His words sent a thrill through her, his words gave her hope. Hope that this wasn’t just about sex, there could be more on his side than he was letting on. Knowing she was pushing her luck she shook her head, “I belong to no one.”
“Bullshit! You are mine!” His hand moved into the tangle of her hair and his grip wasn’t kind as he pulled her back to meet his hard gaze. “Say it, damn it. Say ‘I belong to Dmitri.’ Don’t push me, Elise.”
His words set her body on fire all over again and again she was wet with need. “I belong to Dmitri.” It was a breathy whisper that escaped her.
Her shirt was gone and his mouth was hot on her breast. He sucked her nipple deeply into his mouth and his hand moved to her aching heat. He found the nub of pleasure and caressed her until she came apart in his arms.
When Elise came back into her body, she sighed, it wasn’t fair, he touched her and she went up in flames. Who was she kidding? He didn’t even have to touch her. She considered leaving the matter until later, but knew it couldn’t wait. Now that she knew what he wanted from her, she needed to know just where she stood in his life, before she left with him. She was splayed over his chest, he was lost in thought, one hand played in her hair, and the other was above his head. She pushed up to straddle his body and she immediately had his attention. His eyes were bright with heat and suspicion.
“Tell me why you left me in Chicago.” He swore, and shook his head as she inched farther down his body until she could feel his cock begin to stir against her. “Tell me, Dmitri.”
“Fuck. Fine. I didn’t want Wyatt Hopper anywhere near you. He was eying you at the last meeting. If he was looking at you then, he would have made a move—with your beauty on show and not hidden as it had been before. I had the deal all but closed. I couldn’t fuck
it up by beating the shit out of the man for coming on to you.” His hands went to her hips to keep her from moving.
Elise was stunned, she hadn’t been expecting his response. “Dmitri, that’s crazy. Wyatt Hopper wasn’t attracted to me, he’s gay.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“He’s gay, only close family know, but he’s been living with a man since his marriage broke up six years ago. One of the secretaries sniffed about how proud she was of her boss for giving to charities for gay causes. I did some digging and found out.”
“Elise, the man must have looked at you half a dozen times at that last meeting. I’m not crazy.”
“Well, when I was checking into him, I did see a picture of his daughter and we look a lot alike, without the glasses and bad clothes.”
“Hmm...”
“Dmitri, I don’t want to stay hidden every time you think someone is looking at me. I didn’t notice Hopper staring at me and I don’t care. All I care about is you. How am I supposed to do my job like that? You hired me to be your assistant, go where you go and be by your side while you work. How can I do that locked in an office?” He tensed beneath her and something flashed across his face, and it all clicked into place. “Dmitri, why did you hire me?”
“Because you are extremely intelligent, your efficiency in languages, and the fact I would have to be an idiot not to.”
His jaw locked and she knew she had asked the wrong question. She leaned down, planting her hands flat on his chest.
“Dmitri, why did you hire me as your PA?”
His jaw worked and she didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until he yanked her down to him and kissed her until the room spun around her. He didn’t stop until she was limp and boneless, sinking into his heat. He lifted her away, only inches separating them, his breath tangling with hers as he spoke, “Fine, I admit it. I took one look at you, and wanted you underneath me. I would do anything to make that happen. So, instead of sending you on to New York, as planned, to learn the basics and find a place for you there, I sent back the PA who really wasn’t up to standards. She had remained on the plane for that meeting with her third migraine of the week. I’m not sorry for it.”
Elise’s fuzzy mind tried to follow his gritted out admission and pushed away to sit back up. He allowed it, but his hands slid back to her hips, locking her in place. “So, you had always planned to hire me on with your company?”
“I meant what I said before, you have no college education, but your intelligence and hard work were the only things keeping Steeltech going for the last three years. I know the decisions you’ve made, I know your hunger for knowledge, and research is what has helped you. To be multilingual so young also caught my eye, you’ve seen the number of countries I’ve gone to. But you need to learn more about how I operate and I believed a two year run at my corporate office was all that you needed before I moved you up.”
She sat back as she realized how close she had come to losing him, of never being with him, and she sighed with relief. “I want to be annoyed with you, but if you hadn’t been so sneaky and manipulative I wouldn’t be here now. I never would have gone to work for you in New York.”
Seeing her sincerity, he went still, “Why the hell not?”
“I wouldn’t have wanted to leave Alexandria. It’s my home, I grew up there. The only reason I went with you the first day was because you said it would be temporary. I don’t want to be some highflying executive, the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be is a wife and mother. I know the feminists will want me to hand in my card for saying it, but that’s the way I feel.” She couldn’t meet his eyes and found herself fascinated with the light dusting of dark hair that covered his chest. He really was gorgeous.
Dmitri captured her chin and brought her eyes back to his. She wasn’t ready for the words he wanted to say and it was painful to hold them back. Instead, he said the only thing that really mattered, and that she would understand. “This isn’t temporary, anymore. Do you understand that?”
“I’ll stay until you tell me to go.” She promised, as she leaned down to kiss him.
Chapter Six
Elise sighed as she forced herself to concentrate on what the man was trying to tell her as she scanned the plans without the slightest bit of appeal. He was intent on making sure she understood his vision, but all she could think was that his plans weren’t much different than the penthouse condo now. Dmitri had been adamant that their home was hers to design. But she also knew what Dmitri liked and she wanted him to be able to relax in the evenings and unwind. In the last month she had made great strides in getting him to pare down his workday to only twelve hours, he even did only a half day on Saturday, and she had him all to herself all day on Sundays. So what if she had used the enticement of sex, all that mattered was that it worked. A smile played over her lips as she remembered how she had managed that.
It had been a very early Saturday morning when he had risen, showered, and begun to dress. She knew when he did his best to be quiet and not wake her he wouldn’t be asking her to come in for the day. If he did, it would be late and for only a few hours then they would leave from work and go straight out for dinner.
Her mind in turmoil, she gave in and did what she had been thinking about, but was too scared to do for the past week. Sitting up, she stretched, careless of the sheet falling from her naked body. He stopped buttoning his shirt and his entire attention was on her.