her waist. He pulled that luscious fall of hair away from her bruised jaw and gently kissed her cheek before settling onto the pillow.
He couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been intrigued by this woman, when he hadn’t trusted her to have his back, when he hadn’t wanted to be with her like this. He knew Carly Valentine, deep in his soul. He would never know another woman like her. He pressed his lips into her hair and whispered, “Obicham te, dorogoy.”
There. He’d said it. He’d admitted it to himself. To all the world. To Carly.
Only she was already fast asleep, snoring softly against his biceps, content in the perfection of this moment together.
I love you.
Chapter Eleven
Tonight, Prince Ivan was supposed to die.
The thought of losing the man who could never really be hers made Carly almost physically sick. She’d never really thought about what falling in love would be like for her, or what kind of man would capture her heart. But the moment she’d seen those piercing blue eyes sizing her up at KCPD headquarters, she’d felt a magnetic attraction to Ivan Mostek. From that evening at the house when he’d given her her first dance lesson and then anchored her in the storm of emotions that had buffeted her after Frank had been poisoned, she’d opened her heart to him. Every moment since then, through the danger and the kisses, the laughter and the long conversations, she’d been falling in love. It had happened too fast for her to realize it until last night when she finally understood that whatever was happening between them was completely mutual. She wasn’t a convenient fling or a fake girlfriend. Ivan loved her, too. She was as certain of that as her sketchy knowledge of this whole man-woman thing allowed her to be.
She’d fallen in love with a prince. A relationship that could never work.
But even more heartbreaking than knowing he’d be leaving the country tomorrow was the idea that someone wanted him to leave in a coffin.
That wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t allow that to happen. They might have to go their separate ways because of politics and distance. But nobody was going to take him from her.
So Carly smiled and played her part. She’d love Ivan as hard as she could for the short time they had left before she put him on that plane home to Lukinburg tomorrow.
The music had stopped for now, and Carly stood on the steps at the edge of the dais, scanning the guests in sleek black suits and colorful gowns for anything suspicious.
Waiters moved discreetly through the tables at either end of the massive ballroom carrying trays with flutes of champagne. Couples and groups of friends had stopped dancing and chatting to look to the podium in front of the orchestra. A wall of glass doors framed in handcrafted wrought iron led onto a wide veranda of gray marble. Uniformed security guards patrolled out there, while several more embassy security staff in black tuxedos and utility shoes stood at each interior entryway. She recognized two of the waiters as KCPD officers in disguise, and knew Joe Hendricks, a SWAT team and more patrol officers watched the gate, parking area and streets beyond the Lukinburg embassy.
The crystal chandeliers had been dimmed to spotlight the handsome man speaking there, thanking their hosts, the guests and donors, sharing his excitement over the prosperous future Lukinburg and Kansas City would share. He looked a little more robust than usual this evening, since he wore a flak vest underneath his tuxedo. But only she and the security team who had fitted him with the extra protection would know that. She spotted the Lukin ambassador, the mayor, Chief of Police Mitch Taylor, the university president and numerous other political and society dignitaries around the room.
Their known suspects were there, too. Filip Milevski, standing in front of the podium, his hands folded in front of his bulky chest, his eyes skimming the audience. Galina Honchar stood on the steps on the opposite side of the stage, looking stunning in her glittery black gown, holding her omnipresent computer tablet down in the folds of her skirt. Danya paced at the back of the room, moving from the archway of one wing to the other and back. His barrel chest indicated he was wearing body armor beneath his tux, and his expression indicated he’d rather be anyplace but at this party tonight. It took a bit more searching to locate Aleks in the middle of the crowd, grinning from ear to ear as the blonde on his arm whispered something in his ear that amused him. Ralph Decker had left the gathering of reporters filmin
g and jotting notes about the prince’s speech and waited at the base of the far steps near the railing where Galina stood. She could see his lips moving as he whispered something to the dark-haired woman, then he muttered something else when Galina waved him away, no doubt warning him to be quiet and leave her alone while she worked the party and listened to the speech. Interesting. Was Decker hitting on Galina? Probing her for answers to his questions? Or relaying some other bit of information about the danger waiting to strike tonight?
If only she could read lips, Carly thought. No, if only she could read minds. Then she’d be able to tell exactly who wanted Ivan dead. Surely, his enemy was plotting even now—counting down to the grand gesture that could kill countless innocent people, or savoring an intricate plan that was already playing out behind the scenes.
The full, flowy skirt of Carly’s turquoise gown had been fun to dance in when Ivan had twirled her across the inlaid walnut floor for the opening waltz. But the fitted body girdle she wore underneath was squeezing the air from her lungs, and the holster strapped to her thigh was chafing. The sparkly heels she wore were beautiful to look at, but the three-inch heels were wreaking havoc on her calf muscles and pinching all sensation out of her little toes.
She pulled her cell phone out of her matching sparkly purse and texted Captain Hendricks.
Nothing suspicious.
He texted back, vibrating her silent phone.
Yet. Keep your eyes open and stay close to Ivan.
At the first sign of trouble, get him to the safety of the SWAT van.
We’ll take it from there.
Carly texted back a Yes, sir, and tucked her phone back into the tiny purse she carried.
The ballroom erupted with applause at the end of Ivan’s speech.
When she raised her hands to clap, she stopped. Ivan smiled and waved to the guests, but when he looked at her, those piercing blue eyes were sending her a silent message. Oh, hell. This was happening. Right now.