The Russian's Dangerous Game (11 page)

He looked at the pillows and shook his head. “Why do women think that a bed should be half covered with pillows all the time?” he asked with obvious disdain.

She laughed softly. “Possibly to torture men when they are required to make the bed in the morning.”

He made a rude sound and backed out of the room. “Sleep well. I’ll see you when you’re feeling more rested.”

With that, he disappeared and Brianna was left to explore the beautiful room by herself.

She looked at the bed, smiling at how inviting it looked. She thought she would just lie down for a few minutes but as she snuggled up among the pillows, she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. The stress of the past few days
, plus the challenge of keeping up with Rocco left her exhausted.

A bit later,
Rocco looked at his watch and smiled with anticipation. His lovely houseguest had been sleeping for two hours. He probably should let her sleep a bit longer, but he was eager to see her bright, cheerful smile again. And hopefully hold her soft, delectable body in his arms once more.

He opened the door to the room and looked in on her, spotting her curled up among the pillows. Again, he was struck by how fairy-like she seemed. With her eyes closed, her long, dark lashes fanned out against her pale skin. And those lips were just too enticing to resist. Bending low, he intended to just kiss her softly to wake her up. But when her lips moved against his, he couldn’t pull away. Her hand even came up, holding his head in place.

Rocco braced his arms on the mattress on either side of her, keeping his body apart but enjoying her kiss, following her lead.

He knew the instant she woke up more fully and deepened the kiss, enjoying the way her arms wrapped around his neck, p
ulling him closer. He groaned when her body curled against his, her leg shifting so she was cradling his erection against her warm body.

A man could only take so much enticement, he thought with regret. And he was reaching his limit quickly. “Brianna, if you don’t mean what you’re doing to me, then you have to stop.”

She was slow to react, her eyes fluttering open and her body arching against his slightly. But as soon as reality hit her, she froze, her eyes focusing up into his.

“Oh goodness,” she gasped. Those soft, tender hands that had been fluttering against his skin quickly fell away and Rocco almost groaned at how fast she tried to wiggle away from him.

He stood up and looked down at her, trying to get his body back under control. “I only came up to see if you were hungry for some lunch,” he said, noticing that his voice sounded deeper than normal.

Brianna looked up at him, blushing as her eyes caught on his body’s reaction and she was ashamed. “Lunch,” she said as if testing the word and the idea. She licked her lips, unaware that his passion filled eyes were watching her every movement. “Um…yes,” she thought quickly. “Lunch would be very nice. Thank you.”

He stepped backwards but grabbed both of her arms, pulling her against him and holding her still. “Brianna, I stopped because I don’t want anything less than what we shared the previous night. And I wanted you to be fully aware, making the decision to be with me with your mind fully conscious.”

She started to shake her head, but his hands slid down from her waist to her hips, pulling her close and she was shocked by
the hardness against her stomach.

“Don’t even think that we’re not going to enjoy each other again. Don’t lie to yourself and don’t lie to me. We will be together, Brianna. There’s no way we can stop ourselves. You know it and I know it. Even your body is rebelling against your crazy need to ignore what’s happening between us.”

“I’m not…” she started to say.

“No. Don’t speak. I’m not going to allow you to ignore this.” He took a deep breath even while one hand moved back up her back, sending shivers everywhere to reinforce his point. “Let’s go have some lunch. Then how about exploring in the snow?” he suggested.

Brianna latched onto that, eager to get out of the house where he was fast becoming too much of a temptation. “Lunch and a walk would be very nice. Thank you.”

They went down to the dining room and feasted on a warm casserole filled with vegetables and spicy chicken. During the whole meal, Rocco interrogated her on her job, her goals and tried to question her about her friends and her past. But Brianna drew the line at revealing any personal information about her growing up years. She never told anyone about being in a foster home, about the horrors of losing her parents at such an early age and the fear of being alone. And there was no way she would tell him anything about Nikki or Rachel. Her friends were precious to her, more like sisters. The three of them had grown up so poor and so filled with the heartache of that poverty, they had a special bond.

Nikki had been their protector, Rachel had been their tutor and Brianna had been the one both of them came to for comfort when someone said a horrible comment or a boy tried to make a move on one of them, thinking that poverty equaled low morals.

So all of that might be true, and possibly even pertinent to some of the questions he was asking, but she avoided all mention of her friends, protecting them from this man she didn’t trust.

Well, she shouldn’t trust him…as soon as she said the world in her mind, she realized that they just didn’t feel right. But surely it was impossible to start trusting someone she barely knew.

Wasn’t it?

“Okay, so you’ve interrogated me,” she interrupted when their plates were taken away by the ever-efficient housekeeper, “now it’s my turn.”

“Outside,” he came back.

Brianna blinked, not sure what he was saying.
“Outside?”

“Yes. I’ll answer all of your questions, but it has to be outside.”

Brianna looked out the large windows of the cozy dining room, her eyes lighting up at the idea of tromping through the fresh snow. And then she realized that she only had one pair of jeans and the sweatshirt she’d worn yesterday. “I can’t go outside. I don’t have anything to wear.”

His housekeeper walked in at that moment
to clear the rest of the table. “My daughter’s away for college but she left most of her clothes here. You may borrow anything you’d like.” She picked up the casserole dish. “I’ll have my husband bring over some snow clothes and other items. And never worry about your clothes. I’ll have them washed and ironed for you whenever you need them.”

She walked back out and Brianna saw Rocco’s triumphant expression. Since she loved walking through the snow, she didn’t fight the option.
“Fine! You win,” she acquiesced, throwing up her hands with an exasperated laugh.

Ten minutes later, she was bundled up in snow pants and one of Rocco’s winter coats, feeling more than a little
overwhelmed by the amount of fabric. He even plunked a wool cap on her head and tied a scarf around her neck before stuffing her hands into gloves that were slightly too big, but would still keep her warm and dry.

“Am I appropriately attired, sir?” she asked sarcastically.

Rocco looked down at her and grinned with a wink. “You’ll do for now,” he retorted.

With that, he took her hand and led her out of the house in the direction of the stables where she’d hunkered down last night. “Here,” he said, handing her an apple.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked, looking at the large red apple in her hands.

“You’re going to feed one of the horses.”

She looked down at the apple again, then at the stables. “My friend Nikki is terrified of horses,” she said with a grin.

Rocco looked down at her. “Who is Nikki?” he asked, intrigued.

Brianna bit her lip, wishing she’d never said anything. She looked up at him, knowing he wouldn’t relent until he had some sort of answer. So she came up with a reply that wouldn’t violate her friends’ privacy, but would assuage his curiosity. “Nikki, Rachel and I were a trio growing up. Nikki was fearless, except about horses.” They tromped out through the door down a stone pathway that had already been plowed. “There was one time we were on a camping trip with some youth organization. We were listening to an environmental discussion on saving the creeks and lakes, holding shovels as we prepared to work on soil erosion by planting some sort of shrub or bush, I can’t remember what. Nikki was saying something and she slammed her shovel down, tip first into the ground, right into a snake. She’d chopped off the head without even realizing what she’d just done.”

Rocco chuckled, fascinated by this piece of information she’d volunteered willingly. “What did you do?” he asked gently, wanting her to continue.

Brianna laughed. “I grabbed Rachel’s hand and screamed. She looked down and started screaming as well. Between the two of us screaming, the rest of the group ran over, trying to find out what had happened.” Brianna gasped when Rocco lifted her up, away from one of the deeper snow drifts and carefully set her down on the other side of him where the snow was lower. She took a deep breath, trying to pull her mind back into focus. “Anyway, Nikki looked down, realized what she’d done and smiled. All she said was, ‘Cool!’ as if the snake hadn’t fazed her in the least.”

Rocco smiled, but
it was more for this lovely mystery woman. The more she told him about herself, the more he wanted to know. “So I’m guessing you and Rachel aren’t fans of snakes?”

“Goodness, no!”

“And what about horses?”

She laughed slightly. “That’s what brought up the memory. Nikki was so fearless, but there’s something about horses that terrifies her. She never hesitated to stand up to a bully, challenge one of the teachers,
or fight for either Rachel or me if she felt we were wronged. But horses?” Brianna shook her head. “I don’t know what it is about them, but she is terrified.”

“They’re actually very gentle creatures.”

“It probably has something to do with their size compared to her size.”

“What’s Nikki like?”

Brianna smiled softly. “Nikki is beautiful. I’m not sure if Rachel or Nikki is prettier, but all the guys used to flock around the two of them. Nikki would just push them away. Rachel barely knew they existed since all she wanted to do was study. But the boys were never deterred.”

Rocco suspected that many of the boys had been trying to get this lovely lady’s attention as well and he felt honored that none had ever captured her interest.
At least not to the same extent as he’d been able to accomplish.

They entered the stables and Brianna looked around, fascinated by the area now that there was light and she could see the space. She actually blushed when she passed by the corner in which she’d fallen asleep, wondering how there could be spiders around when the ground was
so cold. She supposed that it was still early enough in the season that the spiders hadn’t gone underground yet, but she wasn’t an entomologist so she could only guess. And then she noticed the warmth. “You heat the stables?” she asked.

Rocco smiled slightly as he petted the nose of one horse affectionately.
“Only on the very cold nights. The horses are getting their winter coats so they’re generally warm enough. I only have a few horses since I don’t get to ride as often as I’d like, and they’re out in the pasture most of the time.”

She continued to ask him questions about horses while feeding one her apple, finding them more fascinating than she’d thought. “I’d love to ride one,” she said and then froze, shocked at what she’d just admitted.

Spinning her head around, she looked up at him, flustered. “I mean…I’ll…uh…” she wasn’t sure how to get out of that flub.

“I’ll take you riding as soon as the snow melts,” he said, moving closer.

She back away, even as he came closer. “I won’t be here when the snow melts enough for you to ride.”

He chuckled and backed her into a corner. “Yes you will.” Why was he so sure about that? He preferred his privacy. He didn’t like women hanging around. They were nice for one purpose. After that, he was all business.

Not with Brianna, he realized. She was different. He didn’t want to leave her alone. He wanted to know everything about her. He was fascinated. And he wanted her.

Backing away, he turned to greet one of the other horses that had stuck his head out in greeting. “This is Thor,” he explained.

Brianna came a bit closer, but still kept more than a foot between them. She’d been hoping he would kiss her a moment ago and that was dangerous. She had to keep her wits about her with this man. Where was the temper tantrum she’d expected? Why wasn’t he growling demands at his staff? She knew he wasn’t as charming and patient as he was coming across.

“Why are you so nice to your staff?” she blurted out.

Rocco turned to look down at her and chuckled. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her closer, ignoring her resistance until she was standing right in front of him, her back to his chest. In this way, he was almost hugging her. “Thor might be strong and powerful, but he actually is quite the attention hound,” Rocco explained, ignoring her question since he had no idea how to answer her. Why was he nice to his staff? He was good to the people who served him because he appreciated their help and they all worked hard for him. He wasn’t so nice to his directors and managers. He expected a great deal from each of them and knew the levels to which they could perform.