Orion’s kitchen smelt and felt like heaven. The savory and delicious scent of food cooking filled the large space, and the sounds of boiling, simmering and chopping merged seamlessly with the hum coming from the TV in the living room. Even the sunlight streaking in through the East window seemed especially brilliant today.
But of course, the real jewel in the kitchen was Vina.
Now he knew why men got married. Just having her here made his house feel brighter, more cheerful and like a real home. From his perch at the kitchen island, Orion watched her move around his kitchen.
As usual, she wasn’t dressed to seduce; green tank top and black shorts. And yet he was thoroughly and completely seduced. He couldn’t stop looking at her; at the sexy way she bit her lower lip when she was cooking, at the way her breasts jiggled beneath that tank top every time she stirred something, at the way those shorts clung to her pert ass and showed off her legs. Even her bare feet were sexy.
To distract himself from her unwitting seduction, he offered, “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
“So you can ruin the vegetables again?” Vina didn’t even look up from the arugula she was tearing. “I don’t think so.”
“How was I supposed to know what julienne strips are?” he complained.
“That’s why I asked you if you know what they were, and you, Mister-” She glared at him. “-said you did. Then you ruined my carrots.”
Now that he thought about it, that’s exactly what had happened. He gave her a sheepish. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, just stay away from my veggies.” She moved to the stove where a pot of creamy vegetable soup was simmering and dipped a spoon in. Leaning across the island, she offered the now full spoon to Orion. “Taste.”
He leaned forward, blew on the soup to cool it before tasting it. Vina watched him, waiting for his approval. He smiled. “Nice.”
“Enough salt?”
He nodded. “Enough salt.”
With a smile, she turned back to her cooking. Orion had never been one of those men who believed that a woman’s place was in the kitchen but darned if Vina didn’t look right at home in his. She moved so easily and comfortably around it that a stranger would’ve thought that they’d lived together since forever.
“Ssss,” she hissed as she extracted a platter of fish from the over and set it on the counter. “Hot.”
The delicious scent that wafted from the meal was enough to make Orion’s stomach growl in anticipation. Eagerly, he asked, “Is it ready?”
“Just about.” She turned her attention to the arugula and tossed it into a bowl with the apple strips, cherry tomatoes and pecans.
He leaned forward to take a better look at the fish but frowned when he saw the layer of salt covering its top. “Isn’t that too much salt?”
“No.” When she saw his frown, she shot him an amused look. “Trust me, it will taste great.”
“If you say so,” he said, his tone leaving no doubts about his misgivings.
“Where are the plates?” she asked.
“I’ll get them for you.” He slid off the barstool and crossed the room to the cupboard. Maybe he really wanted to see what she was going to do with that over-salted (in his opinion) fish, maybe he just wanted to be closer to her, either way after he handed her the plates, he stayed beside her. A smiling playing on her lips, Vina expertly struck the fish’s crust.
“Oh!” Orion gaped when the crust cracked open to reveal the well-done flesh inside. Wide-eyed, he watched her carefully removed the salt crust from the top of the fish. Awe in his voice, he said, “I’ve never seen fish made this way.”
“That’s because this is salt-crusted fish – not your every day baked fish.” Vina divided the flesh between two plates then, with the ease and expertise of a trained chef, portioned out salad onto the plates. She set slices of lemon and a side of olive oil on both plates before spooning some soup into bowl.
She picked up one bowl and one plate and held them out to Orion. “This is yours.”
His meal in hand, he strolled to the living room and settled on the couch. Tentatively, he stuck his fork into the fish then brought it to his mouth. The moment he tasted the fish, flavor burst in his mouth, sending his taste-buds spinning in delighted cartwheels. It was that good!
Maybe that first forkful was a discrepancy. Maybe the rest of it was awful. Conscious of Vina watching him from her position beside him on the couch, he stuck his fork into the fish again, this time coming up with a larger forkful, and thrust it into his mouth.
Oh my God! Is this what they called a foodgasm? He closed his eyes to better revel in the delicious flavors that immediately overwhelmed his taste-buds. His mouth felt like it had died and gone to heaven. Wow!
When he finally opened his eyes it was to find Vina watching him with a wide grin. “Told you it was good.”
Actually, good was such a mundane word when applied to the piece of genius on his plate. Despite having been backed in salt, the fish was soft and not too salty. It was delicious! Absolutely delicious!
Going in for a bigger bite, Orion said, “If my mom ever asks you to cook for her, don’t!”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s going to hate you.” He explained, “She always thinks that her food tastes like manna from the gods but if she tastes this… you’re done, Alvina. You’re so done.”
Vina laughed. “I doubt your mom is capable of hating anyone.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know Madam Hong like I do.”
Vina laughed. A moment later, she said, “You must be very close with your mom. My father would kill me if I ever called him by his given name or spoke to him in banmal (*informally) to, but your mother doesn’t even blink when you called her Madam Hong.”
Orion shrugged. “She’s always been easy-going like that. And yes, we’re close.” He quickly added, “Though not close enough to be called a mommy’s boy.”
“I wouldn’t blame you for being a mommy’s boy though.” Vina complimented, “Your mom’s the kind of awesome.”
“She is?” Orion knew his mom was awesome, when she wasn’t being incredibly annoying, but it felt good to hear someone else say it.
“She’s the kind mom that every kid wants. Easygoing, don’t care attitude… ”
“Don’t care attitude?” He chuckled. “Where did you get that?”
Vina shrugged. “It just seems like it. Also, I don’t see how she could’ve remarried and divorced if she cared what people thought about her. People can be disapproving about such matters.”
“Yeah, I-” Orion paused with his fork above his food then frowned. “How did you know that my mother remarried then divorced?”
Vina’s eyes widened. “You- you- you told me.”
“No.” Orion racked his brain for a moment when he’d shared that with her. When he found none, he shook his head. “Nope. I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”
“You must h-have,” Vina insisted, looking everywhere but at him. “Otherwise how would I know?”
As if her stammering wasn’t suspicious enough, the nervousness in her demeanor was enough to make him narrow his eyes. “Yes, that’s the question, isn’t it? How did you know?”
Vina was quiet for a long time before she finally confessed, “We investigated you.”
Orion blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“We – I mean my family hired someone to look into you.” Staring at her plate on her lap, she added, “That’s how I knew.”
He’d heard about people hiring private investigators to do background checks on others, but he’d never thought that he’d be the subject of such an investigation. Still, from everything Vina had told him about her family this shouldn’t have been a surprise. And yet it was. It was also very annoying. He didn’t like people – even Vina - knowing about his private business unless he told them himself.
Orion set his plate on the coffee-table. His voice tight with restrained anger, he asked, “What exactly did they look into?”
Vina’s cheeks turned pink. “Everything.”
“Everything?” His annoyance grew. “What exactly do you mean by everything?”
“About you, your background, your business, your mom…” Vina sighed as she lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Orion. I should have tried harder to stop them.”
Her obvious distress and embarrassment were like a needle. They pricked at the bubble that was his annoyance, and before he knew it, he was scooting closer to her and slinging his arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not.” She snatched a glance at him before lowering her gaze. “It’s intrusive and out of line.”
It was… but for some reason that didn’t matter anymore. Rubbing his fingers along her upper arm, he said, “But it’s not your fault. Besides, I don’t mind you knowing stuff about me. You’re my girlfriend.”
She corrected, “Your fake girl-,”
He bent his head and captured her lips before she could finish the sentence. He didn’t want to hear it anymore. There was nothing fake about how his heart thudded in excitement whenever he was near her or how desperately he missed her when they weren’t together. There was nothing fake about the need throbbing in his blood as he teased her lips open, or the pleasure that shot through him when he finally tasted her. And there was certainly nothing fake about the intense relief that rocketed through him when her lips shifted under his in tentative acceptance of the kiss. Without ending the kiss, he took the plate off her lap, set it on the coffee-table and dragged her onto his lap.
MAYBE IT WAS because it’d been almost two weeks since their last real kiss. Maybe it was because she’d just missed him. Either way, Vina easily fell into the kiss. She clung to his shoulders as he held her in his arms, her lips moving in rhythm with his. Soon the tenor of the kiss changed. It became harder, more powerful, more sensuous. Even if she’d wanted to resist him, she wouldn’t have stood a chance against this kiss. It was possessive, devastating and it left her thoroughly wreaked and aching for more.
By the time he let her breathe, she was shifting on his thigh restlessly, silently pleading for him to take this further. His eyes glued to hers, he slowly moved one of his hands from her waist and slowly up her torso. She sucked in a sharp breath when his palm closed over her swollen breast. He whispered, “Is this okay?”
“Ye-” Her words died on her lips when he suddenly squeezed her swollen flesh. Oh, that felt amazing.
“You won’t run away like you did last time, are you?”Orion asked as he squeezed again.
“I didn’t run away,” she managed to say breathlessly. “I was just in a hurry to get home.”
Orion chuckled. “If you say so.”
Heat scorched through her when he rubbed her nipple over her tank-top and she couldn’t stop the instinctive whimper that slipped past her lips. That heat only got worse when his hand slid down to the hem of her tank-top then beneath the fabric, up, up, up…
He stopped just short of cupping her breast. “Can I do this?”
She quickly nodded, and was quickly rewarded when he slid his hand under her bra and touched her flesh. The warmth of his hand, how big it was, the sensations that immediately raced through her… Vina hissed in pleasure and pushed her breast into his hand.
Orion transferred his attention to the other breast, giving it just as much attention before he whispered, “Let’s get this off you.”
The next moment, Vina’s top flew over her head. It was swiftly followed by her bra.
His eyes flashed as they zeroed in on her naked breasts. His hot gaze lingered on her – lingered like he’d never seen anything more riveting. He stared for so long that she began to feel a little uncomfortable; she even started to raise her hands to cover her breasts. However, he got there first. His large hand covered one.
For a moment he merely held her. Nerves knotted in almost painful anticipation, Vina arched into his hand. “Orion.”
Perhaps it was the pleading in her tone that made him move, but move he did. His hand molded her needy flesh, caressed it, massaged it. He moved from one breast to the other, flicked, circled, pinched until all she could do was moan in complete surrender. When he bent his head, her heart leapt.
“Oooh!” she moaned as his tongue circled one taut aureole then flicked over her nipple. She arched into his touch, begged for more. “Ri-on.”
Her calling his name must’ve snapped something inside him because the movement of his tongue on her nipple became firm and his mouth completely fastened over her. Her hand gripped the back of his neck as he sucked her engorged tip deeper into the moist heat of his mouth. The delectable sensation sent pleasure trembling through her to her lower belly.
Slowly, his tongue laved. Each time he suckled, he sparked fresh thrill within her. She shivered with need as he moved to her other breast and gave it the same sensuous attention. His lips suckled her peak to an unbearable tightness that left her feeling dizzy.
“Yes… yes…sss,” Her breath hissed from her lips and her body shifted restlessly under his expert seduction.
When her thigh brushed against his groin, she felt it; that thick ridge of male flesh that said he was just as turned on as she was. Acting purely on instinct, she moved her thigh closer and pressed into him.
“Alvina,” he groaned low and long against her breast even as his cock jerked against her leg. His open mouth moved away from her breast back up to fasten on hers in a deep, dark kiss that left her shivering. When he dragged his lips from hers, she stared at him, astounded by how one man could leave her feeling so needy, so desperate.
But Orion wasn’t even looking at her. His full attention was on his hand as it drifted down her torso, caressing her tummy before shifting lower down over her mound. Even though there was fabric between his hand and her pussy, the trembling, shivering feeling in her belly heightened. When he cupped and squeezed her over her shorts, she almost screamed in desperate pleasure.
His mouth came back over hers again – but this time she was the one who pulled away the kiss. She wanted to see what he was going to do. His hand lowered to the button of her shorts. She tried to swallow as she watched him unbutton her shorts, but found it to be a difficult task. Heck, she was surprised that she could’ve breathe going by how tight her chest felt.
He dragged the zipper of her shorts down. When his hands slid his hand in, her lips parted in breathless anticipation. Then he his bare hand was on her pussy. Vina gave a start and abruptly lifted her head.
Orion held her gaze as his fingers parted her pussy lips. Slowly, he slicked her wetness over her folds before dragging his fingers upwards. Vina shuddered when his fingers brushed over her trembling nub, yet she was unable to look away from him. Holding her captivity with the intensity of his eyes, he flicked her clit.
“Aaah!” Vina closed her eyes as electric pleasure zipped through her. The sensations became even more powerful as he started to work her. Stroking, flicking, caressing… Urgent desire burnt through her senses until all she could do was moan his name.
Then he dipped in. Gasping, she met his eyes again.
“You like that?” he asked as he slowly withdrew his finger from her hot, slick moistness then slid back in again. Of course she liked it. Her hands clenched reflexively in response, digging into his chest and knee.
He dragged his finger out of her pussy then pushed it in again, over and over, sliding in, sliding out, kindling heat inside her. And when she thought she couldn’t bear it anymore he added a second finger. Oh, that felt good. So damn good. She spread her thighs so he had more space to move, pumped her hips into his hand, threw her head back and moaned with each excruciating stroke.
His sudden rise to his feet caught her by surprise, and she would’ve tumbled to the floor if he wasn’t holding her. Startled, she lifted her gaze to him and found his face a mask of stormy desire. Before she could ask what he was doing, she was in his arms, being carried bridal style into the bedroom.
“Orion!” she yelped when he practically threw her onto the bed. His intense, almost angry expression stopped her from saying anything more. With one yank, he dragged her shorts and panties down her legs. Next was his t-shirt; he drew the fabric up and over his head in a flash. Once he was naked from the waist up, he crawled to her until his head was between her thighs.
For the next several moments, Vina couldn’t think. She couldn’t even breathe. The way his mouth touched her, the way his tongue flicked over her nub, the way he suckled, the slow but thorough stab of his finger within her while his tongue worked her clit…
“Oh…my… jeez.” She shifted restlessly on the bed, her thighs automatically spreading so he could do more. Her soft pants echoed in the room as pleasure after pleasure cascaded her. Good heavens! The man knew how to toy with a woman’s body. He slowly lapped at her, teasing her clit with erotic strokes that left her dizzy with desire and aching for his release. His fingers felt like a small cock, pushing in, pulling out, penetrating her, fucking her.
It was too much. The sensations streaking through her were so intense that her whole body began to shake. Her orgasm hit her with the speed of a freight train. It was so powerful all she could do was push her fingers into his silky hair and hold on as wave after of excruciatingly blissful pleasure pounded into her.
As the fireworks lit up within her, Orion continued to lick and stroke her. It was only when she collapsed boneless back to earth that he inched his way back to her lips. His lips moved slowly on hers, his pace unhurried and lingering as his breath mingled with hers. But it was the feel of his body against hers that dragged her from the contentment of her release.
His chest was smooth and hot against hers. His muscles rippled and played against her body, kindling fresh heat through her. Her pussy rode his still clothed cock, making her aware of his blatant arousal. They couldn’t have that now, could they? Abruptly, she shoved him off her and onto his back.
Orion’s startled gaze flew to meet hers when she clambered over his supine body to straddle him. She smiled. “Your turn.”