Sergei Sokolnokov was the master of all he surveyed. The fact that his own cock was rebelling against his control was enough to drive him insane. The only thing crazier was that this woman, this woman, was the one who had managed to arouse his interest.
Thank God she wasn’t looking at him or she would see the shock on his face and the furious erection tenting his pants.
But she was still looking out the window, her features soft and relaxed and her lips parted as if she were thinking something that made her slightly breathless. She’d unbuttoned her suit coat when they’d settled into the car and the pale green shirt underneath was doing little to conceal the budded peaks of her nipples.
Was she chilly or was it something more?
Could she possibly be feeling the same bizarre attraction that he was?
She turned to face him and he quickly tossed his coat across his lap. She might see the hunger in his eyes, but she wouldn’t see anything else if he could help it.
“Yes?” he asked with what he hoped was a casual, open smile.
She blinked, as if surprised, but eventually spoke in a soft voice, “You said before that you knew what I wanted, and that you were going to make sure I got it. What did you mean by that?” The look in her eyes was innocent, but as she shifted on the seat her legs parted a fraction of an inch.
Or was it his imagination?
Either way, he had a painfully arousing vision of those wide green eyes looking down at him as he spread her thighs and claimed her pussy with his mouth. He’d find out if she was a true redhead and then make her come until she tore at the leather seats with her fingernails and begged for her turn to take him into her mouth.
His cock twitched as he imagined her on her knees, breathless as she unzipped his fly, eagerly teasing the tip of his shaft with her sharp little tongue.
“You need a fresh start.” He forced himself to speak before his imagination could get the better of him. “You need a chance to reinvent yourself, and you will get it. What you make of the chance is up to you.”
He met her searching gaze, hoping she could see that he was telling the truth. She would have as good a chance to win the contest and the public’s affection as any of the other women. He didn’t believe in rigging the game. It would be on her own shoulders if she reacted badly to the challenges staged for each episode.
She studied him for a long moment—seeming to debate something—before she leaned in, propping her angular elbows on her knees, an action that brought her face no more than six inches from his own. “Are you sure that’s all you meant?”
“What else?” he asked, fighting the urge to lean in and taste her lips, or to press her back against the seats and run his hand up her businesslike skirt.
“I don’t know…” Her tongue swept over her lower lip again. “Maybe something a little more personal. Assuming that’s for me and not the idiot triplets.”
“They’re not sisters, not even related,” he said dryly, as he realized she’d evidently noticed how aroused he’d become. His coat must have done a poor job of concealing the unexpected way she affected him.
“Well, I guess that makes it less creepy when you’re rolling around in bed with them. But you didn’t answer my question.” Her self-satisfied glance down at his crotch convinced him he had to call her bluff. “Is that for me?”
“I don’t know.” He reached out, smoothing his hand up the inside of her thigh to cup her mound, smiling as he came into contact with the drenched fabric of her silk panties. “Is this all for me?”
“You’re a ballsy bastard,” she whispered, but she didn’t seem insulted.
He watched her gaze darken with lust as he pushed her skirt up around her hips, baring her thigh-highs, garter belt and panties to his gaze. Even as his hands moved, bunching the fabric, spreading her legs wider with a nudge of his knee, he knew he was playing with fire.
He had already won this round and proven that she was as hot for him as he was for her. He should quit while he was ahead.
Too bad he’d never been good at behaving as he should, especially not when a beautiful woman was involved.