Christmas Tsar (Blood and Thunder 1)

“And that’s how it’s going to stay,” he assured her.

Leaning against the ship’s rail, she braced herself to ask the question nagging in her mind. “So no mini-oligarchs or a glamorous wife or even a girlfriend waiting for you?”

“I’m surprised you’re interested.”

She blushed faintly. “Just mildly curious,” she admitted.

“No boyfriend?” he parried.

“That’s none of your—”

A raised brow was all it took to remind Amber that she hadn’t gotten the job yet.

“No one who can keep up with me,” she amended, replacing tension with good humor.

They stared at each other. He liked a woman who could stand up to him. Amber certainly could. It appeared she liked him too. A lot.

They came together like a clap of thunder. He dragged her close. She grabbed hold of him. He wrestled her away so he could stare her in the eyes. He had to be sure there was no ambiguity in them. He saw what he’d expected. She wanted him. He wanted her. She was aroused and wanted sex as much as he did.

“What’s wrong?” Alexei demanded when she went still in his arms.

As much as she wanted him, she’d guessed he’d discard her when he was done, and was probably thinking, was that what she wanted? Was she prepared to risk, if not her heart, then at the very least, her self-respect?

Gazing heavenward, she huffed out a breath and sh

ook her head. “Billionaire warrior and fledgling reporter?” Angling her chin to stare up at him, she slanted her lips. “Does that sound likely?”

“It doesn’t need to,” he ground out. His engines were firing on all cylinders. He wasn’t interested in delay.

“Because everything you do is short-term?” she challenged.

“Because you should stop putting us in a box,” he argued. “Instead of fixating on billionaire and journalist, why don’t you try Alexei and Amber instead? I think you’ll find that they’re quite a good match.”

In spite of herself, coming from Alexei, that thrilled her. “Alexei and Amber?” she repeated.

“Just don’t get too fond of it,” he warned.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she assured him spikily.

But it would be hard not to, Amber thought as Alexei pressed his body against hers, until her softness yielded to his hard steel.

“That’s good,” he approved, dropping drugging kisses on the side of her neck.

Good? She could lose control from his kisses alone. When she whimpered with pleasure, he laughed softly and showed her no mercy at all. Teasing the seam of her lips with his tongue until she parted them for him, he plundered her mouth, tasting and greedily possessing as he mimicked the act they both craved. She groaned softly with need. If she’d been hungry for Alexei before he kissed her, she was ravenous now.

And then he ramped up the pressure beyond bearing when he murmured in her ear, “I’m going to kiss you, touch you, and pleasure you, until you come so hard, so many times, I’ll have to carry you to bed because your legs won’t hold you.”

“How long have we got?” Exhaling shakily, she smiled against his mouth.

Chapter Five

“On the bed,” Alexei instructed as he backed her across the stateroom

Maintaining eye contact as he pushed the robe from her shoulders, she challenged, “Are you sure you can make time for this?”

“Oh, I can make time,” Alexei assured her. Freeing the buttons down the front of her top, he trailed one rough-edged fingertip very lightly between her breasts. “Do you have any idea how hungry you’ve made me?”

“Enough to distract you?” she suggested.