The Professional Part 2 by Kresley Cole

The Professional Part 2
The Game Maker #1.2

Kresley Cole
Contemporary Romance/Erotica (BDSM)
Published in 2014

H/h - Aleksandr Sevastyan/Natalie Porter (Kovalev)
Setting: Present time.

Read in July, 2014.

My rating:

                                                       [spoiler alert]

Just finished The Professional Part 2 by Kresley Cole and I scarcely know where to begin. I’ll try to write down what I thought but there was just too much happening in such a short span. It felt rushed and confusing. Still, I liked KC’s writing style and her sex scenes are super hot, which kinda saved this part of the story for me.

Natalie, a hardworking PhD student, was searching for her Russian birth parents when her life takes an absolutely dramatic turn. She meets the hot-as-hell mafiya enforcer, Sevastyan or The Siberian, who was send by her biological father to escort her to Russia. She not only becomes aware of a luxurious lifestyle beyond imagination but also, is thrust into an ominous one. Apparently, danger is plaguing her father, and now, her footsteps. But most importantly, Natalie begins to fall for her intensely sexy bodyguard. Her father, Kovalev, gave Sevastyan this responsibility cause he trusted him implicitly with something so valuable. Sevastyan, in this installment, proves that he keeps his promises, even if it means he has to bet his life on it.

Part 2 is a continuation of the story, so we find Natalie and Sevastyan both still waging that battle of wills, to sleep together or not to sleep together. Cliché, but that’s how I felt. Natalie has made her interest known to Sevastyan over and over again but the sexy guy is blowing all hot and cold, as volatile as his mood. It’s apparent that he’s into something darker than vanilla sex and he doesn’t want Natalie to get embroiled in this too. Yet, when she begins pushing him to his limits (he’s already completely loco for her, so this was pretty tough even for him), Sevastyan ends up giving her a ‘taste’ of the lifestyle he’s into; a mild form of BDSM. Surprisingly, Natalie, though confused at first because she’s still a virgin and never had any such encounters before, finds the whole thing very arousing. Maybe she had the streak inherent, maybe it’s just her insane urge to be possessed by The Siberian, but she now wants more... Regretfully, the stubborn oaf won’t have it.

Even though her relationship with Sevastyan is still volatile, Natalie has been enjoying the companionship of her father. She’s also appreciating some of the aspects of being rich, if not all. She has been made aware of the dangers, so she’s constantly under watch, by the same man she at the same time would like to jump and stay away. After their hot prelude, Natalie is said to have been ‘plighted’ to Sevastyan, a fact that he doesn’t forget to relish in public. He wanted her, now he thinks he has got her. But Natalie doesn’t want anything that permanent. Not yet. She balks, expressing her concern to Kovalev. Yes, she knew the possibility, yet she went with him... And now she doesn’t know if she can be with a man she hardly knows anything about.

But this makes our Siberian extremely unhappy. They fight and don’t talk for a while. If only they knew the kind of trouble were to befall them soon!

A distant Russian cousin of Natalie, Filip, had already showed his interest but Natalie never took it seriously. And he becomes the cause for her bitter loss. Sevastyan was there at Kovalev’s office with her and Kovalev because all three of them were having a conversation about this on and off thing that’s been going on between them. She has expressed her wish to stay here permanently, making her father happy. But this happiness doesn’t last long. Filip betrays Kovalev for money given by a rival gang. He barges in, killing him in front of her. It was because of The Siberian that Natalie was saved from the bullet.

In a whirlwind, Natalie’s life turns a complete 180 yet once again. There are more murders and they had to escape, together. Kovalev’s last wish was for them to be together, and somehow Natalie has accepted this fact that Sevastyan is her last hope. Someone who’d keep her safe no matter what. She clings onto him on their way to the unknown.

When they were escaping in a small ship, some very intense scenes take place. Natalie knows Sevastyan is hurting but his stoic demeanor won’t give out a thing. Maybe a little more than that... maybe he’s just on the verge of breaking, witnessing the death of the man who has saved him all those years ago and treated him as a son. Sevastyan won’t talk to her, let alone confiding anything but Natalie decides to fight for him and bring him out of this deadened state.

I must say, I have been anticipating their first time since the moment they set eyes on each-other. And though it wasn’t exactly how I envisioned it, it was still very hot. When the walls are broken, Sevastyan, it seems, can’t get enough of Natalie, just as she can’t get enough of him. He tells her over and over again that she’s now his, and that he’d be the only one she’d know from now on. I loved this intensity and thought things were going pretty well, even though the bloodshed in the middle kinda ruined my fun. I certainly didn’t want Natalie to lose her father this way and so soon after they found each-other. It made me horribly sad.

Between Natalie and Sevastyan, though the sex was superb, he was still emotionally stunted. He won’t open up, won’t really talk much. And this begins to frustrate her to no end, something I can completely sympathize with. Sevastyan brings Natalie to Paris and keeps her in a house he owns there. Things are still good but he refuses to talk or even to contemplate about a BDSM lifestyle with her. Natalie has been researching bits and pieces to understand more of Sevastyan’s needs.  But the man won’t bring in the ‘action’ she’s been craving. Nothing would make him do the things they did in the sauna back in her father’s estate.

Each day, Natalie’s frustration only grew, and grew. She begins to get angry at Sevastyan’s evading answers and ‘Nyet!’s. Hell, I was too! She was growing concerned. If things go on this way, he’ll inevitably stray to meet his needs. And that, Natalie can’t bear. On a desperate attempt to achieve her goal, she resorts to some pretty sly tactics to tick the oaf... aaand gets what she wanted, almost. Not BDSM but man, that was one HOT scene! :p

After that, it seemed that Sevastyan is considering Natalie’s wishes. If she wants the same as him then why not? Together, with a new journey in mind, Sevastyan plans something for Natalie, to gauge her reaction towards this lifestyle. And for that, he takes her to a......... sex club.

Sex club???  Um, seriously? And this is how, for me, the story went from good to bad to good to complete ‘WTF?’.

Personally, I’m not big on rough BDSM but rough sex is fine, so I liked Sevastyan’s ways throughout. I’m even willing to give him the chance to spank and whip and speak English in his thick accent, not to mention showing off his other, er, thick apparatus whenever he wants to. I’m all game baby! But when you bring in sex clubs, it’s a BIG no-go area. That step was totally unexpected, not to mention his confirmation that he’s been in here many times before. Though Sevastyan makes sure Natalie knows that they’d not be indulging anyone else but themselves, I’m still not sure I like this. That I liked knowing he has taken her where his previous ‘sessions’ took place. That’s just........ Um, no.

Like Part 1, Part 2 ends abruptly too. I’m now going to read Part 3 for I still need to see where this is going but honestly, I’m not as eager as I was after finishing Part 1. 3.5 stars.