Page 24 of Mikhail
“So Elizabeth imprisoned him? Your ancestor, I mean?” Piperasked.
He nodded, his eyes solemn. “Yes. For forty-four years. And the real tragedy was that he loved her. And she might have loved him, had things been different. Instead, she repaid his love with shame and imprisonment. To make matters worse, his own father exiled him from the family afterward. He was not allowed to go home until he recovered thejewels.”
A tic worked in Mikhail’s jaw as he spoke, his words soft and heavy with sorrow. Piper was lost in the lingering pain behind his eyes that seemed centuries old, as though he knew how his ancestor must havefelt.
“That’s awful.” She had no other words to express her thoughts of suchsuffering.
“Five centuries is a long time for injustice. But now my family will have peace.” The last of his words was barely more than awhisper.
“How long have you been trying to find the jewels?” sheasked.
“A long time,” he said with a rueful laugh. “Feels like centuries sometimes.” He rapped his knuckles on the wooden table in an affectionate gesture, then smiled brightly. “Well then, little dove, am I still a fierce villain?” He reached over and brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. His fingertips left a delicious tingle that traveled down herbody.
“Maybe you aren’t so bad,” she finally replied, a blush flaming herface.
His responding laugh was dark and sinful. “Oh, I am bad.Very bad.But you haven’t had a taste of that yet.” He stroked a fingertip down her nose in a playful gesture and then collected her plate and put it in thedishwasher.
She got up to follow him. “But you just said you were trying to prove you aren’tbad.”
He turned to face her, a smug smile on his face. “I’m not someone you should fear,” he said. “But I am a very bad man, in a veryspecificway.” He slid closer, his hands settling on the counter on either side of her hips, trapping her. Piper’s heart jumped in her chest, and she tried to catch herbreath.
“What—way?” She knew where this conversation was going to lead, and her body was begging forit.
“In the last half hour, I’ve imagined no less than a dozen ways to strip you of your clothes. I want to take you in a dozen different positions until you can no longer move.” He growled as he leaned in, nuzzling hercheek.
His breath was hot against her, stirring the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. A sharp shiver ran through her, and her womb clenched in anticipation. God, he knew just what to do to make her crazy with desire. This time there was less fear. He wasn’t as scary as she’d thought last night, and knowing that made her body’s response to him feel less like she had betrayedherself.
One of his hands cupped the back of her head, and the other gripped her hip possessively as he sank his teeth into her neck in a playful bite. Her clit throbbed in response, the nipping sensation turning her legs to jelly. She fell against him, grabbing his arms as she tried to stay upright. His rumbling laugh moved throughher.
“Beg me. Beg me for it,” he murmured against her ear. “Ask me to take you upstairs and possess you…every part of you. I could pleasure you for hours if you wish. All you have to do…is beg.” He licked up the side of her throat and bit her earlobe. A rush of heat exploded between her thighs, and she clamped them together, but it didn’t stop the almost violent need that slithered just beneath herskin.
“Beg,” he rasped again. His hand on her hip slid to her lower back and then beneath the waistband of her jeans and under her panties. He cupped her bottom, squeezing it hard. That was all it took to drive her out of her mind. She opened her lips, ready to beg, but the jarring sound of a cell phone vibrating nearby was a splash of cold water over themboth.
After a breathless moment that left her inwardly cursing, Mikhail let her go and picked up his phone from thecounter.
“Belishaw, what—” Mikhail went silent and turned away from her, raking his hand through hishair.
Piper blew out a slow breath as her body descended from the heights she’d been climbing as he’d teased her in every waypossible.
“But she isn’t a part of this. I thought we—” He cursed softly in Russian and faced her, keeping the phone to his ear. “Fine, keep me informed.” He hung up, his green eyes as dark as a primordial forest where the foliage was too thick for the light toopenetrate.
Her heart lodged in her throat. Something had happened. “What isit?”
“It seems there was one hidden camera we missed last night. Before I left the reception at the auction house, I accessed the camera feeds of the rooms I planned to enter. They were all looped to show empty rooms. But I missed one.” He paused, and Piper waited for the other shoe todrop.
“I’m afraid you were seen helping me load the jewels into the car. Scotland Yard is searching for you. Your friend Ms. Harkness spent all night being interrogated as to your involvement andwhereabouts.”
Piper gasped. “Jodie was with the police? Oh my God, is sheokay?”
“She is fine. Belishaw has connections and influence. She isn’t a suspect, so they couldn’t hold her forlong.”
Piper exhaled in relief and leaned back against thecounter.
“But youarea suspect,” Mikhail said. His lips firmed into a thin, grimline.
“Me? But I…youmademe!” Panic seized her entire body. The terror and stress of the previous night floodedback.
Mikhail caught her by the shoulders, staring down at her. His green eyes smoldered, and the irises seemed to shift and swirl with honey-gold fire. “Calm down, little dove. I won’t let anything happen to you. You will not take the blame for my actions.Understood?”
