I open my mouth for him, making him grin as he slides the spoon between my lips. The creamy ice cream hits my tongue, causing a spontaneous moan of pleasure before the tartness of the berry comes through and balances it all out perfectly.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, making him laugh.
He leans closer and presses his mouth to my ear. “I’d be jealous if you hadn’t had that same rapturous look on your face while you were sucking my cock just a few hours ago.”
I smile at the memory and probably turn as red as the borscht I just ate, but I’m too happy to care. Married life with Aleksandr is turning out to be absolutely perfect. Surprising no one, I end up finishing my ice cream. While the plates are being cleared away, Viktor pours us all one more drink. Everyone raises their glasses and saysza lubov. I try my best to copy it, liking the way the foreign-sounding words feel on my tongue. This time I know what I’m getting, so I sling my drink back and savor the smoothness of it, not coughing once. It earns me a nod of approval from Viktor and a grin from the rest of the men at the table.
“What was the toast?” I ask Aleksandr as we all set our glasses down and get up, preparing to leave.
“To love,” he says, giving me a smile and a quick kiss.
He goes to get our jackets while I thank Viktor for the meal. He pulls me into a hug. I smell the cigar smoke on his suit jacket and feel the strength of him despite his older age. I’m still not completely at ease around him, it’s damn hard to be when I know what he’s capable of, but I give him a squeeze and then a smile when we pull apart. Aleksandr gets a pat on the arm and a few words in Russian before we say goodbye to the rest and make our way out of the bustling restaurant. The other diners in the main room seem completely oblivious to the Bratva in their midst, and I’m guessing that’s for the best. I see several families eating and laughing and a few tables filled with businessmen on their lunch breaks, clearly enjoying the beautiful waitresses who are bouncing around from table to table with the grace of ballerinas.
Once outside, I smile when I see it’s started snowing again. We get back in the truck, and as soon as his door is shut, I’m leaning over and pressing my lips to his, kissing him slowly and thoroughly until all I can think about is getting back home.
Chapter12
Aleksandr
Istill haven’t told Holly I need to leave for a job tonight. She just looks so damn happy, and I don’t want to be the one to take that beautiful smile from her. That must be how she gets me to agree to build a snowman with her when we get back to the house. Yeah, that has to be it. There’s no other explanation for why I’m out here freezing my ass off and wrapping one of my old scarves around the snowman we just constructed in the front yard where anyone driving by or looking out their window can see.
I’m still ruminating on this when a ball of snow hits my face, shocking the hell out of me. I scrub the snow off my stinging cheek and look over at a laughing Holly.
“Oh,lisichka, you’re going to pay for that one.”
She lets out a squeal and starts to run around the side of the house, but she’s no match for me, and in seconds I’m wrapping my arms around her and pulling her down onto a pile of snow. She’s laughing so hard she’s gasping, and her cheeks are an adorable red from the cold. I press my body against hers, keeping her pinned in the snow.
“A snowball to the head, huh? Not very sportsmanlike, sweetheart.”
She laughs and struggles to get up, but there’s no way in hell she’s going anywhere until I want her to.
“I knew you could handle it.”
The laughter dies in her throat when she feels how hard I am. Her blue eyes darken, and her breathing picks up for a whole new reason. I run a gloved finger over her cheek, tracing the line of her scar and following it along her jawline.
“Tell me what you were thinking at the restaurant earlier.”
“I thought the food was very good.”
I smile and say, “You know what I’m talking about. You were looking at Pyotr and you got the saddest look on your face. I want to know what you were thinking.”
She sighs and tries to dart her eyes away.
“No,lisichka,” I say, gripping her chin and forcing her eyes back on mine. “There’s no hiding from me.”
“I was thinking about how lucky I am. Pyotr could’ve easily been the one I walked in on, and then I would’ve been stuck eating at that table today with him as my husband instead of you. I would’ve seen you sitting across from me, the gorgeous man I could never have because I would’ve been stuck with him.”
She seems so horrified and saddened by this future that will never happen, and the idea of her sitting next to another man, of being married and bound to another man, has me seeing red. I tighten my grip on her, even though I know she’s mine and that no one else will ever have her. I still need the comfort of feeling her against me.
“You’re mine,lisichka, and that’s never going to change. And if you had walked in on Pyotr, I would’ve claimed you as mine the second I saw you. I never could’ve stood by and watched you marry him. I would’ve taken you and convinced you to marry me instead.
“How would you have done that?” The smile playing on her lips is one I know all too well, and my cock gives a healthy jump at the sight of it.
I press against her even harder, smiling at the way her eyes go heavy-lidded as a soft moan escapes.
“I probably would’ve let my cock do most of the talking.”
She laughs and pulls me closer, giving my bottom lip a soft suck that has my heart racing even faster.