by Bella Rose
“Russian—what? Are you serious?” Toby said in a hushed whisper. He stood next to Mikhail and watched the men pace down the hall. “Do you know them?”
“Yes.”
“Do they recognize you?”
“Oh, I would imagine they know I’m here. Yes.” Because nothing got past them. Nothing.
Mikhail felt suddenly reckless. He couldn’t stand about being afraid of something that was never going to happen. These men had no power over him anymore. He was Mikhail Krachenko, a self-made billionaire and successful legitimate businessman.
Mikhail threw open the conference room door and walked into the hallway. He addressed Creighton first, as if he had barely noticed the other men. “Kemper! Perfect. I was afraid I was going to have to leave without speaking to you first.”
Creighton looked more than mildly surprised to see Mikhail and Toby. “Gentlemen, what a pleasure to have you here. At my office.” Creighton was staring at the Russians. Then the Russians turned to stare at Mikhail.
“Mikhail Krachenko,” Vasily murmured. “So good to see you.”
Mikhail dipped his head. It would do no good to be disrespectful to these men. “Vasily, it has been too long. I hope your family is well.” Mikhail spoke in Russian, partially out of respect, but also because he knew it was driving Kemper insane.
“Yes, my family is very well.” Vasily’s eyes gleamed. “Ekaterina was just married to Dimitri’s oldest son last weekend.”
“Give her my congratulations!” Mikhail said warmly. “I am sure Oksana is excited and also sad to lose her beautiful daughter.”
“Oh yes.” Vasily cocked his head.
Vasily had always suspected some partiality on Mikhail’s side to Ekaterina. What he could never understand was that Mikhail had already been burned by a girl once. He didn’t form attachments like that anymore. Katy had only ever been a friend. Besides, she was Mikhail’s cousin. Although in Russian culture it wasn’t so unusual for second or third cousins to marry.
“And what brings you here?” Vasily’s gaze flicked toward Kemper. “Business?”
“Oh no,” Mikhail continued in Russian. “My friend here is married to the best friend of Kemper’s fiancée. You know women. They will always have their men running errands for them.” Mikhail didn’t know why he suddenly felt it imperative to make light of his visit to see Kemper, but his instincts had never failed him in the past. Especially when it came to dealing with these very dangerous men.
Vasily snorted and nodded enthusiastically. His three companions did the same. Then the five of them gave each other a polite good-bye, and the Russians strode off down the hall. Mikhail couldn’t help but think that he had just stepped right into the middle of a hornet’s nest, and Kemper the numbskull was standing hip-deep in it without even realizing his danger.
Mikhail backed Kemper into his office, Toby hot on their heels. Toby shut the door behind them while Mikhail kept pushing Kemper deeper into his office until he fell back into his desk chair.
“What do you think you’re doing with them?” Mikhail demanded.
Kemper shoved his chin out, looking belligerent. “How did you know them? And since when do you speak Russian?”
“Since always. And I know them because Vasily is my cousin.” Mikhail dispensed this information because he felt it would strengthen his position in Kemper’s eyes. And it did. The man was now staring at him as though he were some sort of god.
“That’s how you became successful!” Kemper burst out. “I could never figure out how some loser with no family business could make it so big, but that’s the answer!”
Mikhail shared a look of disgust with Toby. “Do you see my argument for mandatory sterilization of the upper classes?”
Toby snorted. “Hey now, don’t lump me in with him.”
“You’re a freak,” Mikhail observed. Then he turned back to Kemper. “And you’re an idiot. If I had gotten where I am now with their help, they would own my business. I would be working for them. But I’m not. I am my own man and nobody else’s. Someday you might be able to say the same, but probably not.”
“Look, I don’t know why you guys are here, but I have to go. I’m supposed to pick up my fiancée at her father’s house for some stupid outing in a few minutes.” Kemper actually looked irritated about that. “The woman is a total shrew.”
“So why marry her?”
“Because I’m going to enjoy making that bitch kneel in front of me. Do you know how many times she turned me down in school?” Kemper was looking feverishly excited. “Now she’ll have to do exactly what I say.”
Toby snorted. “You’re aware that marriage doesn’t work like that, right? You don’t automatically get power over someone because you marry them. They have rights too.”
“But she needs my money. The woman has nothing. She’ll do what I say or I’ll throw her ass out on the street.” The glee on Creighton’s face was unmistakable.
* * *
Courtney didn’t know where they were going and wasn’t sure she cared. It was ten o’clock in the morning, she felt sick as a dog, and Creighton was babbling on and on about some building he wanted her to see that he was just certain would be a huge moneymaker for them.
“Here. Let’s go inside.” Creighton pulled the car up to the curb and shut off the engine.
Courtney stared up at the old stone facade. “I don’t know,” she hedged. “It’s looks derelict. Are you sure it’s safe to go inside?”
“Of course.”
Creighton was already out of the car and walking around to open her door. He grabbed her hand. She thought he was going to help her out, but it was more like dragging her from the vehicle. She would have stumbled and gone down if he hadn’t caught her and yanked her back onto her feet. The place where he touched her arm burned. She would most certainly have bruises the next morning.
Courtney had worn a very sedate black dress with low heels, but it wasn’t at all suited for crawling around inside a dirty old building. She gingerly followed Creighton as he barged through the front entrance of the old place and into a lobby filled with bits of junk and construction trash.
“Isn’t it great?”
“What are you going to do with it?” Courtney asked dubiously.
Creighton shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Anything I guess.”
That seemed extremely shady. Courtney couldn’t help but wonder why he would bring her here at all. “If you don’t know what you’re going to do with it, why buy the place? Surely you have better places to spend your money?”
“That’s right.” Creighton whirled around and faced her with a sneer on his lips. “You’re quite worried about what I do with my money.”
“Excuse me?” She had no idea where this conversation was going or why it seemed to have taken such a strange turn. “It’s your money. Not mine. I was just wondering why you would bother.”
“Why I would bother?” His voice was getting louder, and his mood seemed to be escalating into something frightening. “Maybe because I have plans! Maybe because I’m tired of being bossed around by my father and brother. I want more, you know. Just because you have no aspirations or goals for your useless future, doesn’t mean that I don’t.”
She didn’t even touch the rude comments aimed at her personally. She was too busy backing away from Creighton as he flung his arms about and started shouting with his head thrown back. Was he trying to bring the entire building crashing down on their heads? It was as if he’d gone crazy!
Courtney’s fingertips brushed the rough surface of an old pillar. She tucked herself behind it and peered out at Creighton. He was energetically pacing from one end of the lobby to the other while he muttered to himself about disrespect, ulterior motives, and something about being told no too many times.
“Creighton?” she said softly, knowing she might be poking the bear but wanting to go home so badly she didn’t really care. “Can we just go home? The building will be beautiful when you’ve finished. I think
it’s a wonderful idea. All right?”
He stopped abruptly and turned on her. “You’re just saying that.”
“What? No.” She apparently could not win. “That’s not true.”
“Did you know that your father lost his business?” Creighton snorted. “That asshole has you marrying me so you’ll give him money—my money.”
“His business?” Courtney was confused. She knew her father needed Creighton’s money in order to infuse his business with some capital. But as far as she knew, that was the extent of it.
“He lost it.” Creighton was looking smug. “He lost everything to that bastard Russian!”
“Russian?” Courtney said faintly. Surely Creighton couldn’t be talking about Mikhail. Could he?
She was too busy puzzling that all out in her head to realize her danger until it was too late. Creighton grabbed her arms and hauled her away from her hiding place. He spun her around and pushed her back up against the pillar. Her breasts and belly hit the rough surface, and her hands scraped across it as she tried to get free.
“No.” Creighton swatted her forcefully on her backside.
Bottom stinging, Courtney froze in shock and horror. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“You’ve always been so high-and-mighty,” Creighton told her angrily. “Now I’m going to own you. You’ll have nothing without me. And if I want to bring you to a place like this and tell you to pull up your dress so I can fuck you, you’ll do it.”
Courtney pushed back with all her might. She placed both hands flat on the pillar and shoved, trying to throw Creighton off-balance. It didn’t work. With a laugh he shoved her hard. Her chin bounced off the pillar and she snapped her teeth together painfully. Then Creighton pressed himself against her. His lips were beside her ear, and his sour stench was all around her. Courtney struggled not to retch.
“I’m going to take you over and over again,” he told her roughly. “You’re going to scream and beg me to end it and I won’t because you’ll be mine.”
Tears threatened to stream down Courtney’s cheeks. She didn’t want to disgrace herself, but she was angry and scared. This could not be her fate. She couldn’t accept that this was it for her life.
Chapter Ten
Mikhail had a contract in front of him and two of his department heads sitting in front of his desk. They were all discussing the logistics of taking over the operations at Gordon Piers-Cameron’s business. Mikhail wanted a firm plan in place in order to expedite matters as he absorbed some of the operations and sold off the rest.
All three men looked up when they heard Mikhail’s administrative assistant calling out to someone. “No! You can’t go in there! You have to have an appointment. Ma’am? Ma’am!”
Mikhail’s office door swung open so hard that it bounced off the wall and left a black mark on the pristine khaki-colored paint. Shock did not cover what Mikhail was feeling as he realized that his unexpected guest was Courtney Piers-Cameron.
“You unbelievable bastard!” she shouted, pointing her index finger at him and nearly bolting toward his desk as though she were going to tackle him to the ground.
“Gentlemen,” Mikhail said mildly, raising an eyebrow. “If you would excuse us? The three of us can finish this later.”
The two department heads were both trying not to laugh. He could tell. They gave him a polite nod, ignored Courtney’s tearstained, makeup-streaked face, and then exited his office and closed the door behind them.
“Now.” Mikhail made an open gesture with his hand. “You have the floor. Can I offer you coffee or something a bit stronger perhaps?”
“Fuck off!” she shrieked. “How could you? How could you do that to me? Was that your plan all along?” Courtney demanded.
“Slow down,” Mikhail suggested. “First of all, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Of course that wasn’t entirely true, but he would start there and see if he couldn’t get her calmed down.
“Yes you do!” she argued. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You own my father’s company. Or you will. Or whatever! You stole it from him!”
“Ah, ah,” Mikhail admonished. He wagged his finger at her. Fortunately the desk was between them because he had a feeling she would have launched herself across the room at him otherwise. “I didn’t steal anything. Your father was in deep debt. I simply purchased the business.”
“But he won’t have anything!” she wailed. “He’ll have nothing even though you say you’re buying it!”
“Well, that would be because he had to mortgage the shit out of his company to keep it afloat. Courtney, your father doesn’t own anything now. He only has what the bank is allowing him to run in order to make his interest payments. He’s in a bad way.”
“Which is why I was marrying Creighton,” she whispered.
Mikhail watched her sink slowly into one of the chair recently vacated by his department heads. She looked utterly defeated. Perhaps at one point he would have relished such a thing. Now was not that time.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.
She shivered. “Creighton Kemper is not a nice man.”
Mikhail recalled her fear of the man that night at Toby and Bella’s wedding reception. He ground his teeth together. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not yet,” she said dully. “But he’s been pretty graphic about what he’s intending to do with me once the wedding is done.” Her sigh held so much defeat. Mikhail felt horribly convicted by the sound. Then she swiped at her cheeks. “You don’t understand. He wants me just to punish me.”
COURTNEY WONDERED IF Mikhail even cared what happened to her. She was nothing but a one-night stand to him. He was probably done with her in every way. Now here she was begging for—well, for something. She wasn’t even sure why she had come.
Standing up, Courtney turned and headed for the office door. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you with my problems.”
“No. You should have,” he disagreed. “Especially since some of these problems are partially my doing.”
“Why?” She turned and stared at him, wishing she could understand what would possess him to do something like this. “What purpose is there in it for you?”
He only shrugged. “It’s just business.”
“Oh, was I just business too?” She began heading toward the door again.
But before she could get near it, Mikhail was there. He spun her around to face him and slid his arms around her body. It felt so good to be held by him. There was something secure in the embrace. When her whole world was falling apart, this man was strong enough to stand solid. That was what she craved so badly.
“You’re not business,” he told her.
Then he lowered his mouth to hers and took it in a breathtaking kiss that made her toes curl inside her shoes. She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him back for all she was worth. His tongue slipped inside her mouth and made love to her, the advance and retreat of his kiss a perfect counterpoint to what she knew he could do with his cock.
There was a tingle between her legs as her body softened for him. Her pussy grew wet and heavy. Heat culminated at the base of her spine, and she wondered if he could actually make her come with only a kiss. There was something utterly masterful about the way he dominated her. Yet there was tenderness too. The way he held her made her feel important, cherished even.
His hands slipped through her hair. The pins she’d used to keep it up in a loose bun pinged free and hit the wood floor of his office. Her hair spilled down her back. He gathered it in his hands and let his fingers touch her scalp. She moaned a little, parting her lips even more and allowing him deeper access to her mouth. She wanted this. She needed it. She was on fire for him and couldn’t get enough.
She pulled herself closer to his hard body. The hard ridge of his erection pressed against her belly, and she moved restlessly as she longed to feel his hard length slide deep into her body. This was so wrong in so many ways, and yet Courtney did
n’t care one little bit.
MIKHAIL WAS STRUGGLING with a question of ethics. The woman was accusing him of several crimes that were insulting at the very least, yet now she was kissing him as though this was the only reason she’d come to his office.
Should he take what she was so eager to give? Or should he let cooler heads prevail? The argument lasted until she made a low noise in her throat and twisted her fingers in his dress shirt. No. He was absolutely going to fuck this woman right here and now.
“Turn around,” he ordered. “Bend over my desk and pull up your skirt.”
“What?”
“Do it.” He ground the words out, feeling as though he were hovering on the brink of insanity. “I need that sweet pussy wrapped around my cock, and I need it now.”
That seemed to be all the convincing she needed. Courtney was gasping as she turned and presented her pretty little ass for his inspection. She reached back with one hand and dragged the skirt of her dress up her legs. Her heels put her at the perfect height, and the way she arched her back and spread her legs left him staring at her thong as though it was the only flimsy barrier between him and the ultimate goal.
His cock was throbbing. Mikhail should have waited. He should have touched her and made her come, but he was so far past that he couldn’t even imagine what had happened to his control. He unfastened his pants, pulled out his cock, and tried not to come in his own hand. Using a thumb to pull the string of her thong to the side of her cleft, he fit the head of himself to her opening and savored the knowledge that she was sopping wet for him.
“You’re so fucking wet!” he exclaimed. “It’s perfect. You know that, Courtney. Your pussy was made for me to fuck.”
“Yes!” she moaned. “Mikhail, please take me now. I can’t wait anymore.”
He plunged forward, sinking his shaft deep into her body. He grabbed her hips and began to fuck hard. He lost control of everything. There was no time or space or anything else in the world. There was only his cock, her pussy, and the ultimate in satisfaction that hovered just out of reach.