And I am the one who failedmine.
“I can see it, you know,” Belishaw said, his eyes peering deeply intoMikhail’s.
“Seewhat?”
“Your pain. You came here to bring home a treasure to your family, but you were betrayed by a woman you intended to mate. I know your father blamed you, but you must stop blaming yourself.” Belishaw set down the empty glass he had been holding. “It’s been five hundred years. Your parents are gone, and from the way you speak of your brothers, they would take you back in an instant, yet you haven’t talked to them for two centuries. Who are you trying to punish, them oryourself?”
Belishaw always had a way of reminding Mikhail he had a tendency to play themartyr.
“You are right. It is time I returned home to them,” he admitted. His gaze drifted to the fire in the hearth, watching the logs pop and snap beneath the vermillionflames.
“So what’s stopping you?” Belishaw’s question was more of achallenge.
“Nothing. I will get those jewels back and return with my honorrestored.”
Belishaw grinned. “Ah.Nowthings are getting interesting. What do you plan to do,exactly?”
A slow smile curved Mikhail’s lips. “My plan is to seduce a gemologist into giving them to me or aiding me in theirretrieval.”
Belishaw tensed. “Not my brown-eyedcreature.”
“No. It seems there are two here to help with the auction. You can distract yours all you like. I shall take the one with eyes likealexandrite.”
“Then we’d better get you one bloody good suit. No doubt it’s been a while since you’ve seduced a mortal. You’re bound to berusty.”
Mikhail winced at the truth. His skills at seduction might be rusty, but from the way Piper Linwood had looked at him when he’d kissed her hand, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince the woman that he was interested in her. It would be his greatest pleasure to get Piper alone and show her just how good at kissing he reallywas.
4
But there, beneath those rings, beneath the talisman and gems and precious stones like blue eyes (lovers’ keepsakes) there still remains the silent crypt of sex, filled to its vaulted roof with flowerpetals.
—Rainer MariaRilke
Piper Linwood was speechless.
The Thorne Auction House was nothing short of stunning. It was an old townhouse dating from the eighteen hundreds located on Curzon Street, and it had been converted into a boutique auction house and reception hall. The owner, Mr. Wesley Thorne, was an old English teddy bear who, as it so happened, looked a bit like Teddy Roosevelt, with ruddy cheeks, a bushy moustache, and rounded spectacles perched on hisnose.
Piper and Jodie had come to the auction house earlier that evening and had been escorted to rooms upstairs where they could change into their evening gowns. He’d even offered to let them stay the night in case they had to work late. The reception was a black-tie affair, so she and Jodie had bought evening gowns atHarrods.
“Can you believe this place?” Jodie hopped onto the canopy bed, kicking her legs with a squeal of delight. “It’s like something out of a Jane Austennovel.”
Piper had to agree. She’d grown up in a small town outside of Boston and wasn’t used to the elegance and splendor of many of the places she’d seen in London since she’d first arrived. Mr. Thorne had told them that this townhouse had been in his family a long time, and he had been living here until recently. Thorne’s grandson was American and lived on the Gold Coast of Long Island, but he owned properties all over the world. Mr. Thorne was moving to America soon to spend more time with his grandson and his fiancée. It was sosweet.
She got to see a picture of the grandson and his fiancée, holding each other close on the porch of a beautiful ranch house in Colorado, snow glittering on the ground. They looked so in love and so happy. Piper felt a little ache in her chest. She’d never had a relationship like that, not even close. She’d dated a few guys, but there had never been a spark. And she wanted that spark. She’d gotten tired of looking and had given up…untiltoday.
One look at Mikhail Barinov at the museum and she’dfeltit, the spark, and when he’d lifted her hand to his lips, an actual electric spark had jumped between her hand and his lips. The thought that a spark like that could be more than metaphorical had so shocked her that she’d just stared at him as he’d left theexhibit.
And he’s coming here tonight. Her stomach gave a fluttering flip for the hundredth time at the thought of running into Mikhailagain.
It was a silly girlish thing to be obsessing over a man she’d known for less than five minutes, butdamn… Any other woman would’ve been just as smitten with a hunk who had such bewitching eyes and a mouth that made her think of wicked things. And his gorgeous eyes had promised her that hint of edginess she desperately needed. Sheshivered.
“So…” Jodie’s voice cut through Piper’s thoughts. “We got you that knockout dress. Tell me you’re going to make the most of it when that Russian hottie shows up.” She sat on the bed, pointing one delicate foot like a ballerina. Piper wished she was more like Jodie, all elegance and effortless beauty. A man like Mikhail would want a woman who looked like Jodie, not her. She was just sonormal.
“Piper, don’t you dare think like that,” Jodie suddenlysnapped.
“Hmmm?”
“You’re squishing your face again. I know what you’re thinking, but it isn’t true. There are plenty of men who think you’reattractive.”
