I Want You To Want Me. Kathy Love

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СКАЧАТЬ aside the collar of her robe. She always had deliciously beautiful men as her lovers, and Maksim was no different.

      But in truth, she preferred blond hair, in the same shade as her own. Long, thick—again like hers, cascading over his shoulders. And dark eyes, midnight eyes.

      She tilted her head to afford Maksim better access to her neck, but also to admire the way her long lashes, dark in comparison to her hair, made her eyes glitter nearly black.

      She bit her bottom lip as Maksim nipped her, watching how the soft pink flesh pillowed around her white teeth.

      Blond hair, dark eyes, full lips.

      Her Vittorio.

      “Why again must we watch this vampire?” Maksim murmured against her bared shoulder.

      Orabella sighed, hating to be interrupted from her images of her perfect love. A creature who was an offshoot of herself. Perfect. Lovely. And hers.

      “I’ve told you, darling,” she said, her voice sharper than she intended, “he is obsessed with me.”

      Maksim lifted his head to regard her in the mirror. “If he is so obsessed, then why are you the one searching for him?”

      She met his gaze, widening her eyes slightly, noting the pretty innocence it gave her features. “Haven’t you heard of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?”

      Maksim straightened and strolled toward the bed, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. “In fact, I have,” his voice low and almost distant.

      Orabella wondered briefly about the flat tone, but then dismissed it. Her mind was too filled with Vittorio to concern herself with her lover’s petty moods.

      “Was he with anyone?” she couldn’t help asking. She needed to know—and the idea that he could prefer any other woman’s company to hers made her ill.

      “What does it matter?” Maksim collapsed on the bed, his shirt falling open to reveal his perfectly muscled chest and stomach.

      “I’d hate to think he could be stalking another,” she said, re-creating that wide-eyed, innocent look.

      Maksim stretched, then raised a sardonic brow. “Is that because you are afraid he might have lost interest in you? Or because you actually fear for some other woman’s safety?”

      Orabella didn’t have to feign her outrage—Maksim was far too smart. A flaw in a lover to be sure, but she still needed him. She couldn’t have him being too suspicious of her actions.

      She slammed down her brush and turned on her vanity stool. “You know I live in fear.”

      Maksim looked briefly as if he didn’t quite believe her, but then his eyes softened. After all, why wouldn’t he believe her? She did live with fear—she feared losing Vittorio. To lose him would be to lose half of herself.

      “Well, I know where he is, and you are safe. In fact, why don’t we leave now? Get as far from him as we can.”

      Again alarm pooled in her belly, cold and harsh. She shook her head. “No.”

      Maksim sat up from his lounging position, regarding her again with those strange, almost catlike eyes.

      “Why? Staying near a man you dread makes no sense.”

      Orabella hated having to explain her decisions. So very irritating. Again, if Maksim didn’t have the special abilities he did—both in and out of bed—she’d have long ago broken off their relationship. But she did need him.

      She turned down her lips and regarded him with an expression she knew would gain her anything she wanted. And she wanted to stay as close to Vittorio as she could. She rose, walking slowly toward the bed.

      “I feel better knowing where he is. And you will watch him for me, won’t you? Protect me?”

      Maksim’s eyes roamed down her body as she approached him. She untied the belt of her satin robe, letting it part to reveal glimpses of her ivory skin.

      Again, he raised a wry eyebrow, but she could see the hungry glitter in his eyes.

      “Of course, my Bella.”

      She smiled, letting the robe drop to the floor, her own body reacting to his heated look. She crawled onto the bed and up his hard body.

      After all, she did need the caress of a man’s touch, the feeling of his mouth on her flesh, the stretch of his cock filling her. She needed physical love. And she needed what Maksim’s loving could give her.

      But her true love, her pure love was saved for Vittorio.

      Her very heart.

      Her darling son.

      And he was so near.

      Erika stumbled around her kitchen, her eyes feeling gritty and a dull ache at her temples. Sleep had evaded her most of the night, and this was the price. Feeling generally crappy.

      She poured tea into a cup and sat down at her kitchen table, a round café-style table that she’d painted bright yellow. The color usually reminded her of sunshine and made her feel cheerful. Right now the color seemed glaringly bright and just made her head throb even more.

      She glowered up at the ceiling, aiming her irritation toward the man up there somewhere, probably sleeping soundly and oblivious to the annoyance—and headache he’d caused.

      “Not that he’d care anyway,” she muttered, then took a sip of her hot tea. The sweet liquid tasted wonderful and she waited for it to work its magic. Tea always calmed and relaxed her.

      Not this morning, clearly. He had been so rude! She set her cup down with more force than necessary. But more than that, his cool attitude had goaded her into being rude back. And she wasn’t normally a rude person. In fact, she prided herself on being quite nice.

      But that man! She pulled in a calming breath, then reached for the tea. After several sips, she did unwind a little.

      “Okay, so let’s be reasonable,” she said aloud to herself, and Boris, if he happened to be listening. “So you don’t get along with him. You can’t expect to like everyone. And have everyone like you.”

      That was all very reasonable and true, but there was another fact that was still adding to the continuing pain in her head. She’d spent a majority of the night recalling all the things she did like about him.

      Okay, they were mainly physical, but despite her aggravation with the man himself, her body did react to his body. Very intensely, in fact.

      She sighed. Why would she be attracted to a man who was so distant, so repressed? Those traits went against all the things she looked for in a man. She liked her men fun and open and kind, definitely kind. Serious was a bore. Her dad was serious, and look at the relationship she had with him. It was strained at best.

      So why couldn’t she stop thinking about Vittorio? Why had she found herself thinking about him even from their first short meeting?

      Groaning with frustration СКАЧАТЬ