Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Nik’s eyes became hooded. “I see.”
She wanted to tell him to ask her to stay, but she managed not to. Whatever it was they had now, she had been the one who had often made the first move. People would probably think she was shameless for that, but she didn’t care. She was done being ashamed about what she did for love. She loved, and when she loved, she wanted to give it her all.
But there were also things that she shouldn’t force.
So she made herself wait.
A full minute had passed before Nik spoke again.
“I want you to stay longer.” His voice was rough, possessive.
Oh.
Tears stung her eyes. “I thought you’d offer to drive me to the airport or something.” The sob she had locked in her throat made Daria choke on the words, and she furiously punched him on the shoulder. “Why did it take you so long to say it?”
“I wanted to give you time.” Nik’s voice was flat.
She shook her head, confused. “Time for what?”
“You know we are different.” Personal honor forbade Nik from lying outright, but his desire for revenge ensured he didn’t stray from the path he had chosen.
He would have Daria falling for him, and he would discard her afterwards, the same way she no doubt planned to do the same with him, the same way she had done with all the other men in her past.
When he saw Daria still looking at him, he continued in a hard voice, “I won’t be able to give you the things you are used to.”
He moved before she could answer, and Daria swallowed when she found herself trapped underneath Nik’s powerful body.
Nik’s gaze captured hers. “But I will be able to give you what you need. What you deserve.”
Her breath caught at the promise in his words, and she whispered shakily, “I’ll stay. I won’t change my mind.” She gulped in air, feeling like she was about to fall off the highest cliff.
Up, down, up, down, up, down—-
Daria placed her hands on his chest, her head swimming as she felt the way his heart thudded. Her hands moved up, past his shoulders, before linking behind his neck.
“I want to be with you.”
With those words, she fell.
MIRANDA DAWSON ANSWERED his call at the first ring, like she always had. “Hello, darling.”
Over the years, Nik and his first lover had become good friends, and since last year the petite, blue-eyed blonde had become his full-time mistress.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Nik kept an eye at the open bedroom door as he spoke, making sure he hadn’t inadvertently woken Daria up.
Miranda laughed. “Even if I’m scheduled for back-to-back meetings, you know I’d drop them all for you.”
Nik knew that the part about back-to-back meetings could be true. Following the amicable end of her tenure as a former senator’s mistress, Miranda had used her “payoff” to start her own business. Now, she was a millionaire in her own right, a self-made entrepreneur who graced magazine covers ranging from Wall Street Journal to Cosmo.
“You should drop them,” Nik agreed dryly. “I pay you well enough to afford to not work a day in your life and still be able to live comfortably.”
Miranda acknowledged the truth in his statement with a tinkling laugh. “Exactly.” In spite of her personal wealth, Miranda still liked selling her sexual favors. Why turn down easy money had been her reason when Nik asked her about it prior to their arrangement. The answer had suited him perfectly, and he had agreed to make her his on-call lover since then.
“Anything you want me to do?”
“Yes, actually,” Nik said finally, “but it’s somewhat unorthodox.” He relayed his need in unequivocal terms. “Naturally, I will take care of all the expenses.”
“Naturally,” she agreed.
“Is that a yes then?”
“I wouldn’t ever dream of refusing.” She paused. “But as we’ve broached the subject, I would like to offer a proposal of my own.”
She spoke, he listened, and throughout it, all Nik could think about was that there was no turning back this time.
Chapter Four
“Oh my God, who would have thought you’d hate snorkeling this much?” If they had been out of the water, Daria would have doubled over in laughter, her mind filled with images of Nik with a disgusted look on his face the first time he had fish eating crumbs of bread from his hand.
Pulling off the mouthpiece of his gear, Nik only shot Daria a forbidding look in response, his gorgeous face unsmiling.
It only made her laugh harder.
“Shut up.” His tone was a mixture of annoyance and amusement. No one had ever laughed at him before, Nik thought. No one except Daria, so why the hell didn’t the fact make him angry?
As Daria dove back into the water, still without the lifejacket that their guides had implored her to take, Nik found himself brooding at all the things he had never done in his life but had ended up doing with her.