Chapter 29 - Lily
The penthouse is dark when we move inside until Mikhail pushes the slider switches up just enough to offer us a guide through the space. The lights are dim enough to keep a cozy, intimate atmosphere, making it easy to stay relaxed after our evening out.
His keys land in the dish by the door while I kick my heels off, but before I can bend down, he swoops in and picks them up, then rests a hand against my back. He gives me a small, knowing smile, surely anticipating the protest on my tongue.
“After today, you deserve to expend little effort,” Mikhail murmurs, keeping that vaguely possessive touch on me while we head up the stairs together.
“At this rate, I’ll be too lazy to move,” I return, teasing him.
“Good…that will make it easier for me to spoil you.”
That response of his isn’t surprising whatsoever.
I hum my amusement. “That’s a dangerous notion.”
“But nothing you can’t handle.”
As much as I’m used to pushing through, regardless of how tired I end up feeling, I can’t deny how nice the idea of being pampered sounds.
“Which reminds me,” Mikhail begins as we reach the top of the stairs and head towards the master bedroom. He pushes the door open and lets me head in first before following. He falls into step with me once again. “I never congratulated you myself.”
I lift a brow at him while I work my earrings undone and ease them out. “What, for finishing the semester?”
“Yes, exactly that,” he says simply while setting my heels to the side and undoing his top buttons, relaxing his shirt. “You finished another year, and that’s no small feat.”
“It’s quite small in the grand scheme of things.”
Despite my attempts to downplay it, well aware of how much more I have ahead of me, Mikhail doesn’t let it slide.
Instead, he takes a few steps closer before reaching for my arms, gently sliding his palms along them.
He looks me over, not afraid to show me that softness in his gaze.
“It may seem small, but you’re that much closer to your goals.
I know how hard you’ve been working, and even if I don’t like watching you strain yourself, I understand how much this means to you. ”
I soften at his words and his touch, allowing myself to fully take in his encouragement. Even so, I can’t resist egging him on a little.
“Are you going to celebrate every small milestone in my education?”
Mikhail’s eyes gleam with a touch of mischief. “Of course. I’ll celebrate each and every semester, every test, and exam, if I have to. I’ll always remind you of how well you’re doing.”
“You don’t have to, you know,” I murmur despite already knowing he won’t stand for it. “I’m used to the workload and moving on to the next part without any fancy meals.”
“That was before me,” he counters somewhat playfully with a raised brow. His hands move to my hips, gently pulling me closer. “But now, everything counts, regardless of how small.”
As much as I still feel the reflex to diminish my accomplishments, his words are too touching for me to brush them off. And frankly, I shouldn’t.
I have worked hard, and while there’s a lot more ahead of me still, I have every right to celebrate myself and to let others do the same for me.
“All that’s to say, I’m proud of you,” Mikhail murmurs, expression becoming warmer while he slowly slides his palms along my waist and moves his face closer to mine. “I’m proud of everything you’ve endured so far, and I look forward to standing by you as you conquer the rest.”
My heart stirs at the sentiment, and as easily as I could cry for a second time tonight, I hold it back. Smiling instead, I wrap my arms around him in return and press my forehead against his. Closing my eyes, I breathe in the moment, drinking up that comfort his presence offers me.
“Thank you…for everything.”
The end of his nose barely brushes against mine, sending a subtle thrill through me. “I should be thanking you for giving me things to look forward to.”
I hum and press a kiss on his cheek. “Are you giving me all the credit?”
Mikhail grins, visibly softening at the gesture before hovering his lips above mine, teasing me with his proximity. “I will credit you will everything until I’m blue in the face.”
“If that isn’t commitment, then I don’t know what is.”
His chuckle comes out as a low rumble, letting his hands slide lower until he squeezes my flesh. “You’re right…my commitment knows no bounds when it comes to you.”
Those words hold an even deeper meaning the moment his lips are on mine, seeking more warmth and more closeness. His hands take on a mind of their own while he guides me closer to the bed, letting his mouth devour mine.
It never takes much for us to take that tenderness and prolong it until we’re both starving for each other.
His words are the gateway to my cardigan being shrugged off my shoulders, and my dress being unzipped before dropping to the floor. His lips chase after mine, moving along my neck and shoulders in between while I unfasten the rest of his buttons and send his clothes onto the floor to join mine.
Regardless of how many times we dance that same dance, we’re just as hungry for more—just as insatiable.
Even while being rid of our clothes and anything in between us, it never feels like enough. We can never be close enough.
My hands map out every inch of his skin after he lowers me onto the bed, caging me against the mattress while he leaves his marks along my neck, tasting me like it’s the first time.
I used to be a patient person, but with him, all of that goes out the window. My legs wrap around him, pulling him impossibly close.
Mikhail doesn’t object when he’s just as worked up, settling between my thighs and slowly rolling his hips at an agonizing pace. It’s both incredible and torturous while he grinds against me, making us both crumble.
After a few strokes of his hips, my fingers dig into his back, and my breathless moans only encourage him more.
Normally, he’d take his time and prolong the teasing for as long as possible, but tonight, there’s less restraint in his movements. Less patience and more eagerness only get me more excited.
“You make me insane,” Mikhail murmurs against my neck, mouthing at my skin like it’s a primal instinct while he reaches for my thigh to prop it up while the other regains against his hip. “But I don’t want it any other way.”
I shiver at the brush of his length against me, hard and more than ready for more. I hum, tilting my head to the side. “Then don’t make either of us wait…”
At that, a satisfied sound travels the length of his throat, and he lines himself up before sliding in.
An immediate rush of pleasure forces my eyes shut while it moves through me, and my breath catches while my fingers flex against his shoulders.
Mikhail groans softly against my skin, pausing to keep himself from giving in too quickly. Instead, he kneads at my thigh in a bid to hold out until he regains his bearings.
But the initial sparks make me crave more, and I can’t help myself. With a sense of greed in my movements, I use my leg around him as leverage, guiding his hips closer to mine.
“Fuck…” he utters, sounding so breathless and addictive while he shudders against me. His fingers move through my hair, bracing the back of my head as he carefully moves. “You’re asking for it, aren’t you?”
Humming, I cup his cheeks and pull his face closer to mine, emboldened by the need coursing through me. My words fan against his lips. “I am…and I don’t want you to hold back.”
His eyes darken with mutual need as he drinks in my features, shifting his grip on me while inadvertently moving even deeper, making my breath catch. He grins at the sound and eases into a smooth rhythm.
My eyes flutter shut again while he moves through my inner walls, caressing me in all the right ways. I moan for him, not afraid to let him know just how easily he can pull every sound and tremble from me.
Mikhail catches my lips with his, melding our mouths together with unmistakable desperation while he gradually quickens his pace, keeping me pinned to the mattress.
Everything else disappears while I feel drunk off the taste and feel of him, and nothing matters outside of the mutual pleasure and the promise of release ahead of us.
He groans as our breaths pick up, and the heat between our bodies becomes almost suffocating, letting me swallow up the sound. He breaks the kiss, leaning his forehead against mine to concentrate on his pace.
“You feel so good…I’ll never get enough of you,” he breathes, jaw tightening through the strength of his movements. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me…”
His words continue, hardly registering while wave after wave of sensations course through me, both urging the moans from my lips and making my throat tighten in anticipation.
Those almost unintelligible murmurs of his begin to sound like a prayer while he gives me everything I want through his thrusts.
My blood runs hot while my back arches into his hold, and I start to see stars behind my eyes.
“Please…more,” I manage to speak, nails digging into his skin, surely biting.
But even if it’s painful, Mikhail doesn’t care. He does exactly as I ask, moving faster and deeper like his life depends on it. He pants against my neck, driving his hips into mine again and again, turning into the embodiment of greed.
The depth he reaches inside me turns me into a mess while I moan and writhe, keening for the precipice I know only he can push me to. He knows my body in a way nobody else ever will, and I’m completely addicted to it.
Then, we’re both a tangle of limbs and sounds ringing with urgency, chasing after the high neither of us can get enough of.
“Christ, sweetheart,” Mikhail mutters against my lips, straining himself to push me closer to the edge. He swallows back another moan and doesn’t relent. “I can’t…I can’t hold on.”
The words sound almost helpless and full of tension; he’s waiting to release.
But the moment his fingers drop between us, tracing circles against my clit, I can’t wait either.
Undeniable pleasure shoots through me, undoing the coil within me to tip me over. My breath catches as my body tightens instinctively, and then, without warning, I writhe again, half burying my face in the pillow behind me. I cry out for him, feeling the full force of my orgasm in one hit.
Mikhail curses into my neck while his hold on me increases and his thrusts falter. Sinking into me one last time, he breaks, shuddering through his own euphoric bliss.
I cling to him while he lets us both ride it out, prolonging every sensation.
He’s careful not to put all of his weight on me while he braces his forearms on either side of my head, catching his breath in the crook of my neck.
My whole body is weightless, and I can’t think of anything but him and the way he knows my body so well. How Mikhail is so committed to my pleasure and is willing to put it above his own.
He’s unlike anyone I’ve met before, and I can’t ever get enough.