6. Coral
Coral
I sat in my car and stared out at my brother’s brewery.
I wasn’t there to take the edge off after a long day in the office or even to try and drink my worries away.
I was there for one reason and one reason alone.
I glanced away and caught my reflection in the rearview mirror. My lips were painted red, my makeup was flawless. My eyes skimmed down my body to the little black dress I’d put on that was a little sexier than I normally wore to work but when paired with a blazer still paned out as office attire. Bottom line, I knew I looked good.
It was the first time in a long time I didn’t doubt myself.
Sure, I might have more curves than the ones you saw on TV or in magazines, but I liked them. Or I had started to really like them. I could still remember the sting of Jack’s words or rejection when he turned me down after trying to seduce him.
Funny how that happened, and I would think it was about me and the way I looked. It turned out it was because he was too tired after fucking around on me for however long it had been, so he didn’t have any energy left.
None of that had been real.
If I was honest with myself, I think I’d known that. Maybe not the lengths of his extra-curricular activities or how he messed around with the women at his dental practice, but I’d known we weren’t right. It was why I had been the one who always changed the subject when it came to marriage or family. I thought something was missing. Maybe when we first started seeing each other, there was something real, but later on, as we both grew and evolved, I think we had just been comfortable with each other. Going through the motions. Me in law school and him in dental school.
Everything happens for a reason. My motto since I was little popped into my head. The one I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around after Jack and I ended was starting to make sense again.
My tall, dark, and sexy stranger entered my mind. I hadn’t been able to forget him or think of anyone else. Was this what your first one-night stand was like? You got stupid attached and regretted walking out before sunrise?
If I was honest, he was the real reason I was here.
Parked, staring out at the bar where he had come to my rescue, dressed up and wearing my favorite perfume, one that was so expensive I only wore it to special occasions. And I had stopped to get more than my eyebrows waxed two days before.
Because of him. I couldn’t stop thinking about the man, and all I wanted to know was his name. Okay, maybe that wasn’t all I wanted. My thighs pressed together at the reminder of everything he’d done to my body. Everything I would want from him again.
Maybe I should talk to Olive? She had kept her word and hadn’t told any of our sisters, and if she had, they were all uncharacteristically quiet about it. I could ask her if this was normal to feel?
I glanced at the front door again and then back at the parking lot. I tried to remember the make and model of his dark luxury car, but for the life of me, I couldn’t. I had been so caught up with the man and the way he had come to my rescue and swept me off my feet, I still wasn’t sure of even the color of the interior of his car. The whole night had been a whirlwind. A beautiful, magical hurricane of glittery dust and passion.
“Go home,” I mumbled to myself. I should go home, wash my face, and hunker down in front of the TV. Knowing that I should didn’t mean I would.
I wasn’t going anywhere, and I knew it.
“Okay, fine. Go in, have something to eat, and then head home. If he’s here, he will say hi, and if he’s not, there are plenty of other fish in the sea,” I told my reflection in the rearview mirror before slipping out of my car.
I locked it with the fob and tossed my designer bag over my shoulder as I made my way inside with my head held high. I loved this dress and these heels. I had no idea why I had stopped wearing things like this. Because of Jack, a voice in my head reminded me. He hated me dressing up like that. We got in a huge argument over what I wore for New Year’s the night before we had broken up. I shook my head. Tonight, there was no space in my head and thoughts for Jack. He’d wasted enough of my time.
Just before I reached the front door, I stopped. The hairs on the back of my neck stood, and my skin prickled with awareness. I turned and looked towards the parking lot. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but it was almost like I could feel someone watching me. Something I had been feeling for the last couple of days. I shook my head and turned to pull the front door of the brewery wide open. I was being ridiculous. Just because I felt like someone was watching me the last couple of days, that didn’t mean someone actually was.
I stepped inside, and a small smile forced its way to the surface at how many people were there. So many were regulars, not to mention tourists now that the ski resort was slowly getting updated. I made my way to the bar and decided to sit in a different area than the one my brother was usually at. Bash and Austin were Onyx’ best friends from college as well as business partners in their venture when Bash came back from his time serving in the Marines. Both were serving drinks, but my brother was nowhere to be seen, thankfully. I didn’t need him to question what had happened the last time I was there.
“Hey, Cora.” Bash smiled politely. “Haven’t seen you in a couple of days,” he remarked, and I wondered if he noticed because he cared or because without me bugging my sisters to join me, it meant Raven, the youngest Trejo, who I was pretty sure he was head over heels in love with, wasn’t there.
“Work’s been busy.” I shrugged. It wasn’t a complete lie. As a divorce and estate attorney, I was hardly ever bored.
“I hear that.”
“But this is a good problem to have.” I smiled, reaching for a menu even though I was pretty sure that since they opened and I’d become single, I’d tried everything on the menu already.
“Most definitely,” he agreed easily, leaning forward. “Can I get you something to drink to start off with?”
“Umm…” I chewed on my bottom lip before glancing behind me just in time to see the door open, but the hope I felt it could possibly be him withered away when a couple stepped in. I sighed and turned my attention back to Bash. “Actually, can I get a sparkling water with cherries in it?”
“Not drinking tonight?” he asked without judgment as he started to make my drink for me.
“Maybe an espresso martini later. After dinner.”
“Sounds good. Oh, and we have a couple new dishes today. Beckett, the new guy your brother hired in the kitchen, is a freaking genius. I mean, in case you were looking for something new to try out.” I stared at Bash for a moment.
He was a good-looking guy. Tall and lanky but muscular because he weirdly liked to work out and be outdoors. He was all olive-toned skin and beautiful deep green eyes, and I’d known him for what felt like forever, but I didn’t know him. Not the way he seemed to know me and probably the rest of my sisters. Compared to Onyx and Austin, he was the quiet one and, what I was realizing, pretty observant.
“Surprise me.” I set the menu down. “With an app, too,” I added, because nervous energy made me hungry.
“I got you.” He set my drink down. “Let me go get that order in for you.” He turned and headed to the kitchen, and I glanced at my sparkling water as the tips of my fingers tapped the top of the counter.
The quiet sound of people talking and laughing, having a good time, should have been contagious, but as I glanced around, noticing just how many couples and people seemed to be enjoying the company of someone else, it made me miss him. A man I didn’t know but somehow knew the most all at the same time.
“Looking for someone?” a deep sultry voice asked, and my body seemed to be extremely aware of how close he was. Body heat whispered against my shoulder, and I glanced only to be surprised by the man next to me. The very one I had been missing.
“Someone like who?” I found myself asking calmly
“I don’t know?” His beautiful talented lips twitched like he was trying to hold back a smile, but it was his dark eyes that gave away how amused he was by me. “Maybe trying to find someone you might have run away from.” I liked that he called me out on running out and not bullshitting around like we didn’t know what the other tasted like.
“Or maybe I was trying to avoid someone like that?”
“Hmm,” his voice rumbled, and a dark brow rose on his handsome face. He leaned in even closer. Dangerously close. So close I could smell the scent that had lingered in my dreams. “Something about the way you’re looking at me has me thinking that’s not the case, babochka .”
“What does that mean?” I asked, curious, but hadn’t looked it up because I wanted to hear it from him. Maybe deep down I knew, or at least I’d hoped
“Butterfly,” he clarified easily and without hesitation. There was something sexy about the way he responded that made me shift in my seat. He’d called me butterfly all night. “I’m Oleg. Oleg Sokolov.”
“Oleg.” He finally had a name. One that I wasn’t ashamed to repeat softer than I had said anything else before. “Oleg, I’m Coral, Coral Trejo.” His hand moved off the back of my chair as he turned me to face him and came up between us. Without thinking, I took it, and as he just held it, his eyes never wavered from mine.
“It’s nice to meet you, Coral.” The warmth of his voice seeped through me, and I could have sworn my goose bumps had goose bumps. I liked the way he said my name.
“This feels a little backwards after last week.” The comment passed my lips before I could hold them back. His dark eyes flared with something promising.
“I don’t know.” He licked the bottom of his lip as his gaze dropped to mine. “Maybe it’s exactly the way it should be. Everything happens for a reason.” I shivered, and my breathing felt off. He smelled better than I remembered and was so much more handsome than my memories of him.
“You okay, Cora?” Bash’s voice cut through, and I glanced at the kid who had been like a brother to me.
“I’m great.” I smiled and didn’t try to mask how happy I was. He is here. “Oleg.” I turned my attention to him. “Can I buy you a drink?” I offered. His lips twitched. Oleg glanced at Bash, who was watching the whole interaction with amusement.
“Can I have a water and whatever the special is tonight from the grill? And I’ll start a tab, mine and anything she’s already ordered or wants, on this from here on out.”
“Okay.” Bash grinned. “I got you, man.” Bash pushed off the counter and went to put in Oleg’s dinner order.
“You didn’t have to do that.” I blushed.
“I know.” He winked. “You look incredible, by the way.” His eyes skated up and down my body with appreciation. “You’re so beautiful it almost hurts to look at you.”
“Almost?” I asked, undeniably flirting back with him since it was my lips’ turn to twitch.
He leaned in closer, his hand moved up, and to my surprise, I didn’t flinch or move away like I would have with any other man. But Oleg wasn’t just any other man. He wasn’t even just someone I had a one-night stand with once. What we shared had been more intimate and beautiful than anything I had ever experienced with Jack for over a decade.
“Not looking at you would hurt more.” There was something in his words. Almost like a double meaning. One that I would have caught if I hadn’t been so entranced by the man I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
“You’re a flirt,” I muttered. My stomach flipped in my belly as butterflies took flight when he winked and smiled with confidence that only made him sexier.
“Takes one to know one,” he responded, taking me by surprise and making me laugh. “Mind if I join you?”
“I think we’ve established I’m more than okay with spending some time with you,” I countered, and he nodded, taking the seat next to me. I hated that he wasn’t pressed to my side. It took me off guard how much I wanted his body heat back, but I liked that he was comfortable enough to have our knees touch.
“Just not in the early morning?” he asked. It was ballsy of him to bring up the way I had stupidly run away, but again, I appreciated it. I wasn’t someone who liked playing mind games, and running out without a ‘ see you around’ was something I had immediately regretted.
“Hmm,” I sighed, pressing my lips together. “I should apologize for that.”
“That’s not necessary,” he cut me off, and I didn’t like it. My hand covered his, and when our eyes locked, a rush of heat flowed through me. It was electric yet smooth. Like a really great shot of expensive whiskey.
“It is.” I hardly recognized the tone of my voice. “I shouldn’t have run out like that.”
“Why did you?” he asked quietly and again without judgment. Something about his fathomless dark gaze made me want to tell him everything. Every secret to every boring detail about myself.
“Honestly?” He nodded, and I licked my lips. Heat washed through me with how he watched me. Like he was determined not to miss a thing. “Up until our night together, I’d never had a one-night stand.” He simply stared at me, not saying a word. “And if I’m being honest, umm… you were the second person I’ve ever, umm…” God, why am I stuttering when it comes to this like some kind of virgin?
“Spent time with?” he guessed. It was silly. I was a grown woman. Why was I pussyfooting around talking about sex?
“That I’ve slept with.” I spelled it out. It was sweet of him to try to make it a little easier, but he didn’t need to. I was over thirty years old. His thumb stroked my hand, and like two magnets, we leaned closer.
“If it makes you feel better, I hope it wasn’t a one-night stand.”
“You do?” I asked. It was obvious we were both severely attracted to one another. The air felt almost electric around us.
“I do.” The raspiness in his voice made my thighs press together. “I want to see a lot of you, Coral. If you will let me, that is.” I blushed because I had no idea how much more of me there was for him to see. I was pretty sure he had seen all I had during our night together. Before I could come up with a response, one of the new waitresses came by with our food.
“Wow,” I whispered. Bash hadn’t been kidding. Whoever this guy in the back that Onyx had hired seemed to really know what they were doing.
“Bash said if there is anything else you need to let him know.” She smiled, and before I could stop myself, I asked, “Do you think we could get a booth?”
“Of course.” She took the plates, and Oleg looked at me. “I mean, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” He nodded, getting down from the bar stool. I took the hand he offered to help me down. I didn’t even have to try to get my drink because he had it and his own, and we both followed the waitress to a cozy booth in the back. I slipped in, and Oleg followed me, sitting close enough to where our thighs touched. Our waitress set our food in front of us with a polite smile.
“Here you go. I’ll pass by in a little bit to check on you,” she said before she walked away and left Oleg and me all alone.
I hadn’t loved the shape of the booths when I first came to see my brother’s brewery. But sitting with Oleg so close to me, the light dimmed perfectly in the back, I didn’t hate them. I liked the sense of privacy the high leather backs afforded. It made you feel like it was just you and the party you were with.
“This is private,” he noted, almost as if reading my mind.
“It is.” I glanced at the food. “It all looks so good.”
“Mouthwatering,” he muttered, and when I glanced up at him, he wasn’t looking at his food but at me.
“Oleg.” When I whispered his name, he made a guttural sound. He leaned in closer, so close his forehead touched mine and his nose nuzzled against mine.
“Tell me to back off,” he rumbled. His breath tickled my lips. “My beautiful butterfly needs to tell me to back off right now before I try my damndest to kiss that red lipstick off your perfect lips and let the food get cold,” he warned, but it sounded like a challenge to me.
One I wanted to accept.
“Kissing the lipstick off me might be hard,” I responded with a flirty lilt in my voice. His nose flared and his eyes darkened.
“Why’s that?” His gaze bounced from mine down to my mouth.
“It’s meant to be transfer proof,” I shared in a challenging tone that surprised me.
“Fuck.” And without skipping a beat, Oleg’s mouth was on mine.
He kissed me, hard!
Devouring me like he needed my lips on his, not just for pleasure but to survive. I’d never been kissed that way. With so much fervor and passion that time literally ceased to exist, and I truly forgot my name or where we were. My hands tangled in his hair, loving the way his thick longish curls felt between my fingers. I moaned at the feeling of how soft it was compared to his hard chest that was pressing against me. I was dying to climb up onto his lap but for some reason couldn’t. When he pulled way and ended the kiss, I opened my eyes slowly. That was when it hit me. Not only were we in a public space, but there was a table in front of us, and that’s why I couldn’t get to his lap.
“Jesus,” he groaned, almost like he was in pain. “One taste of you goes straight to my head.” He shifted, and my eyes dropped down and widened.
“You’re hard,” I whispered, and he grunted.
“What do you expect when you kiss me like you mean it?”
“But…” I hesitated. “I’ve never… I don’t think I’ve ever made anyone hard from just kissing,” I confided quietly. His nose nuzzled against mine for a beat before he leaned in and his lips touched the shell of my ear. The buzzing inside my body grew louder with that simple touch.
“That’s because you’ve been kissing the wrong people, babochka ,” he rasped, and I shivered. “Just thinking about you makes me this way.” My stomach chose that very moment to embarrass me by growling almost as loudly as the people around us. “You’re hungry.” He pulled away and pointed at our dishes. “We should eat.” We picked up our forks, and when mine was halfway to my plate, he leaned in so close I swear all I could feel, all I could smell was Oleg.
“I’ll try again later to kiss that red off your lips,” he promised. Heat hit my face. It wasn’t I might try, but he would try again later, confirming that whatever was going on between us wasn’t done.
Not by a long shot.
Somehow, after that, we ate.
While we enjoyed our perfectly grilled salmon filets and roasted veggies, the conversation flowed so easily, it felt like I’d known him forever. Or better than anyone else. I had no idea what kind of magic he’d spun to make me feel that way. If you weren’t in my circle, it took me a really long time to trust you. He told me he owned and operated a security company that not only helped companies but private citizens with bodyguards and other security needs.
He didn’t dive too far into the topic of his company, but it was obvious with how he spoke about it that he enjoyed it. And it was obvious by the black card he had handed Bash earlier that he was successful at what he did. Conversation flowed easier by the minute. I told him about what I did and my family. He told me a little about his. Or what he knew about them. His grandparents had immigrated to the States from Russia and settled in New York. But when he was a baby, his parents had died, and for a while, he had lived in the system until one of his aunts found him and raised him. His aunt and cousins still lived in New York, and he traveled a lot for work.
‘So, if you do what you do and your business could be literally anywhere in the world, why are you in Moonlit Pines?” I asked, growing more curious by the moment. He looked at me and shrugged.
‘I had a case here.”
“A case?” I repeated and leaned in closer, like he was about to share some kind of dirty secret. “Someone in the Pines needed a bodyguard? Was it the Storm family that bought the resort? Or were you investigating them?” He chuckled and wiped his lips.
“You’re a beautiful curious little butterfly, aren’t you?” I blushed at his sweet term of endearment.
“Maybe a little.” I shrugged. “So?”
“I can’t talk about a case and tell you any details. You, more than anyone, know all about the importance of client confidentiality. But I can share it ended a couple of months ago.”
“Oh? Was everything okay?”
“Perfect, actually.” He chewed on his bottom lip and cleared his throat.
“The case ended, but you stayed?” He nodded, pointing to my plate.
“Eat, baby, you’re going to need your energy.” He kissed my forehead, and I expected for him to drop the subject, but he didn’t. “There is something special about Moonlit Pines. I liked it here, so I decided to stay a little longer.” A little longer. I had no idea why that simple sentence seemed to sit heavily in the pit of my gut. A little longer meant he was going to leave and whatever rose-colored glasses I had on needed to be taken off.
“Oh… so, you speak Russian?”
“I do. Not fluently but enough.”
“Nice. Being bilingual is like a superpower. Or that’s what my mom likes to tell everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“She’s a teacher,” I shared. “She teaches dual language immersion.”
“Spanish?” he guessed, and I nodded. “But she has an ear for languages. She speaks four.”
“Really?” He sounded impressed.
“She tried to teach us, but we had a horrible ear for it. Raven, my youngest sister, can pick up a little here and there, but I think by the time Mom tried to teach her, she had given up hope.” I laughed. “She speaks Spanish, English, Tagalog, and German.”
“That’s impressive.” He nodded and got back to eating. “And how’s your Spanish?”
“I’m fluent.”
“Eso es bueno,” he noted in a rich deep tone that made my panties wet. Or wetter.
“You know it?”
“I live in California for the most part.”
“Not in New York?” I asked, hating how hopeful I felt. If he left, or when he left, he’d still be in the same state.
“My family, or what I have of one, is in New York, but I’m in LA.” He shrugged. “And I own a condo in San Diego,” he added, as if it wasn’t a big deal to own real estate in California, much less two.
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
“No, it’s an investment,” he countered. I rolled my eyes but secretly loved how humble he was. He could have easily gone on and on about how much he made. Jill, another attorney in my office, was single and shared about how often all guys liked to talk about what they had and how much they made. Instead, he turned the conversation towards me.
“How’s your week been?” he asked with genuine interest. With those four words, he wrangled me even deeper, and I shared.
I don’t know why I went on and said more than it was just okay. Oleg made it easy to talk to. Easier than anyone else I had ever been around. Which was wild considering I included my sisters in that bunch.
I shared about meeting some clients and what I did and why I liked it. Then, for some reason, I shared what was going on in the office. Little things that no one would really care about. Like how our receptionist had received flowers and one of the partners hadn’t seemed too happy about it. Suddenly, the whole office received a memo that flowers are no longer allowed due to possible allergies. I told Oleg I suspected it was more of the fact he didn’t want her to get flowers from someone else.
Oleg listened to everything I said like he clung to every word, and before I noticed, our plates were empty.
“Busy morning tomorrow?” he asked, and I shook my head.
“I actually took the Friday off,” I shared. “I wanted to go for a hike.” It was stupid to tell my plans to a man who was practically a stranger. But is he a stranger?
“You hike?” He didn’t mask his shock.
“You sound surprised.” My head tilted slightly, and I didn’t miss the way his eyes followed my hair falling to my shoulder.
“I just didn’t take you for the outdoorsy type.”
“I grew up here,” I shared and shrugged. “It’s kinda ingrained in you to go outside and enjoy fresh air once in a while.” When he smiled, it gave him an almost boyish allure. One that pulled me in and made me want to find out everything there could be about him.
Oleg and the Russian-sounding nickname he had given me intrigued me.
“How old are you?” I blurted out asking without thinking.
“Does it matter?”. We both knew it didn’t. I shook my head, and his hand covered mine. There was something in his eyes, something I couldn’t read. “Old enough to know better and leave you alone.”
“Really?” I didn’t like his answer. I tried to draw my hand back, but he didn’t let go. His grip tightened. Not painfully but enough to make it obvious that he was going to keep my hand in his. Why should he know better? Was there something wrong with me that he had cottoned on to quicker than Jack had?
“Whatever you’re thinking, get that out of your head, butterfly.”
“Oleg––“
“I’m serious. I don’t mean there is anything wrong with you, gorgeous. You’re perfect Too good for a man like me. It’s me. I’m older. I’ve seen… a lot. Done a lot.”
“Who hasn’t?” I shrugged, probably sounding na?ve.
“True. You’re what? Twenty-eight?” I loved how he saw me through a lot kinder eyes. It wasn’t lost on me that I looked my age. Law school and practicing had paid their toll on me.
“Thirty-two.” My lips twitched, but his solemn expression didn’t change. He simply nodded.
“I’m ten years your senior, babochka .”
“That’s not the end of the world,” I answered, not ready to let go of him. “My sister and her new guy have a bigger age difference than that,” I argued because I couldn’t help it. I didn’t even mind the way it might have made me sound, like I was pleading with him to give me a chance. Who am I?
“Beautiful—“ he started to say, but it was me who interrupted him this time. Good or bad, my tall stranger wasn’t going to stay a one-night stand. I didn’t want that, and by the sounds of it, he didn’t want to, either.
He just needed to be persuaded.
“Would you like to go hiking with me? Or do New Yorkers not do that kind of thing?” I flirted, batting my lashes as I leaned in dangerously close. Being around Oleg made me forget my surroundings or that anything but the two of us existed.
“Hiking,” he repeated. His eyes dropped to my lips, and I immediately licked them, making a sound of agreement that probably sounded a lot more like a soft little moan at the same time. His jaw clenched and his dark eyes went molten. Warm and rich browns swirled with a hint of caramel.
“Please?” I whispered. “I think we could have fun.”
“Fun.” He swallowed, and the hand that had been covering mine moved up my arm, cupping my shoulder before he leaned in and kissed the delicate slope. “You think we can have fun hiking?” He peppered my shoulder with small deliberate kisses.
Kisses that were innocent and sweet for anyone who might pass by but felt like the complete opposite. My pussy wept and throbbed, aching for relief. Relief that no matter what I’d tried the last couple of days couldn’t be found. It was like my body knew the heightened levels of pleasure my sexy older man could make me feel, and it didn’t want anything else.
“I mean…” I chewed on my lip and tried to focus, but it was hard. Not only was his other hand now touching my thigh, his lips kept skimming my skin, sending rushes of electric warmth right through me, making it pool between my legs with a pulsing ache.
Hiking was probably the most unsexy date idea possible. You got all flushed and sweaty. There are bugs and dirt. Geez ! At this rate, I was going to be single forever. I’d stupidly wasted my twenties with some moron who didn’t know how to find a clit if it had five hundred neon lights pointing at it when I should have been out having fun and meeting interesting people.
But is that what you want? To go flirt and meet other men? No. The man I was interested in was sitting right next to me as his hand crawled higher up my thigh. It was crazy. We didn’t know one another other than intimately. Would this be what my sister Olive called falling for his dick?
“It could be fun.” I shrugged, feeling a little defeated that he hadn’t agreed yet. His eyes glittered with something that I once again couldn’t read. I shivered when his hand moved up the back of my head and into my hair.
“Oh, I know it would be,” he rumbled. His eyes didn’t blink as he stared at me. He leaned forward, pulling me just a little closer so his lips brushed against the shell of my ear. “I told you what I thought about you being outside, naked under the moon. You and me alone and out with the trees?” I whimpered. “Getting to look at your beautiful ass in the sunshine as you walk in front of me while we hike? I could definitely enjoy that, baby.”
“Is that all you would enjoy?” The vulnerability was shockingly clear in my voice. I’d never felt so emotionally exposed. Not even close. Especially with Jack. It was why he used to call me his little ice princess, like he thought that nickname was cute versus mean. No, the mean things he called me were always saved for when we were alone and behind closed doors so the world couldn’t see that side of him.
Cold. Frigid. Useless.
“No, babochka , that is definitely not all I want from you.”
“Oleg,” I said his name with raw need.
“Fuck, I don’t think I will ever get enough of hearing you say my name.” I might have blushed, but I knew exactly what I was going to do. I wasn’t a bold person outside of the courtroom. Especially not when it came to sex. I leaned in, a breath from pressing my mouth to his, then stopped. Staring up at him, I knew there was no way I was going to stop the words I was dying to let slip past my lips.
“Come home with me.” My offer sounded like a greedy demand even in my ears, but by the way his hand gripped my thigh just a little tighter, I knew that he didn’t mind me being a greedy girl if it meant being greedy for him. Someone walked by, and I stilled, looking out, reminded once again that we were at the brewery.
“Can I get you guys any dessert?” our waitress asked. I shook my head, ready to get to my place, but Oleg pulled away. Anyone looking at him would have seen a calm man without a rush in the world.
“We will take a slice of your strawberry shortcake to go. And if I can close out my tab.
“I got you.” She smiled.
“Dessert to go?” I asked, and he swallowed deep. I watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall before Oleg leaned close and pressed his lips against my cheek, nuzzling his nose against my face. He drew his lips back to the shell of my ear.
“The first thing I’m going to do when we get to your place is smear the whipped cream from the shortcake all over your most sensitive skin before eating you out until you’re screaming my name. Last time, you didn’t know it, and its all I’ve been thinking about since you snuck out on me.”
“Oh,” I moaned. My thighs pressed together before I leaned in and hid my face in the crook of his neck. His scent, that of his expensive cologne and his natural smell, wrapped around me. I felt like a live wire, and I couldn’t wait for him to make me sparkle brighter when he made every promise come true.
In a blur almost like time had somehow stopped making sense to me, he took care of the check. Our waitress handed him the card he’d given Bash earlier, and we left without looking around. I was so distracted by the way he led me through the bar and grill, I couldn’t tell you how many people were there or if anyone was watching us. I loved the way Oleg moved. With confidence and a hint of arrogance.
With his hand in mine, he held the bag with our dessert in the other as we hurried through the parking lot. We walked directly to my car, and before I knew it, Oleg had set the bag on top of my car and pressed me close, caging my body between the driver’s door and his body. His body vibrated with heat and a low rumble that seemed to rush through him.
“Kiss me,” I whispered, breaking the silence between us, but he shook his head. I frowned. “No?”
“No. I kiss you right now, Coral, I won’t take you to your place to taste you like I promised. I’ll do it out here. In the parking lot under the stars and the moon shining above us.”
“Oh.” The picture he painted made me wetter. I wanted to be outside with the warm summer air touching my skin as he filled me.
“I can see you like the idea,” he growled. His nose flared and somehow, his scent wafted into my nose in that moment. Clean and woodsy with a hint of spice.
“I do.” I wasn’t shy in hiding what I wanted or needed. Not with him. It was crazy how comfortable I felt with him. I’d just learned the man’s name a couple of hours ago.
“And I’ll make that happen. I’d do anything to make you happy, Coral.” His words were crazy, but it didn’t stop me from believing them. “But I’ll be damned if I risk anyone seeing you. I’m a selfish bastard, babochka . I don’t think I could handle anyone hearing those pretty little cries of pleasure when you’re about to come, much less watch it.”
“Oh.” I licked my suddenly dry lips. My face felt hot. Who was I kidding? My entire body felt like it was lit up from the inside out. “My place?” I asked, and he nodded, begrudgingly taking a step back. He opened my door, and I got settled in. Once I was ready with my seat belt on, one he helped buckle me into, he kissed my forehead, told me to drive safe, and that he would follow me.
It wouldn’t be until a month later, while holding a pregnancy test in one hand and wondering what the hell I was going to do, that I would think back to this moment and wonder how he had known that was my car. Something that would lead me to finding out just how na?ve I’d been when it came to Oleg Sokolov.