Authors: Cathy Perkins,Taylor Lee,J Thorn,Nolan Radke,Richter Watkins,Thomas Morrissey,David F. Weisman
Rafe’s gaze hardened, the lines bracketing his mouth tightened. He tipped his chair down and met her furious gaze head on.
“First, that is not what I said. Look, Nicki, I said I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sent that text. At least not all of it. I wanted to explain that I had plans for the evening and wouldn’t be able to see you. I…I shouldn’t have added the last part.” He gave a self-effacing shrug. “It would have been more efficacious to relay that component of my message in person. Again, my apologies.”
Nicki stared at him, disbelieving. His smug expression confirmed that from his perspective, except for the method of conveyance, his insulting message was appropriate. Coupled with his casual reference to “other” plans for the evening, her anger roared to the surface. To keep from launching herself over the desk and smashing his face, she took several steps back, clenching her fists at her sides.
Nicki’s voice shook. “You arrogant son of a bitch. How dare you? How dare you assume….”
Before she could finish her sentence, he’d rounded the desk.
She threw up her hands, backing away.
“No! Don’t come near me. Don’t you dare touch me.”
Rafe quirked a dismissive brow, but his voice was low, tight with controlled anger, belying his superficial indifference.
“I thought we’d already established that I am an arrogant son of a bitch, Nicki.”
Nicki summoned up every ounce of restraint she could muster, determined to mimic his casual arrogance. And equally determined not to burst into tears.
Thrusting her chin in the air, she crossed her arms tightly and glared at him. She took a deep breath, her voice filled with righteous scorn.
“I’m sorry that you don’t ‘do’ virgins, Rafe. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have thrown myself at you. I wouldn’t have made such a fool of myself.”
She bit down on her lip to stop it from trembling.
Assuming a nonchalance she was far from feeling, she huffed, “Tell you what. I’ll be on the lookout for a guy, any guy, one who doesn’t have your foibles. Then maybe, at your convenience, when you have a vacancy on your dance card and an itch to scratch, I can fill in for one of your adoring women.”
Ignoring the darkening cloud of anger seeping over Rafe’s face, Nicki edged closer to the door. She said with a dismissive nod, “I know you don’t like being first, Rafe. But I should thank you for the orgasm you gave me the other night. It’s the first orgasm I’ve had, that I didn’t give myself.”
She added with an airy toss of her head, “At least now I’ll have a standard by which to judge my next series of partners.”
Silent as a cat, Rafe’s coiled body ate up the distance between them. Pouncing on her, he grabbed her arm and jerked her toward him. He shoved her against the wall, his body shaking with anger. She felt his heart hammering against her chest… but then it could have been hers. She gasped, stunned at his fury.
Pressing his lips hard against her ear, he issued a low guttural warning.
“If another man so much as touches you, I’ll kill him.”
He added, his voice harsh with suppressed rage, “Don’t test me, Nicki.”
~~~
Katya reached over and refilled Nicki’s glass, emptying their second bottle of Pinot Noir in the process.
“It’s not as if he can have it both ways, darling.” Katya sighed. “Although knowing Rafe as I do, I’m confident he not only thinks that he can, but he believes it’s his right to do so.”
She shook her head and grinned as she removed the cork from yet another bottle of wine. “Poor baby. I almost feel sorry for him.”
“What?” Nicki cried, rising up on one elbow. After storming out of Rafe’s office she’d fled to Katya’s room. Alternately crying and raging for what seemed like hours, she’d lodged herself on the chaise lounge in Katya’s suite and hadn’t moved in the last hour except to proffer her wine glass for more healing liquid.
She continued, sputtering with anger. “You feel sorry for that arrogant.…”
Katya put up her hand to ward off another tirade. Nicki was actually relieved. Her head was pounding. She didn’t know how much more rage she could handle. She was drained.
Katya frowned as if pondering a difficult problem. She nodded thoughtfully.
“No, there is only one solution. You will have to seduce him.”
“What?” Nicki shrieked again. She rose up then pressed her hand to her pounding forehead. “Are you crazy, Katya? Haven’t you heard a word I have been saying? He’s decided he won’t have me. He won’t take me.”
“I understand, honey.” Katya soothed. “All the more reason you will need to seduce him.”
Nicki didn’t hide her anger. “Apparently you do not understand, Katya. I do not want to be anywhere near Rafe Boudin. I hate him. Despise him.”
Katya waved her away dismissively.
“Yes, yes, yes. I understand.” A wicked smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “You’ll have to trust me, Nicki. Anger—masked as hate—is a powerful aphrodisiac.”
The leap of sensation in her groin at Katya’s provocative assertion, confirmed that Katya might to be on to something. The more Nicki thought about it, it seemed exactly what she needed to do. She would make love to him—then she would leave him, turn her back on him. And this time nothing that the conceited despicable man could do would keep her from leaving.
As good as that solution sounded, her excitement nevertheless quickly crashed. Deflated, she turned to Katya whose eyes were sparkling with mischief.
“But…but how, Katya? Rafe won’t come near me. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t insist that I leave ISA immediately.”
“It’s simple.” Katya grinned. “We’ll use the best weapon we women have.”
Nicki frowned, despair swallowing her earlier elation.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Honey, I know you don’t believe me right now. You are angry with Rafe. Hurt. You will have to trust me, Nicki. Rafe loves you. More than either you or he can imagine. This is not about your “status” or level of experience. Rafe is scared spitless. He knows if he ever gives into the passion he feels for you, he will never recover. He’d be lost to you forever.”
Nicki hesitated. She knew in her heart that Rafe did love her and God knows, she loved him. But she also knew that he was determined to push her away. His hateful actions made that abundantly clear.
Weariness threatened to swallow her. “I know you mean well, Katya, but I don’t think you understand how determined Rafe is to drive me away.”
“That’s why we will have to use the best weapon we have against him,” Katya repeated with a cocky grin.
Nicki couldn’t help but smile at the excitement in her friend’s eyes.
“And what my wise woman friend, would that weapon be?”
“Easy. Another man.”
Nicki gasped. “Oh, my God, Katya. You are crazy. Rafe told me that he would kill any man who as much as touches me!”
“I know, I know. That’s what makes this the perfect plan.”
“What? I get one of the men to play around with me and Rafe kills him? And then what, Katya. I take them on one by one until Rafe comes to his senses and agrees that losing more men is worse than making love to me?”
Katya shrieked with laughter.
“No, silly. Not one of the men here. They’re off limits. Besides they’re all in love with you as well so it wouldn’t be fair. God, honey, even now, Caleb is about one smart crack away from losing his dangly parts. Trust me, Rafe is about ready to blow.”
“Then who, Katya? Some poor sap I pick up off the street and convince him one night with me is worth dying for?”
Katya chortled. She grabbed both of Nicki’s hands in hers and pulled her down next to her on the bed. Her eyes danced with anticipation.
“Hear me out, girlfriend. I promise you. The only person who is going to enjoy this ‘seduction’ more than you and Rafe, is me.” She added with a broad grin. “And of course all of the men who get to sit back and watch their little ‘hotstuff’ take down the big bad Rafe Boudin.”
Chapter 20
Katya clapped her hands in delight. “Oh my God, Nicki, you look stunning! I actually feel sorry for Rafe. The biggest problem we’re going to have is getting you out the door before he can grab you and lock you in a cage.”
She bubbled with laughter, then seeing Nicki’s face, she added, “Honey, don’t worry. Both Caleb and Grayson are as excited about this plot as I am. They know exactly what they need to do. But, damn, when they see you, they may decide the hell with Rafe and haul you off to sample the wares and never bring you back!”
Nicki laughed but couldn’t hide her nervousness. They had been so busy today that she’d barely had time to think about the outrageous plan Katya had hatched. Even after she and Katya spent several hours going through her wardrobe, it had all still seemed like a lark, not something she would actually do. Katya was stunned at Nicki’s gorgeous array of lingerie. Pawing through gobs of lacy bras, every kind of thong and panties imaginable, and a whole wardrobe of garter belts and silk stockings, Katya couldn’t hide her amazement.
“Damn, Nicki. No wonder you are a virgin. If any guy got an inkling of the kind of packaging you have for that sensational body of yours, he’d never get his tongue back in his mouth. Where did you get all of these sexy things? You could open a store. The only thing you seem to like more is those ‘fuck me’ shoes. What do you have, thirty pairs? I promise you, Nicki, you get down to this layer of underwear and a pair of those shoes, and our Mr. ‘I don’t do virgins’ will be crawling on his hands and knees begging for you.”
Nicki smiled. “Well, for one thing, I have a very indulgent father. I don’t think he picked out the underwear himself. But just like all the weapons he gave me over the years, he found a munitions maker he trusted, and ordered whatever the expert recommended. I’ll bet there are lingerie shops in Paris that rely on my father for a quarter of their annual business.”
While Katya oohed and aahed and finally settled down to choose between a hot pink silky set and a black lace ensemble, Nicki screwed up her courage. If anyone could answer the questions she had it was Katya.
Knowing that her cheeks were flaming she forced herself to ask Katya the questions tormenting her since she and Rafe were together.
“Here’s the problem, Katya. Rafe has already seen some of this underwear and he really seemed to like it. At least at first. But then he still pulled away, or a better description is that he pushed, no shoved, me away.”
When Katya frowned, clearly ready to argue, Nicki held up her hand to stop her.
“No, let me finish. I think the problem is that I look like I know what I am doing—that I have a lot of experience, just like I have all these sexy clothes and shoes and lingerie but when it comes down to …doing it…well, let’s face it, Rafe’s big concern is that I am a virgin. He obviously isn’t interested in dealing with a woman that he has to train. And Katya there’s only so much you can learn in books, someone has to be willing to be a guinea pig, show me the basics.”
Nicki could tell Katya was trying not to laugh and she turned away before the tears burning her eyelids embarrassed her.
She muttered, anger creeping into her voice, “I know what you are thinking. How could someone get to be 26 years old and not know anything? But you don’t understand. Between my father and Griorgi and Maiya, I couldn’t go to school without an armed escort. My father was terrified that something would happen to me. By the time I was a teenager, there was always at least one bodyguard somewhere close behind. Even if they tried not to get in my way, who wants to date a girl who has a 250-pound driver who carries a poorly concealed weapon and only speaks Russian? Then when my body started looking like it does now, everyone thought I was a slut and I gave up. Besides, I’d rather fight men then date them. That’s what I really know how to do.”
Nicki knew she sounded bitter but the memory of all those lonely years of being on the outside looking in were hard to swallow. Just as it was hard to think how silly she had been to “save herself” for the right man, assuming he would want her that way. She looked up and was gratified that Katya had stopped grinning.
Nicki gave an impatient shake of her head. She needed Katya to understand.
“I think the reason I have all this sexy stuff and dress the way I do, is because I like the way it makes me feel. It makes me feel desirable, special. And it’s why I did this.”
Having showered, Nicki was naked under her bathrobe, waiting to see what Katya finally decided she should wear.
She tossed her head then nonchalantly opened her robe showing Katya her belly ring and her tattoo.
Katya jumped back, her eyes widening in astonishment. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth which was as wide open as her eyes.
She choked back a strangled gasp then whispered, “Jesus, Mary, Joseph!”
Looking from the tattoo to Nicki’s face, she visibly struggled for what to say next.
“I have to ask, Nicki. Any chance Rafe saw that?” She asked pointing to the outrageous decoration.
Nicki raised her chin and glared at Katya.
“Yes he did, and that’s when it became clear that he didn’t want to make love to me.”
She jerked her robe closed and turned to go into the sanctuary of her bathroom, but Katya grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She tugged at her forcing her to sit down beside her on the bed.
“Uh uh. Oh no you don’t. Don’t you dare misunderstand. Yes, I am stunned, almost speechless, but only because that is the most outrageously sexy thing I have ever seen in my life! Almost as beautiful and sexy as the woman wearing it. Trust me, when all this is over, the next thing we are going to do is make sure that before I go back to see my husband I’m going to have one of those on me!”
When Nicki giggled, not sure how to respond, Katya continued.
“Now I understand everything, even better than I did before. Nicki, Rafe is wild about you. He sees all that innocence bound up in a package that screams sensuality and he is crazy with lust. Damn, honey, no wonder he is scared. He’s already in love with you and convinced he can’t have you and then he sees that?” She pointed to the space between Nicki’s thighs now hidden by the robe. “I’m surprised that he didn’t run for the hills instead of just declaring that you were off limits.”