The Russian's Furious Fiancee (9 page)

She was primping for him. With a smile of satisfaction, he knew that he’d won her over. Not that he’d had any doubts, but it was nice to see that she was interested in him. He’d never anticipated being this attracted to his fiancée, thought that attraction would be reserved for his mistresses while his marriage would be more of a business relationship. But the more he got to know Eva, the more he wanted her. And he wanted her exclusively to himself.

No, there would be no need to maintain a mistress when he wanted his wife like he currently did. And the idea of her taking a lover made him furious. Yes, this would definitely be a strong marriage. He had complete confidence that he could keep her satisfied in bed. What was even better, at least in his mind, was that there was no question she could do the same for him. Just the thought of those pretty hands on his skin again made him aching and hard.

Turning his thoughts to the present and, more importantly, to getting her to admit that she wanted him as well, he watched as she finger combed her hair.

Lifting his cell phone, he typed in a message, then waited until she received the text.

Eva felt her cell phone vibrate and looked at the screen. “Sorry, running a little late. But I bet you’re trying to impress me so you’re already at the restaurant, aren’t you?”

Her mouth literally dropped open and she looked around, wondering what she should do. She definitely couldn’t stay here and have him find her here. She absolutely didn’t want him to think she wanted to impress him. Leave it to him to turn punctuality into a benefit to him. “I’m actually running a bit late myself. See you at the restaurant,” she texted back.

Spinning on her heel, she turned around and walked out of the restaurant, standing in front and wondering where she could go for the next five minutes. She genuinely relished these battles and wanted to best him at least once. The man was simply too confident. She’d love to take him down a notch.

A part of her knew that she respected him more because she hadn’t been able to win any of their battles yet. He challenged her, forced her to think in different ways and he never, ever cowed down to her demands the way her other dates had done.

Maybe that’s why she hadn’t slept with any of them? She considered that for a moment while she looked around for a place to hide until he arrived at the restaurant. What if she hadn’t really found any of her previous boyfriends attractive because they weren’t confident enough? What did that tell her about these ridiculous feelings she was having towards Damon, who was confidence personified?

She glanced down again to the cell phone still in her hand when it vibrated again. “Which means you’re probably running late to try and show me that you’re not attracted to me. But we know it’s all a game, isn’t it?”

“Ugh! That man!” she snapped out loud and angrily stormed back into the elegant restaurant with as much dignity as possible even though she probably looked ridiculous going in and out of the lobby. She ignored the maître‘d’s curious look when she stopped in the middle of the carpet, trying to determine her next move.

She was in a quandary now. If she stayed and was here first, he would think she was eager to see him. If she left and showed up later, he would think she was playing games to gain his attention. What in the world was she supposed to do? She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.

She pulled her lipstick and mirror out of her purse just as another text arrived. “Be sure and look beautiful for me. I’m eager to see you again.”

“Damn him!” she snapped and tossed her red lipstick back into her matching purse. She glanced down at her red dress, wondering if she should have chosen something else. The boring black crepe dress at the theatre had backfired on her so she’d taken the opposite approach tonight. Her red, wrap dress hugged her curves and made her feel very feminine. If he didn’t like this dress, he was a blind man.

When her phone vibrated again, she groaned, almost afraid to look at the message. She was feeling like a silly school girl trying to best the cutest boy on the playground. And losing! “Yes, the red dress looks fabulous on you,” she read in the next text message.

She had to read it twice just to understand what it was telling her. And then it hit her. He was here! He was already in the restaurant?

She looked around, her eyes scanning the room and the other patrons. When her eyes collided with his, she was both embarrassed and furious that he could be so devious. And mortified that he’d seen her arrive early, leave and come right back. He’d seen her primp and look down at her dress and as he smiled at her approach, she could see in his eyes that he knew she’d done it all for him.

He strolled up to her, an amused expression lightening his rugged features. “You’re a bastard,” she said as she glared up at his brown, laughing eyes. He pulled her out of the way of arriving guests, which meant they were partially hidden from the restaurant patrons. The stairway to the upper level was on her right while the storage rooms were to her left, with Damon standing directly in front of her, blocking out her view of everyone else.

“And you look beautiful,” he said and pulled her forward into his arms, covering her mouth with his before she could say anything else.

She tried to resist. She sincerely did! For all of two seconds she resisted the temptation of his lips moving across her own. She tried to ignore his tongue demanding entry to her mouth and that tightening in her stomach which she refused to acknowledge as anticipation. But when his tongue ran along her closed mouth, teasing her and sending shivers of excitement down her back, she couldn’t resist opening to him and becoming overwhelmed once again with the passion he incited within her.

When her arms wrapped around his neck, that wasn’t enough. While her mouth kissed him back, her hands slid down his arms, then snuck inside his suit jacket and ran along the muscles of his chest, exploring the heat she found buried underneath his tailored shirt, hiding his physical strength behind a veneer of sophistication.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said several minutes later, lifting his head and looking around, realizing that they’d just kissed passionately in public. He abhorred public displays but there was something about this woman that pushed all of his normal rules to the side.

“Get out of here?” she asked, her eyes glazed over as she looked up at him.

“We can’t continue this here,” he growled and reached into his wallet. He’d already thrown down several bills to cover his drink by the time she realized that he meant to get out of the restaurant so they could find some privacy.

He was stepping back, holding onto her arm and had already taken two steps by the time she pulled back. “We can’t do that,” she gasped and stopped, almost tripping on the forward momentum he produced.

He turned back around and looked down at her. Seeing the worry in her eyes, he relented slightly but it was difficult since his body was still riding hard on the lust coursing through his system from her passionate response. “Don’t worry, Eva. I’ll take care of you.”

She shook her head and pulled her arm out of his grip. “I’m not leaving here with you.” The last time they’d been alone, things had gotten out of control.
She’d
gotten out of control. She didn’t want to experience another night like that. Nor did she want to have sex with him. Public places were her best bet.

He shook his head and pushed her back into their makeshift alcove, refusing to let her run away and grinding his teeth because he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with her tonight. He understood that her fear had taken over instead of the desire he knew she was also feeling. “Eva, we’re going to make love together and it’s going to be soon. This resistance you keep pushing is getting tiresome.”

Her body was still throbbing with the need to continue what they were doing so when he referred to her desire to avoid intimacy with him as ‘tiresome’ it raised her hackles more than a normal insult might have. It was like a slap in the face and her chin went up defiantly. “Resistance? You think I’m just resisting to be arbitrary? What a conceited ass you are! And just for the record, I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on earth!”

“Are you sure about that?” he demanded, equally angry and determined.

She was hurt by his assumption that she was so free with her affections. She’d never slept with another man and he definitely wasn’t going to be the first! “Absolutely! You act as if me falling into bed with you is a foregone conclusion and that’s just insulting! It isn’t going to happen and I’ll be sure and keep some distance between the two of us if that’s what you think.”

He was glaring down at her angry, beautiful features, furious with himself for letting this argument get so out of hand but unable to reign in his temper to slow things down. “I don’t just think it, I’m sure of it. And if you weren’t acting so childishly stubborn, you’d admit it as well!” He was in a towering rage, unable to believe that this slip of a woman could rile him so completely. He was normally in control, always the clear headed person in the room but this woman just got under his skin and infuriated him.

She poked him in the chest, firing right back at him. “Don’t bring up that outlandish marriage proposal again. I refuse to just go along with lifetime plans where I wasn’t consulted!”

He grabbed her finger in his fist and pulled her closer, using his body as a weapon which worked well. “Is that what this is about? The fact that you weren’t consulted about getting married?”

“Yes!” It wasn’t the only issue, but it was a good enough cover to hide her terror over sleeping with Damon. She couldn’t control him, he never bowed down to her wishes, he was arrogant and conceited and he did things to her that were shameful and frightening. There was no way she would admit that though. Even her admission would give him too much power over her and she’d never win any of their battles.

“Then let’s switch it around. You have two weeks to decide if we’re getting married,” he growled. “If you’re so sure that we’re not getting married, then just try and stay out of my bed. Once that’s done, you accept that we’re getting married. Deal?”

Her mind worked furiously and tried to find all the loopholes. “Are you saying that you’ll give up this outrageous idea of getting married if I don’t fall into bed with you?”

He laughed and shook his head. “That wasn’t what I was proposing, but if that’s the deal you’d like to make, we’re on.”

She thought about it for a millisecond, but the triumph and confidence on his face gave her pause. He was up to something, she just didn’t know what it was. Besides, she was having enough trouble staying out of his arms and avoiding his kiss. She didn’t know his agenda, but getting her into bed could not be one of his goals. He was too driven, too ambitious and goal oriented. “No!”

“I accept your terms. Let’s eat dinner.”

With that, he grabbed her hand and dragged her across the room to where the hostess stood, looking confused but quickly gathering up menus. Everyone in this industry knew never to leave Damon Kelopatros waiting if they wanted to survive in the business.

Eva fumed, livid with both him as well as herself for letting this challenge go too far. Now he would be in full on get-Eva-in-bed mode. She could barely read the menu, so petrified of what was going to happen between the two of them.

It took her several minutes to regain control of her temper and her fear. She was extremely grateful that the wine steward arrived just as they were seated to discuss the wine options with Damon, giving her time to catch her breath and gain some perspective.

As the wine steward walked away, Damon glared across the table at her and she searched frantically for something to say. A different subject was definitely needed. Her mind latched onto the opera and the woman she’d met in the ladies’ room. Or more specifically, the woman who accosted her versus the other way around.

“I met one of your avid admirers the other night at the opera,” she said as casually as she could muster with him watching her across the table as if he were going to have her for dessert.

He raised one eyebrow at her opening salvo, playing along with her game even though he was still mulling over various ways to get her back to his place, and into his bed. “Oh really? I wasn’t aware I had any fans, other than you, of course.”

She ignored that comment and tucked her chin on her hand. “The lovely lady didn’t actually introduce herself, but she mentioned you’d ruined her family because her father had crossed you. Are you going to do that to me when you finally realize that I’m not going to marry you? Should I warn my father about your retribution?”

Damon’s entire body stilled and his eyes sharpened. “Describe this woman to me, please.”

Eva was startled. She hadn’t expected this kind of razor-sharp reaction. She sensed that Damon was genuinely incensed, but trying to hide it for some reason. “A little taller than I am, short black hair, irate, glossy eyes.”

She watched in fascination as his mouth firmed to a thin line. “Skinny to the point of being anorexic looking? Bile spilling from every word she spoke?”

“I wouldn’t call her anorexic although she was painfully thin and not very healthy looking,” she countered, but didn’t contradict the other description.

He forced his muscles to relax and glanced around the restaurant. “I’m guessing she wasn’t saying wonderful things about my charming personality, eh?”

Eva was relieved that he’d relaxed. The sudden tension had startled her. She smiled and batted her eyes. “Since you don’t have a charming personality, no, her comments were quite the opposite.”

He pulled his napkin down and laid it on his lap. “What are you having for dinner?”

“Just a salad.” She waited a moment, expecting him to explain but he simply nodded his head at her selection and waved for the waiter to approach. After putting in their orders, he turned to face her once again but Eva stopped whatever subject he was going to bring up and maintained the previous topic despite his obvious contempt for the other woman. “Aren’t you going to explain?”

“No.”