Billionaire Bachelor_Vitali

by Eve Black

  There was that spice he’d been missing since she arrived. He chuckled. “Da, and there is a reason for that…”

  She turned her body toward him, her curiosity getting the better of her wariness. “Oh?”

  He nodded, quirking his lips into a lopsided smile. “I wanted you,” he said, simply.

  Confusion pulled her eyebrows down into a furrow, and he almost gave into another chuckle.

  “The Diamond Bridal Agency is known for its secretiveness, exclusivity, and rigorous screening of applicants. One thing they absolutely assured me was that it was all anonymous, even going so far as to keep your name a secret,” she remarked, her voice slowly building in volume. “So, how is it that you knew me and that you would want me?” She said that last two words with acidic disbelief.

  So, his beautiful handful didn’t believe that he would want her. Well, he’d just have to prove how wrong she was.

  Sliding toward her along the leather seat, he didn’t stop until his thigh touched hers, the heat of her body scalding him, burning through him like a fire through a parched forest. He could hear her drag in a breath and hold it, and she tipped her head back to look up into his face. Her eyes, once again, landed on his mouth. He smiled wolfishly.

  “I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you,” he murmured, his voice low, “and now that I have you, I can’t wait another moment to kiss you.”

  Without giving her the time to pull away, Vitali reached up to cradle her face in his hands. She breathed out, her chest rising and falling in sharp inhalations, and a deep pink flush rose over her cheeks. God, but she was lovely.

  “Y-you want to kiss me?” she asked, her eyes wide, uncertainty flashing through the mocha depths.

  He lowered his head, stopping just short of brushing his lips against hers. Her eyelids grew heavy, and his breathing followed suit.

  “I want to do so much more than that, tol’ko moya.” My only. The thick lashes that fanned her cheeks fluttered, and a dark glinting filled her eyes. He drew her closer, could feel the heat of her breath on his skin as she shuddered against him, the generous globes of her breasts pressing against the hardness of his chest. Exquisite. Her beautiful, soft pink lips parted, as if in invitation, and the world seemed to quiet in awe of what he was about to taste—

  The penthouse landline rang, the shrill sound startling in the heavy silence of the room.

  “Shit,” he muttered in Russian, pulling away reluctantly. The tension still coiled in his gut—and lower—he stood to answer the phone, ready to damn whoever was on the other end of the line. Before he turned away from Mariana, he could see a sort of mask slip down over her expressive face, effectively hiding the fiery woman he’d nearly kissed behind a mien of professionalism and indifference. Like a lawyer preparing to face the judge.

  He hid a grin, one he knew would appear predatory, ravenous. He would enjoy peeling away the lawyer to get to the fire beneath.

  5

  Saved by the bell, she thought, dragging in desperate gulps of air to fill her burning lungs. She couldn’t help but watch him—Vitali—as he strode across the room to answer the phone, the bottom of his suit coat hid his ass from her view, but she’d be fooling herself if she thought there wasn’t a honed, rock hard booty behind those tailored slacks.

  She couldn’t tear her eyes from him. The black of his hair glinted beneath the light of the giant chandelier overhead, the thick lustrous locks begging for her fingers to slide through them. They’d be soft, silky, the perfect handhold for when she lay under him, a slave to his demands on her body. He’d brush his sexy lips over her neck, murmuring dirty words to her in Russian, then he’d press her down, putting all his weight on her, and she’d mewl, moaning like a cat in heat, and then he’d drag his mouth down, taking her nipple—

  Whoa! Where had that come from? She’d never let a man put his arm around her waist before, and now she was having dirty, breathtakingly vivid thoughts about a man she’d only known for twenty minutes? But, hell, what a man he was. Her gaze remained on his back, admiring the height, the breadth, the very strength pulsing from his frame. His broad shoulders filled that coat nicely—perfectly—and the way he smelled… God damn, she was in trouble. How had she ended up here, with him? He was what erotic romance novels were made of, the stuff of naughty dreams and dirty imaginings. And yet, he was just across the room, speaking into the receiver in that deep, rumbling, sexy as hell voice of his. Her body in flames, the very core of her roiling—in the anticipation of pleasure and the twinge of fear, she held her breath as he terminated the call and turned back toward her, his eyes pinning her to the luxurious leather couch like a stick pin through a mounted butterfly. How could a single look from Vitali have reduced her to a babbling, fumbling, practically whimpering lamb—in the sights of a ruthless predator, no less?

  Get it together, Mari! Yeah, but how was that supposed to work? The sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on was now stalking across the room toward her, a sly smile on his gorgeous lips… The same lips that had told her he’d wanted her since he’d seen her…and that he wanted to kiss her. Her! Mariana Sanchez, chubby Latina, the bookworm, the nerd, the hopeless spinster, without a single notch in her bedpost.

  Suddenly, a band of iron fused itself to her back, strengthening her flagging resolve. She was here, with him, because she’d decided that enough was enough—she was tired of being lonely, of her life being one rut after another. And, from the looks of him, Vitali Pavlovich was the perfect man to pull her from her ruts and help her to realize the life she’d been skirting until now.

  He was the sexiest damn man in the whole world. Wasn’t that a bonus? And they were getting married—but first…

  “Before we go any further,” she said, her all-business tone making its appearance—thank God!— “I think we need to discuss the details of the contract.” That got her another raised eyebrow, this one nearly flying into his hairline.

  A simmering, intense look flashed through his eyes before being doused by that same chilly intensity she’d seen when she spied him for the first time. Good. She needed him to back away, give her some breathing room. She couldn’t think if she overheated.

  “A lawyer through and through…” he drawled, raking his emerald gaze over her before sitting down in the upholstered chair across from the couch. He leaned back in the seat, crossed his leg over his knee, and placed the flat of his hands on the upholstered arms of the chair. Once again Mariana couldn’t tear her gaze away; the man was all power and sexual potency, even when he was giving the impression of ease. Simply sitting there, Vitali gave off wave after wave of dangerous, intoxicating, and utterly palpable masculinity. Strangely disappointed that he hadn’t sat next to her again, and angry at her disappointment, she charged ahead.

  Biting the inside of her cheek to steady herself, she met his gaze head-on. “Not just a lawyer, the best damn lawyer, under 30, in Chicago.” That was her fiery, defiant voice, one she’d usually kept at bay, but around Vitali, she was losing her cool. Dammit, Mari! Clearing her throat, and checking her attitude, she continued, “I took my time looking over the contract provided by Ms. Creed.”

  Vitali didn’t bat an eye, didn’t move a muscle, didn’t even seem to be breathing. It was unnerving, how he could stare at her so intently. Swallowing, she waited another moment to give him a chance to chime in. When he didn’t, she cocked an eyebrow then tipped her head, ever so slightly, in the way that usually unsettled her opposition.

  “This is the part where you ask me if I have any questions,” she drawled, crossing her arms over her chest in a show of nonchalance she wasn’t feeling.

  Nothing. The man continued to watch her, his eyes never leaving her face, and she couldn’t figure out what the hell he was thinking about. Moments ago, the man was fire, but now…he was ice. Perhaps talk of business wasn’t the way to go.

  But she persisted, because, while she was shit at relationships, she was a goddess in the courtroom. “While I agreed to marry you—and al
l the conditions that come with that change in status, I think it best that we take some time to get to know one another before we consummate—”

  Vitali shot forward in his seat, his eyes blazing. “No,” he barked. And she felt the edge of her restraint slip.

  “What do you mean, no?” she asked, her voice lowering in warning, like a lioness voicing her displeasure.

  He rose to his full height, dwarfing her, where she sat on the couch. So, she stood up, too. He was still a head taller than her, though, so she craned her head to meet his gaze, which was pouring cold fire into her.

  He stepped around the coffee table with a predatory grace that struck her dumb—something that was happening much too frequently as of late. Once he was standing before her, he reached up and grasped her chin in his large, rough, hot hand, holding her in place. She bit her lip, uncertainty and wariness warring against her desire to remain calm. His green eyes followed the movement of her mouth as she nibbled nervously. Fire bloomed to life in his gaze, and he growled. “I mean that I have already waited two years for you, Mariana. I refuse to wait another day to make you mine.”

  The urge to take her bottom lip between his own teeth throbbed through him with a crashing wave of desire. She didn’t know the power she wielded over him; her movements and reactions were not some elaborate yet subtle form of seduction. She was guileless but undeniably compelling.

  He refused to let her wiggle her luscious ass out of consummating their marriage. Even now, every instinct to claim her roared from within him, snapping its jaws, unsheathing its claws, desperate to rip that skirt from her body, spread her thighs apart, and lap at her cunny like a starving beast.

  His cock raged just as hard, and he knew he was letting his body rule his brain, but the look of defiance on her face made the beast within him roar all the more. What he wouldn’t give to see that expression melt into one of utter surrender.

  Squaring his shoulders, he scrubbed a hand down his face, turning away from her to put some distance between them.

  From behind him, her husky voice slid over his senses like a silk sheet. “Two years? I’ve only known you for half an hour…” He could feel her gaze boring into him, her puzzlement out of place in her usually confident demeanor—not that she’d let him know he’d shaken her, even a little bit. The sound of her breath catching brought him around to look at her. She’d gone pale, her lustrous eyes wide, and her mouth set in a grim line.

  “Now I know why your name sounds so familiar—you’re Vitali Pavlovich, owner of Trans-Global Corporation,” she said, almost accusingly. “I won a case against your company in 2016.” She gasped, her color returning. “Is that what this is about? You wanting to get back at me for winning in court?” Her voice had taken on a disgusted tone that pulled at his already taut nerves.

  “Blyad. Hell no,” he growled. “I would never take your victory and taint it like that. You won that case, fair.” Something in his voice must’ve been convincing because her shoulders relaxed and her stance eased—just enough for her to cross her arms again. Her breasts heaved upward, nearly toppling over the neckline of her sweater.

  Fuck me.

  “Fine, then what is this about? I never met you, you sent your lackeys—and that female Terminator—to do the negotiating and litigation.”

  He fought the urge to smirk at her description of Lyuba. It was a fitting one.

  “Da. I am usually hands-off during court cases in the U.S.”

  She gave a quick nod. “So. Explain…” she commanded, her hands dropping to plant firmly on the curves of her hips. He knew what she meant; how could he possibly want her without actually having met her?

  He’d never been one to pull his punches—as Americans would say—and he’d never denied himself anything as achingly long as he’d denied himself Mariana.

  “During the litigation phase of the trial, I snuck into the back of the courtroom. I wanted to see the woman who had tied my multi-million-dollar legal team in knots. My first sight of you pulled the rug out from under me; you were wearing a black skirt, white blouse, and blood-red blazer… I nearly climbed out of my skin with the need to know who you were. When Byron Dreven, lead counsel in that case, told me you were the opposing counsel, I knew I was well and truly fucked.”

  He stepped toward her, the need to touch her overwhelming him. He reached out and slid the pad of his finger over her cheek. She shivered.

  “You weren’t just the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, I knew that you were intelligent, clever, driven, and passionate—all things I wanted in the woman who would share my bed.”

  6

  Vitali watched a flurry of emotions tumble through her expression; her chocolate-coffee eyes filling with confusion, then realization, then wariness.

  “I see,” she said, her voice breathy. So, she wasn’t as unaffected as she’d like him to believe. Good. “But how did I end up here? As far as I know, the Diamond Bridal Agency is completely anonymous. Either this was a huge coincidence, or Ms. Creed is running a shoddy business.”

  Vitali chuckled, running his thumb over her cheek again, just to watch her pupils dilate again.

  “I don’t believe in coincidences,” he replied. “I believe in going after what I want, and I wanted you.”

  The vixen bit her bottom lip again, and this time, Vitali’s thumb traced the indent of her teeth in the plump flesh. A groan lodged in his throat, behind the deep breath he had to take to keep from falling over her in his eagerness to taste her.

  Mariana tried pulling away, but Vitali placed a hand on her waist to keep her in place. Her soft gasp made his cock jump.

  “That doesn’t explain how you knew who I was—out of all the applications, you chose mine. And, how did we end up at the same bridal agency? There has to be more than just the one. You could have picked any one of them.” From the weight of her tone, he knew she was calculating the probabilities even as she spoke the questions. God, but she was sharp.

  “I picked that one because you did. I knew you’d applied there, and so I contacted the agency, gave them a list of very specific requirements—basically you without the benefit of your name—and waited. Ms. Creed matched us within the week.”

  Vitali watched the light flick on in her mind; her eyes flew wide in shock then narrowed in fierce anger. His heart leapt, a strange ache pulsing against his ribs.

  “You knew? And so, you…what, laid a trap for me?” she practically hissed. She tried pulling away again, but Vitali strengthened his hold on her chin and her waist. He’d be damned if he let her go now.

  “It’s only a trap if you don’t want to get caught. You knew you were signing up to marry a stranger. I wanted you,” he said simply. “I couldn’t stand the thought of some other man having what I’d been slavering over for nearly two years. So, I did what I had to do to get you here, with me, right where you belong.”

  Her eyes flashing defiance—brilliant, scorching fire—she parted her lips to, no doubt, tell him where to stick his misogyny, and the beast that had waited two years to taste her finally slipped loose of its cage.

  With a growl, he bent down and took her lips, hungrily. Invading the warmth and decadent sweetness with his tongue, he lapped at her, devouring her, begging her to yield to him, to give herself over to the pleasure he could offer her. She stiffened, shock vibrating through her, but then she melted into him, meeting his tongue with her own. Groaning deep in her throat, she placed her hands on his chest and slid them up to wrap around the back of his neck. It was her turn to hold him in place—he wasn’t going anywhere anyway. He was finally kissing her, and it was heaven.

  Deepening the kiss, his stroked his left hand up her side until his thumb brushed the underside of her breast. She moaned—his woman…she was going up in flames from a single kiss. How would she be, fully naked, in his arms? He would thrust into her, sheathing himself inside her, and she’d come apart, exploding. It would be glorious, like the most erotic masterpiece any man could paint.

&nb
sp; His mind and his cock both ravenous for that sight, he dropped his other hand from her face to join the hand at her breasts.

  Before he could cup the lush mounds as he so desperately wanted, she stiffened again, this time dropping her hands to his chest to push him. He let her.

  Breath heaving, she stared up at him, her eyes dark, lips swollen and kiss ravaged. The vision she made; her face flushed, her eyes and lips begging for his kiss again, was almost too much to bear. But he would…because something was wrong.

  Catching his breath, he forced his hands to fall to his sides, where he clenched them to keep from reaching out to her again.

  “That… That was amazing,” she breathed, her voice huskier than he’d ever heard it. It stirred his blood, making ever more of the precious life force rush to his groin.

  Calm down, dammit! You will have her soon. Give her time… He had to remember that she was a gift, something he’d earned for all the hard work and suffering he’d endured. She was the culmination of a life of sacrifice and diligence. Vitali looked down at her—a renewed sense of awe blinding him to all else but her.

  “Da, it was…amazing.” Though amazing couldn’t completely describe what he’d felt, it was a good enough start. Mind-blowing. Earth-shattering. Heart-pounding. Devastating. All words to better describe what that kiss had been. “But I can see something is the matter,” he drawled, leading her back to the couch where he waited for her to sit before taking the seat beside her.

  Mariana clasped her hands in her lap then took a deep breath.

  “If you read all the documentation on the agency, you know their stipulations regarding the…err…sexual status of their applicants.”

  He blinked at her, uncertain of where she was going. “You’re a virgin.”

  A becoming blush colored her cheeks a rich, burnished red, and she bit her lip again, nodding. “Yes, I am.”