Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (50 page)

''I know you have your
own
company now, but I have never found anyone as persuasive as you. Listen, an asshole promised me first refusal on a residential
block,
and now he's rejected my offer. I need you to go and persuade him it's not a wise choice.''

''And how exactly do you want me to do that?'' Pavel asked.

''Now that's the dumbest question you have ever asked. Do it like you always did. Hang him from a high building, threaten to kill his kids or his wife, cut off a finger or kidnap his mother. I don't care.''

''I've changed. I'm running
a legal
outfit.
I'm done
with all that violence. I don't like it.''

''Listen to yourself. You sound so smug and righteous. How is your business doing? From what I've seen, you've missed out on a lot of purchases. Why? Because you've gone soft.'' Abram came from behind his desk and sat on the front edge. ''If you don't persuade people to take your offer and only yours, how do you expect to make money? The only way is to frighten the crap out of them until they give in, and take your offer, under the current market value.''

''Like
I explained, Abram, I've had enough of those tactics. I'll
take
my chance in a fair market,'' Pavel said.

''Just one more time Pavel,
for old time’s
sake. I need your help,'' Abram pulled a hangdog face in the hope it would play on Pavel's conscience.

''Okay, but
absolutely
the last one.''

Abram
pulled
his widest smile and slapped Pavel on the back. ''Now, we have to discuss the question of my daughter Ilona. What's the delay? She wants to marry you, I want you to marry her and Goddammit, even her mother wants you to marry her. So why are you dragging your heels?''

Pavel didn't have the stomach to tell him that he wasn't in love with his daughter or indeed that he thought his daughter uncouth. When it came to Abram's daughter, he knew he had to tread very carefully. Abram had once whacked a guy to within an inch his life for refusing his daughters advances. Although these days Pavel could easily beat Abram if it came to it, Abram knew some very unsavory characters that Pavel did not wish to meet. ''Let me have a think about it. It's important to get the timing right,'' he said, instantly scolding himself for being too soft again.

''Well get a move on, all this procrastination is giving me indigestion. You don't have to go home every evening and listen to two women bellyaching about a wedding.''

*****

''Wow, look at you. Are you going out with him again?'' Ella's mother asked as Ella came from her bedroom. ''I make that three times this week.''

''Yes, Mom, I'm going out with him again, and yes it's the third time this week.''

''Who is he? So far you haven't told me a thing about him.''

''All in good time. We're just getting to know each
other
when the time is
right;
I'll tell you and Dad about him.''

''Well, you go and have a good time. I'm going to watch that new series on TV and wait for your father. I do so worry about him. He's working so
hard,
and he's not in the flush of youth anymore.''

''Mom,'' Ella said, not knowing why she was lowering her voice, but it seemed appropriate. ''You and Dad are very proud
people,
and I know you don't like accepting charity, but what I am about to do isn't charity. You have earned it by your devotion to me for all those years.''

''What are you
talking about
? Charity?''

Ella handed her mother an envelope and watched as her
mothers
arthritic hands opened it. ''No, this is too much. You can't do this. I know we spoke about you paying something towards the household running costs once you had a job, but this is way too much,'' she said, looking down at two thousand dollars.

''You can complain all you want, but from now on, you're getting two thousand a month from me. I'll see you
later;
I don't want to keep him waiting.''

Ella took the elevator down to the street. However many times the landlord cleaned it, it always smelled of urine, she thought. Ella waited on the corner at the end of her street. It was the only green spot in the area, and the one place she felt comfortable letting Pavel pick her
up from
. There were a few kids playing soccer a little further up, and when the Bugatti Veyron passed them, they stopped and stared. Ella heard one kid shouting that the car costs one million, seven hundred thousand dollars.

''Hi,'' Pavel beamed as he stopped. ''I'm
Pavel,
and you look like
a nice
lady, do you want to eat ice cream with me?''

''No sir, my mother told me never to get into a car with a stranger,'' Ella laughed. ''Where are you taking me tonight?'' she asked, once she was belted into the three hundred kilometer an hour machine.

''Nowhere before I tell you how gorgeous you look,'' Pavel said as he looked at her. Ella had spent a lot of her first paycheck on clothes. That evening she was wearing her favorite article, a classic white evening dress with spaghetti straps and a soft shawl.
She
'd gone for white heels and was now almost as tall as Pavel. The only article of her outfit she wasn't happy
with
was her necklace. She'd almost run out of money by the time she'd given any consideration to jewelry, so
she
'd bought a cheap necklace that she thought looked expensive. Now she regretted having done so.

''Thank you, and you look as handsome as
ever,
'' Ella replied.

''I hope you don't
mind,
but I would like to spend the evening with you at home. I get a bit fed up of expensive restaurants, most of the are
pretentious
rip-off
establishments. I
thought
we could have a bottle of wine and talk. It's a lovely
evening;
we can sit on the terrace.''

''That will be lovely. You know, that's
exactly
what I would like to do. Although perhaps I'm a little
overdressed
for hanging around in your garden.''

''Don't worry. I'm sure we can find a shirt and a pair of jeans for you.''

The drive to Pavel's house took an hour, and as they went along the highway, Ella noticed how many people gaped at the car. When they pulled into the driveway at Windward Hall, Ella looked at the mansion and had to pinch herself. Was she
really
dating this man, she asked herself?

They went in through the front door. It was the first time Ella had been into the house. At the
party,
she'd stayed outside all the time, and on their previous dates, Pavel had taken her to restaurants. The entrance hall was large and had a black and white tiled floor. She liked the large gilded mirror and matching
candle sticks
which adorned the
fire place
. When they walked through to the sitting room, Ella gasped. Never had she seen such luxury. The room reached the whole height of the
building,
and she could see the sky through a dome in the roof. The staircase seemed to
be made
of glass and ran up to an open landing
that
circled the room. On the
floor,
Ella noticed an oriental rug in front of two huge white sofas.

''Take a seat, I'll get us a drink,'' he said as he pointed to a sofa. Ella sat down and nearly disappeared into the softness of the cushions. After just a couple of minutes, he returned with a bottle of red wine and two glasses.

''Oh, that tastes nice. I don't think I've ever tasted
wine
that good,'' Ella said.

''It's from Russia. It's
a surprising
country sometimes. Who would
think we can produce
wine
of this quality. Most people
think
it's a frozen wasteland. Come with me,'' he said getting up. Ella followed him, as he walked down a corridor. At the end there was a double door, Pavel held it open for
her,
and she walked inside. It was a magnificent swimming pool. The whole room
was tiled,
and the pool was full size,
twenty-five
meters long. To the side were loungers between palm trees in huge pots that gave the place a Mediterranean feel.

''There's a changing room over there,'' Pavel pointed. ''Inside you'll find some new swimwear, it should fit you.''

''I hadn't thought about swimming,'' Ella said. ''How do you know the
swimwear
will fit me?''

''
A nice
lady in
a very luxurious
shop told me that if I gave her a photo of you, she would be able to fit you a swim suit.
Apparently, she's got so much experience she can do it by eye.
So I took a chance.
I hope I was correct to place so much faith in her.''

''But where did you get a photo?'' Ella asked, a puzzled look on her face. Pavel didn't
answer;
he just pointed to the door in the corner. Ella smiled and walked towards the
door
.

The small room was tiled in Victorian dark green, the same as the swimming pool. There was a wooden
seat
and a table in the corner and a shower area to the right. Pavel had placed the swimwear on the table. Ella looked at it. One bikini and one swimsuit. She didn't know which to choose.
In the end,
she slipped out of her dress and put on the bikini. When she looked in the
mirror,
she saw it was a perfect fit. The light blue material looked great against her black skin and the top hugged her breasts. The bottoms showed off her rear to perfection. When she was ready, her heart began to beat faster as she opened the door and stepped back into the pool area.

At first,
she didn't see Pavel. But on closer inspection, he was already in the pool. He was swimming under water. Ella was a little uneasy at him seeing her in a state of
semi-nakedness
so she dived in. When she
surfaced,
he was treading water next to her.

''It fits then,'' he noted.

''Perfectly,'' she said.

He looked at her. Her wet hair made her look more attractive than he could stand, and the sight of the water lapping at her breasts forced him into action. He pulled her to him and kissed her. It was a long passionate kiss that left her gulping for air. He held her hand and swam to a place where they could stand up. He took her in his arms and kissed her again. Ella instantly felt aroused. He was more muscular than any man she had seen, and she had certainly never seen a man with such
a beautiful
stomach.
Hard
and ribbed. His upper arms
bulged,
and his chest was rock hard. His kiss was never ending, and she loved the taste of him as his tongue probed her mouth. When his hands reached down into the water and grasped her buttocks, she pushed herself against him and felt his rock hard penis push against her.

In an instant, she felt his hand on her back as he unfastened the bikini top. When he'd freed her breasts, he bent down and took a nipple into his mouth. Ella gasped and felt for his shaft. She ran her hand up and down the length of him, finally reaching to
cup
his balls. When
she
reached inside his trunks, he groaned and sucked her nipple harder. He made her hornier than she had ever been and all she wanted was to take out his cock and put it inside her. She lowered his trunks and watched as he bent down and took them off. She was in a hurry
now,
and she took off her bikini bottom and pulled him to her. She reached for his shaft and tried to put it between her
legs,
but he didn't let her. He wanted to taste her. They were standing in about three feet of water. Pavel took a deep breath and went down under the surface. Ella screamed when she felt his mouth on her womanhood.
Her arousal had made her so sensitive; she could hardly bear it.
But his mouth stayed fixed
to
her,
and his tongue made tiny strokes over her clitoris.

When he came up for air, he took her hand and walked to the side of the pool. As he climbed the ladder, she looked
up
and saw his
strong
thighs and his tight ass. She wanted to reach up and grab the balls that hung under
him,
but he was too quick for her. She started to climb out of the
pool,
and he reached down and helped her. He led her to a
lounger
that
was covered
in
a cushion with a thick white towel over it.