Page 14 of The Tsar's Obsession
With confident steps in his exorbitantly priced shoes, Kirill approached the stone banister to take in the city view. “It’s nice.” He turned around to face me and leaned back on the ledge. “You’ve shown me everything I asked for. You know how to listen. I like that.”
Every room he stepped into was filled with his presence; he was the one in control, always. But this time, he was out of his depth. His words dripped with such authority, like I was his servant, and he could command.
Fuck.That.
As if throwing me a challenge, he withdrew a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, slowly wedging one between his lips, never looking away from me. The lighter flicked, and once again, he was doing whatever the hell he wanted.
"I'm sure you know you can't smoke here," I piped up in annoyance.
"Oh, really?" His eyebrows raised in fake surprise, the first puff of smoke already leaving his nostrils. "Then make me stop," he added with a smirk and shrugged his shoulders.
I wasn’t about to take this shit lying down. No one else woulddarespeak to me like that. Who the hell did this guy think he was?!
But fuck, he had me right where he wanted me, dragging me into his trap once again. I approached slowly, my shoulders straight and my head held high. He needed to experience the same energy he was giving.
Holding hissurprised gaze without doubt, I plucked the cigarette right out of his mouth. I didn’t smoke, but I took the longest drag and blew the smoke right in his face, standing a little too close for comfort.
This man riled me up. He shook me awake, both terrifying me and making me addicted to the sensation. That feeling of being alive, not sleeping? I missed it.
My mind became all fuzzy around him, and my next words were fueled with his contagious confidence. “I do listen well.” I pointed the cigarette at him. “But maybe you need a lesson in that. Our appointment is over.”
Shocked. He was fuckingshocked,and I fuckingthrivedon it. I wanted more. I wanted to poke the bear harder. Not looking away from him, I tossed the cigarette right behind him and over the ledge, brazenly breaking all the rules that I knew about.
I turned away, ignoring the disbelief in his eyes. But after only one step, his strong hand grasped my wrist, and he yanked me back to him so forcefully that my face collided with his chest.
I opened my eyes, and the outline of my lipstick stared back at me from his white shirt. I couldn’t breathe. The air knocked out of my lungs, I dared to look up and saw his heated gaze on me, his hand holding onto me tight.
Fuck, my big problem was growing by the second. Getting a taste of this was dangerous. My body right up against his, I huffed out short little breaths, trying to survive and ignore the tingling that overtook all of me.
"I think you forget who the client is and who works for him." He almost whispered and leaned in, daring me to respond back and burning me with his glare. Like a meek little animal, I stared up at him and breathed him in, realizing I was making no effort to pull back. No, this felt so good; this felt so delicious.
I wanted more.
There was sin in his eyes. Dark, enticing, beautiful sin. And I wanted it. I wanted to taste it, fill my soul with it. This felt like adéjà vu, like I had already lived through this once, but somewhere, I lost the sensation.
He was so menacing, so strong, so commanding. A challenge. I liked that. I was so tired of flaky, boring men who always did what I expected. Kirill was not boring, no. No…behind his green eyes and devious smirk was a whole world of trouble that I wanted to get tangled up in. I wanted to be bound by my wrists and ankles in this trouble. I wanted todrownin it; feel it crush my bones.
I wanted tofeel. To burn in the fire I saw in his eyes.
But then a thought rushed through my head at the speed of light—wasIstrong enough to bring him down to his knees?
My breathing evened out, but I made no effort to move back. In my best confident voice, I threw him a challenge too. “I work for myself, Kirill. If you're not satisfied, your contract can be terminated today.”
The restaurant was bustling with servers, the ding of glasses, and the hum of chatter, droning out the noise in my head. The scent of garlic and burned cards was comforting, and I dropped my shoulders, finally relaxing a tiny smidge. Viv was texting on her phone, her thumbs tapping out a wild rhythm, and I sipped on my wine, gathering courage to tell her about my big problem by the name of Kirill.
What happened to the no-fuck zone? He came in, and magically, I had forgotten all about it?
“I just have to send off this email.” Viv gritted her teeth at the screen, and I observed her with amusement. “Have to show this man his place, and…done! Phew. I’m dealing with this one guy, you know?” She rolled her eyes and picked up her wine glass. “Daddy’s money, private school, fraternity. He can’t tell the difference between the pound and the yen, but he’s lecturingme.”
I couldn’t even engage in her problems. “Viv, I have a new client,” I blurted out as if this was a confession in church. “He’shot as fuck, rich, and very mysterious.” Viv immediately perked up, sitting up straighter and donning a wide smile. I chuckled at her enthusiasm, the stress of my feelings melting into nothing.
“I’m listening! Tell me everything!”
I gulped and decided to start from the beginning. “He’s new to the country—city, whatever. He’s convinced my manager to move all my clients temporarily while I help him.” My words were all coming out at once. “As I said, he’s gorgeous, he’s different.” I tried to pick the right words. “And he’s very much all I can– all I can thin–”
“Oh fuck, you can’t even get the words out, Mia, you’re so hooked!” Viv spoke a little too loudly with a huge grin on her face. “Thank God! My prayers have been answered!”
I didn’t want to admit it, but I was. I was hooked, helplessly dreaming about a stranger. Not a stranger,my client.
