Chapter 22
ANTON
Viktor had the gown delivered to my penthouse earlier today. I don’t bother looking it over. I’d rather wait until I can look her over in it.
Thanks to her coworker’s encouragement, it looks like things will be going as I planned. Liliana isn’t telling me no.
She keeps her hand in mine, the gesture as good as an agreement to come with me. But as I pull her closer, she resists, holding her ground.
“I can’t just go.” She’s not arguing with me. She’s trying to tell me how it’s going to be. “I can’t leave them hanging like this. We got a huge order and—”
I nod. “I know.”
Her mouth falls open as she stares at me, her blue eyes sharpening as it clicks into place. Then she narrows them.
“I know,” I repeat.
“You put that order in?” she demands.
She tries to pull her fingers from mine but I squeeze them tighter. “I did.”
“To manipulate me? To bribe me into doing what you want?”
The other woman laughs awkwardly. “Um, does it matter?” Jenni gently nudges Liliana toward me and I don’t release my hold on her hand. Liliana shoots her a glare but straightens from the little push.
“We’ve got this.” Jenni beams at her, either avoiding the angry glare or oblivious to it.
“This order has been a blessing, but it’s nearly wrapped up and done and we can handle it.
” She leans to the side and brightens more as she ups the wattage of her smile for me.
“Mr. Sokolov, she’s free for the night.”
Liliana stiffens. “I’m not asking you—”
“Good.” I smile back at the woman who’s making this easier.
“Besides, it’ll give you a chance to talk,” the woman says with a wink.
I’m not sure, but I think Liliana growls slightly. Regardless, she doesn’t seem ready to cause a scene. The second I lead her outside and into my car waiting at the curb, though, I brace myself for her outburst.
It doesn’t come.
Instead, as she sits next to me, she frowns warily. “Why me?”
I lean in, deciding to be honest. Moving in close to whisper into her ear as the driver pulls away from the curb, I watch her shiver.
“Because I can’t get you out of my head.”
Her frown remains in place, but as I stay near her, inches parting us, she gives me a quick once-over like she can’t make up her mind.
Then before I can say anything else, she proves this affliction isn’t one-sided. She grips the back of my neck and drags my face to hers. And she kisses me. Her lips collide with mine, and I grunt at the instant punch of desire she unleashes in me.
Alone with her in the backseat, her initiative to kiss me is too much to resist.
Unlike my son, I know that nothing good will come from turning her down.
I’ve dreamed of tasting her mouth again. I’ve replayed the memory of her tongue sliding past my lips. I’ve ached to feel her in my hands again.
I cave to the immediate rush of having her at all again.
That woman at the bakery suggested that Liliana and I could talk, but right now, as she angles toward me to kiss me deeper, all I can welcome is this. Her greedy kiss took me by surprise, but as I urge her to lean against me and fall into my lap, I refuse to give up a second of this magic.
By the time we reach my penthouse, we’re fused together. Her mouth has barely left mine. Her thighs stay locked around me as she straddles my lap. The whole ride over addles my mind. It only proves I need her more than fucking air.
She seems oblivious to the fact that the car has stopped. I squeeze her ass and rip my mouth from hers. “Inside. Now.”
Catching her breath, she stares at me, lust shining in her eyes. But she doesn’t come back to common sense. Or reality. She looks drugged, delirious to ride me. And I can’t wait to make that happen again.
Instead of waiting for her to realize I’ve brought her home, I move to carry her out with me. She snaps to, though, and climbs off my lap.
I step out and reach back in for her. The resistance and doubt creep back too. She takes my hand but is slow to follow, like the spell of desire from the car ride is washing away.
The instant I get her inside and we are alone in the elevator, though, a heated look from her is all it takes for us to collide again. She steps into my space, and I don’t hesitate to push her back against the wall and kiss her senseless again.
Again, the ride passes in a blur of hot kisses, wicked gropes, and labored breaths. I can’t keep my hands off her soft curves. She can’t manage to stop kissing me. We’re flush together, practically on the edge of coming already.
But once I get her to my floor, I stop trying to hold back.
It’s spontaneous, this raw need for each other.
It’s perfect how she craves me.
It’s natural when she clings to me and doesn’t protest as I carry her to my bedroom. The gown hangs in the closet, but there’s no time to show her yet. As eager as I am to fuck her, I can’t let her forget about tonight’s plans.
“We’ll make it quick,” I tell her in a ragged growl as we tear at each other’s clothes. If I don’t have my mouth on her breast in the next second, I’ll go insane.
“Uh-huh,” she agrees, gasping as I finger her. She’s soaked, dripping for me, fumbling with our clothes.
“Because you are coming—”
“Any second,” she admits in a rush.
I smile, thrusting into her hand once she’s finally pushed my pants down.
“You are attending that ball with me.”
She moans, stroking me as I tug her bra off. “I don’t have…a…dress…”
I turn her, reveling in the sight of her naked body against mine. A full-length mirror stands before us. She’s bare, her back pressed to my chest as I stand behind her. Every deep breath grinds my cock against her ass. Every choppy pant she sucks in makes her full breasts jiggle.
I keep my hand between her legs, two of my fingers curled to sink into her pussy.
“You do.” I kiss her neck as I use my free hand to grip her chin. I direct her to turn her head and see the silver gown hanging in the closet. It’s the first I’m seeing it. But I already know that I will enjoy seeing it off her again. I’ll relish taking it off her after this night is over.
While she furrows her brow at the gown, I dip low to line myself up with her wet heat. Then I stand fully again and thrust all the way inside. One smooth, hard slide into her tight passage.
“Ah!” She cries out, arching so she pushes her ass toward me.
I don’t waste a second to urge her along.
She lifts her ass, meeting me thrust for thrust as I pound into her from behind. Her gaze locks on mine through the reflection in the mirror. But it’s the way she puts her hand over mine that trips me up the most.
She’s not waiting for me to dictate how it’ll go. She guides my hand under hers to cup her breast. Then she draws my other hand lower, showing me she wants me to rub her clit as I fuck her.
I don’t last. I can’t. All I can be thankful for is that she gives up and comes first. Just before I lose the last thread of control and shoot deep into her, she bucks back at me and gasps.
“Anton! Fuck. Fuck!” She squeezes me. The slippery walls of her pussy clench my cock.
Those first flutters of her inner muscles push me to come with her.
She’s a trembling, shivering mess, but I don’t let her fall.
As she curls forward, I pull her back up against my chest as I plunge in as deep as I can go, needing every second of this bliss that I can have right now.
“You can’t seriously expect me to be ready for any fancy party that fast.”
I smile, slipping out of her and picking her up. She squeals slightly but holds on.
“I do, actually.” I show her how as I carry her into the shower and clean us up together. Then afterward, as she stresses that she doesn’t have any makeup, I dry her off and admire how flushed she is.
“You look perfect.” I cup her face and kiss her deeply.
She rolls her eyes, but it’s a playful reaction. I do wish I could convince her that I mean it. She doesn’t need makeup to look gorgeous.
I lead her back out toward the dress, smiling when she traces her finger down the smooth fabric.
“I don’t have a bra or panties.”
“You won’t need them,” I tell her as I step back to start getting dressed.
She frowns at me, perhaps skeptical about going anywhere like that, but to my pleasure and extreme delight, she doesn’t argue.
“Or shoes,” she says once she’s slipped the gown over her and is smoothing it into place over her curves. It fits her like a second skin, and I swallow back a growl of desire at how her breasts are pushed up without her looking too revealing.
“Over there.” I point at where Viktor put several pairs out for her to choose from.
She shakes her head, muttering under her breath about how it must be nice to want for nothing.
I button my shirt up, mulling over her words.
To want for nothing.
She gets it.
She can appreciate things in life, never expecting them, and that’s the true beauty that ensnares me.
Roman wants everything.
Yet, he lost her.
Tonight, he’ll see precisely how he lost her to me.
But more than anything, I hope that by the end of the night, I can convince Liliana to see her true worth too. Her worth as a sexy and strong woman who has every right to be at my side.
Because this bond between us?
It’s not ever going to fade.
Not when watching her in my home, in my life, makes my heart beat faster with that elusive thing called love.