The Russian Seduction by Nikki Navarre Read Free Book Online Page B

because Kostenko seemed to be keeping his distance.
    I’ve proven my point. So I’ll leave in five minutes , she decided, leaning forward to appreciate the live orchestra that gave voice to Adolphe Adam’s graceful melodies.
    In her peripheral vision, the captain too seemed absorbed, his harsh features intent, the fingers of one hand idly tapping out the rhythms on his thigh. She’d read in his dossier that he was into classical music—God help her, extreme sports and classical music, a real Renaissance man. And of course he’d married a ballerina, though his ex danced in a different ballet company, and thus wouldn’t be performing tonight.
    The ballet swept toward its sorrowful climax. In torment, the unfaithful mortal hero beheld the ghostly lover who’d killed herself over his betrayal, while she danced with other pale spirits among the moonlit tombstones. Alexis turned fully toward the stage, away from her companion, determined to prove her utter indifference to him—despite the edgy awareness she still couldn’t seem to shake.
    Her senses snapped to full alert when he leaned in close behind her, measured breath teasing her neck.
    “How would you describe the theme,” he whispered, “to one who hasn’t seen it?”
    So much for her vaunted indifference. Tremors of unease rippled through her at his nearness: an aggressive global power that was her country’s greatest rival, and he was breathing down her neck. A sleepless eye that watched in the deep, a cunning predator with infinite patience—and now he’d fixed his sights on her.
    “The theme of this ballet?” She held herself apart, and strove for a casual tone. “Lost love, I suppose, or something equally melodramatic. What else would it be?”
    “Are you so indifferent to passion?” He uttered a soft laugh. “As for myself, I think the theme is longing…for the physical consummation of love.”
Whisper-light, his lips brushed her nape and lingered there, caressing. Even as the shock of his touch jolted through her, a shudder of raw pleasure rippled along her nerves, turning her bones to water, dancing like tongues of fire over the fine hairs along her body. As the intimate darkness embraced them and the violins moaned, the deep throb of oboes and bassoons vibrated through her blood.
    My God, I’m in way over my head here. She gripped her elbows with shaking hands.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing, captain?” she whispered.
    “The hell if I know,” he murmured against her skin, stirring tendrils of her hair. “Last night I concluded that you’ve been positioned by your government to compromise me—since it worked so well the last time, with my unfortunate predecessor. I’ve been cautioned that a prudent man would refrain from springing for the bait, no matter how… enticing it may appear.”
    He paused. “But I’ve never been known for being prudent. As you’ve undoubtedly read in my dossier, Counselor.”
    “According to your dossier,” she said huskily, striving to regain her footing, “you’re an adventure junkie. You’ve never met a risk you won’t take. Isn’t that right, captain?”
    “While you’re a model diplomat whose conduct in country is invariably flawless,” he breathed. “However, I find continuing to address you as ‘Counselor’ while I’m inhaling your fragrance is something of a stretch, even for a man of my considerable talents. Alexis…may I call you this?”
    “Do you really think I’m such an easy mark?” she countered softly, far too conscious of his breath teasing her skin. “This is about retaliation, isn’t it? A little diplomatic ‘tit-for-tat’ for the stunt we just pulled on you.”
    “Don’t you think that would be a bit obvious, even for my government? You would be the very last woman I’d target, for precisely that reason,” he said calmly. “And you can believe I’m the last man they’d use. I’m in disgrace, or hadn’t you noticed?”
    “Then why am I