by Leslie North
The Russian’s Stubborn Lover
The Fedosov Family Series Book 1
By Leslie North
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Dedications
I dedicate this book to you, my loyal readers. Thank you for all the lovely e-mails, reviews and support. Without you, this wouldn't be possible.
Contents
The Russian’s Stubborn Lover
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 1
Julia Thompson sat at the bar and watched the crowded dance floor, once again trying to find her best friend, Tonya, amidst the masses of writhing bodies. She pushed her glasses up on her nose, and her brown hair off her forehead, fanning herself to move the air around.
It was Friday night and they were supposed to be celebrating Julia having won the coveted exchange position in her company. Every year, three employees from the American-based mining company traded placed with three employees from the Russian-based mining company. Prior to this year, all of the exchange positions had been filled with men, but Julia had proven that she could hold her own in the financial world. Much to her counter-part’s dismay, she had been given the chance to fill the position for the upcoming year. She would be leaving for Russia within the next few weeks and needed a break before the madness of preparing to leave the US for a year began.
She had been ecstatic and she and Tonya had gone out to celebrate. The hottest nightclub in the city was DYSH and they had waited for thirty minutes to gain access to the inside. The crowd was to be expected so early on a Friday evening, and Julia hoped that as the night progressed, the people would begin to thin out.
She loved to dance, but being pressed up against five other people while she did so was not her idea of a good time.
While she waited for Tonya to return, she glanced around the large room once more, focusing once again on the group of good-looking men sitting at the corner table. They were all tall, with dark hair, and great physiques. The two younger men kept going out on the dance floor, but the third man simply watched.
Feeling someone staring at him, Dmitry raised his head and once again caught the young woman sitting at the bar looking directly at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and then smiled when she held his gaze and didn’t look away.
Julia wasn’t sure why she kept staring at him. He gave off an aura of power and danger, but she was feeling on top of the world at the moment, and the alcohol buzzing through her system helped her project a confidence she normally didn’t have.
Dmitry motioned with his head for her to come to him, pleased when she slipped from the stool and sauntered over to him, a small smile upon her face. “Hi,” she said when she was standing next to his table.
“Hello. Would you care to join me?”
Julia nodded and slid into the booth, “How come you’re not joining your friends on the dance floor?” She tossed her head towards the throng of people and then looked back at him.
“Too many people. What about you?”
“Same. I love to dance, but getting trampled on isn’t my idea of fun.” Julia let her eyes roam over his face, loving what she saw. His gray eyes were striking and very intense. This man seemed like someone who had trouble relaxing. His accent was unusual, and she wondered where he was from, “You’re not from around here.”
It wasn’t said as a question, but a statement of fact and Dmitry nodded, “No, I’m not. My brother and cousin are here with me on business.”
Julia looked around the crowded bar, “You conduct business in a nightclub?”
Dmitry looked at her, smiling at her jest, “No, we concluded our business earlier today. My brother and cousin wanted a chance to unwind before we returned home. Hence, the reason I am sitting here.”
“Oh. You don’t sound like you’re having fun.”
“Not at all. Now that you are here, the night is looking much better.”
Julia blushed prettily and then lowered her eyes before replying, “So…”
Before she could finish her statement, the two younger men returned, sliding into the booth and forcing her to press up against the third. “Hey, I’m Alexey. What’s your name?”
Julia couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm on the younger man’s face, “I’m Julia.”
Alexey took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before reluctantly letting her pull it from his grasp. “So, you want to dance?”
Julia shook her head, “Not really.”
Alexey looked disappointed, but then seeing Tonya heading towards their table, he brightened up, “Do you know that girl?”
Julia had seen Tonya leave the dance floor and nodded her head for her to come over. “That’s my best friend, Tonya.”
“Think she might dance with me?” Alexey asked, never taking his eyes off the gorgeous red-head coming towards them.
“Probably. Why don’t you ask her?”
Alexey didn’t even wait for to reach the table before he jumped from the booth and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the dance floor at her nod of acceptance.
The other younger man excused himself and headed back to the dance floor, leaving Julia alone once again with the man whose name she didn’t even know. “I told you my name. Care to return the favor?”
Dmitry smiled and then nodded, “Dmitry. Since you don’t want to dance, would you care to head over to the small diner next door and grab a coffee? The loud music is beginning to wear.”
Julia had been thinking the same thing and nodded. Dmitry scooted from the booth and then pulled her from the booth. Her ankle twisted as she attempted to stand up and she fell against him, plastering herself across his entire front.
Dmitry wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close enough that he could smell her perfume. She smelled delicious! It had been many weeks since he had last spent time with a female as beautiful as Julia and he found himself reluctant to loosen his hold.
Julia looked up at him, knowing she should pull away, but somehow liking the feelings rushing through her body. He was hard in all the right places and she looked up into his face, wondering if his lips were as firm as they looked.
Dmitry gazed down upon her face, leaning in slowly to place a chaste kiss upon her lips. A firestorm of desire rushed through his body at their contact and he found himself deepening the kiss, regardless of the fact that they were in a crowded nightclub.
Finally regaining some self-control, he murmured, “Come, let’s get out of here.”
“Wait! I need to text my friend and tell her where I’m going. We kind of have a system for keeping each other safe, you know?”
No, he didn’t know, but if texting her girlfriend was some sort of ritual that allowed her to leave with him feeling safe, so be it. “Quickly.”
Julia looked at him, and then grabbed her phone from her purse and quickly typed out a message.
Dmitry escorted her from the crowded room, breathing a sigh of relief once they were outside in the cool night air and quiet. He placed his hand at the lowest part of her spine and felt the shiver that snaked up her verteb
rae and the goose bumps that came out on her arms.
Julia had never reacted so strongly to a man in her life. She’d dated plenty of guys, but this one was something special. Too bad he was only in town on business! Making a quick decision, she decided that since he wasn’t going to be around long-term, there was no reason she couldn’t indulge in a little making out before heading home for the night.
She was too conservative to jump into bed with someone she just met, but making out with them, trading kisses and touches was just fine. She sensed him watching her as they stood on the sidewalk and glanced up at him, stepping in his chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Dmitry was taken aback at how forthright she was being, normally women waited until he made the first move and then they jumped in. Julia wrapped her arms around his neck like a practiced courtesan and when she pulled his head down for a kiss, he was unable to resist.
The kiss was explosive and went on until neither of them could breathe. Breaking apart, Dmitry took her hand and pulled her around the side of the building. He wasn’t sure where this was heading, but he knew that standing on the sidewalk for all to see was not where he wanted to be.
He pushed her up against the brick building and then let his lips drift from her mouth to her ear and down her neck. “You smell so sweet,” he told her, using his hands to hold her hips still, lest she unknowingly unman him. She was moving around so much, his manhood was in danger of coming into forceful contact with her hipbones.
“You’re a really good kisser,” she murmured, using her fingertips to play with the hair at the back of his neck.
Dmitry let one of his hands wander up the side of her ribcage, stopping just below her breasts and rubbing his thumb back and forth beneath one several times. When he heard her moan and she arched into his touch, he brought his thumb up and over her distended nipple, loving the way she had already hardened for his touch. She was so responsive!
Julia felt his touch and realized that things were quickly spiraling out of control. She leaned her head back against the building and struggled to catch her breath. When Dmitry tried to take possession of her mouth once again, she evaded him, whispering, “We have to stop.”
Dmitry shook his head, “No, we don’t.”
Julia became more insistent, pushing with both hands upon his chest to put some space between them, “I have to stop. I shouldn’t have let things get so out of control.”
They were both gasping for breath and Dmitry was confused as to why she had allowed him to get so worked up if she wasn’t going to follow through. “So what was this?” he asked, gesturing between them with a hand.
Julia shook her head, “I’m sorry. You’re such a good kisser, I just let things go too far.”
Dmitry attempted to move back in, stopped when she pushed against his chest again, “There’s no reason we can’t continue this at my hotel. Let me call my driver. We can be there inside of ten minutes.”
Julia shook her head, pushing herself away from the building and out of his arms, straightening her clothes as she went, “I can’t.”
Dmitry felt his anger begin to build and then he remembered a conversation he’d had with several of his college mates’ years earlier, “You are one of those women who get off and teasing a man, no?”
Julia looked at him aghast and angry, “No! I’m not a tease! I simply don’t jump into bed with every Tom, Dick and Harry who decides to pay me some attention.”
“You seemed willing enough a few minutes ago when I was palming your breast.” Dmitry was not used to being turned down, and knew some of his anger was fueled by the lust still raging through his body.
“Whatever. Look, it was nice meeting you, but I need to go.” Julia turned on her heel and headed back into the nightclub.
Dmitry watched her walk away and then cursed loud enough that several passersby gave him a wary glance and wider berth. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, summoning first his driver and then letting his brother and cousin know he was returning to the hotel. He didn’t need this aggravation. He had several major investment deals in the works, and the mining company was expanding into the far northern regions of Russia within the next three months.
His father had been taking care of most of the details while he met with the Americans, but now it was time to head back to the Russia and get back to work.
Chapter 2
Two weeks later…
Dmitry Fedosov exited the elevator, focused on gaining the privacy of his office so that he could privately vent his frustration over the morning’s negotiations.
DAV Mining was one of the world’s largest producers of gold and platinum. With holdings all across Russia, they had the latest technologies and the world’s leading chemist and geologists working for them.
With the sudden death of Anton Fedosov, the patriarch of the Fedosov family, Dmitry had assumed the reins of the company and all the problems that went with it. That had been ten days ago, and sometimes it felt like years. Dmitry had arrived back from his trip to the US, anxious to get back to work, but had been met at the airport with the news that his father had passed away while Dmitry and his brother were still in the air.
Right before his father’s untimely heart attack and death, negotiations had been underway between an American mining company and themselves. The negotiations revolved around a proposed intellectual sharing process whereby three members of each company would travel to the opposing country for a period of one year. The owners of the American-based company were old classmates of Dmitry from his time in the US attending college. Like himself, they had inherited their father’s businesses upon their deaths and were not trying to continue to international, cultural exchange program begun by their fathers many years ago.
Each company was to send a financial analyst, a senior member of the research and exploration team, and a supervisor from an active mining operation. Notes would be compared, business practices would be analyzed, and new technologies would be shared in an effort to help both countries stay ahead of the Chinese.
Dmitry was all for the exchange, and had already chosen the three men which would be heading to America at the end of the week. The problems had arisen when the American company had identified their exchange personnel – two men and one woman. The woman was the problem in Dmitry’s opinion. She was barely twenty-five, and while her dossier was impressive and her accomplishments many, her picture alone had set of warning bells in his head.
Her picture showed a young woman with golden hair and the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen. Her facial features looked somewhat familiar, but then so did many American women. Dmitry had been more interested in her training, than her looks.
As the financial analyst of the team, she would be working closely with him and his board of directors. The directors of the DAV Mining company were old school gentlemen who believed that women belonged at home, nursing babies, and doing the laundry. Not in the boardroom of multi-billionaire companies!
The notion might be considered old-fashioned by some, but that was the way it was in Russia and Dmitry had just spent the last three hours trying to pave the way for this unknown beauty.
He had seen the appraising eyes of the board members as her picture had flashed across the large screen in the boardroom. Many of the members believed that a wife was to be cherished and cared for, but keeping a mistress around was also an acceptable way of life and as long as everyone was discreet, no one would complain about it. The status quo would remain untouched.
Dmitry’s own father had kept a mistress in St. Petersburg, and his mother had known, but pretended otherwise. The woman had been bold enough to attend his father’s funeral, and he had stifled the urge to have her bodily removed when his mother had made a point to quietly speak to her and offer her sympathy. Dmitry and his younger brother, Alexey, had been floored to say the least.
Dmitry had quickly moved the woman from his father’s apartments, settling a nice sum of ca
sh upon her and advising her to disappear. She had thanked him kindly and three weeks later, Dmitry was pleased to have heard nothing more from that quarter.
Entering his office, he slammed the door shut and jerked at the tie that wrapped itself around his neck like a tourniquet. He had left the boardroom in a fury, demanding their compliance and assistance with making the American woman feel comfortable in their midst. He had also advised anyone who was unable to do so, to step down from his seat at the table.
He hated having to pull rank on people who had known him his entire life. However, he desperately wanted access to some of the American technologies and the only way to gain that was through this exchange program.
His chairman had taken the opportunity to remind Dmitry that he needed to settle down and find a nice, conservative wife; one who knew her place and would be an asset to the company. Since returning to Russia, he had dealt with his father’s death and tried to assert his authority in all parts of the company – and it was working. All except his single status.
The board had been monitoring his activities carefully, more so because his younger brother had simply thumbed his nose at their directives and left to party it up in Moscow. Alexey should be by his side, helping navigate the massive company they had both inherited, but at the age of twenty-two, he was sowing his wild oats. Dmitry had strongly suggested he do so out of the knowing eyes and ears of the directors, and Alexey had willingly headed to Moscow.
Dmitry planned on letting him amuse himself for a few weeks, and then reeling him back in and making him work for a change. Their mother was caught up in her own activities, and couldn’t be bothered with anything her sons were doing. Dmitry checked in on her every couple of weeks and did his best to make sure her lifestyle didn’t suffer with his father gone.
Flinging himself into his chair, he turned and looked out over the expanse of the city. St. Petersburg was one of the world’s greatest cities in his opinion, and he wondered if the American woman would be suitably impressed upon her arrival. The two other Americans would be travelling into the mountains and spending their stay at the various mining operations scattered there.