Sinner Chapter 8 #2
As we rode the elevator to my penthouse, I watched Anastasia.
She’d been quiet, letting only the awe on her face communicate how she felt.
It started with the private garage, and then it kept going.
I hadn’t told her when I shared that I had an apartment that was in a luxury high-rise.
As we exited the elevator on the twentieth floor, there were only four entrances in addition to the stairwell.
I went to the one with 20A on the door. I unlocked it, disabled the alarm system, and held the door open for her. I wheeled her suitcase in behind her.
Anastasia was slowly turning her head, examining my home. I took off my shoes. She slid off her sandals. Her face registered surprise when I handed her a pair of flip-flops, as she had at her place. She put them on. Leaving her suitcase in the entryway, I took her hand.
“Let me give you a quick guided tour. Then we’ll grab some wine, and I’ll get started on dinner.”
“Sounds good to me,” she replied.
The penthouse was two thousand square feet, allowing the living room, kitchen, and dining room to be large, as were the bedrooms and the office. My office was first, off to the right of the entryway. I placed my briefcase on my desk. She walked around, taking in the bookshelves and the decor.
“I love your desk. It fits you,” Anastasia said.
“It doesn’t feel like it’ll disintegrate into matchsticks if I lean on it as I work,” I agreed.
From there, I went across to the dining room.
I had a more ornate, large dining set in there capable of seating a dozen if all the chairs and leaves were used.
A matching hutch held my mom’s china that I inherited.
I offered to split it with Rowan, but he waved anything sentimental away as old stuff.
In the kitchen, she ran her hands along the custom concrete countertops.
It went with the vibe in there. Custom cabinetry, stainless steel appliances.
There was a small table in the nook area, along with seating along the island.
That was all open to the living room. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the view of downtown.
Anastasia went to stand in front of one of them. She stared out. “This view is amazing, Reign. It has to be incredible at night.”
“It is. You’ll see. But I have even better ones.”
She shook her head. “That’s not possible.”
“Come see,” I urged.
Taking her hand, I showed her my laundry room, then the guest bedroom with a full bath next to it.
The final reveal was my bedroom with its ensuite bathroom.
Like the guest bedroom, it had a wall of those windows.
The difference in my room was the balcony, accessible only to me.
I had a small patio set out there. I liked to enjoy my coffee out there sometimes. Her breath caught as she saw it.
“Oh my God, you’re right. It is better.”
I unlocked the door and led her outside. She stood at the railing, looking down, then from end to end.
“I could live out here. But you know what it needs, don’t you?”
“What?” I asked.
“Plants. You need greenery,” she winked.
I chuckled. “I do, but that means you’ll have to take care of them. Black thumb, remember.”
She smiled but said nothing. My bathroom was huge, with a rainfall shower big enough for three, a separate deep soaking tub, and dual vanities. She exclaimed over it. When I got her back to the kitchen, she was smiling.
“You’re stronger than me,” she said.
“What makes you say that?” I asked as I took out a pitcher of the strawberry lemonade we were both addicted to. She’d shown me how to make it. I was about to test how well I did. Next came the glasses and ice.
“If I lived here, I’d be hard-pressed ever to leave. Oh, you made it. I can’t wait to taste it.”
“It’s hard to leave sometimes. I’m making no promises, but I wanted to get us a drink before I show you where we’re eating.”
“I thought we were eating here,” Anastasia said.
“Technically, yeah, but not exactly right here.” I handed her a glass. I waited and let her take a sip first.
Anastasia closed her eyes and held it in her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. When she opened her eyes, she smiled.
“I’ll give you an A-. It needs a smidge less syrup, like maybe a sixteenth of a cup less, and you have it. But I won’t say no to it.”
“Good. Now, let me show you the best part.”
I took her hand and led her to a door I hadn’t opened.
When I did, she saw a set of stairs going upward.
I took her up them and opened the top door.
We stepped out onto the roof. Except it was more than a roof.
It had an outdoor kitchen with seating. There were two lounge chairs and a patio set for four.
Separating my private area from the other three penthouse owners’ areas were eight-foot walls on two sides.
“Reign, are you kidding me!? This paradise is just yours?” She exclaimed in awe.
“It is. There are three more penthouse apartments, and they each have a quarter of the roof set up like this. I want to make dinner up here so we can enjoy the evening, and then you can get the full feel of nighttime. As you can see, it has room for more. I’ve been debating putting a hot tub up here. It’s plumbed for it.”
“God, I’m really jealous now. You could have a small planter garden up here to grow tomatoes, herbs, and a few other things. Man, I won’t ask how much this cost, but I know it was a lot, and it’s amazing.”
“It was, but I had a good down payment. I sold the family home when Rowan was older, and we split the proceeds. It helped me to get my company started, and it grew from there. I hope you’re hungry because I have a hearty meal planned. You said before that you like steak.”
“I do, which horrifies my family. You know that many Indians don’t eat beef because cows are considered sacred. My family hates that I do. But I don’t care. How can I help? And before you say relax, I can’t. I’ve done enough of that. Please, put me to work,” she begged.
From there, I took her to my outdoor kitchen, and we got to work.
As we worked together, we talked, laughed, and had a ball.
The meal consisted of grilled steak wrapped in bacon.
The sides were grilled asparagus, a side salad, and foil-wrapped cowboy potatoes to round out the meal.
I’d helped make dinners at her place, but it was nice to do it here.
By the time it was ready to eat, the sun was sinking.
“If you get cold, there are blankets in that basket by the loungers. Or I can get you one of my hoodies,” I offered as we placed the final touches on our meal. I was salivating.
“I feel fine right now, but I’ll let you know. God, this smells so good. Are we eating here or at the table? I have no preference,” Anastasia stated.
“Why not here? We can keep the potatoes and asparagus warm under the grill hood this way. Let’s see if we’ve pulled this off,” I told her, winking.
It took a few minutes to fill our plates with food and our glasses with more of the lemonade I brought up.
Both of us ended up moaning at the taste and praising each other for our culinary mastery.
As always, time passed quickly as we discussed so many things.
One of them was more about her Indian culture and what that looked like in more traditional families like hers.
I told her about the closing of the Littleton acquisition.
One of the things I loved about this kitchen was that it had a decent-sized fridge and freezer, a grill, and a sink, which let me wash dirty dishes up here rather than haul them down to the big kitchen. And there was storage up here for my cutlery, dishes, and pans.
Unsurprisingly, Anastasia refused to let me do the cleaning myself.
By the time we were done, it was almost dark.
We were now drinking wine. I took our glasses and her to the loungers.
I pushed them together so we were side by side.
Sinking onto one, she sighed. I snagged a blanket and put it over her. She gave me a sweet smile.
“Thank you. Dinner was wonderful, and now this. What a perfect night,” she sighed.
I pushed up the lounger arms between us so she could snuggle into me.
My arm around her kept Anastasia pressed to me.
I don’t know how long we sat there before it was too much for me to resist. I set down my empty wine glass, then turned my head to capture her mouth.
The taste of the wine on her tongue made me groan. Hungrily, I kissed her.
We’d had more than a couple of intense mouth-mating workouts. This one wasn’t any different. I was left fighting with my erection, trying to talk it into settling as if the thing was a separate being.
Eventually, I was unable to resist. I hauled her off her lounger and onto me.
She ended up straddling my thighs. My hands were in her hair, and she was gripping mine, then running a hand over my jaw.
The feel of her breasts pressing into my pecs made me itch to remove her shirt and bra, baring them to my hands and mouth. I wanted to see what they looked like.
The other thing I wanted was to bring her flush to me so I could grind my erect, throbbing cock between her legs. Christ, being a gentleman was making me feel crazy, but she was worth it.
Suddenly, as our teeth nipped each other’s lower lips, Anastasia sat up and removed one of my hands from her hair. Then, she brought my hand down to her breast and held it to her until I caught a damn clue and squeezed. That was when she let go and left it to me to do the work.
She was firm beneath the thin padding of her bra. There was nothing fake about her. Anastasia’s breasts were real. I kneaded as much as I could, then switched to kneading the other one. Frustration built as I hungered to touch her skin. Reluctantly, I broke off our kiss.
“May I touch you? I want to feel your skin against mine,” I rasped. I prayed I wasn’t pushing her.
“Please do. I’ve been dying to have you touch me, Reign,” Anastasia whispered hoarsely.