Chapter 6
SIX
Mina removed the empty tray from the display case and replaced it with a fresh batch of cream cheese Danishes.
Viktor kissed me.
She turned and added the empty tray to the stack on the back counter.
Viktor kissed me.
That thought had been on replay in her mind since he’d left last night.
Viktor kissed me.
Barely paying attention to what she was doing, Mina closed the back of the display case, wandered down the hall and into the kitchen, and retrieved a bag of freshly ground coffee.
Phantom sensations haunted her—the hard press of his mouth, the bold sweep of his tongue, the savageness and intensity that had left her reeling.
Mina had been kissed before. Some of those kisses had been sloppy enough to make her cringe, a few had been almost decent, but they’d all left her…empty. Cold. Not one came anywhere close to what she’d experienced with Viktor.
When his lips had been upon hers, heat had erupted in her core, and her clit had thrummed with desire, craving more of his touch. He had consumed Mina and drunk from her like a man dying of thirst.
She’d been aware only of Viktor—the press of his fingers and his grip on her hair, the feel of his mouth and tongue, his taste, his scent. Oh God, his scent. Spicy cinnamon and cloves, growing stronger and sweeter with each breath, wrapping her in an intoxicating cocoon.
And when he’d pulled away, her lips had tingled with the aftermath of his fiery claim.
It wasn’t until he had gone, and Mina had reflected upon that kiss over and over and over again, that she’d registered a few…strange details from her encounter with Viktor last night.
The touch of his fingers had been accompanied by sharp pricks, like claws against her skin. Which wasn’t possible, because she’d seen the neatly trimmed nails at the ends of his long, sexy fingers. His tongue had seemed preternaturally dexterous and long, leaving no part of her mouth unexplored. And when his teeth had grazed her throat, his canines had felt sharper and longer than what seemed normal.
But those sensations had been fleeting, and her mind had been caught in a lustful haze. Could she really trust what she’d felt during those heated moments?
Returning to the main room, Mina popped open the lid of a nearly empty coffee canister and slowly poured in the fresh grounds. She blushed as she recalled just how hot she’d been, starting from the instant he’d dragged her chair toward him. That heat had only intensified when he’d leaned close, and his warm breath had whispered over her skin, when his lips had grazed her throat.
And when he’d stroked between her thighs, pressing his thumb against her clit…
That was the most thrilling, erotic moment of my life.
Pleasure and need had unfurled within her, and her pussy had grown wet and achy. If only she’d been able to spread her legs farther, if only Viktor had pushed his thumb just a little deeper, pressed a little harder. But he’d only teased her.
Mina had never realized how touch starved she’d been until last night. She’d arched into his touch, wordlessly begging for more. Had Chief Harrigan not walked in…
I want you, Viktor.
She’d almost spoken those words aloud, and they were true. Mina wanted him. Wanted him like she’d never wanted anything in her life.
Someone loudly cleared their throat behind her.
Mina started, spilling coffee grounds onto the counter as her hand jerked. She blinked away the remnants of her reverie and surveyed the mess she’d just made. The canister was overflowing, and there was no way she’d be able to replace the lid without scooping out some coffee first.
“What is wrong with me?” she whispered.
Touch starved, sex starved, desperately lonely.
Take your pick! It’s likely all three.
It is definitely all three.
Letting out a sigh, she set the bag of coffee down, plastered a smile on her face, and turned toward the front counter. Daniel and Linda Stevens stood on the other side. The elderly couple were bundled in thick coats, hats, and scarves. Their clothing glistened with melting snow under the warm overhead lights.
Mina brushed her hands down her apron, wiping away the coffee grounds. “Good morning, Mister and Misses Stevens!”
Linda smiled. “Good morning, Mina.”
Mr. Stevens nodded. “Mornin’.”
“What can I get you today?” Mina asked. “Oh, that’s right! I have the books you ordered, Linda.”
Mr. Stevens’s face reddened, and he turned away, occupying himself by studying the snacks displayed atop the counter. Mina took delight in his discomfort as she crouched and opened the cabinet where she kept her book orders.
“Oh, thank you.” Linda chuckled as she glanced at her husband.
Mina sorted through the twine-bundled stacks until she found Linda’s. She rose and set the two books on the counter. Both were older, with old-fashioned, painted clinch covers depicting the couples in passionate embraces. Those were Mina’s favorite style of cover.
Are you imagining yourself and Viktor in similar embraces?
Hush!
“Don’t know why they can’t be more discreet,” Mr. Stevens grumbled.
Linda leaned over the counter toward Mina and lowered her voice. “Don’t you mind him. These books helped us get that spark back, if you know what I mean. He’s not complaining about that.”
Mr. Stevens’s cheeks darkened further. “Linda! Don’t go telling people about our private lives.”
His wife waved him off. “Could I also get four of those delicious Danishes, Mina?”
With a grin, Mina nodded. “Of course. I just put out a fresh batch too. Anything else?”
“I’ll take another of those chai lattes you had me try. Daniel?”
“Just black coffee.”
“Mediums?” Mina asked as she totaled their order.
Linda smiled. “Mmhmm.”
After Mr. Stevens paid, Mina stepped behind the display case and placed the Danishes neatly into a pastry box. Just as she’d picked up the last pastry, the bell over the door rang.
“I’ll be with you in just a—” She looked up and froze.
Viktor stood just inside the doorway. Snowflakes clung to his long, loose hair and dusted his black jacket. Their eyes met and held.
Viktor kissed me.
Everything came rushing back to her again, and her cheeks warmed. The darkening of his silver eyes as they dipped to Mina’s mouth hinted at his thoughts being in the same place as hers.
She wanted him to kiss her again, and again, and again. Wanted that mouth to move down her throat like it had before, but she didn’t want it to stop there. Mina wanted his kisses on her breasts. She wanted to experience him taking her nipples into his hot mouth, wanted to feel his tongue rasping over them, wanted him to go lower, and lower, and lower, until that tongue slipped between her thighs.
Mina’s pussy clenched with an onslaught of desire.
The pastry fell from her grasp and landed on the tray with a soft thump , snapping her back to reality. Mina’s cheeks flamed even hotter as she hurriedly picked up a different Danish and placed it in the box with the rest. Surely everyone must’ve seen her standing there, staring at Viktor and practically salivating.
“Mina?” Linda asked gently. “Is everything okay?”
Mina heard Viktor’s heavy boots on the floor as he walked deeper into the café.
“Y-Yes, sorry.” Mina straightened and closed the pastry box, setting it on the counter. “I, uh, just got a little distracted.”
Mr. Stevens glanced from Mina to Viktor, who had taken a seat at one of the small round tables in the back, near the bookcases. “Heard there was a bit of a situation across the street last night.”
She turned to the back counter and grabbed two medium cups. “Oh?”
Because of course gossip moves at the speed of light in Sullford.
“People talk, Mina,” Mr. Stevens said, casting another glance at Viktor. “Just think about what it looks like for you to be cavorting around with certain types, given your family history.”
Mina gritted her teeth as she poured coffee into one cup and got to work on the chai latte. She inwardly cursed the moisture stinging her eyes. She hated that her emotions could be so overwhelming, hated that anger always brought her to tears, but she held them at bay.
Linda slapped him on the chest with her purse, making the man jump. “Leave the girl be, Dan! I swear, you’re the worst gossip in town.”
Mr. Stevens scoffed. “Just trying to give the girl some advice, Linda.”
“Did she ask for advice?”
He sputtered a response too broken and mumbled for Mina to make out.
“I’ll have your drinks ready in a moment,” Mina said over her shoulder, trying to keep her tone pleasant, but anger simmered beneath the surface.
She was grateful for Linda’s intervention, but it wouldn’t stop Mr. Stevens. He saw the world through his own ignorant lens, and he was determined to judge Mina for her mother’s actions, never stopping to consider that he had no right to judge anyone.
She turned her head slightly to peek at Viktor. He was leaning back in his chair with an elbow on the table, exuding all the confidence and indifference of a king among peasants—like everyone in the room was beneath him.
Except for Mina.
His gaze was intent upon her, almost expectant.
Mina’s heart raced.
She looked down at steaming cups in front of her.
I want him.
It didn’t matter what anyone thought of her and Viktor, didn’t matter what anyone thought was going on between them. It was no one else’s damn business—not Mr. Stevens’s, not Dick Harrigan’s, not Mike’s or Trevor’s or anyone else’s in this town.
Mina placed lids upon the cups, picked them up, and set them in front of the Stevenses. The old man had a sour expression on his face.
She smiled at him and said in her best customer service tone, “Respectfully, Mr. Stevens, you don’t know anything about me, my mother, or what we went through, and I don’t appreciate the constant remarks and implications. If you can’t keep your comments and your unsolicited advice to yourself in the future, I’m going to have to ask you to get your coffee elsewhere from now on.”
His eyes widened, his brushy brows rose, and his cheeks once more turned ruddy. “I…I… T-that’s not fair, Mina. I was just?—”
“Dan, I’ve told you a thousand times that it’s not helpful”—Linda collected her books, pastry box, and latte—“so don’t you dare tell her that you’re only trying to help.” She looked at Mina. “Have a good day, dear.”
Mr. Stevens glanced back and forth between his wife and Mina, bewildered. “That isn’t… But I?—”
“I’m sorry.” Linda opened the door. “Those are the two simple words you’re looking for, Daniel.”
With his head bowed, Daniel picked up his coffee and took two packets of sugar from the nearby holder. He muttered, “Sorry, Mina. Didn’t mean no harm.”
Mina nodded. “I hope you both have a wonderful day.”
She waited until the door closed behind them before turning her attention to Viktor. He was wearing that sultry half smirk again.
God, that man has the most beautiful lips…
And there was a new gleam in his gaze—a prideful gleam.
It hit her then what had just occurred.
She’d spoken up for herself. She’d stood up to Daniel Stevens.
Maybe nothing would change, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to hear his opinions about herself or her mother ever again. At the very least, she’d taught herself an important lesson—even if he kept it up, she didn’t have to take it.
All that anger faded, and the little surge of adrenaline triggered by the confrontation wore off, leaving her a bit unsteady.
Mina turned around, closed her eyes, and took in a deep, calming breath as she ran her palms down her apron.
It was over. She didn’t have to dwell on it. Instead, she could focus on Viktor.
Viktor and his sensual lips.
Viktor and his soul-searing kisses.
Get a grip, Mina!
Opening her eyes, she glanced around the café. Her other customers were sitting with their breakfast as they worked, read, or scrolled through social media.
Mina grabbed a fresh cup and made her favorite drink—a caramel macchiato—making sure to add extra caramel because that was the best part. When she was finished, she placed a Danish on a small plate, rounded the counter, and made her way to Viktor.
Since the moment she’d first seen him, she’d felt a pull, like some invisible force was drawing her toward him. But she’d always been so busy, and her sightings of Viktor had often been so fleeting—catching him out of the corner of her eye as he strode past the café, seeing him pull up to the grocery store just as she was leaving. There’d been no way to naturally initiate a conversation.
Not that she really would’ve known how. It’d been so long since she’d tried, and he was unlike anyone she’d ever met. So she’d just let herself want him from afar.
But since she’d literally fallen into his arms, that pull had strengthened tenfold. The closer she got to him, the harder it was to resist.
And she knew it wouldn’t be long before resistance was impossible.
Viktor didn’t take his eyes off her as she approached. That unwavering stare made her belly flutter with whispers of desire.
Mina smiled and stopped next to his table. Now that she was here, so close to him, nervousness flooded her. “Hi.”
His smirk widened. “Hello, Mina.”
Mina stared at his lips, tempted to lick her own as though his taste still lingered upon them. Why did his mouth have to be so sinfully alluring?
“I, uh…believe I owe you these.” She set the coffee and pastry on the table in front of him.
He looked down at the plate and arched a brow.
“Oh! There’s one more thing.” Mina moved to the nearby bookcases and scanned the spines. Her lips stretched into a grin. Romance. Absolutely perfect. His reaction would tell her a lot about the kind of person he was, and it would help her determine whether whatever it was she felt about him could become something real and lasting.
Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you Mina?
She selected a book that she’d particularly enjoyed, which featured a purple-haired, plus-sized heroine and a wickedly sexy incubus hero. Hugging it to her chest, she returned to Viktor. “I promised you a coffee, a pastry, or a book on me. But since you’ve saved me three times, here’s one of each.”
Mina placed the book beside Viktor’s plate. She watched his hand slide over the table, watched the subtle play of muscle and tendons as he slipped his fingers beneath the book and lifted it.
After studying the front cover, he turned the book over and read the back. Mina clasped her hands in front of her and bit the inside of her lip. He hadn’t sneered, hadn’t tossed the book down in disgust, hadn’t given her a judgmental, disapproving glare. That was a good start.
Viktor released a deep, thoughtful hum. “This book is about mating?”
Mating? Why would he word it like that?
It was strange, but perhaps it was because English wasn’t his first language?
Warmth spread over her cheeks and down her neck. “It’s a romance. But yes, it does have…explicit sex scenes.”
He nodded slowly and flipped through the pages, giving away nothing in his expression.
Mina shifted her weight from foot to foot as Viktor opened to the middle of the book and began reading. His head tilted, and a long strand of hair fell over his shoulder.
“You’ve read this?” he asked, glancing up at her.
“It’s one of my favorites.”
There was still no change in his expression as he continued reading.
Mina reached for the book. “If you’re not interested, I can pick something?—”
He snatched it out of her reach and closed the pages around his finger, brows falling low. “You gave it to me. It’s mine now.”
Her eyes rounded in surprise, and she dropped her arm. “Oh. Okay.”
Then the absurdity of the situation struck Mina—he reminded her of a child unwilling to give up their favorite new toy. She couldn’t help laughing. Tall, strong, handsome, dangerous, mysterious Viktor...acting like a toddler over a book she’d just handed him.
“What is funny?” he asked.
Mina shook her head. “Nothing.”
He regarded her with narrowed, skeptical eyes before he opened the book and resumed reading. The corner of his mouth ticked up ever so slightly. “I think I will enjoy this.”
He’s reading a sex scene. Right in front of me.
And based on where he was in the book, Mina knew exactly which scene it was. She imagined herself lying in front of Viktor, feeling his solid, muscular body and the hard length of his cock at her back as he stroked her between her thighs. Desire flickered in her core, and her clit twitched.
So often, he was guarded, controlled, revealing none of what was happening in his head. He was capable of such gentleness with her, but she’d seen the savagery running beneath his self-control, had seen the aggression he barely held in check. She’d felt it in the strength and firmness of his touch, which always reminded her that he was in command, that pleasure and pain would come at his whim.
And when it came to sex, she knew that fierce, passionate, dominant side of him would come out.
Viktor’s nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath, and a low growl rumbled in his chest. His gaze met hers. The way his silver eyes shone…
They really put the lust in luster.
Okay, that was corny…but not wrong.
“Mina…”
The bell over the door rang. Face flaming, Mina turned her head to see a woman step inside.
“Back to work for me!” Mina said as she retreated from Viktor. “Enjoy!”
Saved by the bell.