Page 9 of Claimed in Sin
"I like hip-hop, some electronic. Anything I can drive to." He tilts his head and narrows his eyes like he's thinking then blurts out, "If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?"
"Somewhere warm. I don't care where. A beach with no one on it and nothing to do." I take a huge gulp of the drink and feel the first drink beginning to warm my shoulders and neck.
"I've never left Russia," he says.
"That's a tragedy... Barcelona is beautiful this time of year." My body is fully relaxed, fully engaged in this conversation, and all I can think about is how much I am enjoying being with him. He is so much more interesting than Maksim, and easier to talk to too.
He shrugs one shoulder. "Haven't had a reason to yet." His eyes hold mine when he says it, and I feel the heat climb up my neck.
I look down at my glass. "What about you? If you could go anywhere."
"Saint Petersburg." He runs his thumb along the condensation on his glass. "I worked the docks there one summer when I was younger. It was a terrible job. I slept on a mattress on the floorin a tiny little apartment I shared with four other guys. We ate nothing but bread and tinned fish for three months."
"That sounds miserable."
"It was. But the city at four in the morning in June, when the sun hasn't risen yet and the light's coming off the river and there's nobody else on the street—" He stops and takes a drink. "I'd go back for that."
I don't think I made a conscious effort to lean in but I find myself straining to feel closer to him. Our knees touch now, and I find myself drawn to him. He finishes his drink, then reaches for mine, taking it from my hand.
"Dance with me," he says, standing, so I take his hand and let him coax me off my stool.
The dance floor's packed and the music thumps hard, the bass heavy enough that I can feel it in my chest. He pulls me in and his hand settles on the small of my back. It's a fast song, so it's a bit provocative that he wants my body touching his from knees to shoulders. I press against him because the crowd gives me no other option, but I want to anyway.
"It's packed," I say nervously.
"You're hot," he says into my ear, sending a ripple of electricity down my neck. Goosebumps rise on my arms and chest. I don't even know what to say in response, so I let him move me in beat to the music.
We move together as his knee slides between mine and his hand spreads across my lower back, pulling me closer. When his leg pushes deeper, spreading my thighs until I’m practically riding him, I realize how turned on I am. My hand splays on his chest ashe grinds on me, moving his hips against mine in rhythm to the music, and I expect to feel his heart hammering. But he's calm as can be, and his eyes are locked on my lips.
His hand moves to my hip, pulling me harder against his body. I have to admit this is really intoxicating. I have so many endorphins rushing through me right now, I could get addicted to this. I tilt my head back and his lips graze the side of my jaw, barely touching me, and the sensation shoots through me so fast, my fingers curl into his shirt.
I feel more than hear a rumble in his chest, a groan or a moan that gets swallowed by the music before I hear him whisper in my ear, "Can I kiss you?" and it makes heat explode in my groin.
Instead of answering, I turn my head toward him and his lips capture mine. The stubble of his beard scrapes on my jaw and over my lips while he devours my mouth, parting them to slide his tongue into my personal space. And I’m just along for the ride as his hands slide down over the curve of my ass and squeeze.
He's so gentle, but so forceful, and I feel lost. I don't want him to stop, but I'm terrified of what's happening at the same time. I’m supposed to marry Maksim. If someone I know sees me here doing this with this man I barely know, what will my father say? What will Maksim say?
"You're a good kisser," he growls in my ear, and now his hips are pumping, colliding with my pelvis in beat to the music. In the throng of bodies around me, I could almost convince myself it was someone else pushing me into him until I feel his hand slide up over the curve of my breast and brush my nipple. It makes me shudder.
All I can do is whimper and moan slightly as his eyes meet mine and his hand closes around my right breast, squeezing gently. It's like he holds my gaze on purpose to make sure I’m okay with this, which is such a turn-on. I am a thousand percent okay with this, I think. I've never experienced attraction so intense or the feeling of arousal so powerful, it would make me do something so stupid.
Certainly never with the man I'm supposed to be marrying soon.
"Come with me," he says against my ear, and at this point, I'd do anything he asked me to.
Stepan takes my hand and leads me off the dance floor, through the crowd, into a side hallway where the music is muffled and the air is cooler, and there's nobody around except the two of us. The walls are dark and the light from the main room flashes wildly, painting him in bursts of light that reveal the lust in his eyes.
When he turns to face me, I'm already leaning in. He cups my jaw with one hand and kisses me hard, making me whimper as his thumb traces the line of my jaw. His other hand is on my waist, pulling me against his body where I feel his dick so hard, it begs to be touched.
I stop thinking about my father and the wedding and Maksim and the six months I negotiated for myself. All of it drops away and what's left is his mouth on mine and his hands on my body and the low sound he makes in his throat when I bite his lower lip. It's so insane what I'm doing, so risky, but I don't want to stop. This is the most alive I've felt in years.
Stepan pulls back breathing rougher than a moment ago, and he lets his thumb trace my lower lip. "Come home with me," he says, and every cell in my body is telling me to say yes.
But "I can't," comes out of my mouth in a reluctant whine. My God, how badly I want to. My body is on fire and he is the water that can quench it, but if I do that, Papa will know something is up and I'll be put on lockdown forever. I have a better chance of getting to see him again if I'm conservative. "I can't be gone all night," I say. "People will notice."
"People?" He doesn't pull away, but I see the shift in his eyes. He's discouraged, which is the last thing I want. I am not playing hard to get. I just can't take the risk tonight.
"My family. It's… complicated."
