by Marian Tee
He blinked and found her pushing a plate of bear-faced sandwiches towards him. Deli meat and cheese made up ears for the bread, which had olives for the eyes, nose, and mouth. White paper towels were wrapped around the lower halves of the bread to make it look like they were tucked in for bed.
He shook his head, amazed. “You did this from scratch.”
Kalli only cocked her head to the side, her gaze quizzical.
“In five minutes.”
She only stared at him, her violet eyes asking what was so weird about that.
Yuri’s lips twitched. “Never mind.” He took one of the sandwiches and handed it to her.
“Thank you.”
They ate in silence. He waited for the boredom to set in, but it never did. Instead, his fascination of Kalli increased, with the way she seemed to savor each bite, her eyes closing as she chewed ever so slowly.
Had she always enjoyed her meals like this? And did she know how much he wanted to eat her in return?
The thought came out of nowhere, and he shifted on his seat uncomfortably as his dick went into full erection mode.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah…” Yuri found himself uncommonly lost for words, and he couldn’t help his gaze from straying back to his arousal. Down, boy, DOWN.
But it only became bigger, longer, and harder.
“Oh.” Kalli’s sad voice had him looking up. “You want me again.” If anything, her voice became sadder, and he was torn between wanting to strangle and kiss her.
In the end, though, Yuri only let out a small sigh. “You’re not pleased I want you, sweetheart?”
“Only because I can’t seem to want you back in the same way.”
He watched Kalli raise her sandwich to her mouth and take a dainty bite, thinking sardonically that any man with a lesser self-esteem would have had his dick die at her sheer indifference.
Unfortunately for her, he was a man with a very healthy self-esteem, and an even healthier libido.
“You’re not going to eat?” Kalli’s voice drew his attention back to her, and Yuri saw her patting her mouth with a napkin.
“I will.” As he picked up his sandwich, he asked, “Not counting the volunteers, how do you find your life here so far?”
A half-minute passed before she answered, “It’s pleasant.”
He grinned. He could no longer help it, knowing that people who didn’t understand how Kalli was would have thought she was damning them with faint praise.
“It’s also different,” Kalli was adding.
He nodded. “Too many people around you?”
“Yes. But I’m adjusting. I know I have nothing to be afraid of.”
“Because I’m here?” he teased and laughed when she shook her head solemnly at him.
“It’s because,” she corrected him seriously, “you love me.”
Ah.
A ghost of a smile flitted over his lips as Yuri suddenly found himself struggling to bury a despised memory.
He closed his eyes for a moment, using the time to ruthlessly force that part of his mind to shut down.
He was no longer that man.
He would never be that man even if he had to isolate himself for the rest of his life.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Kalli staring at him. Mistaking it for hurt that he hadn’t said anything in return, he sought her hand and brought it to his lips. “Sorry.” He pressed another kiss to her knuckles. “You made me remember something I’ve always wanted to forget.”
She nodded, and he smiled, one that reached his eyes this time.
Yuri realized then that he liked this strange, beautiful reticence of hers. She forgave with a nod and meant it. She smiled when she was happy and meant it. He wished he could be like her, rather than just a pale, broken imitation.
Then he noticed Kalli staring at him again, and he asked, “Do I have something on my face?”
Stepping off the stool, she shook her head. “It’s not that.” She took out a pitcher of lemon-infused water from the fridge and poured each of them a glass.
Kalli handed it to him, and he murmured his thanks before raising the glass to his lips. He took a sip—
“I was thinking I’d like it if we could kiss again.”
—and almost choked.
He slowly lowered the glass back to the table. A minute ago, she had told him she didn’t want him. But now she wanted to kiss him?
“If I didn’t know better,” Yuri told her conversationally, “I’d be tempted to ask you the same question Andreus did.”
Kalli’s lips curved in a rare, sheepish smile. “I don’t understand it myself. When you kiss me, I feel…right. But when you touch me…”
When she didn’t continue, Yuri said, “When I touch you...what?”
His fiancée gave him a helpless glance. “I don’t know.”
Yuri released a small sigh. “Never mind.” His ego could take it. Glancing at Kalli, he patted her lap and found himself smiling when she acquiesced with another simple nod.
Deciding to surprise her, he grasped her by the waist and had her gasping as she found herself straddling his lap on the stool.
“That,” Kalli said breathlessly, “was fast.” One hand clutching his shoulder for balance, she brought her other hand to her chest. “My heart is beating fast, too.”
Her eyes were shining as she spoke, her cheeks flushed, and the truth dawned on him.
It was too late.
Too damn late, even if he wouldn’t – wouldn’t ever – allow the words to even cross his mind.
Too goddamn late, maybe even as far back as the first time he set eyes on her four years ago.
Kalliope Antoniou had gotten under his skin to steal a piece of his heart.
God. Damn. It.
“Ah, Kalli.” He didn’t let either of them speak after that, simply cupping her face with both hands as he took her lips. She gasped, but he didn’t let her go, even leaning back against the edge of the counter so he could balance himself and kiss him deeper.
A small pair of hands clutched his shoulders tightly. “Yuri.”
God. He sucked on her tongue, thinking he could listen to her moan his name all night long.
“Yuri.” She kissed him just as wildly, and he almost, almost lost it.
Tearing his mouth away before he ended up losing his mind and fucking her on the kitchen counter, he started a wet trail down her neck. Her fingers crept up to clutch his hair as he started sucking on the pulse on the side of her neck.
“Yuri. I feel…I want…I don’t understand...”
But he did.
She was clutching his head more tightly now, her body demanding him to suck harder even if her mind hadn’t completely caught up.
No fucking problem. Yuri hungrily obliged, drawing the tender skin between his teeth. He did it again and again, his cock throbbing in the same pulsing pace.
“Oh, Yuri.” She arched against him.
And that was when they both felt it.
Stunned, Yuri pulled back to stare down at what he thought he felt.
Her breasts, swelling above the neckline, and its nipples – oh, her sweet, pink nipples – had come to life, hardened tips puckering against the thin fabric of her dress.
Kalli was staring down at herself as well. “I think…I want you.”
“Yeah,” he managed hoarsely. He was barely able to keep his hands off her breasts, too damn worried to make an unexpected move that might frighten her off and have Kalli indifferent to him again.
She raised her gaze to his, her eyes filled with undisguised wonder. “Yuri, I want you.” Then, as if wanting to test the truth of her words, she cupped her breasts and tweaked her nipples.
He groaned.
She gasped.
But before they could do anything else, they both heard a knock on the door. “Ignore it,” he rasped out, unable to take his gaze off her breasts.
Another knock.
Kalli’s fingers let go of her nipple
s.
God. Damn. It.
He would kill whoever it was—
The door opened, and with Kalli facing the door, she was the first one to see who it was. He watched her blink. “It’s Leon.” Her tone was surprised, but with a faint touch of affection.
Yuri’s face became grim. He was fated to commit murder then.
Although Leon’s face remained bland, his eyes gleamed with interest as he watched the Greek biker carefully lift his fiancée off his lap. He would never have thought Kalliope Antoniou the type to make out in a kitchen, but then he should really have known better. Yesterday was enough to teach him that with the Greek heiress, nothing would ever be predictable.
The couple finally reached him, and he noticed the way Yuri had a possessive arm around Kalli’s waist.
Good, Leon thought in amusement. He liked it a lot when he was able to jerk rich people’s chains, and he knew ‘rich’ barely covered it where the biker was concerned.
“Hello,” Kalli said, still smiling.
Yuri slanted a look at his fiancée. For Kalli, that was the equivalent of jumping for joy, and his dislike intensified. Looking back at the Italian, he inclined his head slightly. “Arlotta.”
“Athanas,” Leon returned mockingly. But when he addressed Kalli again, his tone was charmingly light. “As promised, I’ve brought you the registration forms for you to fill out.”
Yuri frowned as Kalli took the folder from Leon. “Registration?”
She nodded. “During the tour, Leon kindly shared with me about a short-term baking course due to start next week. I intend to take it.”
The two then glanced at him.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Giving me a bath will really make you feel less sad?”
Ignoring Kalli’s doubtful voice, he took hold of her hand and, leading her to the en-suite bathroom, he said resolutely, “Yes.” It was also his self-chosen reward for having the forbearance not to beat Leon Arlotta into a pulp for putting the stupidest ideas in his fiancée’s head.
Initially, Yuri had every plan to put his foot down. The idea of setting Kalli loose in the real world without him by her side was too worrying for his peace of mind. But then he had turned to her, saw those starry eyes of her, and he had heard himself say, “As long as you don’t mind having security follow you around.”
After closing the bathroom door, he turned around and froze.
Kalli was taking off her clothes.
God. Damn. It.
She had her back to him, and he swallowed at the sight of her nearly nude body. She was down to only her panties now, but she was already bending, and it was all Yuri could do not to palm her wonderfully pert butt.
God. Damn. It.
He was the luckiest bastard on earth. She was stunningly beautiful and incredibly sexy, but more than that, she was without vanity, guile, or cunning. There was no one like Kalliope Antoniou in this world, and he was willing to bet on that.
He watched her hips wriggle as she pushed the scrap of silk down her long, shapely legs, and his dick didn’t just twitch. Instead, it shoved against his sweatpants, demanding to be taken close to the sweet, virginal pussy it knew was nearby.
And then Kalli was turning around, facing him, gloriously naked—
Yuri swallowed again. God help him. He said the words under his breath, but apparently Kalli still heard him, with the way she was blinking at him in confusion.
“Why do you need God’s help?”
Because I might not last five seconds, he answered truthfully in his mind. But out loud, he only said, “I’m praying for His help to make sure that I don’t frighten you.”
She was already shaking her head before he finished speaking. “You will never frighten me, Yuri.” Her voice was patient, almost like she was speaking to a child, and he smiled at the sound of it.
“You love me, after all.”
Ah.
“Of course,” he said lightly. “I should have remembered.”
Kalli’s lips slowly curved. “Silly Yuri.” And then she looked down, and when she spoke again, her voice was filled with breathless wonder. “I want you again.”
He followed her gaze. She was staring at her breasts, which had again come to life, her sweet pink nipples hardened and begging to be sucked.
“I can see that,” he said hoarsely.
When her gaze returned to meet his, it was hazy with desire, and Yuri knew then this would be no let’s-take-it-gently shower, no way Kalli would leave the bathroom without him having a taste of her pussy.
“Is it okay if I start taking off my clothes now, sweetheart?” His voice was thick with need.
She nodded.
His gaze capturing hers, he slowly pulled his shirt over his head and when his chest was bared to her sight, she whispered, “I feel so strangely hot, Yuri.”
God. Damn. It.
How was he going to survive the next minute with her saying things like that?
His sweatpants went next, and her eyes widened. Again, he followed her gaze and saw it was drawn to the huge bulge his arousal made against his briefs. That was when he realized he hadn’t thought to ask what she knew about sex and he asked carefully, “Did someone teach you about making love, sweetheart?”
A slow, wary nod. “Grandmother says it should only be something done by two people in love.” A pause then Kalli spoke again, doubtfully, “Like you and me.”
“Oh, Kalli.” His voice was strained, but his broad shoulders also rocked with silent mirth. “Don’t forget what you said earlier. You don’t need to be frightened of me…”
“Oh.” She grimaced. “I did forget.” She squared her shoulders. “I will not be frightened then.”
And she didn’t sound like it, he acknowledged, amused. This time, she was only using her queenly-before-a-beheading voice again.
Deciding that action spoke louder than words in addressing her fears, he stepped forward and, without a word, cupped her face and kissed her.
She was still in his arms, but he didn’t let this stop him, nibbling on her lips tenderly, patiently, wooing her with nips and licks until finally he felt her lips parting under his. Yuri drove his tongue in, a slow, steady stroke that allowed her to gradually adjust to his possession.
Moments later, and he felt and heard her surrender as Kalli released the sexiest little whimper just before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back.
Yuri didn’t waste time after that.
Making his move without hesitation, he lifted her in his arms without breaking the kiss and carried her to the shower. Setting her down, he switched the shower on, and hot water blasted down on them.
Lifting his head, he commanded, “Turn around, Kalli.”
She did so without question and moaned softly when he started soaping her a moment later. He started with her smooth, slim back before moving his hands forward, cupping her breasts from behind.
“Ah.” Kalli leaned back against him, and he kneaded her breasts harder.
He watched her lids close. With the water cascading down on them and the look of pleasure dawning on her face, she looked like a water goddess, and his desire for her almost knew no bounds. Gritting his teeth for control, he captured her nipples between his fingers—
Her eyes flew open.
—and then he pinched.
Kalli jerked against his body, and he clenched his teeth harder as his cock slid up and down between the crack of her butt.
He turned her around and pushed her to the wall. “I’m going to eat you—”
Kalli whitened. “No!” She tried shoving him off. “Why? I’m not food!”
He laughed even as his balls ached harder with the way Kalli’s breasts jiggled at her every move. “Kalli. I don’t mean eat you literally.”
Her struggles subsided. “Oh.” She glared at him. “You should make yourself clear.”
“I’ll make it clear to you,” he promised solem
nly, “if you trust me to make you feel good.”
A slow, measured nod.
“Lean back against the wall.” When she had followed his order, he said huskily, “Now, just let yourself enjoy this.” He started with her breasts, rinsing the soap from them before bending his head down to take one nipple inside his mouth. He heard her gasp over his head and he pulled away, his gaze wicked as he looked up at her. “That’s what I mean by eating you.”
Then he went back to her nipple and started laving it with his tongue. When he felt her hands clutching his shoulders, he started sucking hard on her nipple. When he felt her hands move towards his hair, he gave her nipple a quick, hard bite and was rewarded with the reflexive tightening of her grip.
After doing the same to her other nipple, he pulled away, took the soap from the tray, and started soaping her legs. When he had rinsed them off, he looked into her eyes. “Ready?”
“Ready for what?” Her tone was bemused.
“This.” He started soaping her pussy.
“Aaaaah!”
He soaped her quickly but thoroughly and then rinsed her with equal care. Afterwards, he squatted down and did what he had been dying to do from the start.
He ate her pussy.
Above him, he heard her start to scream.
He licked and lapped her up. He thrust his tongue in and out of her folds. And when her hips started thrusting against his mouth, he gripped her in place before sucking on her clit.
“Yuri!”
He heard the panic in her voice and rose up immediately, knowing that it was Kalli’s first time to feel an orgasm building inside her. “It’s okay,” he murmured soothingly. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
Her eyes remained wide with confusion and terror.
“It’s going to be good. Just relax and trust me.” His body clenched at the way she gulped, visibly struggling with her fears before she slowly forced her body to relax. “It will be good,” he promised tautly just before diving his fingers back into her pussy. He found her clit without any problem, and locking his gaze with hers, he slowly pinched her clit between his fingers.
She buckled, and he pinched her again. She gasped, and he pinched her harder. She came at the fifth pinch, her eyes dilating as she moaned his name. Without taking his gaze off hers, he reached for his own dick with his other hand, and in seconds, he was gritting her name out as he, too, came.