The Billionaire's Affair(3)

“Get back in the bathroom,” Sarah said to Natalia. And to Dylan, “You owe me big time.”

Natalia threw her arms around Sarah and hugged her tight. Sarah tensed like an iron rod as the beautiful Russian woman pressed herself against her shocked body. She prised herself out of Natalia’s embrace – this was getting weirder by the minute.

Natalia ran to the bathroom and shut herself in, just as Mikhail came around. He opened his eyes woozily, then he flinched as if he’d been electrocuted – realising that Dylan and Sarah were gazing down on him. He scrambled to his feet, eyes darting to the left and right. Dylan grabbed the knife to prevent a repeat performance.

Mikhail gripped his head with both hands. “Ow, you hit me hard!”

Dylan gestured to Sarah. “This is the person who was in the bathroom, okay? She crept up behind you and hit you with that lamp. And the reason she was hiding in the bathroom is because… she’s my wife.”

Shock burst out of Sarah in the form of a laugh. “Wha –!”

Dylan threw his arm around her and pulled her close. “Yes, Sarah – my wife!”

Mikhail inspected her with doubtful eyes. “She’s hotel manager.”

Dylan shrugged. “That’s right. We don’t want the staff knowing about our illicit meetings. It’s a game we like to play. That’s why she locked herself in the bathroom. We don’t want her to lose her job. Right, honey?”

“Well, I…”

“You’re lying.” Mikhail said.

Dylan stepped behind Sarah and rested his hands on her shoulders. Lust surged up from her thighs and seeped through her body. God, she’d missed this man. And she’d been so busy working recently that she hadn’t even had time to take care of herself. Her fraught body craved him and what he could offer. He knew precisely what he was doing when he touched her like this. He hadn’t changed…

Dylan gently massaged her shoulders. “Sarah darling, would you mind showing this thug the scar on your chest please – the one I could only know about if I’d seen you intimately?”

Sarah drew her fitted suit-jacket around her torso. “Certainly not.”

He lowered his mouth to her ear; his voice was warm and powerful. “Come on, it’s okay. Relax.”

Sarah tried to control her thumping heart as Dylan drew her jacket down behind her shoulders. She felt as if she might climax right here on the carpet as he reached around and undid the first three buttons of her shirt. Then, totally in command, he pulled back her shirt, revealing her lacy bra – as well as the scar in question – which she’d acquired when she’d fallen out of a tree as a child growing up in London. Sarah closed her eyes, forcing herself to get a grip on her clashing desire. She felt utterly exposed in body and mind. And somehow she loved it. Damn Dylan Quinlan.

Dylan tenderly ran his fingers over the scar. “There, you see? How could I know about it if she was nothing more than a hotel manager to me?”

Sarah’s lust caught in her throat. She braced herself for him to bite her neck – just like the old days – but instead he wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her on the side of the head like a parent. She shuddered with arousal. He was dominating, yet tender. Just as he’d always been.

Mikhail shook his head. “Fine. But you know what, lady? Your husband is screwing Natalia Orlov.”

Dylan chuckled contemptuously. “That’s not true. I don’t know where this rumour started, but we need to quash it right now. So I suggest you go back to Mr Orlov and tell him he was wrong about me and Natalia, okay? You can tell him you met my wife and that Natalia wasn’t with me. Got it?”

Mikhail nodded slowly, still not entirely convinced.

Sarah pulled her shirt back on, then strode towards the bathroom. “If you’re still not sure, why don’t you check in here?” She threw open the bathroom door, and signalled for Natalia to hide behind the shower curtain. Mikhail joined her in the doorway.

“See, no one else was in here. Just me. Hiding in case the staff found me – exactly as Dylan said.”

Mikhail started to walk inside, but Sarah stepped in front of him to block his way. “Now I suggest you leave my hotel before I call the police. How do you think Mr Orlov would feel if one of his henchmen got arrested and the papers found out what a criminal he is? Just as they’ve been speculating ever since he took over Fenchurch United Soccer Club?”

Mikhail turned to Dylan. “Right, I will leave. But if you are suspected of –”

Dylan’s cool demeanour snapped and he leapt at Mikhail, grabbing him by the shirt and throwing him out into the corridor. “You heard my wife – get out now! Or I’ll toss you out the window before Sarah’s even dialled the first number for the cops.”