"I have to pace you during oral sex, or else you come too fast. When you truly open your heart to another, you do so for life, and you're loyal to a fault. You're patient. You're protective. You're secretive. But I know you'll share all your secrets if I share mine. Your zest for life is boundless. And when your blue eyes brighten with happiness, I feel as if I've been drugged. To a man like me, you are a drug."
My lips parted.
Then I gazed away, thinking about my past. I could see now I hadn't truly opened myself up to Brett. If I had, I wouldn't be this over him. I knew I'd never receive another e-mail from him, and the only emotion I felt was regret that he'd been hurt.
Nothing more.
Maybe I'd tried to force that relationship because I'd been so enamored with normal. Maybe I'd held back my heart because deep down I'd known I was meant for a grifter.
So where did that leave me now? I was married to a gull, living the most abnormal existence I could imagine. "Wouldn't your dream woman be heavy into BDSM?" I asked. "To match you?"
"Oh, you will be," he assured me, his tone making me shiver. "Already you are an incredibly responsive and giving submissive."
I didn't know if I liked that word. Even if I loved to submit. "Have you been with a lot of submissives?"
"No. None that I know of."
I frowned. "Shouldn't you have tried out some others before you got married? What if you want, or need, to explore this with someone else?" Most men cheated--the nature of the beast, and all that--with far less reason.
"It's taken me my whole life to find you. I will neither want nor need another." God, he sounded confident. Smug, even. Like I might sound if I'd won the World Series of Poker. "Understand me, I will never be unfaithful to you. My wife deserves a devoted husband." He believed what he was saying.
The way he talked reminded me of the shining devotion exhibited by his brothers. If Dmitri had been cut from the same cloth, maybe he wouldn't cheat.
He might be the type of guy who went to Vegas with buddies and proudly kept his ring on.
But how could I ever trust that? My hurdles are too high. And in the end, the point was moot anyway.
With all the lies I'd told him?
"Why didn't you have a lover already?" I asked, only to recall his behavior with babes like Sharon. "Actually, strike that question. Why did you chase women away?"
"Because I was looking for more than a bed partner."
"My sister didn't tempt you?" With her toppled tray?
"I believe your sister must be a lovely person, but she does not compare to you. If you two were side by side, I would not even see her."
No guy had ever chosen me over Karin. "That's difficult for me to accept."
"I wish you could see inside my thoughts." His forehead furrowed. Then he turned his thrall gaze on me. "Would you like to know how I view the world?"
Would I? I didn't know if I was ready to peek into his tricky, complicated mind. "Okay," I said, the word sounding more like a question.
"Imagine a pitch-black room with a single candle lit in the center," he said, his voice gone low. "The room is the world. You are the candle."
A shaky breath escaped my lips. "How can you be so sure about me?"
He leveled his spellbinding gaze on my face. "When you've been in the dark as long as I have, moy angel, there is no mistaking the light."
Whenever he said things like that, he was the dream. If something's too good . . . "I worry what you feel for me will burn up like a comet. It's too fast and heated to be sustained." We would hit our two-week anniversary, and he wouldn't be able to stand the sight of me.
"In time, you'll trust my feelings more. After your ex's infidelity, I understand why you find it difficult to relax your guard with me. But I'm not him. I will never lie to you. Everything I do, every action I take, is for your happiness. Remember that."
No nails over chalkboard.
He rose. "Come. I want to see your eyes light up again."
I stood, accepting his offered hand, and he led me inside to my dressing room.
Instead of my few unpacked garments, a store's worth of couture awaited me, plus accessories, purses, shoes, and even more jewelry.
I turned to him with my eyes wide.
He gave me a charming shrug, as if to say, Can't help it.
I dove into the closet, stroking materials, inspecting lines, drinking in colors and patterns. This wardrobe made me itch to design, to sketch the ideas that kept bubbling up in my head. "How'd you get all this here so quickly?" Everything was in my size.
"Money expedites delivery."
I held up a divine strand of pearls, running my face against them.
"I told you the diamond necklace was a good beginning," he said, his voice rumbling with satisfaction.
I would explore all his incredible gifts in time; right now I just needed to get closer to this man. I set the pearls away and crossed to him, then stood on my toes to press my lips to his cheek. Gazing up at him from under a curl, I asked sincerely, "How can you be so thoughtful and generous?"
He seemed to stand taller. "I live by one law: what my wife wants, my wife gets. Even if she doesn't yet know what she wants."
For real? Too good to be true, too good to be . . .
"And on that note," he said, "are you ready for another surprise?"
CHAPTER 28
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Dmitri led me back into the bedroom. From his jeans pocket, he pulled a remote control. With the press of a button, all the windows turned to . . . mirrors. "It's a type of smart glass. For full privacy when we have guests."
"You do think of everything."
"It gets better." He pushed another button, and the mirrors turned to screens. They displayed the bed from all different angles, even from above.
"There are cameras in the bedroom?" The forbidden thrill made me shiver. "Are we about to make a sex tape?" I asked breathlessly.
"We are. I think my little exhibitionist wife will enjoy replaying our nights over and over again."
The idea left me shaken--in a good way. My tits were already swelling, my thong dampening.
"But first, you get one more surprise this evening." He led me to another walk-in closet, nearly the same size as each of our dressing rooms. Empty earlier, the space was now filled with . . . adult toys.
Wall racks of them. My jaw slackened. Vibrators, dildos, paddles, beads and balls. Implements I didn't even recognize. "This is a serious collection, big guy." I couldn't wait to dive into this one as well.
He leaned a broad shoulder against the doorway. "Da. I ordered many things."
I would've asked him who set this up, but knew I'd get the same answer about money and expediting. I entered, relishing the scent of leather, my fingers lighting on a clear glass dildo, then a shiny new crop. "What did you have in mind with this stuff?"
"You and I are going to indulge ourselves. Tonight, for every toy or piece of equipment you choose, I'll choose one."
Fun! "Okay." A bar with leather cuffs caught my attention. "How would this thing work?"
"I explain by demonstration only, Vika." With a challenge in his gaze, he asked, "Do you choose it or not?"
I jutted my chin. "Fine. Yes, I do."
That wicked light gleamed in his eyes. He liked my selection? "Then I'll go with this." He chose what looked like a plug. The flat end was a shining blue jewel about the size of a quarter.
When he took a bottle of lube off a shelf, I asked, "Are you going to put that . . . in my ass?" With any other guy, I'd be nervous. But I knew Dmitri would make ass play good.
Because he had with that trick in the shower.
"Considering your reaction earlier, yes."
Once he'd settled me on that high shelf, he'd teased and teased me with his tongue. Then he'd worked two fingers into my pussy. With bath oil on his little finger, he'd penetrated my ass at the same time.
&
nbsp; The shocker.
I'd heard about it, but to feel it . . . I'd gone nuts, coming till I'd nearly thrashed off the shelf into his arms. . . .
Dmitri seemed to have unlimited sexual revelations in store for me. Before him, I'd had no interest in anal sex, but if he wanted me that way, I'd try it. I'd try anything he craved at least once.
As far as sex was concerned, he'd earned my trust. I'd have to think about the ramifications of that later.
He held up the plug. "I'll bet you get wet simply looking at this." Light reflected in the luminous metal.
I stared, rapt. "I can't deny it." The jewel on that plug was so eye-catching. If my ass would be adorned, he should have a sensual adornment too. Well, besides his piercing. I turned back to the shelves, selecting a black contraption of two interconnected leather rings. A cock ring?
"Good idea, Vika." He took it from me. "When I wear that, I won't come every time you do."
I swallowed. "Every time, huh?"
He turned toward the bedroom and laid our toys at the foot of the bed.
I followed him. "Tell me what to do."
"Strip."
Undressing didn't take long since I hadn't bothered to put on more than a thong and my beach cover-up.
"Now on the bed."
I crawled onto the mattress and rested on my knees, already thrumming with excitement. This was unreal! I glanced around at all the screens, seeing myself from half a dozen different angles. After today's nude sunbathing, my bikini tan lines weren't as pronounced. The trim patch of hair on my mons looked golden.
He moved to stand at the end of the bed. "Go to your hands and knees, your ass to me."
My face went hot, but after a moment of hesitation, I turned and leaned forward onto my hands.
He groaned, "Woman . . ."