Page 16 of Ruthless Rustanovs

ALEXEI still didn’t know what he was doing on South Padre Island.

When he invited Eva to his offices in New York, it was with the full intention of telling her in person that he would be moving the Drummond Oil headquarters to Dallas.

Revenge being a dish best served cold and all that.

In his original plan, that meeting would have finally rid him of his obsession with her and serve as a final testament to the fact that he turned out better than she could have ever expected.

But then she showed up in a sexy black dress.

Eva clearly believed she still had some kind of sexual power over him and could talk him out of moving the Drummond Oil headquarters just by wielding it.

From the moment he saw her standing in the outer office, laughing with Emilio, he hated her for this belief—mostly because it was absolutely true.

Despite his original plan and his desire to be rid of her once and for all, he found himself inviting her back into his bed.

Maybe it was because he had been so obsessed with his plan for revenge that he hadn’t slept with Caroline, or anyone else, in six months.

Or maybe it was because the entire time she’d been in his office he had to fight the urge to spring across his desk and take her, not caring who saw.

Or maybe it was because she had turned those mocking brown eyes on him and asked what he wanted.

For whatever reason, he’d made this deal with her despite the fact that it wasn’t good for business and it definitely didn’t bode well for his mental health which had steadily eroded in the six months since he first saw her at Nathan Sinclair’s wedding.

Because of the deal he’d made with her, he’d also have to keep the Drummond Oil headquarters opened.

Which meant he’d just spent millions of dollars for the privilege of paying her father’s salary until he could sell the company off to the highest bidder.

Alexei had to rearrange his entire calendar to get these two weeks off, not to mention clearing out the penthouse suite in the middle of the summer season.

As he flew to South Padre Island, he cursed himself wondering what in the hell he was doing.

He’d asked himself the same question again after sending Emilio to Drummond to pick Eva up, and then several more times while he waited for her to arrive.

His only consolation was the thought of what he would do to Eva as soon as she walked through the door.

He’d rip her out of whatever sexy outfit she chose for the trip, and then take her just as he’d described back in his office so she’d know who bought her and who was in charge of her body.

He’d developed a raging hard-on just thinking about fucking Eva again, of having power over her, of bending her to his will.

When Alexei heard her walk in, he made his way out to the main room of the penthouse and silently dismissed Emilio while Eva’s back was turned. Only to be thrown off his game by the look of pleasant surprise on her lovely face as she cooed over the luxurious trappings of the penthouse.

He was taken aback by her clothes. She wore flip-flops, a bright, blue denim skirt, and a Kelly-green UT Dallas t-shirt.

Her outfit, paired with the happy smile on her face and the large lopsided puff of hair at the back of her head, made her look eerily similar to how she’d looked when they were at UTD together.

Almost identical to the girl he’d fallen in love with.

With that same boundless energy he remembered from before, she jogged from one side of the room to the other saying, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel room this nice in my whole life.”

A surge of satisfaction swept through Alexei to know something he owned could make her respond like this.

“You say that, and you have not even seen the bedroom yet,” he joked from where he stood behind her, forgetting for a moment this woman was his enemy and he had brought her here intent on revenge.

But he remembered soon enough when she skidded to a halt and turned to face him. The youthful light disappeared from her eyes and the smile died on her lips as if his mere presence sucked all the joy out of the room.

His own moment of good humor evaporated just as quickly and he cursed to himself silently for giving a damn what she thought in the first place.

Falling back on his business instincts, he said the one thing he knew would show her she held no sway over him and that he was in the power position.

“You are already in violation of our agreement,” his voice sounded as cold and monotone as he could make it.

“You are still clothed and I do not see a bow in your hair.”

Her gaze spiked with fury and Alexei stepped forward more than ready to go to battle with her over this, but then she surprised him by saying, “As you wish.” She curtsied and batted her eyes prettily before asking without a trace of her Texas accent. “Where do you want me, sir?”

Before he could answer, she put a hand to her cheek and said, “Oh, my bad. You already said you wanted me spread out for you on the bed.”

She hurried past him and he found himself in the strange position of silently following her as she looked behind each of the doors, all the while prattling on in that simpering, sweet, facsimile of her true voice.

“Oh, no, that’s not a bedroom, that’s a conference room—nice touch.

And that’s a bathroom. I like the marble flooring.

You’ve done so, so well for yourself, Mr. Rustanov.

You’re so much better than me in every way. ”

Finally, she came to the door that led to the master bedroom suite.

Eva smiled with false brightness and looked back at him.

“Oh, here’s the bed! Wow, I think this room has more square footage than my entire two-bedroom apartment back in Dallas.

It definitely reflects your immense power and your oodles and oodles of cold, hard cash.

This country girl is just about bowled over. ”

She entered the suite and continued with her monologue.

“This carpet is so soft and luxurious, it feels like I’m sinking right into it.

And these area rugs—you must have paid a pretty penny to ship them here from Asia.

That’s where fancy rugs come from, right?

I wouldn’t know seeing as I’m just some back-country hick.

Ooh, is that a Jacuzzi ? I bet you’re going to bang me but good in there before these two weeks are through! ”

He gritted his teeth, “Eva…”

She flopped a hand over her heart. “Oh, goodness gracious. Where is my head?” She let her large, plastic neon-yellow purse slide to the floor. “You don’t want to hear me prattle on. You want me naked on the bed. I’ll remove my clothes at once, sir.”

Eva yanked the green t-shirt over her head and shimmied out of her skirt.

Then she stepped out of her flip-flops and made hasty work of removing her panties and bra.

Now naked as the day she was born, Eva kicked everything she’d just shed under the bed.

“My ugly clothes have no business in a venue like this. I’m just going to hide them under this bed. My purse, too. Oh, but wait…”

She pulled a small, red gift-wrap bow out of her purse before shoving it under the bed with the rest of her things. “Can’t forget the bow!” she all but trilled.

She stuck the bow to her forehead and lay back on the bed with her legs spread eagled. “Let me know if this is wide enough for you, sir.”

Alexei stood there feeling like a fool. “If you think acting like an idiot will keep me from making you uphold your end of the bargain, you are mistaken.”

“Hmm,” she said from her position on the bed.

“I’m not sure how you want me to answer that, sir.

I’m just trying to be whatever it is you want me to be.

I want to make sure you get everything you paid for, so please let me know if I’m not doing a good enough job. Your satisfaction means everything.”

For a moment, he had to physically restrain himself from going over to the bed and throttling Eva until she dropped her stupid act. But after pausing for a few moments, he came back to his senses—his business senses.

This was just a tactic on her part and he had plenty of experience with tactics.

“My satisfaction means everything to you?” he asked, walking over to the bed.

“Oh yes, sir,” she said with an enthusiasm so false, it bordered on contempt. “I want nothing more than to please you. “

“If you want to please me, then shut up,” he said.

She clamped her lips together and pantomimed a turn-key gesture. Even when silent, she made it very clear she thought his request childish and felt she still had the upper hand.

But not for long, he vowed.

Alexei had gained a lot of experience dealing with chatty Americans over the past few years. In Eva’s case, he did exactly what he would have done in a business negotiation: he stayed silent for five minutes without saying a word.

But unlike with his business counterparts, he used the moments of silence to openly study her naked body.

Her breasts were larger now and she’d gained weight.

He decided he liked this version of her body more.

Most of the women he’d slept with since becoming a business mogul all looked the same: long and lean with D-cup breasts provided by A-plus plastic surgeons, and hard bodies that served as a testament to the hours they put in at the gym.

Eva’s soft curves and pretty girl-next-door looks made him realize how long it had been since he’d slept with anyone who looked like a real woman.

It was a struggle to keep his gaze cool and removed when he wanted nothing more than to crawl between her legs and sink inside her. His penis was hard to the point of being painful, but he forced himself to maintain control.