Chapter 10

London, England

Viktor took a long pull from the vodka in his hand as he gazed out the window to the courtyard patio of his London home. The soft glow of the moon lit the garden and stone fountains beyond the glass. The mansion had several levels and private gardens, but this one lay outside his private suite of rooms. He had enough business in the city to keep a London residence, and he had to admit it was one of his favorite homes.

The comfortable sitting area was large, with a fireplace, several tables and chairs, and dark wood walls adorned with priceless art. One side held the wet bar he used more often than not while in residence. This was the one place he allowed only his closest friends, but it had the privacy and security needed to meet his princess. He turned at the tread of footsteps on the hardwood floors.

Ivan stalked forward, the door clicking shut behind him. “She’s here. Her woman demands to be allowed to clear the room before the princess comes in.”

Viktor wondered what else the woman had said that set Ivan’s tattooed fingers flexing at his side. He didn’t ask, too eager to see his prey to wait any longer than necessary. “Fine.”

Ivan grumbled something and opened the door wider. The woman who entered had a dark look in her eyes as she pulled out a small handheld device.

He stilled at the sight, his hand tightening on his glass, yet he showed no other reaction to the equipment she held. “This will block all signals in here while you speak to Her Royal Highness.” It would do more than jam his audio and video systems, but he kept that knowledge to himself for the moment.

Instead of reacting to the device, he raised an eyebrow at her tone and challenging look. It was very brave considering where she was. Not to mention her nerve at entering his home with that particular jammer.

Without awaiting an answer from him, she turned on the device and moved to the windows, drawing the curtains with swift, practiced moves, visually cutting the room off from the outside. The woman made her way through the space, missing little. Her training was obviously as good as his reports indicated, but her protective tone suggested she was more than a hired guard.

His eyes flickered to the small piece of equipment as she set it on his table. A jamming device would be standard protocol in a clandestine meeting with a royal or anyone of wealth wishing to discuss sensitive or less than legal topics. He was fine with that process, having implemented it himself often enough.

But what the guard had brought into his domain was a sleek, high-powered device designed by his and Titian’s company. They’d just rolled it out, and it had only gone to the first of their elite clientele and any covert organizations personally vetted by Daire, their figurehead. That meant only his people and a few select groups and agencies had access to it. It was more than the audio and video blocker she’d made it out to be. No, that particular product had the ability to pull precious security data from all wireless feeds running within the walls of this room.

Viktor avoided any obvious reaction to its use, but Ivan had glanced over at him the second the female pulled it out.

Very few people knew the companies Viktor backed, and he’d taken great pains to hide his affiliation to Rath Tech Industries for exactly this reason. The blocking device would have been far more dangerous if his feeds weren’t programmed to shut down upon interaction with its kind. The little guard would be very disappointed when she didn’t get anything from this venture. Even his cell phone had a protective casing.

He considered the situation carefully. A threat to his security was not one he dealt with lightly, and he was not known for being kind to those who attempted to cross him. Yet he had no desire to divulge his knowledge of the equipment. It only added another element of intrigue to his princess, as he was fairly certain there were no Porenza contacts on the list of clients who were permitted early access to equipment, or any access, for that matter. It was something he intended to look into. At that moment, he was far more interested in seeing his princess, so he was willing to make a concession about the equipment for now. He’d thought far too much about this meeting over the last week to end it before it began.

The female nodded to the jammer on the coffee table with a warning look. “It stays on.” Then she headed to the door. His lips twitched at her bravado, and when she pushed the door wider, he caught a glimpse of his prey. With her head held high and a fierce glint in her chocolate eyes, his princess made no secret of her anger.

He tightened his grip on the forgotten tumbler in his hand, the sight of her more tempting than that of any other women he’d encountered.

She ensnared him with a glare as she tossed orders to both Ivan and her guard. “You can both wait outside.”

Viktor suppressed a grin. He didn’t have to look at Ivan to know the man was frowning. His man had been dismissed with all the regal authority of one furious royal. He nodded to Ivan, indicating he should leave. He didn’t need to tell Ivan to watch the princess’s guard.

The door shut, and all the sexual tension surging between them flooded the room.

She was stunning, and her anger only made her more rousing.

Her graceful strides ate up the distance between them.

He took his time raking his gaze from the shiny dark waves of her hair to the sweeping curves of what he knew to be soft, smooth skin lurking beneath her conservative dress. His princess had perfected the ability to cover everything while hiding little. He’d noticed that at the nightclub as well. His cock twitched at the idea of peeling the material off her silky, tan flesh, revealing every inch she hid from him.

His reaction to her was swift and encompassing. It wasn’t just her beauty, though in that, she was incomparable. It was the fire in her gaze as she came within feet of touching him.

“Are you finished?” The words held a hint of steely reprimand at his slow perusal. He hadn’t hidden the desire he felt for her, and he could see her fighting her own need.

“For now,” he allowed. “Would you like a drink?”

“I’d rather you get to the point, Mr. Popov. Why am I here?”

He stalked forward, noticing she’d stopped shy of the first chair of the sitting area, likely trying to maintain some distance. Attraction sizzled between them, and the way she rocked back a fraction before glaring harder at him said she felt it just as strongly. He wanted to see just how hot it burned.

“I told you we weren’t done.”

“You also told me you didn’t break into my hotel to blackmail me.”

He raised an eyebrow at her in question. “And you believe that’s changed?”

“Your man said it was ‘in my best interest’ to see you in London. Why don’t you tell me what he meant by that?”

“Would you believe it a simple miscommunication?” Her commanding fury was that of a queen, not a princess. There were many sides to the beauty before him. In his arms, she was passionate and wild. In the media, she was proper and elegant. While escaping her security, she was rebellious and athletic. And in those deep chocolate eyes, he saw secrets waiting to be uncovered.

Her next words were stern yet challenging. “You saw me sneak out of my hotel room. I’ll admit it would make life more difficult if that got back to my brother, but it’s not something I’ll pay to keep quiet.” Her gaze grew a fraction harder. “Or was the whole break-in about something else? Did you video tape what we did?”

He frowned at her accusation.

*****

Sophia was furious, and even that hadn’t prevented her from being attracted to him. He unnerved her. The way he watched her walk into the room nearly made her falter. Raw sexual energy crackled around him with every flex of muscle beneath the expensive dress shirt and slacks. The leashed danger in his tense shoulders and chill of his gaze would make a sane woman step away, but instead, she felt herself sway forward.

“You think I recorded you coming for me?” The clipped tone and hard look left no question as to how offensive he found her question.

She felt a million emotions all roiling through her at once. Fury and fear were in a cold, hard tie for first, but there was also embarrassment and frustration at how he still affected her.

Her traitorous body couldn’t care less whether he was innocent or not. Her breasts heaved in the bodice of her dress, her nipples pressing into the material the second his accent thickened. It was harder to breathe as he drew even closer. She didn’t retreat. She couldn’t force her feet to move as he towered above her once again. The heat from his body rolled over her, through her, making her crave more. That alone was an indication that she needed to get the hell out of there.

He was like a damned drug.

She couldn’t leave until she learned what he had on her because she wouldn’t turn her back on a predator. Slowly drawing in a fortifying breath, she studied his gaze, needing to be sure she wasn’t seeing what she wanted to see. Did she crave some mindlessness so badly after her hellish week that she’d hop into bed with a man trying to extort her?

No.

She assessed him closely. Could he seem that genuinely offended while lying? He’d have to be a damned good actor.

Don’t let him be a good actor.

Her eyes moved to the drink he’d yet to let go of. His fingers were tight around the half-empty glass of clear liquid. Vodka? How very Russian of him. Her lips turned up slightly of their own accord.

Am I losing my mind?

Her eyes flickered back up, noting his cold gaze seemed caught on her lips. When his gaze flashed back to hers, it had turned to something else.

Mouth suddenly dry, Sophia firmed her resolve and demanded, “Are you saying you didn’t record me?” She wanted to believe it, but she had to be cautious. Her instincts were usually good, but with him, she wasn’t sure she could trust them at all.

“No, I did not.” The sharp denial sounded sure.

She studied him, fighting the arousal building in her blood, making her hot, her skin too sensitive. “So all you have on me is sneaking out of my hotel room. You thought that was enough to get what, exactly?”

He moved with the grace of a panther as he entered her space and stood so close she could run her fingers over all the muscle under that smooth shirt. She felt the hints of anger rolling off him, but it wasn’t anything close to the electric attraction. His size and demeanor should be intimidating, but that was the last thing she felt from him. Her body swayed of its own accord, and she tensed every muscle to stop herself.

Her eyes darted to the buttons of his dress shirt as she thought of the one she’d found in the hotel room. The one she’d saved. It was in her makeup case, a memento that she couldn’t force herself to toss out.

A naïve part of her had held out hope that he wasn’t the villain his message had made him out to be.

“I have done many despicable things, Princess, but I would not record anything I do to you for blackmail.”

She stared at him, dissecting his words, his tone, and what he hadn’t said. Does that mean he’d record us for the pleasure of it? Her cheeks flushed with heat, because that was too much like her dirty fantasy version of him.

“I do not need to force women into my bed.”

She cleared her throat and pushed all her unsettling thoughts away. “Yet you force them into your home.”

“I saved you from yourself, Princess.”

She gave him a hard look. “How so?”

“You said we could not meet again, yet you wanted to. We both want this. Have wanted this for some time.” His eyes trailed down to her nipples, and she had no doubt they were threatening to expand past the confines of her lined dress.

“What did you think would happen when I arrived?”

“You can choose to leave, or stay and take what we both want.”

She forced herself to breathe. “If I leave, you’ll lose my guard’s phone number and never mention this night or what happened in Paris?” Had his shoulders tightened a fraction?

He hadn’t touched her, and all threads of his anger had dissipated as he studied her face. “Your secrets are safe.”

“What assurance do I have that the past stays there?”

She held her ground with difficulty. He was close enough that his heat was wrecking her, and that sexy masculine scent of cigar, soap, and mint was already in her lungs, inside her.

“There are no assurances, Princess. But what would I gain from using the information again? Would you return if I used it?”

“No.”

“Had you planned to give me anything to stay quiet about what I know?”

“No.”

“Good.” He sounded far too approving, which wasn’t what she’d expected from a blackmailer.

She shook her head, her mouth gaping slightly. “This was really just to get me here?”

When he nodded, she asked, “Now that I’m here, how would you get me into your bed?” Were her words that husky? She simply wanted to know what he had planned if she chose to believe he wasn’t extorting her.

“You wish to be in my bed, Princess. I can see it in the soft flush of your cheeks and the way your beautiful eyes dilate. Tell me you wish to stay.” His voice had gone low and seductive, and the sound made gooseflesh rise over her skin.

His eyes flashed with heat when he trailed them over her bare shoulders. She was mesmerized by the look on his face as he slid a knuckle over the goose bumps. When she trembled, she heard a groan from him. “You burn for me. I’ve thought of nothing but how hot you’d run if I took my time.”

She swallowed, and his gaze slid to her throat. The way he looked at her made her skin tingle with memories of his mouth on her sensitive flesh, how the scruff of his stubble had abraded her skin. The way he’d sucked and nipped his way down to her breasts. Her breathing grew more erratic with every thought. She wasn’t sure she’d survive if he wanted to “take his time.”

“Stay.” His gruff demand only fueled her arousal. He was lethal to her sanity, yet she couldn’t help but crave more.

“We live in two different worlds, Viktor. It couldn’t be more than this.” The words were more of a warning to herself than to him. He was a man, so he’d have no trouble with a one-night stand.

“Is that your answer?”

Her fingers itched with the desire to reach for him, but her mind was still deciding if this was a bad idea. One wild bout of sex, an exchange of pleasure between two consenting adults who knew that was all it would be. Hadn’t she always wanted him? If she didn’t have him just once, she’d probably regret it.

The bastard had manipulated her into coming to him, though.

Still…

The communication blocker kept her safe. This conversation, anything they did in this room, would remain between them. She searched his heated gaze. He’d forced her there, and it had been a devious ploy, but he wasn’t forcing her to stay. Or was that another trick?

It was hard to think while he seduced her with the soft touch of his knuckle on her bare arm, sending shivers straight to her core. He hadn’t done more. He hadn’t needed to. Her body responded to the innocent caress as if he were stroking between her thighs. She licked her bottom lip and made her choice.

His wide shoulders tensed as his gaze snagged on her lips for the second time that night.

“Okay.”

That was what he’d been waiting for. He set his glass aside and pulled her into his arms, one hand fisting in her hair as his mouth descended. He devoured her lips until she fell into that beautiful lust-filled haze he’d ignited in the hotel. Her lips had a mind of their own as she kissed him back with all the pent-up need she’d felt for years. Her fingers threaded through his hair before moving to yank on his shirt collar. He pulled her hips in so that her stomach was riding the hard ridge of his cock.

She moaned in protest when he broke off the kiss.

“I want the whole night.” His tone was demanding.

“No.”

He tensed, and she swore he looked more than a little taken aback. She wondered if he’d ever heard that particular word.

“I have to be back well before light.”

A muscle in his jaw jerked. “Fine.”

She inched back, still struggling for breath. When his entire body drew taut, she let him stew, a test to see if he would try to stop her. She turned less gracefully than she’d hoped with how unsteady he made her. She felt him moving toward her as if her mind was tuned to his every move, and when he finally stopped, she felt her lips curve upward. After reaching the door, she pulled it open, knowing he wasn’t far behind, but he hadn’t tried to stop her.

Jen was instantly visible. Her guard had codes for everything, insisting Sophia know practically a different language for absolutely any occasion. At the moment, Sophia was incredibly grateful for that bit of overkill, because they couldn’t speak freely with the guards behind Jen, and Viktor not far from her. She placed her hand on the door jamb, level with her head, so Jen could easily see it. She gave two taps of her thumb then one sweeping move while stating, “We will be staying the night. Wake me before daybreak.”

Jen assessed her closely before nodding.

Her guard put on a professional show, but Sophia knew she’d be interrogated later. “Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

Jen turned, and Viktor’s guard stepped back. The brutish Russian towering over Jen had tattoos on his neck and a nose that had been broken at least once in the past. “Alright, Ivan,” Jen said, “I know you have cards. Go get ’em.”

Sophia smiled slightly as she clicked the door shut before turning her back to it. Poor Ivan, she thought. Then she was caught by the sight of the man she’d just agreed to spend the night with.

Viktor stalked toward her with a look on his face that promised all her fantasies were about to come true. In his palm was the blocking device, and she sucked in a breath. She truly hoped his bedroom was through this room because she’d already shut the outer door on Jen and Ivan. Walking past them now would be incredibly uncomfortable.

Maybe they didn’t need a bed. She was all for the couch at this point. It was close, after all.