“For a couple of weeks.” It all became clear. The countdown I’d sensed.
Today was my fourteenth day at Berezka. The clock had zeroed out.
“I was ordered not to speak to you in Nebraska; here I was forbidden to seek you out for that time.”
I’d never thought about him having to wait to meet me over that month he’d spied on me. He’d already admitted that he’d fantasized about me sexually as he’d stalked me. How frustrating to watch and never be able to touch.
No, no, no, you’re furious with him, remember?
“I think Paxán expected you to want Filip. Perhaps I did as well.”
No wonder Sevastyan had been so angry when he’d thought Filip had been about to kiss me. “So what happens now?”
“Now?” He donned his pants. “Now I’m done allowing you space.”
Was he joking? As I studied his face, I heard something outside. A truck? “Sevastyan, is someone here?”
He sat down to pull on his boots. “While I saw to the horses, I called the groom, told him to retrieve us in no less than two hours.”
“Two hours? He’ll know what we’ve been doing! We’re going to walk out there and a steam cloud will billow out, and he’ll know. Or he’ll think he knows, and he’ll tell everyone! It won’t matter that we didn’t sleep together. Everyone will believe we did.”
“True.”
My eyes went wide. “You did this on purpose. To force my hand. We didn’t have sex, but we might as well have.”
“You’re this upset by the prospect of being with me?”
“I told you that I don’t like making big decisions under pressure.”
“Then we’re fortunate that the decision’s been made for you.” While I gaped, he said, “I made a play for what I want.” His expression so much as said, Your ass is mine, and we both know it. “I made no secret of what I’d do to possess you. If this is the only way, then so be it.”
I stiffened. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of me. He was so cold, so different from how he’d been earlier. Because he’s won. Or he thinks he has. “What happens when the thrill of the chase wears off? And why me? Of all the beautiful women you’ve dated? I mean, you’re in your thirties and never thought to settle down before.”
Instead of answering me, he said, “This is a done thing, Natalie. Everything will work out if you trust me.”
The groom’s voice sounded outside.
Sevastyan tugged his wet shirt on, then reached for his coat. “I will tell your father that we are together. When he speaks to you, you’ll tell him the same.”
Simple. Clean. Permanent.
To live in a new country, in a new world, with a man I hardly knew. In a new life I wasn’t convinced was better than my old one.
“Trust you and everything will work out? That’s just another way of saying you know what’s best for me. Or worse, that you know better than me.”
“In this, I do. You don’t have the experience to know that what just happened here—and in the closet, and on the plane—is the rarest exception, not the rule.”
I was bristling. “Again, you’re saying you know better than me.”
“You’re a smart girl. You’re going to replay everything we’ve done, and you’re going to reach the same conclusion I have.” He moved in close, leaning down to kiss my jawline and lower.
“And wh-what conclusion is that?” When had he discovered how sensitive my neck was? With one spot in particular . . .
He pressed his lips directly to my pulse point, making my knees weak. “Eto ne izbezhno dlya nas.” You and I are inevitable.
Focus, Natalie! How could I still desire him when his high-handedness was unbearable? “An asteroid hitting the earth is inevitable! Or an active volcano erupting. Bad things are inevitable.”
Drawing back, he gazed down at me. “No, powerful things are,” he said as he captured my hand—to drag me out into the real world.
At Berezka’s front entrance, Sevastyan walked me to the doors. I was suddenly aware of all the activity around us. Was it just me, or had the groundskeepers paused their raking to watch Sevastyan and me interact?
A couple of brigadiers emerged from the house. They stopped short and stared at my bedraggled appearance—before the warning in Sevastyan’s eyes made them slink away.
Turning back to me, Sevastyan said, “I’m going to speak to Paxán after dinner.”
I was still half-dazed. “I haven’t accepted this. You.”
“Trust me, pet.” He curled his forefinger under my chin, then leaned down to give me a kiss that anyone could see.
Which was his admitted plan. I thought it’d be a brief good-bye kiss, a toll I would grudgingly accept to get into the house as quickly as possible.
Instead, Sevastyan seemed bent on starting that fire in me once more. He took my mouth fiercely, giving me hot, seeking flicks of his tongue. It was a down-and-dirty kiss, with one objective: slay my resistance.
Which it did.
His hands descended to my hips, squeezing me against his body as his mouth consumed mine. Our tongues sparred until I was gripping his shoulders, wanting to get even closer to his unyielding heat.
As ever, his kiss had a way of blanking my mind, of filling me with a sense that all was well—even when I knew all was futhermucked. . . .
When he finally broke away, leaving me panting and shaken, he smirked. “Lie to yourself all you like, but you’ve definitely accepted me.” Masculine satisfaction emanated from him. His bearing wouldn’t have been amiss on an Olympic podium.
Triumphant. Victorious male.
Was that why I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been defeated?
When I opened the door with a wobbling step, he swatted my ass. I tossed a bewildered look over my shoulder, surprised as much by the unexpected love tap as by this playful side.
“Go inside and get warm, Natalie. And relax, this is a good thing.”
Then he was gone, leaving my lips bruised and my mind in turmoil. Lost in my thoughts, I made my way up the stairs—
I started when Filip stepped in front of me on the landing.
There was fury in his eyes. “Have fun with the guard dog?”
Chapter 22
“I’ve been so worried about you!” Jess exclaimed when I called her that night.
“Really?” I’d kind of been worried about myself after Filip’s meltdown just hours ago. “What’s up?”