Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“You look pretty incredible yourself tonight,” she replies as I take her into my arms, one wrapped around her waist so she’s snuggled up against me, the other holding her hand as I start guiding her around the dance floor.
I would have thought our height difference would make dancing difficult. Instead, she fits perfectly with me, like we’re two puzzle pieces tailor-made to fit together.
“So, what’s this about being a beast?” Eva asks as we sway and step to the swells and dips of the music.
I chuckle again. “You’ve come to know who I am. Are you surprised the people I deal with in this city, the people I do business with, think I’m so beastly? You didn’t seem surprised.”
Again, Eva’s cheeks flush, and her gaze drops from my eyes.
“Eva?” I prompt, bemused by the response.
“I, um…” she starts, swallows, and takes a deep breath. “I might have called you Mr. Giant in my head the first time I was at your house.”
She chooses the words carefully, aware of how many people are around us. I also see anxiety and regret cross her face before the emotions turn into surprise as I start laughing.
“I’m glad you think that’s funny,” she mutters as she stares straight at my shirt. From my vantage point, I can see the tips of her ears are red.
“I think it’s fitting. I know who I am. And I’m grateful you know, too, and still choose to stay with me.”
Her gaze flicks up to meet mine again, surprise registering at my unflinching honesty.
“Of course I do.” Her ears are still red, her words quiet, but Eva smiles at me.
As Eva and I sway around the dance floor, the gala attendees a shifting kaleidoscope of colors around us, I realize this moment is significant. Far more significant than I thought when I asked Eva to accompany me.
I made the right decision by asking her to come. I liked showing her off, showing others that this stunning woman in my arms was mine and mine alone.
More than that, I realize I simply like being with Eva. I love and have come to rely on the way her fire warms me, the way she has brought brightness into my life that had been missing for far too long.
Even Alona, as prickly and judgmental as she is, likes her in her gruff way. Dmitri likes her, too. Vasya hasn’t said anything to me since I warned him off her, but I know the two of them get along.
I can remember life before Eva, but it’s distant and dark, a stormy place to which I do not want to return. No, I want this incredible, fiery woman in my arms and my life.
I dip my head, press my lips to her ear, and whisper, “Moya lyubimaya.”
My darling. My love.
Again, Eva stiffens, her breath catching at the same time her feet tangle. I grip her waist so she doesn’t fall, and her eyes, wide with wonder and astonishment, lock on mine. A brilliant smile stretches across her face, dazzling in its glowing happiness, and she lays her head against my chest as we continue to dance.
With my strength still returning, and aware of my purpose here beyond the books, we begrudgingly return to mingling. Eva is a light at my side, brilliantly engaging, allowing people to open up in my presence in a way I’ve never seen before. But all I want to do is take her home and rip that gown off so I can get her under me. Over me. Any way I can get her. I resist as long as possible before whisking her out of the gala and into my waiting car.
Downtown L.A. rises above us, the tops of the glowing skyscrapers touching the fog-purple sky as I slip in beside her in the back of the car. Eva slides a sly smile my way. No doubt she can see how badly I want her, how desperately I need her, and she’s enjoying her power over me.
We buckle ourselves in, and the car starts moving forward, easing into late-night downtown traffic. Silence falls between us, so different from the gala’s colors, lights, and sounds. I take a deep breath of the peace, a breath that becomes a choked gasp when Eva reaches over and wraps her hand around my erection.
“Eva,” I warn.
She flashes me a wicked smile and begins to massage the straining bulge visible through my pants.
My driver, one of my men, is invisible on the other side of the glass separating the back from the front. I don’t think he can hear much, either, unless I press the intercom button. And the SUV’s windows are entirely blacked out from the outside.
No one will be able to hear or see a thing.
And I can’t fucking wait any longer.
I growl and put my hand over Eva’s, pushing her against my dick. Her grin only grows more wicked as she slips her upper body out of the seat belt and leans over.