Page 5 of Bedazzled
“Akvavit,” I explained, “very popular with our Norwegian associates.”
“Oh hell, that is lighter fluid! I have got to get this taste out of my mouth,” she gasped, blindly reaching for the tray of hors d’oeuvres I’d had sent over.
“So, meet-cute?” I prompted.
Tania popped a tiny lobster puff in her mouth, “Meet-cute, the story of how a couple meets,” she explained, “you know, you’re at a party and someone’s showing off their engagement ring and then you’re all, ‘Oh, that’s gorgeous! How did you two meet?’ And they tell you a story of how they both reached for the same Frappuccino at Starbucks or whatever and the rest is history.”
I nodded. Maksim mistaking Ella for a traitor who had stolen our arms stash, then drugging and kidnapping her was not at all a ‘meet-cute.’ Holding up another shot glass, I smiled devilishly. “Now, darling I have saved the best for last, are you ready?”
She cocked her head, watching the light gleam through the crystalline liquid in the shot glass. “What is it?”
“The Eye of the Dragon,” I said, gently tilting the glass. “This was not served at the wedding, it is from my private stock. I had planned to toast the wedding with Maksim, but they are gone and I think I would rather share it with you.”
Propping up her chin on her hand, Tania raised her brow. “And what makes this magical mystery fluid so special?”
“The Eye of the Dragon is a vodka filtered through diamonds, the finest winter rye distilled five times. Only ten bottles have ever been sold.”
“Yeah? If this has been filtered through diamonds…” Her golden-brown eyes widened. “How much did this bottle set you back?”
Handing Tania her glass, I leaned in to whisper, “Five and a half million dollars.”
“Woah! I don’t… are you shitting me?” She gently placed the glass on the bar.
“I am not… shitting you, darling,” I ran my knuckles up her smooth arm. “Try it with me. Sip.”
“My hand’s shaking,” she whined, “I don’t think I can-”
I picked up her glass and held it to her lips, “A sip.” Watching her lush, red lips pucker on the edge of the glass made me instantly hard. With a silent groan, I moved subtly, trying to stop my cock from breaking through the zipper of my tuxedo pants.
Tania sipped, swallowed, and groaned in a way so sexual that I nearly threw her on the bar to take her right then. “That is… oh, my god Yuri! I hate you for introducing me to this because everything else is going to taste like rubbing alcohol for the rest of my life!”
The hotel banquet staff were carefully moving around us, trying to clean up as quietly as possible.
“You know,” I whispered in her ear, “Maksim had booked the honeymoon suite here, but they left for their honeymoon before they could make use of it. I want to take you up there, pull that pretty blue dress off you and bury my cock in you until you’re crying and begging me to let you come again. Will you join me?”
Her eyes were wide, her pupils swallowing up the golden iris. “Well, you know. Waste not, want not, right? It would be a shame to let all those chocolate-covered strawberries go uneaten.”
I moved slowly, letting her pull back if she wanted to, but Tania was still, watching me with her pretty mouth slightly open and still wet from the drink. Pressing my lips on hers, my tongue slid out to taste her and the vodka.
Groaning, I pulled her off the barstool, heading for the elevator. When she nearly tripped, trying to keep up, I swung her up in my arms and pushed the elevator button with my elbow.
Current day…
Tania…
“What do you mean, they don’t know who took him!”
Ella put her arms around me, squeezing gently. “Tan, you know Maksim’s got every one of his men within five states out looking for answers.” Her eyes were red, too. We had both been crying on and off for a while.
“Well, don’t- don’t-” I stuttered, “don’t gangsters make ransom demands? Why isn’t Maksim getting a proof-of-life picture of Yuri and a demand for a billion dollars or something?”
“Honey, sometimes they don’t…” she started crying again, “sometimes it’s not for a ransom or for keeping a high-level hostage. Sometimes…”
For a second, I couldn’t draw in air, like someone had punched me in the solar plexus. “No! That’s not it, Ella! So just, you know, just don’t talk like that because that’s not…” Now I’m sobbing, too. “Just don’t talk like that!”
Maksim walked into their bedroom, where we were huddled on the bed. He looked like shit. I knew he hadn’t slept for two days because neither had I. Ella sprinted off the bed to hug him. He allowed it, but his hands were loose, just hanging down.
“Do you…” I didn’t know what to ask for. “Is there any good news?”
