Seven Sins (Club Seven Alpha Series (Book 1))

by Jessica Hope

  “Sure,” she said as she nodded her head. “That’s a great idea.”

  Vlad finished his drink and removed his arm. “Then I think we’re done here. Would you like to see the other places?”

  Melinda hesitated. It would admit defeat if she said no, but the truth was that she was terrified if she went anywhere else alone with him. “I actually think I’d like to go home,” she said softly. “There are some things that I need to think about. With the club. New ideas,” she said hastily.

  He raised his eyebrows, but he only nodded. “Very well. I think your idea of themes is great. I normally shy away from themes, but, if done right, it could be good. Nothing over the top. I don’t want my place to turn into an orgy,” he said wryly.

  Vlad paid, and he kept his distance on the way home. Melinda pulled a notebook out of her purse and wrote a few ideas down. “Thanks to Fifty Shades of Grey, bondage is very big,” she told him. “But we could also incorporate some international traditions. International drinks and courting customs. There’s no reason why your club can’t also be an educational experience.”

  He laughed. “That’s an interesting take on things,” he admitted. They continued to ignore the tension between them and discuss plans, but when the car stopped, and he got out, she took his hand, and he pulled her close.

  “I did not mean to frighten you this evening. I will not pursue this any further if it makes you uncomfortable, but if you do decide to explore this feeling between us, I need you to know that I only plan on it being a physical relationship. I have no time for love.”

  Melinda couldn’t help it. As she gazed up at him, she burst out laughing. “God. I think this is the most romantic unromantic moment ever,” she said with a smile.

  Suddenly, he leaned over her and pressed his lips to her. She moaned and immediately parted her lips. The kiss wasn’t sweet or romantic. It was heated and urgent, and she found her arms traveling up to get a better hold on him as her knees began to buckle.

  “God,” she muttered when he finally let her go.

  “Have a good night, Melinda. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, and we’ll discuss these ideas further.”

  “Ideas?” she said dazed. What ideas? Dear God, he didn’t really want to discuss this at work did

  he?”

  “The theme ideas, Melinda,” he said gently as he pressed his hand to the small of her back. “The theme.” He released her, and she immediately stepped away. As she adjusted her clothes, she nodded.

  “Right. Okay then.” She turned her back and felt him watching her as she made her way to the apartment. She disciplined herself not to turn back, but when she closed the door, she couldn’t help but peep out the side window.

  He saw her and smiled. Chuckling, she turned and sank into the couch.

  What a kiss. What a proposal. She was beyond attracted to Vlad, but he was her boss. What the hell was she going to do?

  ***

  She was not going to sleep with her boss. She needed this job. She was going to repress all her sexual urges, take a vow of chastity if necessary, and not sleep with Vlad. Even though she was dreaming of it. Just last night, she went to sleep and imagined his body heavy on top of hers, his tongue moving down the column of her neck. She imagined his heavy Russian accent whispering things to her as he parted her legs and dove down to…

  She’d woken up covered in sweat and twisted in her sheets.

  But dreams and reality were two different things. So no sex. At least, no sex with Vlad. Stay firm, she told herself as she walked into the club. Don’t make things awkward. And don’t bring it up unless he brings it up.

  “Melinda,” he greeted her as they passed in the hallway.

  “Mr. Petrovich. I will not engage in anything other than professional activities with you,” she said quickly. “Shit. I didn’t mean to say that,” she backtracked. Her face flamed. What was wrong with her?

  He widened his eyes. “So you are you going to engage in non-professional activities with me?” he asked her with a smile.

  “No, that’s not what I meant when I said I didn’t mean that. What I meant was that I wasn’t going to say anything at work.”

  “So you were going to invite me elsewhere to tell me this?” “Damn it,” she swore.

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Melinda, I’m teasing you. I understand your feelings, and while I am disappointed in them, I will honor them. Please don’t worry about me. I will act as professionally as you’d like me to act.”

  God, he was so formal. She just wanted to rip his clothes off.

  “Please see if Chelsea and Josh are available sometime this week to get together to discuss the drinks. Once you’ve had the meeting, you can type up some notes for me. Feel free to ask me any questions. I’m not afraid to toe the line, but as I said before, I don’t want to be running a sex club,” he said as he continued down the hall.

  She stared at him. So it was that easy for him to walk away? Melinda felt a little hurt by it, but she tried to bounce back. “Right. Of course,” she said quickly. She felt her heart break just a little, but she wouldn’t show him that. He’d made it clear it was nothing more than just lust, so what did she expect from him?

  A few hours later, the bar was in full swing. She was buried in work before she looked up and saw him staring at her. Stephen. The dangerous one. “Welcome back,” she said with a smile.

  “Back behind the bar again tonight?”

  Melinda nodded. “There must be something going around. What can I get for you tonight?”

  “Are you on the menu?”

  Melinda snorted. “I can tell you that several people have asked me that, and none of them got the answer they were looking for.”

  “You can’t blame a man for trying. None of my creative pick-up lines work on you. Why is that?” he asked with a charming smile.

  “Maybe I’m already interested in someone. Did that ever occur to you?” “But every bartender flirts for better tips.”

  She shrugged. “You’re supposed to tip me because I’m doing a good job. And I can’t do a good job if you don’t order anything. So at this rate you aren’t tipping me anything, so it doesn’t matter if I flirt with you or not.”

  “Did Vlad tell you to steer clear of me? He doesn’t like competition.”

  Melinda carefully avoided his eyes. “Mr. Petrovich is my boss, and he does not tell me I can and cannot date. I make those choices all on my own.”

  “So you’ll be having drinks me with me tomorrow night?”

  “I’ll stand here behind the bar while you have a drink since I’m working,” she said flippantly as she carefully avoided the question.

  He wasn’t getting the hint. “When is your next night off?”

  Suddenly her earpiece burst to life. “Melinda, may I please see you in the back?”

  It was Vlad. She turned to the nearest camera and frowned. He’d warned her about taking off her earpiece, but if he thought he could control her personal life, he had another thing coming. “When I’m finished here,” she responded in a quiet but cool voice.

  He must have been speaking to her on a private channel because no one else reacted. She smiled at Stephen. “What would you like to drink?”

  “You didn’t answer the question.”

  “Yes, and you should consider that my answer.”

  He bowed his head. “I see. Well maybe another night then. I’m not giving up, Melinda. I find you intriguing.”

  Melinda shook her head as he got up and left. Her life had certainly gotten interesting since she started working here. She moved down the bar as a new guest sat and began to make his drinks. She’d forgotten all about Vlad’s request to see her in the back, and since Stephen was gone, she figured he probably didn’t need to see her anyways.

  She didn’t hear from him anymore that night. After her bartenders left, she double checked the closing job and finished up her paperwork before heading to the office to turn in her radio. As usual, she was the la
st one to leave.

  “You ignored a direct order.”

  Vlad didn’t sound angry or even annoyed. His voice was calm, but she could sense the rage that simmered just below the surface.

  “I got busy and forgot. You should have reminded me. I’m sorry,” she said as she struggled to sound calm. He shut the door and locked it.

  “That’s not what I’m talking about,” he muttered. “You should have come right then and there. I didn’t need you later. I needed you then.”

  She narrowed her eyes and leaned back. “I was with a customer. I wasn’t about to just drop everything and come running.”

  “You weren’t with a customer. It was my understanding that he didn’t buy anything.”

  “I didn’t know that at the time.”

  “I told you to stay away from him.”

  “I did my job and sent him away, but I did it because I wasn’t interested in him. I didn’t do it for you. Why would I? You don’t have any right to tell me who I can and cannot date.”

  “He is dangerous.”

  “What? What does he do that’s so dangerous?” she yelled, and then suddenly, she snapped. She took a deep breath, pushed her shoulders back and raised her chin. “You know what? I don’t care. I don’t care what he did. You don’t get a say in who I date. Just because you are physically attracted to me doesn’t give you the right to control any part of my life. I’m leaving, and so help me God, we will never talk about this again. Everything that comes out of your mouth from here on out better only be about work.”

  She strode past him, and he grabbed her arm. She gasped as he circled his other hand around her waist and pulled her back towards him. She could feel his hardness rubbing up against her, and a wave of desire shot through her. “No one ever talks to me like that,” he muttered in her ear.

  “Maybe more should,” she said as he slipped his hand under her shirt. When his fingers trailed along her bare skin, she felt of jolts of electricity singe her nerves. She had to leave. Now. Or she’d do something they’d really regret.

  “Do you like him?” His hands traveled to her lower abdomen and slowly began moving up. Part of her body screamed for him to move lower, but she couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. “Or do you just talk to him to make me jealous?”

  Someone moaned. Heaven help her, she was the one moaning. Her head fell back and her eyes drifted close as his hands skimmed over her bra. Already she was achingly aroused, and he’d barely touched her. “Tell me to stop,” he hissed in her ear. “Tell me this isn’t what you want.”

  She wanted to. The words were right on the tip of her tongue, but when his lips pressed against the side of her neck, she was gone. “Fuck,” she said hoarsely as she whirled around and stripped off her shirt. Immediately, his lips were on hers, and she feasted on him like a woman starving. If she didn’t find a release soon, she would explode. Somewhere along the way, all logic fled. There was only this.

  Easily lifting her, he swept one hand across his desk and sat her down. Dimly, she heard items fall to the floor, but she paid little attention. His fingers were making short work of her bra, and she was undoing the buttons of his shirt as quickly as possible. When her breasts were bared, and he slid one finger across her nipple, her own hands slowed, and she arched her back. A flame within her grew hotter than she’d ever imagined, and it licked at every inch of her skin.

  “Vlad,” she gasped as she pulled on his shirt. “Please.”

  He murmured to her in Russian, and just as she got his shirt off and was able to touch the hard muscles underneath, he leaned her back and moved his lips over her nipples. “Yes,” she gasped as she bowed her back. She had never known that this part of her was so sensitive until they were under his control. Before, when she’d been with men, they tugged and pinched, and it had never done anything for her, but every lap of his tongue and ever touch of his fingers was creating liquid heat inside of her.

  Melinda wrapped her legs around his waist and rubbed up against him. “My sweet,” he grunted as she swiveled her hips around him. “We will be finished before we begin. You do not know the things you do to me.”

  He leaned lower and deftly undid her pants. Planting her feet at the edge of the desk, she lifted her hips and he slid them off. For a moment, he gazed at her. “If I could, I would make this moment last forever,” he whispered.

  “Please,” she said imploringly. “If you wait any longer, I’ll have to do the job myself.”

  Vlad’s eyes brightened. “Now that is something I would like to see,” he said hoarsely. “But not now. Tonight, your pleasure comes only from me.” He pushed one finger aggressively over her panties, and she gasped as he slid over her hardened nub.

  She thrust her hips upwards for more pressure. “More,” she whimpered.

  A rumble escaped from his chest, and he yanked the thin scrap of fabric aside and plunged a finger inside her. “Melinda,” he moaned. “So wet.”

  “Since the moment I laid eyes on you,” she admitted and moaned as he moved it in and out. She let her eyes drift shut as she focused only on the pleasure. Her hands shook, and she knew she was close. Suddenly, he slid his tongue over her clitoris, and she lost it. Crumpling some papers beneath her hands, she arched her hips into him and moaned as her body shook around him. Her orgasm took her by surprise, but he wasn’t ready to let her finish just yet.

  As she struggled to catch her breath and think, he’d ripped her pants down. She heard a zipper and some rustling of foil, and suddenly his hands and mouth were all over her. Melinda tangled her fingers into his hair as he lifted her from the desk, and when he sat on the chair, she settled astride him.

  “Please, my Melinda,” he moaned. “Ride me. Please.”

  There wasn’t a single moment of hesitation as she moved up and slid just a few inches down on him. He stretched and filled her, and she gasped. “It’s been so long,” she said softly as she paused.

  He blew out his breath, but he didn’t force her. “Take your time,” he whispered. “I like looking at you like this. Your eyes are dark with desire, and your skin shines with your sweat. I did this.” He smiled. “I want to do more.”

  “More,” she agreed as she wiggled her hips and slid down a little more. He grunted and dug his fingers into her skin. “Fuck, Vlad. So good.”

  He clenched his teeth, and she could see the veins in his neck pop as he struggled to stay still. Part of her was touched. He didn’t want to hurt her. But the other part of her wanted to take every single inch of him inside her, and as she leaned forward to capture his mouth, she adjusted her hips once again and slid all the way in.

  Buried to the hilt, he rubbed over a single spot inside her that she didn’t even know existed. She gave a shout of surprise and twisted her hips to feel it again. “Oh, God.”

  Vlad smiled wolfishly. “And now,” he whispered as he thrust his hips up. “I know what you like.” She moved up and over him, and soon, neither one of them could talk. She wrapped her hands around him and rested her forehead on his as she moved over him, desperate to find that release. His hands explored every inch they could reach, occasionally digging into her hips to move her faster, and occasionally pressing against her clit.

  Her breathing became strangled, and she was close.

  “Say my name,” he demanded. “Tell me that you know who does this to you.”

  She stared at him as she reached that final moment, and when she threw back her head and howled his name, he thrust urgently, almost violently inside her until his hoarse shout joined her own, and they both exploded.

  Chapter Seven

  “She called out of work”. Vlad gritted his teeth when he heard the message over his headset. Was she so regretful of their one night together that she’d call out?

  By the time they had calmed down, he saw the panic in her eyes. He’d tried to calm her down, but she was dressed and out of the office before he could find the right words to say. Part of him was terrified that she would quit. He wou
ld have preferred that over lying to him and calling out.

  How long would she avoid him? There was only one way to find out. “Danny. I’ll be gone for the rest of the evening. Please close up for me,” he murmured over the headset.

  There was a pause. “Sure. You feeling okay, boss?”

  “I’m making a house call,” he growled as he tore off the wires. His driver was waiting for him out in the parking lot. No doubt Danny had called him.

  “Brandon,” Vlad said as he bowed his head. “I wish to see Ms. Jones.” His driver nodded. “Of course. We can be there in twenty minutes.”

  Vlad seethed on the way over. He checked his phone multiple times, but the woman didn’t even deem him worthy enough to text. Doubt began to seep into his consciousness. It couldn’t have been his performance. She’d found her satisfaction twice, and he would have gone for a third had she not bolted. Being with her was unlike being with any other woman, and he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head.

  The way her dark skin looked against his. The way she moaned and screamed his name. She way she’d clenched around him. God, he was just getting hard thinking about it. And if he got his way, he’d have her tonight once he taught her that she couldn’t run from him.

  Angry and aroused, he banged on her door. He could hear footsteps shuffling inside before the door pulled open.

  “Shit,” he muttered. She was sick.

  Melinda was wrapped in a robe, and he could see that her nose was still running. She gazed at him, wide-eyed, before she hunched over and began coughing. When the spasms passed, she straightened and looked at him. “Vlad? What are you doing here?”

  He opened his mouth and closed it. He’d been here to lecture her about lying to him, and yet all he wanted to do was lie to her. “I thought you were trying to avoid seeing me,” he said finally.