tall silhouettes drew me in.
Soon, I was standing in front of them,
peering up at the unforgiving faces. I stopped and stared, admiring
the art at my leisure. Their strict faces echoed my concerns, my
doubts. After a moment, I tore myself away from the heinous
things.
When I stepped away, I noticed the door. The
tight black double door to Nicholas' private apartment wasn't fully
closed.
Curiouser and curiouser. Who could be in
there?
I pinched one eye shut and looked through
the small crack in the door. I saw a dim lit receiving room with
fine décor and tall bookshelves, the kind of sitting room I'd seen
in Presidential suites at nice hotels.
I couldn't help it. My fingers pushed on the
door, praying there weren't any oily hinges. It opened silently,
and I moved in.
There were no great secrets waiting just
beyond the door. None I could see, anyway. A few cabinets, a
spacious bathroom, a personal bar stacked high with fresh
liquors.
I moved on. The bedroom door was open.
My flesh warmed and rippled lightly as I
crossed the threshold. There was a massive canopy bed in the
center, its dark curtains drawn back – and what was laying on the
neatly made up mattress?
I shouldn't be going in here. But I
shouldn't be bored to death either.
I'd forgotten all about the other intruder
who must've been inside. I stepped closer, closer, my eyes fixed on
the dark shapes laying on the silky sheets.
“ What? What's this doing
here?”
I stared down at the bed where someone had
laid out a fine pair of folded lingerie, black and lacy cups with
matching panties tucked beneath them. Above them rested a sleek
pair of handcuffs and a thick black blindfold, lovingly stamped
with wavy gold flourishes on both sides.
An enticing, mysterious, strangely beautiful
sight. I began to reach out, and practically jumped through the
ceiling when I heard his voice.
“ April! I've been
expecting you.”
I spun, falling back unevenly on the bed as
I saw Nicholas, stripped to just a button down shirt and fine
trousers for the first time. Beneath the casual veneer, he was
smiling, an invitation written on his firm, tight lips.
“ Fuck! Don't you know it's
rude to sneak up on people?” I beamed my harshest glare at him. Or
tried to.
When I locked eyes with him for more than a
second, my confidence and irritation melted, swift as lightning
striking a snowy field. I withered, struggling to sit upright on
the bed.
“ You know what's more rude
than that?” He came closer, and opened his mouth to speak before I
had a chance to ask. “Sneaking into a man's private chamber, his
most intimate place. Especially when the man told you it was off limits in no
uncertain terms.”
Shit!
I wilted in place. I couldn't remember the
last time I'd been shamed, but I doubted I ever felt as rightly
humiliated as this.
“ But you...you left your
door open. It's like you wanted me here.” I looked up, cold
realization winding through my body. Then the ice split, making way
for fierce warmth to roil up my blood.
“ A test. I wanted to see
if you were the person I thought you were, April. You mean well, of
course. You're a good worker when you want to be. Kind and caring
too. But you can also be a nosy little brat, can't you?”
I flushed beet red. How could he talk to me
like that? How!
I stood off the bed, ready to march past
him. Nicholas was too quick. He turned his back, slid across the
room like a panther, and slammed the door to his bedroom shut.
A hard lump formed in my
throat. Whether I liked it or not, something wild and unforgettable
was about to happen here, and the worst part was I wanted it.
I was ready to be an offering. Ready to be
claimed. Ready to give up soft flesh and virgin kisses to this
Russian beast, this titan who promised to deliver everything that
made me shake and cream and ache.
“ Is this the way you treat
all your nannies? Your playthings?” I gritted my teeth, using the
same frightening term Natasha had used.
“ Ha!