Stay With Me (A BWWM Russian Billionaire Romance Novel) (Imani's Russian Billionaire Series Book 1) (4 page)

I will make sure of it.

Thania took a deep breath and settled her shoulders, her head held high.

“It’s fine,” she said in a clear voice, and he was so proud of her in that moment. She took the napkins from him and dabbed at her dress until the worst was mopped up.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, and she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his neck. Quickly, he gathered her as close as possible.

“You don’t need to apologize for her behavior,” she said into his ear.

“I know, but—”

“No buts. You are not responsible for her, and I’m not going to allow her to ruin what has been a wonderful night.”

His heart raced at what he thought she was saying.

“Besides,” she continued softly, her words tickling his neck, “You came to my rescue. It was quite gallant. I know I’m a modern woman and should not need a man to rescue me, but it felt very nice nonetheless.” She snuggled her face into his neck, and he reflexively pulled her tighter to him.

She was amazing, absolutely amazing
.

“Will you come home with me?” he dared to ask her again, his heartbeat erratic as he waited for her answer.

They were still in a tight embrace, their hearts beating against each other. After what felt like a very long time, she whispered one word.

“Yes.”

S
he usually did not go
home with men on a first date. It just wasn’t her style. But Vlad was different, and Thania didn’t want the night to end yet. So she had accepted Vlad’s invitation, and after that it became a bit of a blur.

Vlad took charge and escorted her to ladies’ room so she could clean up a bit. When she was finished, he had been waiting in the hallway, tapping away on his phone, looking so dashing in his tuxedo that her stomach twisted.

When he had looked up at her and smiled, her
heart
had twisted.

I’m in trouble
.

But still, she went with him, knowing that every moment she spent near him, her feelings for him would increase. It was the strangest sensation—she had never felt this drawn to a man before, as if an invisible rope linked them. It was chemistry. How else could she explain her extreme attraction to him?

Vlad had gathered up her wrap from the coat check, and had arranged for his car to be brought out front. He had insisted that she stay inside until the car arrived, telling her that he was concerned she would be cold. She thought it was a little heavy handed, but sweet nonetheless. She knew that his intention was only to make her more comfortable after their encounter with Irina.

Don’t think about it—do not let her in to ruin the rest of your night with Vlad
.

He had paid the parking attendant and held the door to the passenger side for Thania himself, making sure that she managed the dress and her heels, which was no small feat considering his car was a Porsche 911. The tiniest, but most luxurious car she had ever been inside.

Once Vlad had settled in behind the wheel, it had felt as if they were in a cocoon together. He had been right there, his arm grazing hers as he had shifted gears. It wasn’t even his skin touching her, it was his dress shirt; but even so, the feeling of the soft brushed cotton against her skin had sent tingles racing up her arm.

The car’s leather passenger seat had molded itself to her body, leaving her to feel so relaxed that she had almost fallen asleep on the twenty minute ride to his home.

Thania knew that going to his home might mean something would happen between her and Vlad that night. Normally, she would never do something like that, but her reactions to Vlad had been anything but normal up to that point. Why put an artificial barrier between them? She had decided to enjoy his company, and to just follow her feelings on the subject. Besides, she had known without question that Vlad would be a perfect gentleman.

Well, hopefully not a ‘perfect’ gentleman.

They had finally reached his home, after not speaking much during the drive. But it had been a comfortable silence, as if they had known each other for years, and she hadn’t felt the need to force conversation.

Vlad had pulled up a long driveway and parked in the circular drive outside of an enormous white house. A mansion, really, with so many gabled windows and at least a couple of wings, that she could not make them all out in the dark.

This isn’t awkward at all
.

Suddenly, she felt a bit out of place, when up until that moment she had been completely comfortable. Obviously, she had known that Vlad had money. He ran one of the most exclusive jewelry businesses in the world, attended galas on a semi regular basis, drove a Porsche, and he even
looked
rich, in the way that only a person born into wealth could achieve. But this—his house—had been a bit much for her to absorb. She stood staring at the gigantic home for at least a full minute, all the while clutching the open passenger door.

“Thania? Are you alright?”

She turned toward Vlad, who stood next to her, an expression of concern on his beautiful face. And the memory of how he had defended her from Irina had made her defenses crumble faster than they had come up in the first place.

What did it matter how much money he had? I can’t judge him for having money. That’s as bad as judging someone for not having it.

So, she took his outstretched hand, and they walked up the wide stone steps into the house. It was lit up like it was Christmas morning inside, with what appeared to be every light switched on. She noticed that there was a direct view from the front door, all the way to the back of the house and out the floor-to-ceiling back windows, and she caught a hint of the rolling hills just beyond.

The view must be spectacular in the morning. Maybe I’ll find out.

Vlad offered to get some clothes for her to change into, since her gown was covered in sticky, warm scotch. Luckily, none of what Irina had tossed on the gown had hit Thania’s skin, but even so, she’d been wanting to get out of the dress the entire ride to Vlad’s home.

She followed him down one of the hallways that stretched off the enormous foyer like the spokes on a wheel. He stopped outside of a room with double doors and pushed one open before gesturing her inside with his hand.

It was his bedroom, and she found herself momentarily unable to move. It was rich, with deep, masculine colors on the walls, floor, and the bed itself. But still, it felt open and inviting, like Vlad himself.

Most significantly, it smelled like him. That was what made her stop before entering his bedroom. It was as if Vlad’s unique and sexy scent was multiplied by one hundred, and she was already practically a puddle when she smelled his scent from him alone.

He walked over to one of his dressers, opening and closing them while she looked all around the bedroom suite. He cleared his throat and she swung her head toward him, only to find herself caught snooping with her eyes. She laughed and so did he, before he handed her a pile of soft clothing.

“I think this might be more comfortable for you to wear than your dress,” he said as he gazed at her dreamily.

She found that she was unable to tear her eyes away from him to look down at the clothes, so she thanked him, and he closed the door behind him as he left her alone.

After a few moments of simply standing there, she looked down and saw that he had given her a pair of his own sweatpants and a huge t-shirt to wear. They were both so soft that when she finally pulled them on, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t been aware until that moment how uncomfortable the ruined dress had been to wear.

The only problem with his choice of clothing was that she wasn’t wearing a bra. So with the t-shirt being so big on her, it fell off one-shoulder no matter how she adjusted it, and her breasts were now untethered and
right there.
She reasoned that there wasn’t much she could do to change it, and she was so much more comfortable that she couldn’t bare the thought of stepping back into the stained gown.

When she walked back down the hallway slowly—in order to make sure that she found her way to the center of the spoke—she saw Vlad stop and stare at her. She looked down—she had been forced to roll the waist of his sweatpants down and the legs up—and she wasn’t sure what he was thinking. But the look in his eyes was slightly predatory, especially when he noticed the t-shirt, and what was happening underneath it. He cleared his throat and quickly turned away, then invited her to get comfortable.

S
o that was
how she found herself in his living room now, with Vlad in the kitchen, while she quite blatantly checked out his home. Or what she could see of it, anyway.

Vlad was truly unlike any other man she had dated, or even met before. She wasn’t used to such kindness from men. Not to mean that she had allowed herself to be mistreated, of course, but the level of caring Vlad showed toward her tonight was eye-opening. He had made sure that she was comfortable the entire evening, that her drink was always filled, that her food was warm and plentiful, and that she was enjoying herself by introducing her around. He seemed proud to have her on his arm, and she had to admit that it was a nice feeling to be there.

There were some people there that might have said she didn’t belong—that she had not achieved the level of success necessary to be at such an event. But Vlad, and the people he had chosen to introduce her to—all highly respected in their fields—apparently thought she was a wonderful addition to the guest list.

She had to admit, it felt really nice to be doted on. That wasn’t a particularly popular opinion, when women were working so hard to advance up the ranks of business, and be viewed as equals. But she truly believed that Vlad
did
view her as an equal; his wonderful treatment of her, and his respect for her as a businesswoman, were not mutually exclusive.

“Please, get comfortable,” he had told her before he’d disappeared into the kitchen.

Wearing his extremely soft and luxurious clothes, getting ‘comfortable’ was not a problem. So she padded barefoot around his large living room, and admired his modern art collection.

This is truly amazing.

He had quite an eclectic collection. She was not an expert by any means, but she recognized a few pieces by some up and coming artists. He had an original painting by Sebastian Lloyd Rees on his wall, directly next to a few professionally framed crayon drawings, obviously from a child’s hand. The colorful drawings all had a similar note written on them: ‘To Uncle Vlad, I miss you! Love, Tati’. Her heart melted a little bit more.

All I need is a puppy to come bounding into the room right now, and I’m a complete goner.

“Those are from my niece, Tatyana,” Vlad said from across the room, causing her to turn and look at him.

He had taken off his tuxedo jacket and cummerbund, and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. His tie had been loosened as well, and if it was possible, he looked even more gorgeous to her than he had at the gala.

“I see that,” she replied with a smile, turning back to the drawings again.

“Where does she live?”

“She’s in St. Petersburg, Russia, with my brother, Viktor and his wife, Eugenia. She’s my favorite of all of my nieces,” he admitted with a smile as he placed the small tray he was carrying on to the coffee table in front of the fireplace.

“How many nieces do you have?” she asked as she walked closer to him and sat down on the plush couch in front of the coffee table.

He hesitated as he crouched down in front of the fireplace to put wood, kindling, and some newspaper, in order to start a blaze.

“Only one,” he said with a wry smile, and she laughed.

“How often do you see your family?” she asked while they both watched his fire start to burn, and quickly settle into a cozy blaze.

“I get back to Russia a minimum of six times per year,” he replied as he sat down next to her.

The couch was so plush, and she’d tucked her feet under her, that his weight caused her to sway toward him. She reached out and put her hand on his arm to stop from completely falling into his lap, and just like that, the intense sexual awareness of each other was back. Not that it had ever really gone away, but now, as she clutched his muscular bicep and stared into those green eyes, it was almost impossible to pull back. She did pull back, however, since she didn’t want to come off as too aggressive.

He’s from another culture. Maybe he’ll think less of me if he knew what I’m thinking.

So she sat back, and he visibly relaxed. The comfortable silences of before had been replaced by awkward, stilted moments.

“Six times a year? That’s wonderful,” she said, hoping to ease the stiffness between them, even by just a small amount.

“Yes, and my family comes here, as well. So, all in all, we see each other fairly frequently. But out of everyone in my family, Tati actually
is
my favorite,” he said, his smile so wide that the power of his dimples was released on her.

Oh God, he’s got dimples.

“What about you?” he asked as he offered her a glass of red wine from the tray in front of them.

She took it and sipped, the expensive goblet feeling heavy in her hand. “I only get to Russia every six or seven years,” she joked, and he laughed.

He leaned back into the couch, his weight messing with her center of gravity again. He reached out, and his hand landed on her naked shoulder to steady her, but this time he didn’t remove it.

“I meant, what about
your
family? Tell me about them.”

His gritty voice, his damned framed children’s drawings, and his fingers, which were now gently exploring the top of her shoulder, all combined to make answering him right then almost impossible. She took another fortifying sip of the delicious wine.

“Well, let’s see. I grew up in New York City, and my parents still live there. I see them only a few times a year, but we speak often. I have just one sibling, my brother, Darren. He’s finishing up a degree in photography at the Art Institute of Chicago in a few months.”

He listened intently while she spoke, but he never stopped touching her shoulder. In fact, his fingers were starting to slowly creep down her arm. Tingles shot down to her hand, and she almost felt like shaking it to wake it up from falling asleep—the feeling was the same and just as intense. But she stayed right where she was.