The Professional Read online

  I just couldn't figure out why that Russian had been so angry. And what the hell had been so off-putting about me? I wasn't a beauty like Jess, but I'd had male interest ever since I'd sprouted mammaries.

  Curious, I ran my palms down my legs. They were fit from standing for hours on end while waiting tables, just as my arms were lean from hefting trays.

  My hands ascended to my hips. Admittedly, they were wide, but my waist was narrow. And my breasts? They were fairly big, bobbing now in the water, coral-colored nipples puckering just above the surface. My rack had been on display tonight; that Russian hadn't given it a second glance.

  But what if I hadn't repelled him? What would those hot, rough palms of his have felt like kneading my chest? At the thought, I experienced a surge of arousal so strong it startled me. My nipples stiffened even more. When the bathwater lapped at them, my breath hitched.

  I'd talked to him for less than two minutes, seen him for less than ten, and his effect on me was this strong?

  To hell with it--he could spurn me all he wanted to, but he couldn't keep me from fantasizing about him. With a mental Screw you, Russian, I reached between my legs to stroke, picturing his broad shoulders, his square jawline, his mouth. Those hooded golden eyes.

  Even in the water, I could tell how slick my pussy had grown, my forefinger gliding along my lips, parting them. When I reached my clitoris, I found it swollen and supersensitive.

  Sighing with need, I began to rub the bud in slow circles. My lids slid shut, and my knees fell wide against the sides of the tub. With my free hand, I petted my breasts, thumbing my nipples till they strained. . . .

  I debated fetching one of my trusty vibrators from under the bed. But then I pictured the Russian kissing down my torso with that scorching expression, and realized B.O.B. could sit this one out.

  Though I'd never had a guy go down on me, I could all but see the Russian's dark head between my thighs as he began to lick. Another stroke had me undulating in the water, gasping. His lips would be firm against my weeping flesh as he hungrily tongued me. He'd want me wetter and wetter, and I'd oblige.

  In this fantasy, my aching clit wasn't throbbing against my finger, but against his greedy tongue.

  As my body tensed for my orgasm, every inch of me seemed to gather in on itself, like a star about to explode. I rubbed my palm over my taut nipples, another shot of stimulation. So close, only a couple more strokes . . . I cracked open my eyes to watch myself writhing in the throes. Corner of my vision, strangest thing . . . through the steam, I thought I saw the Russian.

  In my doorway, gazing down at me with smoldering eyes.

  Broad chest heaving as he gnashed his teeth.

  Muscles tensed as if he was about to fall upon me.

  I squinted through the haze. Surely my muddled mind was imagining this? Was I that drunk? I was right at the razor's edge of coming, my toes already curling. As I met his mesmerizing imaginary gaze, my sneaky finger decided to give my clit one more shudder-inducing flick.

  He exhaled sharply, big hands opening and closing. His expression said that he was about to seize my body and eat me up, bit by little bit.

  So close . . . Then it registered that he was actually standing in the doorway of my bathroom.

  The Russian had broken into my house and was spying on me, like some psycho!

  I shot upright, drawing a breath to scream, but he cut me off: "Cover yourself, Natalie." His voice was rough, his brows drawn tight. "We need to talk." With a vile curse in Russian, he strode off.

  Cover myself? Talk?

  Night-stalker-serial-killers didn't say shit like that!

  I was so confounded, I couldn't manage a scream. My mouth moved, but no words came out. I scrambled from the tub, reaching for a towel, and secured it around me. Even in the midst of this turmoil, I hissed in a breath as the terry cloth rubbed my nipples.

  Casting around for a weapon, I plucked off the cover of the toilet tank, hefting it over my shoulder in a batter's pose. From the safety of the bathroom, I called, "I don't know what you're doing in my house. But you need to leave now. Or I'll call the cops!"

  "I was sent here by your father," he replied from my bedroom.

  I swayed, and my makeshift weapon faltered. Considering his Russian accent--and the timing--I knew he had to be talking about my biological father. Still I said, "My dad died six years ago."

  "You know that's not the one I'm referring to."

  In a rush, I demanded, "What do you know about him? Who are you? Why did you break into my house?"

  "Break in?" Scoffing sound. "Your key was under a plastic rock. For anyone to find," he added in a chiding tone. "Your father is a very important--and wealthy--man. He's assigned me to be your new bodyguard."

  "Bodyguard! Why would I need one?"

  "Anyone in a family with a ten-figure net worth"--I gasped at that--"needs protection."

  "You're saying he's a . . . billionaire?" Was I getting punked? Maybe that was in rubles or something.

  "Correct. His name is Pavel Kovalev. He just learned of your existence a short while ago, through the investigator you hired."

  I now knew my father's name.

  I'd initially wanted to learn about my birth parents because I possessed an overdeveloped sense of curiosity. Then it had occurred to me that I might have gotten my sense of curiosity from my parents.

  After that, I'd imagined a man and a woman in their forties, mired in endless wondering about the child they'd given up to a Russian orphanage twenty-four years ago. The thought had pushed me to take on yet another job, to keep digging relentlessly. I'd searched not just for my sake, but for theirs.

  But he'd never known I existed? Then I frowned. "My investigator? Zironoff? He hasn't returned my e-mails or calls."

  "He was made aware that we would be handling this internally going forward."

  "Oh." Thanks for the heads-up, dickwad. At least I hadn't gotten ripped off again. No, I'd . . . succeeded.

  After six years of searching.

  I tottered from shock--and residual tequila. I returned the tank cover to its spot before it dropped on my head like a cartoon anvil. "If you're my bodyguard, then why were you spying on me in the bath?" I snagged my pink robe, hastily swapping it for the towel. "Huh?"

  Silence. When I didn't hear anything, I had a weird spike of panic that this man--a new source of answers, an alleviator of curiosity--had vanished as quickly as he'd appeared. "Are you there?"

  Trying not to think of how short my silk robe was--and what he'd just caught me doing--I poked my head out of the bathroom; no sign of him. So I cautiously padded toward my room. "You didn't answer my question. Hey, why are you in my closet?"

  He emerged from the walk-in. "Where is your luggage?"

  "What does that have to do with anything?" I didn't have real luggage. I'd packed for school in laundry baskets and boxes.

  He raked his eyes over me in my robe, lingering on choice parts of me. Seeming to shake himself, he snagged my sizable book bag, dumping library books on the floor. The History of Sexuality, The Boundaries of Eros, A Thorn in the Flesh.

  "What the hell, Russian?!" If he'd noticed the titles--my general field was the history of women and gender--they didn't faze him.

  When he tossed the empty bag to me, I barely caught it. "Pack necessities only. Everything else will be provided for you."

  I gaped down at the bag then back up. "I'm not doing anything, not until you tell me where you think I'm going. And why this can't wait until tomorrow. For all I know, you could be a human trafficker!"

  "And this would be my m.o.?" He exhaled with a kind of surprised impatience, as if no one had ever argued with him before--as if he'd done this to a hundred other girls, and every one of them had started packing with a Yes, sir. "My name is Aleksandr Sevastyan. Call me Sevastyan." Like Sebastian with a v. "I've worked for your father for decades. Kovalev is keen to meet you." He added almost to himself, "I've never seen him so eager."

  "Ho
w can he be sure I'm his daughter? Zironoff could've made a mistake."

  "Nyet," he said, enunciating a hard no. "You offered up your DNA. Kovalev already had his on file. There is no mistake."

  "If he's so eager to meet me, why didn't he come himself? Why not just call me?"

  "As I said, he is a very important man in Russia, and at present, he's caught up with work concerns that can't be handled by anyone but himself. He trusts me implicitly." Sevastyan moved to my bedroom window, peering out between the blind slats with the same wariness I'd noticed in the bar. "If you pack a bag and get on a plane with me, he will meet you at his estate outside Moscow in less than fourteen hours. This is your father's wish--one I will be carrying out."

  My manalyzer might be cocked up, but my bullshit detector was still pinging clear; against all odds, I was starting to believe this guy.

  Reality began to set in. "But I've got shifts tomorrow." Which I wouldn't need if my search could end. "And my classes!" As soon as the words left my lips, I felt silly. What would this towering, tattooed Russian understand about a Husker's advanced degree? What would he care?

  Surprisingly, he said, "Your schooling is important to you. We understand this. But your father wants you in Russia now. Not next month or next week. You leave tonight."

  "Does he always get what he wants?"

  "Without fail." Sevastyan checked his expensive-looking watch. "Our flight leaves in an hour. I'll explain more on the way to the airport."

  Airport? Flight? I'd never been on a plane. Yet I could be in Russia in less than a day. Don't think of the postcards, don't think . . .

  Even Jess had never been to Russia!

  Then I straightened. "Again, what's the rush? And news flash--I don't have a passport! How am I going to get into Moscow without one?"

  "I'll work that out. It's not a problem." Sevastyan shut off the lamp beside my bed, dimming the room.

  "How can that not be a problem?" I glanced at the tattoos on his scarred fingers and had a sinking suspicion, but tried to ignore it. Nope, not possible . . .

  "I understand that all of this is a lot to take in. But things are different for you now, Natalie. Some rules . . . no longer apply."

  I squared my shoulders. "Not good en--"

  "Let me make this simple for you," he interrupted. "I'm walking out of this house in five minutes. You can either walk out with me, packed and dressed, or leave in that little robe"--his piercing eyes swept over me, over my nipples pressing against the silk--"thrown over my shoulder. Your choice."

  His tone and bearing left no doubt that he was dead serious about kidnapping me. This ruble-billionaire's bodyguard was going to finish his job--period. Still, I dared another question. "Why haven't you said anything about my mother?"

  When his eyes narrowed, I again got the impression that not many people challenged this man.

  "Four minutes."

  I folded my arms over my chest. "I can't just sign on for this, Sevastyan. Not without more answers."

  "Which I promise you will get when we are under way."

  Worst case scenario: if I didn't like what he had to say, I could run from him at the airport, straight into the arms of security guards.

  Sevastyan crossed to stand in front of me. The soft light caressed his hard features. They were almost too masculine. His rugged jaw was wide, the bridge of his aquiline nose slightly askew, giving him a roguish look. But on the whole, he was devastatingly attractive, with that dangerous aura about him.

  "You must trust me, pet," he said as he reached forward to gently grasp my chin.

  At his touch, that dizzying heat filled me once more. It was just the liquor at work, I assured myself, or exhaustion catching up with me. Or my unsuccessful bath time.

  "You know my intent isn't to harm you," he murmured. "Otherwise, I could have led you from that bar earlier, taking you somewhere for us to be alone." My breaths went shallow at that. "Would you not have left with me?"

  In--a--heartbeat.

  He leaned down to say at my ear, "That's right, Natalya. You would have followed where I led."

  "Um . . . uh . . ." I was still recovering from the sound of my name in his raspy accent when I felt his warm breaths. Oh, God, had his lips ghosted over my ear? If his scent and heat had affected me, this grazing contact made my legs weak.

  He drew back, expression inscrutable. "So why don't you stop acting like you haven't already made up your mind to come with me."

  "P-pardon?"

  "You were decided as soon as you heard the words Russia, father, and go." His firm lips thinned, making that razor-slice scar whiten.

  "That's not necessarily true--"

  "Time's up, pet." He bent down to loop an arm around my ass, hoisting me over his shoulder.

  CHAPTER 3

  "PUT ME DOWN!" I screeched, wriggling over the Neanderthal's shoulder as he strode out the front door. Cold air swept up my robe, chilling me in unfamiliar places. "You can't do this!"

  He tightened his grip on my ass. "Doing it." His tone was casual; he wasn't even out of breath.

  Another futile round of squirming. "Please put me down. We'll go back inside"--I'll run away--"and then I can pack, just like you said."

  Three passersby ambled down the sidewalk, huge no-neck guys in letterman jackets. Husker football players! They stopped and gawked.

  Hanging upside down, blood rushing to my head, I opened my mouth to scream for their help--then hesitated. Did I believe what Sevastyan had told me? Was I dealing with an overbearing asshole of a bodyguard--or being abducted? If I screamed, the jocks would kick Sevastyan's ass, which wouldn't help me get to Russia--

  This decision, just like the previous one, was yanked out of my hands. Sevastyan turned to face them, slowly shaking his head. Whatever look he gave them made three massive football players hotfoot the other way.

  As they vanished, I pounded on Sevastyan's back in frustration, stunned to feel a holster. He was carrying a gun! I didn't have time to register my shock before he was shoving me into the front passenger seat of a luxe Mercedes.

  As soon as he shut the door, I lunged for the handle, but he'd already clicked the lock, holding it down with the remote.

  At his door, he gave me a look of warning through the window. He knew he'd have to release the lock button to get in, giving me a chance to escape. The unlock game. I would time it perfectly, reflexes like lightning--

  Shit! He'd opened his door, then jammed the lock button back down before I could open my side!

  He slid his big body into the car. "Better luck with that next time."

  "This is kidnapping!"

  "I told you my intentions. Gave you a countdown." He started the engine and pulled away from the curb. "Understand me, Natalie, I do exactly what I say I'll do. Always." He smoothly executed turn after turn, as if he knew this town as well as I did. "And right now I'm telling you that I will get you safely to your father in Russia."

  "How do you think you'll get me through airport security like this?" I waved my hands to indicate my robe. "I don't even have my purse!"

  "We're going to a private airport. And by the time we land in Moscow, you'll have all new clothes brought to the jet."

  New clothes? Jet? Was he serious?

  His gaze landed on my legs, on my half-bared thighs. And with that one dark glance, my skin flushed. I couldn't help recalling the way he'd looked down on me in the bath.

  Like a hungry predator eyeing tender prey.

  Like I was already a caught thing, his to enjoy. I shivered.

  "Are you cold?" he asked. "You look . . . chilled."

  Chilled? Oh. Because my nipples were still jutting. Yes, I was cold, but my body was also suffering the aftereffects of my foiled masturbation attempt. To be so close, drawing in on myself . . .

  In some ways, I felt the same now. Tense, drawn, my skin prickling with awareness each time he looked at me.

  When I didn't answer him, Sevastyan turned on the heater, and hot air blasted again
st my chest, over the hypersensitive tips of my breasts. I nearly yelped when I felt the seat warmer toasting the cleft of my ass. In the close confines of the car, I got another hit of his mind-numbing scent.

  So much stimulation. Could he see me trembling?

  Once we were on the main highway heading out of town, the car purring along at eighty miles per hour, he commanded, "Put on your seat belt."

  I didn't like this tone at all, heard it constantly at my server jobs. "Or what?" I narrowed my eyes. "And did you really call me pet earlier?"

  "When I tell you to do something, it's in your best interest to do it, pet." Without warning, he reached over to yank my seat belt into place, roughly grazing my breasts with his forearm, filling my head with his scent. I squirmed on the hot seat, feeling dazed by this arrogant man.

  I remembered one time when I'd been written up for public intoxication after a football game; I'd been mentally yelling at myself to sober up, willing myself to recover my wits so I could talk the cop out of the expensive citation. Stop chuckling, Nat, and answer the nice officer! Not OSSIFER, dumbass! Do NOT touch his shiny, shiny badge, do not--DAMN IT, NAT!

  I felt like that now: under the influence.

  Sevastyan affected me in a way I couldn't shake. I was experiencing a bewildering attraction to him, some inexplicable connection.

  And no matter how bad an idea it was, I kept wanting--metaphorically--to touch his badge.

  No, no, no--I needed to concentrate on getting information out of him. "Do you keep your promises, Sevastyan?"

  "To you and your father alone."

  "You promised me answers."

  His hands tightened on the wheel, those sexy rings of his digging into the leather. "Once we are on the plane."

  "Why not now? I need to know more about my parents."

  He didn't deign to respond, just monitored the rearview mirror with that wary alertness.

  I remembered his earlier demeanor, checking the street through my bedroom blinds. "What's up with this paranoia? We're in Lincoln, Nebraska; the most dangerous thing that's ever happened here was when this Russian asshole kidnapped an unwitting co-ed--in her robe."

  The speedometer hit triple digits.

  "Are we . . . are we being followed?"

  Another glance into the rearview. "Not at present."

  "Which indicates we might have been in the past--or perhaps could be in the future?" This was too bizarre. "Am I in some kind of danger?" Questions about my parents and past faded as dread about my immediate future surfaced.