by Linda Verji
A glint of amusement streaked through Vina’s eyes. “Orion?”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me the truth.” Her eyebrows arched. “You read romance novels, right?”
“What?” He blinked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because of everything you just said sounds like the happily-ever-after nonsense you find in romance novels.” Laughter dancing in her eyes, she shook her head and tsked. “I don’t mean to ruin your romantic preconceptions but the world isn’t all roses and chocolates. Not everyone lives happily-ever-after after the novel is done. Sometimes reality comes crushing in and ruins the whole party. My kind of crap is worse than reality and I guarantee that it will blow up the whole party.”
Orion chuckled. “And they say I’m a pessimist.”
To be honest, he didn’t think that hers was a ‘break’ problem. Many couples dealt with horrible in-laws and they still survived. If two people loved each other enough then they’d find a way to live with it. However, before he could say all this to Vina, her grandmother called.
“No, I’m not far away.” She paused briefly to listen to what her grandmother was saying then nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Orion’s heart sunk. Despite the gloominess of their conversation, he still wanted to spend more time with Vina. It had been a week since they’d seen each other and he’d missed her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t really ask her to meet him tomorrow when their relationship was still ‘fake’ and had established boundaries.
If he was working purely on instinct, he would’ve said ‘screw the fakeness and let’s just date for real’. But if there was anything he’d learnt today, it was that Vina had a genuine fear of commitment. If he was really going to do this, then he’d need to move slow, really slow because one wrong move and he’d spook her into running for the hills.
When she was done talking to her grandmother, Vina turned to him. “I have to go. They’re looking for me.”
The reluctance in her tone and wistfulness in her eyes was enough to assuage some of his disappointment at having to part. Smiling, he shuffled off his barstool. “I’ll drive you home.”
After paying their bill, they left the club. They’d just stepped outside when a sudden impulse to hug her filled him him. Without second thought, he turned to her and dragged her into his arms. She was so startled that she stood stiff in his arms for quite a while before she finally exhaled loudly and melted against him.
In his arms he held her, saying with his embrace what he couldn’t say with words. That he understood her, and that he wanted to be the man who showed her that not everyone was going to break her heart.
When she finally took a step back from him, she met his gaze. “What was that for?”
“Just.” He shrugged. “You looked like you needed a hug tonight.”
She cocked her head to study him for a long while. Then, surprising him, she walked back into his arms. Against his chest, she whispered, “I did.”
“Come on.” He smiled. “Let’s get you home.”
They walked to his car and soon were on their way home. Vina suddenly turned to him and said, “Sorry.”
Orion snatched a glance at her. “For what?”
“For always filling your ears with my problems.” Vina sighed as she stared out her window. “I always end up sharing stuff with you that I can’t even share with me friends.”
He smiled because, whether she knew it or not, that meant she trusted him. He wasn’t going to rub it in though, so instead he said, “You can make it up to me.”
“How?”
“Cook for me on our next date,” he suggested. “You’re a chef and yet I’ve never eaten your food.”
“You tasted some of it tonight,” she reminded him with a smile. “But okay… we can do that. Why don’t you come to Tellers-”
“No,” he cut her off. “At my place. I want it to be just us.” Realizing how intimate that sounded, he quickly added, “I don’t want to share my food with anyone.”
Vina hesitated, and that hesitation made his stomach knot. Was she wondering if it was safe to be alone with him? The last time that had happened, they’d ended up having sex. Had she figured out that if they had a date at his place, no one would be watching them. They’d be all alone, which meant that this date was for them rather than for the world? Was she thinking of how to tell him no? God, why had he even suggested it. Too fast, Orion. Too damn fast.
“Okay,” she spoke so softly that for a moment he thought he’d misheard.
“Okay?” he asked, his pulse speeding up in excitement.
“Yeah. Okay.” Turning back to stare out the window, she added, “But if I’m doing all the work then you’re buying all the ingredients.”
“Of course.” Orion grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
CHAPTER 15
Orion’s kitchen smelt and felt like heaven. The savory and delicious scent of food cooking filled the large space, and the sounds of boiling, simmering and chopping merged seamlessly with the hum coming from the TV in the living room. Even the sunlight streaking in through the East window seemed especially brilliant today.
But of course, the real jewel in the kitchen was Vina.
Now he knew why men got married. Just having her here made his house feel brighter, more cheerful and like a real home. From his perch at the kitchen island, Orion watched her move around his kitchen.
As usual, she wasn’t dressed to seduce; green tank top and black shorts. And yet he was thoroughly and completely seduced. He couldn’t stop looking at her; at the sexy way she bit her lower lip when she was cooking, at the way her breasts jiggled beneath that tank top every time she stirred something, at the way those shorts clung to her pert ass and showed off her legs. Even her bare feet were sexy.
To distract himself from her unwitting seduction, he offered, “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
“So you can ruin the vegetables again?” Vina didn’t even look up from the arugula she was tearing. “I don’t think so.”
“How was I supposed to know what julienne strips are?” he complained.
“That’s why I asked you if you know what they were, and you, Mister-” She glared at him. “-said you did. Then you ruined my carrots.”
Now that he thought about it, that’s exactly what had happened. He gave her a sheepish. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, just stay away from my veggies.” She moved to the stove where a pot of creamy vegetable soup was simmering and dipped a spoon in. Leaning across the island, she offered the now full spoon to Orion. “Taste.”
He leaned forward, blew on the soup to cool it before tasting it. Vina watched him, waiting for his approval. He smiled. “Nice.”
“Enough salt?”
He nodded. “Enough salt.”
With a smile, she turned back to her cooking. Orion had never been one of those men who believed that a woman’s place was in the kitchen but darned if Vina didn’t look right at home in his. She moved so easily and comfortably around it that a stranger would’ve thought that they’d lived together since forever.
“Ssss,” she hissed as she extracted a platter of fish from the over and set it on the counter. “Hot.”
The delicious scent that wafted from the meal was enough to make Orion’s stomach growl in anticipation. Eagerly, he asked, “Is it ready?”
“Just about.” She turned her attention to the arugula and tossed it into a bowl with the apple strips, cherry tomatoes and pecans.
He leaned forward to take a better look at the fish but frowned when he saw the layer of salt covering its top. “Isn’t that too much salt?”
“No.” When she saw his frown, she shot him an amused look. “Trust me, it will taste great.”
“If you say so,” he said, his tone leaving no doubts about his misgivings.
“Where are the plates?” she asked.
“I’ll get them for you.” He slid off the barstool
and crossed the room to the cupboard. Maybe he really wanted to see what she was going to do with that over-salted (in his opinion) fish, maybe he just wanted to be closer to her, either way after he handed her the plates, he stayed beside her. A smiling playing on her lips, Vina expertly struck the fish’s crust.
“Oh!” Orion gaped when the crust cracked open to reveal the well-done flesh inside. Wide-eyed, he watched her carefully removed the salt crust from the top of the fish. Awe in his voice, he said, “I’ve never seen fish made this way.”
“That’s because this is salt-crusted fish – not your every day baked fish.” Vina divided the flesh between two plates then, with the ease and expertise of a trained chef, portioned out salad onto the plates. She set slices of lemon and a side of olive oil on both plates before spooning some soup into bowl.
She picked up one bowl and one plate and held them out to Orion. “This is yours.”
His meal in hand, he strolled to the living room and settled on the couch. Tentatively, he stuck his fork into the fish then brought it to his mouth. The moment he tasted the fish, flavor burst in his mouth, sending his taste-buds spinning in delighted cartwheels. It was that good!
Maybe that first forkful was a discrepancy. Maybe the rest of it was awful. Conscious of Vina watching him from her position beside him on the couch, he stuck his fork into the fish again, this time coming up with a larger forkful, and thrust it into his mouth.
Oh my God! Is this what they called a foodgasm? He closed his eyes to better revel in the delicious flavors that immediately overwhelmed his taste-buds. His mouth felt like it had died and gone to heaven. Wow!
When he finally opened his eyes it was to find Vina watching him with a wide grin. “Told you it was good.”
Actually, good was such a mundane word when applied to the piece of genius on his plate. Despite having been backed in salt, the fish was soft and not too salty. It was delicious! Absolutely delicious!
Going in for a bigger bite, Orion said, “If my mom ever asks you to cook for her, don’t!”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s going to hate you.” He explained, “She always thinks that her food tastes like manna from the gods but if she tastes this… you’re done, Alvina. You’re so done.”
Vina laughed. “I doubt your mom is capable of hating anyone.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know Madam Hong like I do.”
Vina laughed. A moment later, she said, “You must be very close with your mom. My father would kill me if I ever called him by his given name or spoke to him in banmal (*informally) to, but your mother doesn’t even blink when you called her Madam Hong.”
Orion shrugged. “She’s always been easy-going like that. And yes, we’re close.” He quickly added, “Though not close enough to be called a mommy’s boy.”
“I wouldn’t blame you for being a mommy’s boy though.” Vina complimented, “Your mom’s the kind of awesome.”
“She is?” Orion knew his mom was awesome, when she wasn’t being incredibly annoying, but it felt good to hear someone else say it.
“She’s the kind mom that every kid wants. Easygoing, don’t care attitude… ”
“Don’t care attitude?” He chuckled. “Where did you get that?”
Vina shrugged. “It just seems like it. Also, I don’t see how she could’ve remarried and divorced if she cared what people thought about her. People can be disapproving about such matters.”
“Yeah, I-” Orion paused with his fork above his food then frowned. “How did you know that my mother remarried then divorced?”
Vina’s eyes widened. “You-you- you told me.”
“No.” Orion racked his brain for a moment when he’d shared that with her. When he found none, he shook his head. “Nope. I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”
“You must h-have,” Vina insisted, looking everywhere but at him. “Otherwise how would I know?”
As if her stammering wasn’t suspicious enough, the nervousness in her demeanor was enough to make him narrow his eyes. “Yes, that’s the question, isn’t it? How did you know?”
Vina was quiet for a long time before she finally confessed, “We investigated you.”
Orion blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“We – I mean my family hired someone to look into you.” Staring at her plate on her lap, she added, “That’s how I knew.”
He’d heard about people hiring private investigators to do background checks on others, but he’d never thought that he’d be the subject of such an investigation. Still, from everything Vina had told him about her family this shouldn’t have been a surprise. And yet it was. It was also very annoying. He didn’t like people – even Vina - knowing about his private business unless he told them himself.
Orion set his plate on the coffee-table. His voice tight with restrained anger, he asked, “What exactly did they look into?”
Vina’s cheeks turned pink. “Everything.”
“Everything?” His annoyance grew. “What exactly do you mean by everything?”
“About you, your background, your business, your mom…” Vina sighed as she lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Orion. I should have tried harder to stop them.”
Her obvious distress and embarrassment were like a needle. They pricked at the bubble that was his annoyance, and before he knew it, he was scooting closer to her and slinging his arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not.” She snatched a glance at him before lowering her gaze. “It’s intrusive and out of line.”
It was… but for some reason that didn’t matter anymore. Rubbing his fingers along her upper arm, he said, “But it’s not your fault. Besides, I don’t mind you knowing stuff about me. You’re my girlfriend.”
She corrected, “Your fake girl-,”
He bent his head and captured her lips before she could finish the sentence. He didn’t want to hear it anymore. There was nothing fake about how his heart thudded in excitement whenever he was near her or how desperately he missed her when they weren’t together. There was nothing fake about the need throbbing in his blood as he teased her lips open, or the pleasure that shot through him when he finally tasted her. And there was certainly nothing fake about the intense relief that rocketed through him when her lips shifted under his in tentative acceptance of the kiss. Without ending the kiss, he took the plate off her lap, set it on the coffee-table and dragged her onto his lap.
MAYBE IT WAS because it’d been almost two weeks since their last real kiss. Maybe it was because she’d just missed him. Either way, Vina easily fell into the kiss. She clung to his shoulders as he held her in his arms, her lips moving in rhythm with his. Soon the tenor of the kiss changed. It became harder, more powerful, more sensuous. Even if she’d wanted to resist him, she wouldn’t have stood a chance against this kiss. It was possessive, devastating and it left her thoroughly wreaked and aching for more.
By the time he let her breathe, she was shifting on his thigh restlessly, silently pleading for him to take this further. His eyes glued to hers, he slowly moved one of his hands from her waist and slowly up her torso. She sucked in a sharp breath when his palm closed over her swollen breast. He whispered, “Is this okay?”
“Ye-” Her words died on her lips when he suddenly squeezed her swollen flesh. Oh, that felt amazing.
“You won’t run away like you did last time, are you?”Orion asked as he squeezed again.
“I didn’t run away,” she managed to say breathlessly. “I was just in a hurry to get home.”
Orion chuckled. “If you say so.”
Heat scorched through her when he rubbed her nipple over her tank-top and she couldn’t stop the instinctive whimper that slipped past her lips. That heat only got worse when his hand slid down to the hem of her tank-top then beneath the fabric, up, up, up…
He stopped just short of cupping her breast. “Can I do this?”
She quickly nodded, and was quickly rewarded when he slid his hand under her
bra and touched her flesh. The warmth of his hand, how big it was, the sensations that immediately raced through her… Vina hissed in pleasure and pushed her breast into his hand.
Orion transferred his attention to the other breast, giving it just as much attention before he whispered, “Let’s get this off you.”
The next moment, Vina’s top flew over her head. It was swiftly followed by her bra.
His eyes flashed as they zeroed in on her naked breasts. His hot gaze lingered on her – lingered like he’d never seen anything more riveting. He stared for so long that she began to feel a little uncomfortable; she even started to raise her hands to cover her breasts. However, he got there first. His large hand covered one.
For a moment he merely held her. Nerves knotted in almost painful anticipation, Vina arched into his hand. “Orion.”
Perhaps it was the pleading in her tone that made him move, but move he did. His hand molded her needy flesh, caressed it, massaged it. He moved from one breast to the other, flicked, circled, pinched until all she could do was moan in complete surrender. When he bent his head, her heart leapt.
“Oooh!” she moaned as his tongue circled one taut aureole then flicked over her nipple. She arched into his touch, begged for more. “Ri-on.”
Her calling his name must’ve snapped something inside him because the movement of his tongue on her nipple became firm and his mouth completely fastened over her. Her hand gripped the back of his neck as he sucked her engorged tip deeper into the moist heat of his mouth. The delectable sensation sent pleasure trembling through her to her lower belly.
Slowly, his tongue laved. Each time he suckled, he sparked fresh thrill within her. She shivered with need as he moved to her other breast and gave it the same sensuous attention. His lips suckled her peak to an unbearable tightness that left her feeling dizzy.
“Yes… yes…sss,” Her breath hissed from her lips and her body shifted restlessly under his expert seduction.
When her thigh brushed against his groin, she felt it; that thick ridge of male flesh that said he was just as turned on as she was. Acting purely on instinct, she moved her thigh closer and pressed into him.