“I'm a man of my word. When you want me, you're going to beg.”
She laughs and steps into the bedroom, looking out the window at the private airport around us. “I don't think I've ever been with a man like you, certainly never one that has two jets and flies back and forth to Russia constantly.”
“And how many men have you been with?”
Jealousy clings to me like a second skin at the thought of another man being with her. I want to hunt them down and ensure that they can never touch her again.
“Well, now there are a couple of very different ways I could interpret that question, Maxim. If you want to know how many dates I've gone on and genuinely enjoyed myself. Just the one. With you.”
She leaves me stunned as she passes by me, her arm brushing against mine, the skin contact sending a rush of fire through my body and straight south. I want her, but if I hadn't made a promise and signed a contract she won't be here right now.
I'm a patient man. Sometimes.
For her, I can be one.
Waiting for her is going to be the worst kind of torture. In the end, I know it’ll be worth it.
Pearl abandons her heels in the basket by the cockpit door. She hums to herself as she opens the bar fridge, looking in at the bottles of alcohol and selecting a small champagne for herself. “Would you like anything?”
“Water.”
“Just water? There's nothing else you want?” She bends over, her ass in the air, making a point to show off her curves as she reaches for the drink.
I sit down on the couch on the other side of the aisle, pre-emptively crossing one leg over the other to hide my erection from her. The last thing I need is for her to know that her teasing is working and that I’m salivating like a fucking love-struck teenager.
“Well, Pearl. If you're volunteering.”
She scoffs and tosses me the bottle of water before opening her champagne and coming to sit beside me on the couch. She tucks her long legs up beneath her, thighs pressing against mine as she leans in slightly.
“You have nothing I want.”
Matching her energy, I lean closer, my lips inches from hers. “Liar. I have everything you want.”
“And how do you know what I want?” Her smile widens. She takes a sip of the champagne, still amused with herself. “You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a little desperate, Maxim.”
She's goading me, trying to get me to say that I want her more than she wants me. If that were the truth, though, she wouldn’t be sitting on the plane beside me, her body pressed close to mine, still hovering close enough to kiss.
Pearl might be fighting it now, but by the time we leave Russia, she's going to be wrapped around my little finger.
***
“I never knew the mountains could look like that,” Pearl says as we fly over Krasnodar Krai.
She leans closer to the window, looking out at the snow-topped mountains, and the green trees standing tall. The clouds cascade over the mountains, looking like their fingers are reaching for the sun.
My house sits on top of one of the mountains, looking down at the valley below.
I lean closer to her, pointing at the house. “That's where we’ll be staying.”
Her fingers press against her mouth, holding back her gasp, but she looks at the sprawling fields that line my property. “That's your house?”
“And your house while we're here.”
“I would never be able to afford a place like this, even in my wildest dreams.” Her fingers drop to her lap, and she toys with the tassels at the end of her linen shirt. “I feel as if I may have worn the wrong outfit. It looks cold.”
“It might be a little colder than it is in the city, but the sun heats the land quite nicely during the day. There's a hot tub in the backyard as well.”
“Are you telling me that because you want me to get in the hot tub or because you think we're going to have sex in the hot tub?”