Chapter 9
“He couldn’t have known I was the target… Could he?” Kalliopi asked as she climbed into the passenger seat of Stan’s car.
“All I care about is that he seemed to trust you. That’s better than his thinking you are a MILF because he would have put two and two together if he had known you were a soldier. But just to be sure, perhaps you should stay with me until we can infiltrate the lab.”
“Stan, I can take care of myself.”
“I’m well aware of that, but I’d feel better if you let me watch over you, protect you. And? I don’t want our date to end just yet.”
“Is this your way of asking me to stay the night, Agent Dutetre?”
“Perhaps it is, Command Sergeant Major Kouris,” Stan said with a grin and a wink.
“In that case, I accept your invitation.”
She probably should have said no, but she found it hard to resist him.
He’d tried so hard to sweep her off her feet, and she refused to lie to herself any longer.
She liked Stan. Like really liked Stan. And if they were on Milos, she’d start dating him and see where things went between them.
But they weren’t on Milos, and this wouldn’t go any further than a fling.
She had to be sure of that. The best-case scenario was that she’d do anything and everything to get him out of her system—even sleep with him.
Of course, she needed little convincing for that part.
Stan was sexy as hell. And since she decided not to lie to herself, she really wanted to sleep with him tonight.
And why not? They were two mature consenting adults, right?
The sound of Stan putting the car in park broke her train of thought.
They were now in his driveway, and everything she wanted to do with him and to him suddenly seemed very real.
He was rounding the car to open her door, and for a split second, she didn’t think she had the nerve to go inside with him.
“Here, take my hand.”
Kalliopi reached for his hand, and electric heat shot through her body like a bottle rocket, setting her skin ablaze with a yearning she hadn’t experienced since she’d been with Jace…
the name of he-who-should-remain-nameless.
Why had his name popped into her head now?
Perhaps because, with Stan in front of her, Jace seemed like nothing more than a distant memory, instead of someone with any power over her emotions.
Stan placed his palm on the small of her back and led her to the front stoop.
“I want you to understand that nothing has to happen tonight if you don’t want it to. But I think we both need a nightcap. Since Ash cut our date short with his talk, we got cheated. I’d like to get to know you better, in what little time we have together.” He opened the door. “After you.”
Kalliopi entered the home, which was sparsely decorated. Very minimal in regards to tchotchkes, except for his Christmas tree. Nothing appeared out of place, something she respected.
“Is whiskey okay?”
“Whiskey is great. Thank you.”
He poured two glasses and handed one to her. “Here’s to getting to know each other better.” He clinked glasses with Kalliopi.
“What else are you dying to get me to spill about myself?”
“Well, you aren’t a fan of Christmas, but is there a holiday you do like?”
“I always liked Halloween, but even that is getting a little too commercial for my liking.”
“You really don’t like holidays all that much, do you?”
“I like the food and getting together with people. The rest I can live without.”
“Ah! So you aren’t a fan of the whole gift-giving that comes with Christmas.”
“Yeah, I’m not a fan. And the decorations are overwhelming.
I’m not home enough to make sure the tree is watered.
I also don’t find joy in decorating every room in the house, including the bathroom, with stuff I’m going to have to put away in a month.
It all seems like a waste of time. Time that’s better spent with the people I care about.
Because in the end, we don’t know how long we have, so I want to make the most of it.
Also, why buy candy before it goes on sale the day after Halloween and Valentine’s Day? I’d rather wait and get the discount.”
“That makes sense. And since you put it that way, let’s take this time we have with each other and spend it having fun. I can’t promise that I won’t be decorating with you, though. I enjoy doing that. And sadly, this is the first year I did it alone.”
“I didn’t realize you didn’t have family near you.”
“My daughter is finishing up her degree and training this year. So, I trimmed the tree without her this year. She’ll be home for Christmas dinner, but not before that.”
“It’s all making sense to me now. You want to take me to all the festival stuff because you miss doing all of that with her.”
Stan shrugged and nodded. “I guess you might be right.”
“Well, in that case, consider me your wing woman because I don’t want you to miss out on anything! Just promise me we won’t go overboard, okay?”
“Deal!”
They clinked glasses again before taking another sip.
“You asked me a question, so it’s only fair I ask you one. What’s your favorite Christmas movie?”
“The Die-Off movie franchise.”
“Okay, now this I can get on board with! A Christmas movie doesn’t have to be only those sappy made-for-TV ones. Christmas is just a trope to me. They can make action-packed, fantasy, or any other genre with a Christmas trope in the mix.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Stan said as he tucked a few loose strands of Kalliopi’s hair behind her ear. “Want to watch it?”
“Sounds like fun.”
The two sat on the couch. Stan clicked on the television and scrolled to the movie and pressed the play button. Once the movie played, he glanced over at Kalliopi.
“Why are you so far away? Come sit closer to me.”
Kalliopi placed her drink on a coaster on the coffee table and cuddled up to the hard planes of his chest. She then laid her head on his heart, which was beating faster than she thought was normal. It appeared he liked her as much as she liked him.
“Is this okay?”
Stan caressed her back and gave her a tight squeeze. “More than okay.” He drew her chin up to meet his gaze. “I really want to kiss you, if that’s okay.”
Kalliopi smiled. “It’s more than okay.”
His lips crashed onto hers with fervor and intensity, sending tremors of electric heat through her body. Before she knew it, she was straddling him and fisting his hair.
“I really like you, Kallie.”
“I like you too, Stan.”
He began kissing her neck. His hands slid down her back and cupped her backside and pulled her closer to him.
The only barrier between them was their clothing.
When Stan’s lips touched the sensitive part between her neck and collarbone, an intensity she had never known hit her core.
She began gyrating her hips in unison with Stan’s hold on her hips.
Before she registered what was happening, she was loosening the buttons on his button-down shirt and pushing the fabric away to palm his chest. She pressed her lips onto every curve and plane of his chest, torso, and stomach as her fingers worked at the belt buckle, button, and zipper of his slacks.
She pushed the fabric and his boxers down to his thighs and gripped his cock in her hand.
“I want a taste of you. I hope that’s okay,” she said to him as she gazed up at him through her lashes.
“Mmm. It’s more than okay,” he murmured.
She smiled as she rolled her tongue over the tip and took his length inside her mouth. Stan let out a growl that vibrated through her body.
“You are amazing with that mouth of yours,” Stan said as he cupped the back of her neck. Her head bobbed up and down in unison with his thrusts. “If you keep this up, I’ll be spent before I even start. Come to bed with me.”
“Only if I can borrow one of your shirts to sleep in,” she said to him as she pulled his boxers and pants over his thighs so he could walk.
“Of course. I think you’ll wear it better than I will, though.”
He clicked off the TV and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style, and headed for his room. Once there, he gently placed her on the bed and removed her clothing until she had nothing on but her matching black panties and bralette.
“I’ll be right back with a shirt,” he said as he kissed her temple.
Kalliopi smiled at him as he turned on his heel and disappeared into the walk-in closet.
She hadn’t planned on taking things this far with him on night one.
But no matter how much her head was fighting her heart on this, something deep within her sensed everything about this, about Stan, was right.
He returned with a crisp white button-down and helped her put it on around her shoulders.
He was wearing dark blue boxers, and his toned chest glistened with a little sweat in the moonlight when he walked by the window.
“I made a promise to you. We go only as far as you want to take things tonight. But I sure hope I get to taste you, too.”
Kalliopi smiled as she cupped his cheek and guided his mouth over hers. He was straddling her now.
“I want to kiss you all over, Kallie.”
She arched her hips in response, his arousal thickening with desire for her. She bit her lower lip to squelch back a moan. His gaze zeroed in on the gesture, and his eyes instantly darkened.
“Do you understand how crazy you make me when you do that?”
“Sorry, it’s a nervous habit.”
He cupped her cheek and leaned toward the shell of her ear. His hot breath made her skin prickle with goosebumps.
“Don’t be embarrassed about enjoying yourself, Kallie. You can scream and moan as loud as you want. No one is going to hear you but me, and I’d rather enjoy being the one who makes you fall apart over and over again tonight.”
His words had her running her nails down his back and arching her hips to take in as much of him as she could. He let out a low growl again before reaching for her hands and holding them above her head.
“I said this before, and I’m going to say it again. I don’t want to finish before we get started, darling. Now be a good girl and keep your hands there for me while I give you a little kiss.”
He had her panties dangling around her ankles in one deft move. And in the next, his hot breath was over her entrance. She lowered her hands and was about to rake her fingers through his hair, but he clasped her hands together in one of his own.
“I told you to be a good girl, Kallie, and instead you’ve been naughty.”
His hot breath was right over her core, and she writhed beneath him.
“Please, Stan.”
His tongue entered her, and heat pooled lower belly.
She couldn’t help it this time and let out a soft moan as she arched her hips toward him, hoping the motion would give her more of him.
Instead, he continued to tease her center with his tongue and merely hovered over the entrance. Clearly, he wanted her begging.
“Please, Stan, please. I need—” She couldn’t complete the sentence because he was sucking her clit. An action that would have her riding the edge in seconds if he didn’t stop.
“Stan, I need you inside me now.”
He pulled off his boxers and repositioned himself above her. “Your wish is my command, Kallie,” he said before thrusting into her.
Pleasure began rippling through every fiber and nerve ending of her body, and he matched her thrust for thrust. Their bodies moved together like the waves of the ocean, rocking back and forth with fast intensity before slowing down to allow them to experience each and every sensation of their connection.
Before she knew it, they were both riding over the edge of bliss in union, the climax pulsating and rocking her to her very core.
After stilling and taking a few breaths, Stan rolled to his side and propped up an elbow to face her. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
All Kalliopi did was smile. It seemed her cheeks were hurting because of it. She found it hard to remember the last time she had smiled so much.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” Kalliopi said before a yawn overtook her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“You’re probably still tired from the jet lag.”
“I am a little, but I also want to stay up and spend some time with you.”
“We will have plenty of time tomorrow, so get some sleep,” he told her as he kissed her cheek and pulled her onto his chest.
She wanted to protest, but his rhythmic breathing and the sensation of being safe in his arms lulled her into serenity.
Normally, she would have slept with an eye open and a loaded firearm by the bedside table as if someone was after her.
But with Stan cradling her, she didn’t feel the need to take the first or even second shift to keep the both of them safe.
When the sun’s rays warmed Kalliopi’s face, she opened her eyes and stretched. But as her hands reached toward the side of the bed that Stan should have been in, she realized he was gone.
Did Zagan or one of his goons take Stan?
She pulled on the shirt that Stan had let her borrow the night before and padded into the hallway.
Not making a sound except for her climbing heart rate, she approached the kitchen and peered in.
Stan was huddled over the stove, where he was placing slices of toast into a frying pan.
The scents of fried batter and cinnamon wafted through the air.
Kalliopi smiled and walked out of the corner of the hallway where she’d been hiding.
“It smells wonderful! How did you know French toast was my favorite—oh, right—Treas probably told you?”
“Yeah, I may have grilled her a little more about you than I first admitted.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem fair. She probably told you all of my deep, dark secrets, and all I know about you is your favorite Christmas movie, how to make you moan, and that you take great pleasure in pleasing me with my favorite things.”
Stan looked up from the frying pan and winked at Kalliopi. “That’s not entirely true, darling. I enjoy pleasing you in more ways than one.”
Kalliopi couldn’t help but let out a chuckle that turned into a giggling fit. She had never remembered feeling this giddy with any of the guys she’d dated before. Not even Jace. What made Stan so different? Why was she willing to let more than her hair down with him?
“After breakfast, we can head over to the office to get some paperwork done and get the cadets ready for their first training session. Then I was thinking we could go to the tree lighting ceremony and then head to your place so you can change and grab more clothes. We will walk a lot, so dress warmly and wear comfortable shoes. And hopefully you packed another pair of those sexy unmentionables.” Stan waggled his eyebrows, and Kalliopi giggled again.
“I could probably manage that.”
He placed a plate of French toast in front of her while smacking her behind. “Do you want some syrup?”
“Of course! There’s no other way to eat French toast but with syrup.”