The Russian's Dangerous Game (13 page)

Rocco wasn’t letting her get away with that. He gently took her hands and lifted them over her head, moving to her other breast and giving it equal attention.

When her legs shifted slightly, he was stunned that her simple movement, just the sensuous touch of her body against his, the incredible heat of her making his mind melt and his control simply disappear. He couldn’t hold back any longer. Reaching down, he grabbed protection out of his jeans and
put it on as fast as he could. When he came back to her, he hesitated at her opening. Looking down at her, he couldn’t believe how perfect she was. For him. The idea of this woman in another man’s arms made his gut clench with fury. It took him a full second to remember that she was his, right here with him.

“You’re not leaving me, Brianna. Not this time. Understand?” he demanded. He wasn’t sure what he meant about her not leaving him, but the steel band around his chest loosened when she quickly nodded her head in agreement.

When he plunged into her hot core, he felt like he was coming home.

And then he started moving. When her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him in deeper, he almost lost it. Pulling back, he gritted his teeth, trying to regain even a small amount. “Don’t do that, love,” he groaned.

Brianna looked up at him, her fingers clenching at his shoulders desperately but with his words, she realized that he was right here with her, just as desperate and she felt a large measure of awe that she could have this kind of power over such a strong, amazingly powerful man. The pleasure inside of her increased to almost overwhelming stimulation. And then he started moving inside of her and she closed her eyes once more, moving against him.

Rocco gathered her close, taking control once more. “You’re mine,” he growled as he pressed into her, watching her face to understand how close she was coming, which way to move to give her maximum pleasure.

With just a few more strokes, he both watched and felt her explode around him, her body clenching him tighter, holding him closer. He knew she didn’t realize that her nails were digging into his skin but he knew. And he thought he might have smiled but wasn’t completely sure because he couldn’t control his own climax at that moment.

He could honestly say that he’d never experienced such pleasure, such
all-consuming, mind-blowing pleasure as he did with this slender beauty holding him in her soft arms. And when it was all over, he rolled to his side, holding her close, cradling her shivering body against his, tenderly stroking her back as he stared up at the ceiling, trying to come to terms with what he was feeling for a woman who was practically a stranger. Albeit a beautiful, kind and generous stranger. And one he instinctively knew he wanted to keep close to him. Forever.

Hours later, Brianna sighed with contentment as she stretched against him, feeling every muscle in his long, hard body. Her own body reveled in the strength of his physique, wondering how two human beings could be so miraculously different.

“Asking for more
of the same?” Rocco grumbled and rolled over on the bed he’d finally carried her to.

Brianna smiled in what she thought was a secret smile, but found out very quickly that she hadn’t hidden anything from his knowing eyes. “What are you thinking?” he demanded, rolling her over so that she was once again underneath him.

She laughed but didn’t push him away. “I’m not going to tell you.”

One dark eyebrow went up with her challenge. “Are you saying you want me to torture it out of you?” he
asked, his muscular thigh pressing between her legs.

Brianna gasped, already feeling the heat enter her body even before his mouth latched onto the side of her neck. “What are you doing?” she
asked, her voice breathy and not very firm.

“I’m torturing you, of course.”

“It doesn’t feel like torture,” she sighed, lifting her leg up against his hip so he was cradled against her more perfectly. “I won’t tell you anything.”

He chuckled as he moved a bit lower. “I like that about you. You want to maintain your integrity. But it isn’t going to work. I have superior interrogation techniques.”

She laughed at that but then he latched onto her breast. “I believe you do.”

“Tell me why you ran away last time,” he commanded.

Brianna remained silent, but lifted her hips up higher, pressing her body more firmly against his.

“Distracting me won’t work, my dear.” He moved to her other breast.

“I’ll just have to try harder,” she replied. Lifting her hands, she circled his neck, bringing her own mouth into play as she bent to nuzzle his ear.

Rocco laughed, the sound coming out as almost a growl. “You’re playing dirty.”

She liked the idea. “I don’t think anyone has ever said anything so sweet to me before,” she said with a smile, her other leg coming up so that both of her legs were wrapped around his waist. “Am I merciless?” she asked, pressing her body closer, feeling his hard body against hers and reveling in the power she had over him, at least at this particular moment.

He
groaned, his mouth suckling at her breast. “Not quite merciless enough,” he coaxed. “Try harder.”

Brianna laughed but she was definitely up to the challenge. “Tell me what to do,” she begged.

In response, he teased her nipple with his mouth, sucking hard, causing her back to arch, her mind to eliminate all conscious thought. “I think you’re doing a good enough job without my input.”

Brianna thrilled with those words, but she still tried harder.

A long time later, she rolled over so that her chin was propped up on his chest and she could see at least some of his face. “I need sustenance,” she told him in a matter-of-fact manner that instantly told him that he needed to do something about her predicament.

“So
do I,” he said and pulled her more fully on top of him.

Brianna laughed and scooted away. “Not for that! I need food.”

He sighed and captured her even as she giggled and tried to escape his hands. “Food, eh? You’re a demanding woman.”

She was effectively imprisoned underneath his body, but now that she was there, she didn’t mind so much. In fact, her hunger for food had dissipated.

“What will you do if I feed you?” he asked.

She considered her options. “Try and trick you into telling me what’s going on.”

Rocco’s body froze and he looked down at her. “Why do you want to know so badly?” he asked, trying to figure her out.

Brianna’s hands skimmed along the muscles of his shoulders and
arms, amazed at all the muscles that flexed under her fingers. She considered her words carefully, but realized that, if she wanted truths from him, she had to be fair and trust him first. Brianna wasn’t sure why she’d changed her mind so dramatically in…she looked over at the bedside table and was surprised to discover that it was midnight. “It can’t really be that late!” she gasped.

Rocco looked over at the clock and chuckled. “Are you kidding me?”

She looked back at him, and thought back to how they’d spent the majority of the afternoon. And evening! “Okay, maybe I can understand what happened.”

He chuckled himself, a deep, vibrating sound that made her feel wonderful. “Come along, my beauty,” he said and grabbed her hands, pulling her along to the shower. He turned on the water and pulled her into the luxurious sprays, lathering her up and soothing parts of her she hadn’t realized were tender.
He even shampooed her hair, his strong hands massaging her head and shoulders. “Don’t stop,” she sighed, leaning against him, moving sensuously, begging him to keep going.

“You’re too tender,” he said.

Brianna thought those were the sweetest, kindest words she’d ever heard from a man. Especially when she knew that he was in the same predicament she was in. And she wasn’t going to allow a bit of tenderness to stop her from experiencing once again the mind-blowing passion she knew was right around the corner.

With a smile he couldn’t see because he was standing behind her, she released her hands from his thighs and spun around, blinking as the water slipped into her eyes. Looking up at him, she gave him only a small laugh as warning before she knelt down in front of him.

Rocco saw the look and his stomach clenched at what he saw in those beautiful eyes. He was just about to grab her arms to stop her but she was faster than he’d anticipated. And she was slick with water so, by the time he could grab her, she already had her soft lips around him and his body just about buckled with how incredible she felt, how hot her mouth felt as she drew him in again and again. When her hands came up to help her mouth, he could only grip the sides of the shower and close his eyes, trying to keep control despite her fumbling ministrations. But her novice mouth was too good, her instincts for pleasuring too amazing and, in the end, he couldn’t stop her.

When she finally stood up, his eyes opened and he looked down at her with a strange feeling swelling up in his chest. “My turn,” he said and grabbed her into his arms, ignoring her laughing protest as he swung her up and carried her out of the bathroom. He laid her on the comforter that had fallen to the floor
and pinned her down with his hands while his mouth moved down her body, unrelenting and unmerciful.

Brianna
couldn’t believe the heat of his mouth and tried to wiggle away, unable to stop since he only held her tighter. And when his mouth did... “No, Rocco,” she pleaded. A moment later, she exploded, his mouth relentless and shocking. She couldn’t believe how incredible it felt. So when he moved up her body, leaving a trail of kisses, she could only smile slightly in response.

She felt him move against her, lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bed, but she was simply too limp to do anything more.

“Still hungry?” he asked, smiling as he cradled her against him.

She might have laughed, but she wasn’t sure if her amusement actually came out. She didn’t realize that she’d fallen asleep until she woke
hours later from hunger. She smiled as she looked at the man she’d basically slept on top of, his strong jaw now shadowed with a day’s growth. She was amazed at how long his black lashes were, but perhaps that was just a play of the light since the only source was the bathroom light they’d inadvertently left on.

Glancing at the clock, she realized it was about three o’clock in the morning. She’d never woken up so hungry before, but then again, she’d also never had so much physical activity before. She had sore muscles in areas she didn’t even know she’d had muscles.

Her stomach growled again and she was too wide awake to go back to sleep. Slipping out of bed, she pulled on his shirt. He’d dropped it onto the floor at some point during the afternoon or night. Then she tip toed out of the bedroom in search of just a glass of milk.

She’d just found the kitchen when
a steel arm wrapped around her. She squeaked in surprise, spinning around as much as she could with his arm wrapped around her so tightly. “What…?”

“What the hell are you doing?” Rocco demanded.

She gripped his shoulders, surprised to find him wearing a pair of jeans with a shirt gripped in his hand. “I’m trying to find a glass of milk or just something simple to eat.” She was trembling with both the fright he’d given her, but also the furious look in his eyes.

Rocco glared down at her, trying to come to terms with the fact that she was still in his home. He’d woken as soon as his mind had registered that she was no longer in his arms and he’d instantly leaped out of bed, determined to find her and drag her right back to his bed. When he’d heard a sound in the kitchen, he’d gone to investigate, wondering if his housekeeper had seen where Brianna had gone. When he’d spotted her in the dim light of the kitchen, hi
s anger had diminished, but hadn’t fully gone away.

He looked behind her, saw the freezer,
then realized what she was wearing. “You’re wearing my shirt,” he said in an almost accusatory tone of voice.

Brianna’s hands quickly moved to the collar, worried that she’d offended him in some way. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Why are you wearing my shirt?” he asked, pulling her closer, actually enjoying the sight of her like this. She looked cute. Sexy!

She looked down, feeling silly all of a sudden. “I just wanted…”

She sighed, trying to figure out how to explain why she’d grabbed his shirt off of the floor when hers was lying right next to it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

He lifted her up and placed her gently on the counter behind her. “I like it,” he said and bent low to kiss her.

“You do?” she asked, again her voice was still low, unsure.

“Hell yes! I like it a lot. In fact,” his hands slipped underneath her shirt, cupping her bottom, “I think you should go around like this all the time.” His mouth moved to her neck, nibbling along her collarbone.

She laughed, suddenly relieved and her arms wrapped around his neck. “I liked the way it smelled,” she admitted shyly.

“I like the way you smell. But I don’t think I’ll look as good in your shirt.”

She giggled at the idea of his broad shoulders trying to fit into her much smaller shirt. “I doubt you could get even one arm into my shirt.” When his hips shifted between her legs, she leaned back.

“I don’t think I’d feel as sexy in your shirt as you look in mine. So it won’t work anyway.”

She pushed against his shoulders, laughing at the image that popped into her head. “You’re not going to tempt me that way again,” she said. “I let you lead me down that road before and I didn’t get any food. And I’m starving!”

He gave her a mock sigh as he pulled back. “If I feed you, will you then come back to bed and stop disturbing my sleep?”

She bit her lower lip to keep herself from laughing again. “I promise. I just need a glass of milk then I’ll be as quiet as a mouse until morning.”

He grunted at that, but turned to face the refrigerator. “Let’s see what Jenny cooked up for dinner tonight.”

“Who is Jenny?” Brianna demanded, her body suddenly stiff with anger.

Rocco looked back. A part of him felt good that she was jealous but the larger part of him didn’t like that she would even think that he would be with another woman after what they’d shared.
“Jenny Rogers is my housekeeper. You met her at breakfast and lunch today. She’s married to Joe, the groundskeeper and they have four kids and seven grandchildren, all of whom live in this area. Jenny is a great cook and when she’s not making something for me or overseeing one of my social events here, she’s taking over the kitchen to bake cookies for her grandchildren or the members of the church choir or Sunday school classes.”

Brianna was instantly ashamed of where her mind had gone and looked down at her hands. “She’s a very nice person,” Brianna whispered. Goodness, she thought silently, this relationship stuff was more difficult than she’d thought! It was a veritable minefield.

“What are you thinking now?” he asked as he placed two plates into the microwave oven.

Brianna sighed, trying to quickly think of something to tell him.
Unfortunately, her mind drew a blank and he wasn’t relenting. He simply turned around and waited, one black eyebrow going up as he waited for her reply.

She sighed and looked back at him, unaware of how tense she looked propped on that countertop.
“Rocco, I don’t really understand you. And I’ll be honest, I don’t understand what’s going on between us. Just three days ago, I was going to write a story about what a horrible person you really are. And then I started to suspect that you were a criminal. So what kind of a person am I that would…” she hesitated over the next word, “sleep with a man I don’t trust?”

He moved closer, touched by her honesty as well as the questions he could see in her eyes. “I think you’re a very kind, very trusting woman who is beautiful on the inside and out,” he replied, moving over to her and kissing her gently. “And I think, deep in your heart, you trust me.”