“What are you doing?” he asks, holding my hand to help me climb down.
“Nothing. I was opening the door.” I push my hair back from my face as I look up at him. From this vantage point, he definitely looks scary.
His jaw tightens.
“I said to stay put.”
“I know.” I have nothing else to offer. It would probably insult him to tell him what I was really thinking.
“Hmm.” He slides his hand along my jaw, to the back of my neck, holding me firmly as he lowers his mouth to my ear. “That’s two times you’ve blatantly disobeyed me. I’m beginning to think you want me to punish you before I even get to make you feel good.”
Holy melted panties.
“I think we can skip right to the feel-good portion,” I manage.
“Do you?” He presses a kiss to my cheek. “We’ll see how well you behave on the way up to the room.”
If an ambulance didn’t choose this exact moment to drive by with its sirens blaring, the entirety of New York would hear my gulp.
“I think I can manage pretty well if the reward is worth it.”
He studies me a moment, a half-smile tugging on his lips.
“It will be worth it.” It’s said as a vow, a promise for something so satisfying, so unadulterated my insides melt.
“Then onward.” I glance at hotel entrance.
He grabs hold of my hand, squeezing gently, and leads me up the steps into the hotel lobby.
When we turn into the elevator bank there are two other couples waiting for the elevators. Dmitri pulls me close to him in the most possessive move a man has ever made with me.
Which tells me a few things about my horrible choice in men prior to tonight. Though I haven’t survived this encounter just yet, so I decide to keep my self-judgement for the morning.
Finally, the elevator arrives and we all step on board. Dmitri pulls me to the back of the car. The other couples get off on the fifth floor, leaving us to ride the last eight floors alone.
“There’s still time to change your mind,” he says as the elevator starts moving again.
“Do you want me to change my mind?” I tilt my head so I can look up at him.
His eyes, a dark molten brown, feel like they’re devouring me as he stares at me. It’s like being caught in high beams. My brain could be screaming for my feet to move, but they would be helpless to obey.
“No. I don’t.” He turns to look back at the elevator lights.
“Really?”
“You find that surprising.”
“I do. I mean, you seem to be the sort of man who can have his pick of women. If I were to change my mind, you’d be able to go down to the lobby and pluck another women from the bar.”
Thesoftdingof the elevator signals our arrival at our floor, and the mirrored doors slide open soundlessly.
He puts his arm out, holding the doors open as he looks back at me with a casual smile.
“That might be true, but if you were to change your mind. I wouldn’t.”
“No?” I cock my head, fully intrigued by this man. “Why not?”
“I doubt I’d find anyone like you down there.”
