“Yeah.” Jodie leaned in to whisper as a crowd of tourists strolled by. “Like tying you down, bit of spanking, bit of bondage. That sort of good stuff. I’ve dated a few Russians, and they’re all like that. Dominating andsexy.”
Piper’s eyes widened as she imagined Mikhail in bed, pinning a woman down whilehe…
“Easy, girl.” Jodie giggled. “If your face gets any redder, you’ll set off the firealarms.”
That was the problem with having some seriously dark fantasies and a modest personality—they tended to collide in uncomfortable ways. She’d told Jodie only a few weeks ago that she’d like to have a man who would be a little rough, someone who would dominate her in bed, maybe spank or tie her down. Her friend hadn’t laughed, but she’d never forgotten, either. The mere mention of it and her entire body heated up, and it always turned her face an embarrassing shade of fire-truckred.
Jodie changed the subject. “So what did you and Mikhail talkabout?”
She could tell her friend was trying to suss out any details of a possible romantic encounter. Ever since she and Jodie had flown to London a week ago, Jodie had been hell-bent on finally getting Piper laid. But she didn’t hold it againsther.
I was the idiot who had too many cocktails at the airport bar, then told her I was a virgin and that I got turned on by a bit of domination.Smooth.
It was sweet, though, Jodie’s desire to help her get rid of her pesky V-card.
“Talk about? Oh, well, we talked about the jewels at the receptiontonight.”
“Is he coming?” Jodieasked.
“It sounded like he is. I wonder how he got an invite. Only potential buyers and employees are attending.” Piper bit her bottom lip, thinking it over.Who does he know who could get him into the auction?She’d met many of the potential buyers and seen lists with names on them from the auction house, but she hadn’t seen any Barinovs on the list. Still, he might be a late addition, fresh off a private jet from Moscow orsomething.
“Maybe he’s connected to the auction house, but we just didn’t meet him before today?” Jodiesuggested.
“There was something about him…” Piper murmured, once more thinking of Mikhail’s green eyes and how, for a second, she’d sworn they’d started to turn gold. How he’d acted like he knew the jewels personally, which was, of course,ridiculous.
“He was crazy hot. You need to jump his bones ASAP before he flies back home,” Jodie added and then brightened. “That’s it. We’re going shopping. We’ll get you something totally amazing to wear tonight. I could see he was into you from across the room.” Jodie seized her arm and hauled her out of the exhibit room. “We aresonot missing thisopportunity.”
She wasn’t really looking forward to shopping, but she did have a sudden urge to look her best for the sexy, mysterious Mikhail Barinov. She would’ve felt pathetic acting like this for any other man, but there was something about the man and the way he’d looked at her, the same way he’d looked at the jewels: with an intensehunger.
Was it foolish to hope he might be genuinely interested in her? Probably. But she wanted to take a risk. If there was a man worth risking herself for, it was definitely the man with bewitching green eyes and a Russianaccent.
3
We men dream dreams, we work magic, we do good, we do evil. The dragons do not dream. They are dreams. They do not work magic: it is their substance, their being. They do not do; theyare.
?Ursula K. Le Guin,The FarthestShore
Mikhail walkedup the steps to Berkley’s Club, his skin tingling. It had been a long time since he’d scented a virgin woman in her prime. He’d stayed away from humans for so long that he’d almost forgotten how the sweet, floral scent of a naturally beautiful woman could tease his nostrils. The little virgin gemologist was as ripe as a red apple hanging low on the branch, begging to be plucked. His body hardened at the thought of getting her alone, stripping her naked, and inhaling that intoxicating, pure scent until he was drunk with thearoma.
He gave his head an almost violent shake. No—he refused to be a fool for a woman again,especiallya virgin. Piper Linwood was no different than any other female, ready to betray a man the moment it was convenient. It didn’t matter that she’d carried a loneliness in her eyes that called to his, or a hopeful blush in her cheeks when he’d leaned in close to her. It was a ruse and nothing more. His hands curled into fists as he rapped his knuckles on the club’s front door and waited, his mind racing with thoughts of thepast.
The memories of that night when Queen Elizabeth had seduced and betrayed him five hundred years ago had left him filled with a quiet rage. When he’d entered the jewel exhibit an hour ago, his heart had stopped at the sight ofhisjewels on display for the world to see like common trinkets. But theyweren’t.
The hoard was his family’s payment for a treaty with the Belishaws, an English dragon family. The Belishaws had received those same jewels years before Elizabeth was born as a payment from King Henry VIII, when he was a young and weak monarch. In exchange, the Belishaws had provided the Crown with their support and protection. Now those jewels belonged to him and his two brothers, Grigori and Rurik. To see the hoard on display like this had upset his dragon. A dragon’s hoard was supposed to be hidden deep below the earth in caverns where no one could stealit.
The door to the club opened. He took a deep breath as he stepped inside. A servant met him just inside thedoor.
“Good evening,sir.”
Mikhail handed the servant his black membership card. “I’m here to see RandolphBelishaw.”
The man’s eyes widened as he examined the card. “Yes, of course, right this way.” He waved for Mikhail to follow. They walked up a flight of gleaming, polished wooden stairs, softened by expensive carpets. Paintings of famous members from days long past lined the walls. He paused at the top of the stairs and noticed a portrait of a blond-haired man with laughing gray eyes. The man wore buckskin breeches and a blue waistcoat. The inscription beneath the painting read, “Charles Humphrey, Seventh Earl ofLonsdale.”
He’d met the man once in an underground boxing ring more than two hundred years ago. Lonsdale had been one of the fiercest humans he’d ever faced. Mikhail hadn’t stayed in London long after thatmatch.
“You had one hell of a right hook,” Mikhail said with a chuckle. What had happened to Lonsdale? Had he slipped into obscurity like most other men of his day? The thought was a sobering one. Good men always died, while dragons livedon.
The servant had paused a few feet ahead, apparently believing Mikhail had spoken to him. “Excuseme?”
