Lap of Luxury (Love Don't Cost a Thing)

“You’ve already handed me everything else on a silver platter.”

“Fuck you.”

Damir makes an amused tutting noise. He speaks softly into my ear. “I think what you really want is someone to love you so hard that your heart never aches for anything ever again. And that’s got fuck all to do with diamonds.”

I grip the stem of my wine glass, panic firing my nerves. How the hell does he do that?

“Where’s everyone who loves you, Bethany? Your foster parents. Your friends. Your lovers. How is it that such a pretty, clever girl ends up with no one?”

I force a shaky laugh and glance around the room, as if we’re talking of nothing more serious than the pristine weather. “You like that, don’t you? That I have no one. I bet a predator like you could smell it on me.”

He shakes his head, his blue-gray eyes clear and guileless for a change. “No, actually. My instincts were very wrong. I thought Mikhail had his claws into you. That I’d have to do battle with a dozens of men, parents, scores of friends and the police to keep you as my own.”

“And you’re disappointed, because here I am, and you’ve barely needed to fight.”

Damir puts his finger beneath my chin and lifts my face to his. “You’re determined to think the worst at every turn.”

“Habit. It’s less disappointing that way.”

“I’ve never disappointed you, have I, princesa?”

I stare at him, hypnotized by his jewel-like gaze. With him, I feel protected to the point of being smothered, and yet I can’t get enough of it. That’s got fuck all to do with his money.

“That’s not fair,” I whisper. He’s offering me exactly what I crave the most because I was stupid enough to reveal what it is, and not even with words. He can read me like a book.

“What? Me being a man of my word? Of honor?”

I pull out of his grip and take half a step away. I’m starting to get warped ideas about Damir Ravnikar. “Strange ideas a kidnapper has about honor.”

He comes toward me, closing the gap, his eyes sparking like a tiger giving chase. “Maybe you shouldn’t think of it as a kidnapping. Maybe you should think of it as an emergency rescue, because how happy were you, really, before you met me?”

If you could bottle the possessive need in his eyes right now so that anyone could be bathed in its glow, you’d be an overnight billionaire.

“Shut up.”

“I’m the most loyal man you’ve ever met, Bethany. Of course, I’m not perfect. I get jealous.” He reaches out for me and plants a kiss behind my ear. “Selfish.” A kiss behind my other ear. “Demanding.” A kiss on my mouth. “And bloodthirsty. But if you crave someone who will love you to the point of obsession…” His lips brush softly over my own. “Then I’m your man.”

I look into his eyes, and the whole room falls away. The whole world. It’s just us, as the very center of the universe. “Damir, I—”

“Damir. So pleased you could make it, and your beautiful fiancée.”

I jump at the interruption. Damir’s jaw clenches, and he swings around to look at Lucan Navarro. He’s holding a glass of champagne in one hand and there’s an indulgent smile on his face.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Damir says, a shade of chilliness in his voice. “Would we, princesa?”

“Oh, I didn’t have any choice,” I say, forcing a breezy smile. Needing to cover up the massive black hole that’s opened up inside me with something. Anything. “Not when he’s kidnapped me and is keeping me prisoner on his yacht.”

We all laugh, as if it’s a joke.

“This man,” Lucan says, patting Damir’s cheek as if he’s a naughty child. “He’s like a son to me. And your fiancée reminds me of Nataša in certain lights. Don’t you think?”

By my side, I feel Damir tense.

Navarro continues, studying me. “She has the Ravnikar dark hair, and that proud look about her eyes. Her lips are like yours. Her nose, too. Very beautiful.”

I glance at Damir’s lips, but his wide mouth is a very different shape to my cupid’s bow, and our profiles are unalike, too. Unless I’m not seeing things right?

Anger flickers in Damir’s gaze, and I realize Navarro is making things up in order to screw with him. From the brutal way Damir’s hand closes around mine, it’s working.