Vaguely aware that he was speaking like a caveman and sure he didn’t care, he was lifting her as he spoke and carrying her like a bundle of laundry down the hallway toward his bedroom.
“Vlad, put me down.” Her words emerged on a moan.
“Say it with more conviction and I’ll believe you.” He dropped her gently on top of his king bed and stood over her, his forearms folded across his chest. “Okay, I put you down.”
Her sweater had fallen off during the trip down the hall and he took his fill of her heaving breasts and the strip of pale skin visible beneath the cropped silk of her blouse. As his gaze lowered to her long booted legs, Sabrina’s breath caught in her throat.
“Sabrina, if you’re saying no, say it. Now. If you don’t want this, it will be…punishing, but…” He lifted his gaze to hers. He could not make himself shrug because a shrug meant he was unconcerned and he very much cared what her response would be.
He waited, his body tensing even more if that were possible as she ran the tip of her tongue across her lower lip and took a breath.
Before he’d had her, he might have walked away. But now, now he knew her and he wanted more. He had not had his fill yet. Not by a long shot.
“I’m not saying no.” Her eyes fluttered shut. He smiled then. “Is that a yes?”
She opened her eyes. They were deeply green and clung to his. “What would I be saying yes to?”
“To this.” His gaze flashed over her body and she shivered as fast in reaction. “Sex. Us,” he said.
“Is this part of the deal where we are the fictional reunited couple?”
“No, this is what it is. Don’t blur the lines, Sabrina.”
****
He stood before her, still fully clothed but with the outline of his erection clearly visible against his jeans. She was splayed before him on the bed, virtually defenseless but he wasn’t forcing her.
It was just sex, he said, and that was what he wanted.
But was it just sex for her? He was her first lover. That must be why her emotions were all over the place, why she craved his touch like an addict. She knew that her friends experienced less than memorable first times. She’d heard those first lovers figured in her friends’ lives for only a couple of days or even a few hours never to be seen again.
The truth was what she was feeling had everything to do with Vlad’s exceptional skills in bed. She was infatuated with how he could make her feel.
So therefore, it was just sex for her, too. And she wanted more of it.
She opened her arms and tugged him down on top of her on the bed. The warm, heavy weight of his body, the hard pressure of his arms as they went around her, felt so good, like coming home.
“Yes,” she whispered into his throat.
****
Apparently, when you were Vladimir Grigory, doors opened with a minimum of fuss and with a maximum of, “Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?” And thereby the preschool issue that Sabrina had agonized over for months was resolved with a phone call.
Vlad agreed with Sabrina’s choice of school after he’d gone to the trouble of reading up on the numerous options in Manhattan. Of course, they were only options if the lucky child were accepted. Vlad never concerned himself with that possibility.
“The focus is on social play and the mix of kids is impressive here,” he said and Sabrina was shocked that he’d made the effort to do the research, and then was even more amazed that he agreed with her conclusions without her even having to press an argument.
He’d even traveled with them to tour the school and to meet the headmistress. She’d been floored by his level of interest until once again, she reminded herself that he was playing a role. There was no way he would be seen as less than a devoted parent now. He was playing his part to the hilt.
Sabrina was playing her role, too. It was ridiculously easy simply to enjoy all of the lovely new clothes as well as the relaxed days with Alex, free of
work schedules, frantic rushing, and financial worry. Alex was due to start school in a few days and she would have even more free time during those half days.
****
“Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
Vlad strode into the bedroom, their bedroom now, which they had shared for seven out of the last seven nights, pulling a navy silk tie from his neck.
Sabrina looked up, her neck stiff from its position hunched over her mom’s old laptop. She had lost track of the time as she caught up on some of her online college coursework.
“Hmmm? Didn’t hear you. I was reading. Lucky me, I can block everything out when I have to work.”
****
“What are you doing?”
He hated that edge of suspicion in his voice. He sounded almost needy which was ridiculous, and especially since he knew where Sabrina had been for the past week after he had moved her and Alex into his place.
She had been in his bed every night, and he had been attentive to her every want. He kept waiting for his desire to feel less urgent, but so far, more of Sabrina just had him wanting more of Sabrina. And she had been off-the-charts responsive. No question that this charade was working out even better than he’d expected on most levels. She was dynamite in bed, his cock hardened into steel at the thought of the inventive ways they had spent the last several nights.
But he felt her distance. She didn’t call him at work or try to enlarge their relationship beyond what they shared in this bedroom. Compared to the women of his experience, women with whom he had never shared living space, that was unusual. They were always checking in and making plans.
“I’m catching up on my coursework.” Sabrina stretched her jean clad legs and his eyes were immediately drawn to her bare feet and pink painted toes before they slowly traveled up to appreciate the span of flesh visible from where her tight T-shirt parted from her jeans.
Her gaze met his and he felt the heat. She couldn’t hide her reaction any more than he could. They wanted each other.