“Dimitri, what are we doing out here?”
“Appreciating the sun.”
“What?”
He looked down at her and gave her a real smile. “You enjoy grass, I enjoy sun.”
She realized he was much more relaxed now that they were alone. But that would make sense if he really was part of the Russian mafia. The thought of how dangerous his life must be worried her, and she wasn’t sure if she liked the fact that the thought of him getting hurt made her chest ache. While her heart had always been quick to love, this attraction between them was unusual, even for her.
“Now, you ask about my harem. I do not have one.”
Pushing against his chest, and once again getting nowhere, she snorted. “Yeah. Right. Dude, I was there. I saw you kiss them.”
“It upset you that I kiss them after you, yes?”
Just the memory stung and she nodded. “Yes. I know I have no right…”
He squeezed her hip, cutting her off. “Rya, we do not have much time together. I would propose something to you.”
Confused by rapid turn of the conversation, she frowned up at him. “What are you talking about?”
He looked down at her and gently ran the back of his knuckles over her cheek. “I would like to spend the rest of my time here with you. I want you to be my submissive. Only you.”
“What about your other women? Won’t they be pissed that you’re not available to maul?”
He looked sad for a moment and she found herself reaching up and stroking her fingertips over his beard, surprised at how soft it was. He briefly nuzzled his face against her hand, his eyes closing before he opened them and looked down at her again. “My life is very different from yours, Rya. I cannot…I do not love any woman that I have been with. They are my kept women.”
“What? Look, I’m not going to be your kept woman. Sorry, I don’t work that way.”
“I do not want that with you. Ever.” He made a frustrated noise. “There are many things I wish I could share with you, but it is not safe.”
A sudden understanding dawned on her. “Because you’re in the Russian mob, right?”
He stiffened immediately. “How do you know this?”
She didn’t like the suspicion in his eyes, or his slightly scary look, so she quickly said, “The people that I was having dinner with told me.”
“What did they say?”
Oh fuck, now he sounded really pissed. “Nothing bad. Just that you’re a wolf and I’m a rabbit. Shit, that’s not what I meant. Sorry, you’re kind of freaking me out right now. You can be very scary, has anyone ever told you that?”
His nostrils flared and she watched him visibly calm himself. “Explain.”
“The woman, Angelique, she’s kind of my friend and she warned me that being with you is dangerous.”
That sadness came into his eyes once again and her heart ached for him. “Da. Very, very dangerous. That is why I only have kept women.”
“What do you mean?”
Shaking his head, he looked out to the lake and his chest rose beneath her cheek before he blew out a harsh breath. “It is best for you not to know. Would be risk otherwise. Do you understand?”
“I think I do.” Actually, she understood rather well because of her upbringing, but she wasn’t going to share that with him. Club business was club business…just like mafia business was probably mafia business. “Don’t worry. I won’t ask you to tell me anything that might make me a target.”
He frowned down at her. “How do you know?”
“Know what?”
“That you would be target.”
She shrugged. “Just that if someone within your family thought you’d told me family secrets that would put me in danger, right? Not hard to logic that out.”
“Da, yes.” His dark brows came down and he looked at her in such an intense manner that she squirmed on his lap.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No. No you say right things, which makes it hard to believe. Who are you, Rya DeLuca?”
“Just a girl from New York. Nothing special.”
His gaze thawed and he smiled at her. “You are wrong. You are very special.”
She wasn’t usually one to blush, but his compliment warmed her from the inside out. “Thank you.”
“Now, back to proposal. I would like to be your Master for the time we have together. But you will need to know I cannot show you open affection—favor—in public. It cannot be known that I care for you.”
Elation filled her that this mysterious man said he cared for her, but then the rest of what he’d said filtered through her happy glow. “Are there people here who would hurt you?”