I could feel him watching me in the dark, even with my eyes closed. After a while it was just frustrating to know he was sitting there, so I chucked my pillow at him. There was a thud and I opened my eyes to see he’d caught the pillow and dropped it on the floor, leaning back in the chair, his eyes still watching me. “How does someone who looks so peaceful while they’re sleeping act so hostile when they wake up?” his deep voice made my heart flutter.                 “Whatever,” I grumbled; refusing to let him know he’d had any effect on me. I readjusted myself, propping my head on my arm now that I was pillow-less. When I looked back at the chair he was gone.                 Tired of feeling like I was going crazy, I tossed the co

With a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and walked into the office. I took the long way around his desk so that he couldn’t miss me. He barely looked up, “What are you doing?” his voice was gruff and unamused. Biting my tongue I finished walking around the desk, stopping beside his chair. Without a word I knelt down on the floor, sitting back on my heels, and pushed my hair back over my shoulders before placing my hands on my thighs. I still looked up at him, instead of down at the floor. “What are you doing?” he asked again, sounding tired this time. “The deal was I’d give you one day,” I felt stupid even as I said it but it was the only card I had to play that could possibly throw him off balance. I’d promised I’d take one night to explore the possibilities of what accepting the contract could mean. I’d never promised to do it without my own stipulations and agenda. He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. “I’ve a

We were getting ready to hop back onto the motorcycle, loosely wrapped in each other’s arms when I recognized a high pitched squeal. The look on Dmitri’s face told me that he hadn’t thought of the possibility that we might run into someone who know me. I turned in his arms towards the sound, dreading the encounter. “Lexi? Oh my god! It is you! Your parents said you had taken an internship out of town, I can’t believe you came home and didn’t even call us.” She headed right for us with her long time on-again-off-again boyfriend Erik. “Chill out Mel, and give our girl a chance to get a word in.” Erik cocked his head and gave me a good long look, “Damn, Lex, looking good.” I barely heard the growl in Dmitri’s throat before I launched into making introductions, “This is Melissa and her boyfriend Erik, we all went to school together. This is Dmitri Volkov, my…” I didn’t know how to explain who he was to me. I couldn’t call him my mate, and

We were only able to get a few hours of sleep before the sun started to brighten the room. I was surprised by my unwillingness to try to wriggle out from under his arms. Resting my chin on his chest, I watched him as he slept instead. His arms wrapped tighter around me, “Are you going to stare at me all morning?” His eyes blinked open, and a soft smile greeted me as they focused on me. “You do it to me all the time,” I shrugged, “thought I’d give it a try.” I placed a kiss on his jaw and tried to untangle my limbs from him and crawl out of bed. He rolled us over, pinning me down to the bed with his body, “Where do you think you’re going?” “The bathroom,” I doubled my efforts to wriggle out of his grasp. His lips found mine, little sparks blooming throughout me as we kissed. He pulled back with a knowing smile, “Are you sure that you want to get out of bed? I’m sure Sophie would understand if we…” I sma

I was curled up in one of the leather armchairs trying to thumb through a book that Sophie insisted I read when Dmitri finally found his way back up to his suite for the night. I was expecting a punishment or two tonight for, hopefully, giving Candy a black eye earlier. I had already figured out what his reasons would be. It would either be for losing my temper, not letting him deal with her, or for putting myself in danger. I ignored him as he looked me over, pretending to still be reading as I sat there in the silky midnight blue shorts and cami set. I even moved deliberately slow to lick my thumb and turn the page. He gave me a thoughtful look, shrugging out of the suit jacket and folding it over his arm. “Hmm…” his voice rumbling in a deep timber that sent little sparks dancing over my skin. I smiled, but kept my eyes on the book. He walked away through the rooms out of my sight. My heart did a little flip in my chest, anticipating what new ways he’d find to tormen