CHAPTER SIX
ALEXSEI ADJUSTED HIS cuffs one last time before he grabbed his keys and headed out. He forced his attention away from the mirror on the back of the door. He’d changed already, not sure if he should be more or less formal and then getting really annoyed with himself for making such a big deal out of a simple date.
But it wasn’t simple. Because it was Maybe.
And it was their first official date and he wanted it to be just right.
He cruised down to the theater’s box office to pick up the tickets. A big-budget Hollywood action movie with giant muscles, fast cars, machine guns and lots of explosions.
He knew she had a particular weakness for such fare. And the theater was within walking distance of the restaurant he had dinner reservations at after the movie ended.
Because he was picking her up at her house, he bought some roses at a nearby florist and then headed over.
She deserved to be cosseted and treated. To know she mattered. To him.
It had been a very long time since he’d done this. Went to a woman’s house with flowers to pick her up for a date. Even then he hadn’t been as nervous as he was standing on Maybe’s porch and ringing her doorbell.
The door opened and there she was in a crisp white shirt open several buttons paired with high-waisted pin-striped pants. Her eyes were lined to emphasize the color, lips a glossy red.
“Wow.”
She smiled. “Okay, I’ll accept wow as a very fine response. You look pretty wow as well.” She opened the storm door wider. “Come in while I put those in a vase.” She pointed at the roses in his hand that he then thrust her way.
“Yes, of course.”
He followed her through to the kitchen, where she pulled a pretty glass container from a high cabinet and arranged the flowers in it. “Thank you. I love roses.”
He knew, of course. But it was always nice to be appreciated. Especially by her.
He held her things while she locked the front door and then helped her into her coat before they left the porch, pausing to brush a kiss against her temple. “You look beautiful.”
From her blush, he took that she liked the compliment. Which was good because he wanted to say things like that all the time. Needed her to hear what she did to him.
“First thing up is a movie. Are you ready?” He opened the car door for her.
“I was born ready.”
He bent to kiss her, not caring about lipstick smearing.
She hummed, her fingertips digging into the back of his neck as she held on. He liked very much that it was totally fine for him to kiss her this way. Liked that he could give in to his desire to touch and nuzzle.
Really liked her response, to nuzzle or kiss back. Tonight was just the beginning. Just the first steps in what he felt could be something deep and lasting.
One last kiss and then a quick cleanup of his lips with a tissue and they were on the way.
* * *
THEY SAT SIDE BY SIDE, a tub of popcorn between them, along with fourteen different kinds of candy—who’d have thought he had such a sweet tooth—as the opening credits began.
On this, their first official date, he’d brought her to see a huge, ridiculously loud and bloody action flick.
Her absolute favorite.
Being someone who talked a lot meant she knew lots of people only half listened. But Alexsei paid attention to what she liked. Movies with explosions and fast cars and pretty people.
The date was remarkable in its total normalcy. They laughed and jumped and ate too much junk, rolling out of the theater two hours later, his arm around her shoulders as if it belonged there. He touched her often and she found that she liked it.
“Wow, that was so utterly empty of story. I loved every minute of it,” she told him.
Wearing a faint, satisfied smile, he kissed her quickly. “Good. Are you hungry? I have dinner reservations.”
“I shouldn’t be after licorice, popcorn, M&M’s, and fourteen gallons of Slushee, but yes, I’m starving.”
He kept his arm around her as they walked the three blocks up to a tiny hole-in-the-wall Italian place she’d wanted to go to for ages.
“I really figured most of what I said rolled off your back,” she said. “To be fair, zajka, most of it does. Because you like to update about your experience. Of a great many things. But I listen to what’s important. I hear what you like. What you might crave. You’ve mentioned this place more than once and I’m house-sitting close enough that it wasn’t so difficult to remember when I was planning.”
She licked her lips, so glad she’d opted for the hoop with the bead because he seemed to like that a lot.
“It’s really sexy that you listen. I’m just going to let you know that up front.”
He held her chair out, but let her scoot it in. The server pretended not to stare at him and totally failed. Maybe understood. He looked ridiculously handsome in a fisherman’s sweater and dark pants. Casual and formal at once. It worked and left her all tingly.
They drank red wine and managed to fit in some bread, apple and fennel salad, which had been unexpectedly fantastic, and some of the best spaghetti alle vongole she’d ever had.
“The house I’m staying in isn’t far from here. Would you like to come over before I drive you home? I can make you coffee.”
“Will you kiss me again? I mean, after I brush my teeth as I did have clams for dinner.”
He laughed as he helped her into her coat before they headed back outside. “That is most definitely on the agenda. I promise to kiss you a lot more. Is that all right with you?”
She smiled as he hugged her into his side. They already had a friendship and an ease, but this new level of connection felt very natural.
“Hi, Lexi!” a woman called out as he unlocked the front gate leading to the small front yard of his friend’s condo.
He grimaced, held Maybe even closer as he raised a hand while unlocking the door quickly with his other hand and pushed her inside, closing and locking the door at his back.
“Lexi?” Maybe asked, unable not to smirk.
“I have no idea. No one calls me that. She thinks it’s cute.” His look of distaste told Maybe all she needed to know about that.
“She does it because she’s trying to attract you. Like shaking her plumage.”
His frown deepened and she couldn’t help but smile. But then he decided to switch their positions and back her against the door, holding her there with his body as he dropped a kiss at the corner of her mouth.
“I prefer your plumage.” He touched one of the silver streaks. “This is strangely attractive.”
He stepped back, pulling her with him into the living room.
“Sit. I’ll make coffee. I have decaffeinated.”
Before she did, she headed into the small bathroom and brushed away the clams and got herself ready for some serious smooching.
She texted Rachel that she’d gone to Alexsei’s place and would be home in a few hours. Her sister functioned better when she knew what was happening and where people were.
Rachel texted back an animated gif of a cartoon girl with heart eyes and told her to have fun and use a condom.
The interior of his old place was a lot like the flavor of the shop. Vintage with clean lines. Very masculine. He’d told her the first time she visited that when he’d had the shop done, he’d just bought more stuff for his town house. But then he and Rada had split and she lived in it now and he’d been couch surfing and house-sitting in the months since.
For a while she’d wondered if it was because he thought they’d get back together. But by that point she wondered if he just liked being totally unfettered for the first time in years.
“The food was quite good, but it was very loud in there,” Alexsei said as he came in with two cups of coffee. “Milk and sugar added.” He handed her a mug and settled on the couch.
She snuggled up next to him. “You even know how I take my coffee.”
“It is impossible to know you for longer than a week and not have your coffee preferences memorized.”
Maybe laughed. “You have a point.” She sipped and let herself relax. “I barely even drank coffee before I ended up in Eastern Washington. Then my addiction was born.”
She realized then that she’d simply climbed onto his couch and into the curve of his body. Without any real thought. She’d been so comfortable and easy with him that it hadn’t been conscious at all.
He didn’t appear to mind though. In fact he bent to kiss her temple. He liked that spot, she realized as he brushed his mouth over the sensitive skin there.
“Next movie we can see that new art flick with the subtitles playing at The Grand Illusion,” she said.
“It’s a very good dub, so you’ll do fine,” he replied, his voice rumbling against her back and side.
She smiled. He was totally her boyfriend and shit. One date and that was it. She just felt it in her gut and Maybe always trusted her gut.
“If you’ve already seen it we can see something else.” Equally artsy. He was artsy, no doubt about it. His friends were too. His cousin Gregori was a big-deal artist—and lived upstairs from Whiskey Sharp.
If they were going to be in a relationship, she foresaw lots of time in art movie houses in her future. Which wasn’t such a bad thing. She liked a lot of movies across genres.
Undoubtedly though, the snacks were better at big theaters and she did like her snacks. Thank goodness for big purses to bring your own.
“I didn’t. I read a review. You should come here.” He patted his lap.
She finished her coffee, put it on the nearby table and turned to straddle him.
In one languid move, he got rid of his cup and settled his hands on her hips.
“Hello.”
She kissed him, taking her time as she meandered. His mouth was pretty delightful, she had to admit. Firm bottom lip. He had a very clever tongue she really couldn’t wait to test out further.
Her fingers tunneled through his hair, mussing it up, holding him close. He grunted as she ground herself against him. Touching him only made her want him more. Only made her crave skin to skin so she kissed her way over from his mouth to his neck, where he smelled even better.
“I honestly can’t believe I’ve been missing out on how good you feel all these years,” he murmured.
“You and I were having other experiences.” But it did feel to her like they’d been waiting for each other all along.
“Is that your way of telling me I needed training to be with you?”
“Well, things move quick in my world, Alexsei. You need training to keep up.” She smiled brightly.
He looked adorably confused and slightly mad for a moment until she leaned in to kiss him quickly, but he didn’t let go and the kiss deepened and she let herself drown in how he made her feel.
For long minutes they kissed and snuggled, the heat between them building with slow, nearly delicate desire.
Maybe couldn’t remember the last time she’d given over to such a simple and yet powerful seduction.
His hands had left her hips and instead, he’d stroked her upper body, bit by bit until her skin was so sensitive she felt she might burst.
He broke off, muttering under his breath.
“What?” she asked, lazy and warm.
In a quick, fluid move, Alexsei shifted so she ended up on her back on the couch with him settling between her thighs.
She hummed her pleasure at his weight against her body.
“Is this going to be a thing?” she asked as he nibbled an earlobe.
“Your ears are irresistible,” he said. “You can’t possibly expect me to ignore how sweet you taste just here.” He licked to underline his words, sending a full-body shiver through her.
With a gasp, she dug her nails into his sides and loved his groan in response. “I meant the muttering in Russian. You don’t need to resist licking me.”
She pulled the hem of his shirt free so she could get her hands on his bare skin.
He nipped her chin on his way back to her mouth. “I like your taste.”
“Good. Good to know,” she gasped.
* * *
HIS HEAD SWAM with her. Her taste on his lips, her body beneath his. The heat of her pussy against his cock seared him. When she dug her nails into his skin, claiming him, urging him on, he fell over the edge.
Mine. Mine. Mine, his pulse pounded.
It had started with the delight on her face when he’d presented the movie tickets at the beginning of their evening. She was like no one else he’d ever met. She took pleasure in things large and small and he found himself totally enchanted.
Over the years he’d known there was attraction between them but neither had disrespected the other when nothing could happen.
But now it was like all the things he’d been tucking aside or pushing down, little sexy or funny things, endearing and charming things that he pretended away because he’d been with someone else had rushed through him, rendering him drunk with her.
He wanted to draw this out, to take hours and hours on her. Especially that first time together. But all he could do was imagine what her face would look like as she came. Wonder what she’d feel like once he was inside her.
However, he wasn’t going to fuck her on the couch. No matter how much he wanted her right then. She deserved more than that.
Maybe arched her back as she held on tight and Alexsei had to rear back to his knees and then to his feet.
“What?” she asked.
Laying there she was the picture of sensuality. Her hair messy around her face, lips swollen from his kisses.
A fierce, nearly painful bolt of knowing came then.
This was his woman.
This beautiful, mercurial, noisy, busy creature with fire in her heart had been there, in his shop for two years. Burrowing her way into his life. Burning herself into him.
It was right at that exact moment he felt totally and utterly sure about the path he was on. He held his hand out for her to take, which she did without hesitation, and wasn’t that a punch to the gut?
He tugged her down the hall to the bedroom he’d been living in for the past month. She scampered past him inside and began looking around.
Alexsei’s things were everywhere. The dresser held his watches, some pictures, a stack of books she began to page through.
Anyone else and he’d have been totally annoyed. Felt his privacy was being invaded. But Maybe apparently didn’t hit that button for him. He didn’t mind it at all. In fact, he sort of liked seeing her peer at his stuff like she was learning him.
“I’m in your inner sanctum. Like the Fortress of Solitude.” She did one of her voices and he had to wrestle back a smile.
“I’m hardly Superman.”
She turned to him, a teasing light in her eyes. “You got my reference.”
He frowned and then cocked a brow at her. “Superman isn’t a very difficult guess. I’m from Russia, not under a rock.”
“Wow. That face right now. Just a shot right to all my no-no places. Did you bring me in here for sex?” she asked, hands on her hips.
“Yes.” He wasn’t sure if he should apologize or not.
“Thank God. I mean, no offense but I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
He took the three steps between them.
“No offense taken,” he murmured as he stopped to watch her hands undoing each button of her blouse and then parting the material to showcase a pale blue bra and a lot of beautiful, colorful skin.
His breath left his mouth sharply.
She slid free of the shirt, folding it before placing it on the back of a nearby chair.
He held up a staying hand, wanting to take his time looking at her. Across her back was the beginning of what looked to be a very intricate tattoo of a Victorian-era hot air balloon.
“This is going to be magnificent when it’s finished.” He circled, noting the forearm line and dot band of birds in flight.
“Rachel needed to put in the time and I like ink. It’s got some more shading and outlining and then the color will come.” Maybe shrugged, slightly shy as he traced his fingertips over the bottom edge of her underbust tattoo.
A hummingbird of brilliant blues and greens, surrounded by the outline of a heart made of ivy and thorns.
He slid her bra free and got caught up in his inability to choose whether to finish examining her tattoo or to shift to her breasts, her nipples drawn tight and dark, the right one with a bar through it.
A slew of things came from his lips and she said, “I’m going to have to learn more Russian to know what you’re saying. I know enough to order food and to understand when your aunt is teasing me or pissed off.”
He drew a fingertip over her nipple and then twisted, using the bar. He kept his gaze on her face, gauging her reaction.
Her pupils swallowed most of the color of her eyes and her mouth opened slightly on a gasp.
Someone liked that quite a bit. He hummed his agreement as he bent to brush his lips against hers. “Beautiful.”
He pushed her back to the bed and caressed her belly and legs as he got rid of her pants and a delightfully sexy pair of panties with tiny unicorns all over them.
Totally naked, Maybe Dolan was gorgeous. Long and lean. Her breasts high, not overly large but the bar through the nipple was carnal either way.
“Why a bird?” he asked, bending to kiss the outline of her chest piece.
“Rachel has called me hummingbird for as long as I can remember. She says I’m quick and clever and brightly colored. Other people just say I talk too much and need to tone my wardrobe down.”
Surprised laughter sounded from his lips.
Rachel knew her sister well. Saw the beauty in her nature.
“I rather like all your colors.” He licked first her right nipple and then the left, repeating the movement several times to see if he had a preference. Both were equally delicious.
Her fingers tugged his hair, getting him exactly where she wanted him. Never had he been with a woman so bold. He loved it. Craved more.
“I really hope you have condoms,” she said, bringing him back to himself.
He rolled away, riffled through a drawer and came back holding the foil packet aloft triumphantly.
“You’re my favorite,” she told him with a smirk. “Well, I’d like you even more if you got rid of the rest of your clothes. I’m naked here and you’re, disturbingly, not.”
“If you’d stop talking for a moment I’d have the time.”
Her laugh was far from angry as she mimed a key and lock motion at her mouth.
He loved order and control and she was utter chaos.
His cock had no qualms about these things, however. When he gingerly freed himself from his clothes, it stood so hard it tapped his belly. Wet at the tip.
But it was Maybe’s expression that proved to be the final blow to his calm.
Hungry.
Appreciative in the way a woman was when she saw what she liked.
Carnal delight.
He breathed out, finding it in himself to pause and preen a little as she came from the bed to look him over.
* * *
HE WAS DEVASTATING. Honestly, Maybe had no idea anyone could make her feel so much in so many ways all at once. Clothed, he had a dapper elegance. But naked there was nothing to blunt his raw masculinity.
“I had no idea you had all this ink.” Just beneath the clothing. So close and yet for years it may as well have been a million miles away.
And now she could touch. So she did.
There was a fractal design of a bear’s head on his remarkably flat belly. Color, but not too much. On his upper back, a dot and line stag’s head dominated.
“This is amazing work,” she told him.
“Thank you. Don’t tell your sister, but I’ve been getting my work done at Written On The Body in Phinney Ridge for years. Rachel’s stuff is very good,” Alexsei assured her quickly, “but Raven gets me and I’m a little afraid of her so I’m not leaving her any time soon.”
“Rachel has her own clients. But it’s sweet you’d worry. Also, I’m wildly curious about anyone you’re afraid of.”
He harrumphed but she smiled as she kissed his shoulder and circled around to his front once more.
Broad shoulders and muscled arms caught her attention for long moments as she finished looking her fill.
Then he gently but firmly pushed her shoulders until they landed on his bed together in a tangle of limbs and he laid a kiss on her so fantastic she forgot all her words.
He was solid. Muscled and tight as he rolled her over so he could kiss from her neck over to her nipples and then he held her in place with his body as he licked over the edges of her tattoo until she was a trembling mass of useless bones.
Which she realized as he kissed down her belly and spread her thighs and all she could do was moan softly and try to get her fingers to unclench and let go of his bedspread to grab his shoulders instead.
He licked until her thighs trembled, kissing her pussy like he had never tasted anything so fine before. Alexsei played her like a maestro and when she came, orgasm stole through every cell and then seemed to explode in a warm rush of intense, blinding pleasure.
Once she stopped seeing stars, she blinked and managed a thank-you and, she hoped, a decent compliment on his oral sex skills. Maybe wasn’t sure because her ears still rang a little.
The smug look on his face meant she probably managed to communicate well enough.
She grabbed for his cock but he shifted, keeping away. “No. If you touch me, this will end before we get started.”
Maybe frowned and he rolled his eyes.
She was less annoyed when he rolled the condom on though, happy she’d be getting to use his very fat, very, uh, healthy sized cock soon enough.
“The way you look at me unravels all my control,” he said.
“Good.”
She meant it. Maybe wanted to be a test to his control and discipline. It filled her with a unique kind of power.
He scored his nails down her skin, over her ribs and hips, settling between her thighs on his knees.
She hissed as spirals of pleasure/pain ribboned through her. His eyes had gone dark, hooded and intent as he pulled her closer, holding her ass, tipping her hips.
And he was pushing inside, slow and steady as she tried not to beg for more. She bit her lip to keep the words in.
“Oh no. I don’t want your silence just now, zajka.” Alexsei’s words sent a shiver through her. “Tell me how you like it, mmm?” He was so much, so intense and intent on her.
“You’re doing just fine there!” she wheezed out as he finally got all the way in and waited a moment for her to open up around him.
Sweat beaded over her brow. He was bigger than she’d been used to so Maybe breathed and tried to relax.
He snarled then, bending to lick up her neck and snatch her earlobe between his teeth.
A stream of growled words from him sent shivers over her skin. The heat of his breath left sensual fire in his wake.
Maybe rolled her hips and wrapped her thighs around his waist.
“So good. You’re killing me bit by bit,” he said as he began to thrust, slow and deep.
Her fingers slid over the taut, sweat-slicked skin of his forearms. He was so firm. So present and focused on her. His expression had gone nearly feral and she wanted to tug that last bit of restraint free.
Maybe tightened her inner muscles, delighting in the way he sucked in a breath and exhaled on a curse.
“I like this position with you. I can look my fill at your tits as I make them bounce.” He grinned like a pirate when she moaned.
“So deep,” she whispered as he continued to fuck her.
“I’m driven to be as far into you as I can be. You’re so hot and wet I never want to leave.” Alexsei underlined that when he kept his pace even as he palmed her nipples.
Maybe liked to come. Who didn’t? But she wasn’t one for multiple times and certainly not so close. But there she was, her body slowly but surely falling, gaining speed. Helped along when he slid his palms down her belly and the pad of his thumb found her clit and began to circle it.
“Yesyesyes,” she urged, climax growing like a storm until it took over, making her twist and arch against him.
With a final growl, he took hold of her hips as he thrust over and over and over until he went still, his gaze locked on hers as her climax echoed around his.
* * *
AFTER HE GOT rid of the condom and got back to his bed, there she was, rumpled, sex messy in his sheets.
“You look like a firebird with your hair that color.”
His thigh muscles burned and every once in a while they spasmed and jumped. But it wasn’t the physical exertion that had shaken him to his core, but the way they clicked so deeply.
Wrapping a forearm around her, he hauled her to his body and she came with an easy, sated sigh.
“That was pretty much a million times better than I’d imagined. And I’d imagined it a lot and very well.”
He smiled against the back of her neck, amazed that she made him so happy.
“I’m glad I could meet your standards.” As for his reaction? He wanted to roll her up in his blankets and not leave bed for the next few days.
Maybe was every bit his match in bed. As much as she seemed to be out of it, he realized.
“If you stay, we can have morning sex. This is appealing, no?” he said.
Her laugh was lazy. “It’s very appealing. But I can’t stay over. I need to get back home.”
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
Maybe turned in his arms to face him. “There are things I need to do to keep Rachel in a good place. I don’t sleep away from our house. She worries too much and then she can’t sleep. If I’m there, once she’s locked up, she can not only sleep, but she can get the rest she needs to stay healthy.”
Alexsei respected that she protected her sister the way she did. And he believed he’d do the same in her place to be sure his siblings were all right.
“I know it seems weird. But she’s...”
Alexsei shook his head. “No. It doesn’t seem weird.” He couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like in Rachel Dolan’s head after all she’d endured. Now that he’d had a taste of Maybe, it wasn’t as if he had plans to let her go. There’d be more time to work these logistics out as they went forward.
Maybe smiled at him and then snuggled a little closer. He was absolutely all right for the first time in a while.