Chapter Twenty-Four #4
Tessa raised an eyebrow when he removed a condom.
“You keep those in the kitchen now?”
“You are here often.”
“That is either very practical or deeply presumptuous.”
“You say yes.”
“I did.”
He returned to her.
Tessa took the wrapper from his hand and opened it. She rolled the condom over him slowly, gaze moving between what she was doing and his face.
Matvei’s hands closed around her hips.
She stroked him once after finishing.
His control narrowed.
“Tessa.”
“I like when you say my name like that.”
He moved her closer to the edge.
The counter was high enough that their bodies aligned when she wrapped both legs around him. Matvei positioned himself at her entrance but did not move farther.
“You sure here?” he asked.
Tessa looked toward the island, the closed curtains and the oven where dessert baked behind them.
Then back at him.
“Yes.”
Matvei entered her slowly.
Her mouth opened against his shoulder as her body adjusted around him. He stopped halfway, one hand supporting her back and the other holding her hip.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
He moved deeper.
Tessa tightened around him.
The sensation pulled a rough sound from his throat.
She wrapped both arms around his neck.
Matvei withdrew carefully and pushed back into her.
The counter changed the angle, keeping her upright and close enough that every movement pressed their bodies together. Tessa’s breasts met his chest. Her legs held him at the hips while he found a slow rhythm.
She kissed him through the first several movements.
Then the depth made her break away, breath catching beside his ear.
Matvei held her firmly.
He did not want the moment to become only urgency. Not after the conversation, the story and the quiet hour they had spent existing around each other’s work.
He moved steadily.
Tessa’s fingers slid down his back. Her nails traced his skin each time he entered her fully, drawing short Russian curses from him that she recognized by tone if not meaning.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Bad.”
“You like it.”
“Yes.”
She smiled and tightened around him.
Matvei’s rhythm broke.
Tessa laughed softly until he thrust deeper.
The sound became a gasp.
He repeated the movement.
Her head tipped back.
“There,” she said.
Matvei adjusted his hold and found the angle again.
Tessa’s body responded immediately. Her legs tightened around him, heels pressing against the backs of his thighs. Each thrust moved her slightly across the counter before his hand returned her to the edge.
The pace built.
Her mouth found his again, kisses becoming less controlled as their breathing increased. Matvei reached between them and touched her with his thumb.
Tessa shuddered.
“Again,” she whispered.
He did.
The combination brought her close quickly, body already sensitive from his hand. Her muscles tightened around him in small, involuntary pulses.
Matvei watched her face.
“Look at me.”
Tessa opened her eyes.
He moved deeper.
Her lips parted.
“Matvei.”
“I know.”.
Then her body clenched around him.
The second release moved through her more sharply. Tessa cried out, forehead dropping toward his while her muscles tightened around him again and again.
Matvei lost the last of his control.
He gripped her hips and thrust harder, the sound of their bodies joining the low hum of the kitchen. Tessa held him closer through each movement, still trembling as he chased his own release.
Russian left him in broken phrases.
Her name entered between them.
Tessa kissed the side of his jaw.
“Stay,” she whispered.
The word struck deeper than she could have known.
Matvei came with a rough sound against her neck, body tense between her legs as the release moved through him.
For several seconds, he remained there.
Tessa’s arms stayed around him.
The oven timer began ringing.
Neither moved.
The electronic sound continued.
Tessa started laughing first.
Matvei closed his eyes.
“The cake,” she said.
“Yes.”
“It is very demanding.”
“Yes.”
“You should get it.”
“No.”
The timer kept ringing.
Tessa kissed him once, softer now.
“Go save dessert.”
Matvei withdrew carefully and helped her remain balanced on the counter before dealing with the condom. He pulled on his trousers, crossed to the oven and silenced the timer.
The cake had not burned.
He set it on the stove.
When he turned back, Tessa remained on the counter wearing nothing but one sock.
Matvei looked at her.
She followed his gaze downward.
“I lost the other one.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where?”
“No.”
He crossed back to her.
Tessa placed both hands on his shoulders.
“This is a very strange work-life balance.”
Matvei lifted her from the counter.
She wrapped her legs around him automatically.
“Good balance,” he said.
Behind them, her story about the Halifax Tides remained open on the laptop. Dessert cooled on the stove. Their dinner plates waited inside the dishwasher.
The trade deadline still existed.
His contract still existed.
The problem of what they would eventually become had not disappeared.
But Tessa had told him to stay.
For that night, Matvei decided it was enough.