23 #2
I turn around to face Vadim, grab his wrists, and trap them behind his back. Rising on my tiptoes, I and move closer to his perfect lips, pretending I’m going to kiss him, before pulling away at the last second.
“I’m arresting you for breaking and entering, Vadim Arcadi.”
“I confess to everything, but I’d also like to turn in my sexy accomplice in socks…”
Vadim breaks free from my grip, then grabs me by the waist and presses me against the nearest wall.
I shiver. My teenage bedroom is bathed in a soft darkness, and the silence that fills it is absolute.
He kisses me gently at first, then lets his mouth devours mine; our tongues find each other, and the intensity of the kiss makes me dizzy.
Vadim stops abruptly and looks around.
“Alma, do you realize what will happen if we get caught?”
“Am I dreaming, or are you scared, Vadim Arcadi?” I murmur, teasing him as I slip my hands under his thin sweater.
“I’m not scared for myself. But how will you feel if your dad walks in and finds us here, in the middle of…”
“Doing this?” I interrupt him and pull his sweater over his head.
“Or this,” he continues, suddenly grabbing my butt.
I smile at him and slide my hands over the incredibly smooth, warm skin of his bare chest, the skin I missed so much.
“Kiss me.”
“Hmm… I don’t think so. I don’t really like being ordered to do things.”
“Even when it’s me?” I say, leaning closer to his face.
Vadim lets out a small, frustrated groan. “Argh, I admit it. I love everything you do, Alma.”
He traces my lips with his index finger, then slides it down my neck to the top of my chest. Goosebumps cover my skin. A second later, his mouth meets mine with such sensuality that a moan escapes me.
“Wait…” I murmur, before I pull away.
I go and turn the key in my bedroom door, then return to the middle of the shadowy room, barely illuminated by the distant streetlights.
I stop for a moment to admire him: from behind, shirtless, he is gorgeous.
His silky skin, his broad shoulders, the muscles in his arms, the narrowness of his waist, the curve of his butt in those jeans that fit him so well.
I could sit on the floor and spend the whole night doing nothing but watching him.
But I’m not going to torture myself. I’ve been deprived of him long enough as it is.
I tiptoe across the carpet, and my hands sink into his messy curls.
My fingers continue down the back of his neck and then his spine.
I dig my nails in gently, making him shiver, then bring my hands around to his well-defined chest. He tilts his head forward, as if he’s leaning into my touch.
I keep going, moving down toward his jeans.
My hands caress his stomach, slip into his pockets, return to his fly, and stop on the button.
Vadim suddenly grabs my hand and turns around to face me.
He moves slowly toward me, forcing me to step back, towering over me with his full height and challenging me with his steely gaze.
His intensity overwhelms me. I bump against the bed frame, and Vadim gives me a playful push onto the bed.
Smiling, he straddles me. I burst out laughing as his hands grip my wrists, pulling them above my head and pinning them to the mattress.
“Shh, Alma! You really aren’t any good at sneaking around, are you?”
He makes fun of me, and I melt. Dizzy from everything he makes me feel, I’d almost forgotten that we were at my house, just down the hallway from my parents, my brother, and my sister.
That we’re doing this in secret. The fact that we’re breaking the rules only makes it more thrilling, though.
Vadim’s confidence, his perfectly sculpted torso, the striking handsomeness of his face, and the playful glint in his eyes: everything about him pleases me, tonight more than ever.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” I whisper in his ear.
“I wouldn’t let that happen. I was dying to see you again, Alma. Even if it had been seven weeks instead of seven days, or even seven months or seven years, I would have found a way.”
Vadim seems to have suffered as much as I did.
And I let myself believe him when he promises that nothing will ever keep us apart again.
He presses his mouth to my neck and kisses me, nibbles me, licks me.
His warm lips leave my skin to drift over the fabric covering my breasts, my stomach, my waist. His teeth pull at the elastic of my panties, just visible at the top of my jeans.
Then, he lets it snap against my lower belly.
I let out a small cry of surprise that I did not expect to be so loud.
He answers me with a proud, mischievous little smile that makes me fall even more in love with him.
“Are you actually hoping we’ll get caught, Lancaster?!”
He covers my mouth again to stop me from laughing and making too much noise. But all I want to do is yell how much I love him and how much I missed him.
“If you want me to stay quiet, I think you’re going to have to kiss me without ever stopping,” I murmur.
“I reckon I can handle that.”
His voice has become low and husky. His eyes lock onto mine.
No one has ever looked at me with such an intense, tender gaze, one filled with desire but also something else, something deeper.
And if I dared to believe it, if I truly knew what I was talking about, if I wasn’t afraid of losing it every time I got close to it, I would swear that this other thing is called love.
I hold him a little tighter against me, but he suddenly freezes, propping himself up on his arms.
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“That noise… Listen!”
I strain my ears and hear light scratching at my bedroom door.
“Do you have a cat?”
“Clémentine and I are thinking of getting one, but for the moment, no. We just have Lily, who thinks she is one. She’s been doing that since she was little. It’s annoying, right?”
“Hell, yeah! Go open the door for her before she starts meowing!”
“Okay, but you’d better hide before she brings out her claws!”
With one agile leap, Vadim disappears under my bed. I fix my hair and unlock the door, cracking it open just enough to poke my head out.
“Are you okay, Alma? I heard a noise,” Lily whispers sleepily, standing there in her leopard-print pajamas.
“Yeah, I just had a nightmare. Everything’s fine.”
“Why did you lock the door?”
“So I could have my nightmare in peace. Go back to bed!”
“Why do you look funny?”
“And why are you asking so many questions? Go back to bed. It’s late!”
“Will you tell me about it tomorrow?”
“Tell you about what?”
“Um, you know, your nightmare.”
She turns and walks away without waiting for my answer. I’m not sure how to take those last words. Is this little girl in her loud pajamas secretly a grown-up who sees right through everything? She’s twelve years old, with the innocence of a child and the sharpest mind in the whole family.
“Your sister’s funny,” Vadim says, emerging from his hiding place.
“Yes, she’s one of a kind. She’s my favorite.”
“You don’t know how lucky you are to have a family, Alma. Even one like yours.”
“Okay, lie back down, I sense you need to talk,” I tease.
“No, you’ll be the one lying down, and I’ll be the one playing doctor,” he replies with a smile.
Vadim lifts me off the floor and gently lays me on the bed. He comes to settle down behind me, sweeping my hair aside to bury his face in my neck, then wraps his long arms around me.
“Your heart is beating fast,” he breathes.
“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, snuggling a little closer to him.
I press my back against his chest, tangle my legs around his, and lace our fingers together. I kiss the palm of his hand and let out a long, relieved sigh. He’s back. I didn’t lose him. I can finally breathe normally.
I still can’t believe he’s here, shirtless on my bed. In my room, in my life. That he wants me. That he is holding me like this. That he’s not looking for anything else. It’s all I need right now. I don’t want to overthink things anymore. I don’t want to suffer. I just want to love him.
“I think I might actually like coming over to your house, Alma.”
I can hear in his voice that he’s smiling. I smile too.