Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Dex

I come to a screeching halt, making a couple behind us nearly bash into me in the process. I don’t care about their displeased grumbling. Or even the cold any longer—though it’s certainly no joke and likely to cause frostbite very soon.

“What do you mean you’ve only ever had an orgasm with yourself before? Explain. Now.”

She stares at me as if I’m a wild creature, but I don’t care.

“What’s there to explain? You’re the first guy to ever give me an orgasm from sex, and the guys I’ve been with before did a little foreplay, but not a lot, and they never seemed to care what I liked or didn’t.” She shrugs haplessly. “It didn’t feel the way it does when you do it, and it never… you know… led to that.”

“Faina…” I trail off. “Can I see your mobile for a moment?”

Her eyes narrow. “Why?”

“Because that slimy, sniveling, wormbag of an ex of yours called you boring in bed when he’s the one who never gave you an orgasm. Faina, that’s just…” I shake my head in furious disbelief. “It’s criminal. But what’s worse is that he made you believe that you were the problem and not him. I’ve been with you for one day, and I can tell you with one-hundred percent certainty that you’re the best sex I’ve ever had, and not to sound crass or even bragging, because it sort of comes with my job, but I’ve had a lot of sex with a lot of different women. I wanted to hurt him before for making you doubt yourself—because no man should ever have that sort of power over you—but now I intend to kill him with my bare hands, and I need your mobile so I can call him and find out where he is.”

Faina blinks her pretty blue eyes at me as something passes across her features I can’t quite read. In a flash, she’s grabbing my gloved hand and marching me toward the restaurant. She plows us through the doors and tells the host we need a table for two in the back.

The kid doesn’t so much as blink in my direction, which is a relief, as he grabs two laminated menus and walks us through the restaurant. I keep my head down and angled away—a natural instinct at this point—until we reach a round table with a high-back semi-circle booth.

“Perfect,” she exclaims, and then all but shoves me in, pushing me along until I scoot in to make room for her.

The host hands her the menus and leaves, and I turn on her. “Are you going to explain?”

“Shhh,” she hisses at me just as our waiter arrives, pouring water into our glasses and greeting us. “Not yet,” she whispers to me under her breath.

“Would you like a drink while you look over the menu?” he asks.

“Can we have five minutes? My boyfriend and I are just finishing up an argument.”

“Oh, sure,” he says, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise and a little discomfort. “I’ll be back.”

He walks off, and then Faina turns on me. “You have to promise to do something for me.”

“Uh, all right. What is it?”

“The idea of kneeling on a bathroom floor grosses me out, but I want to do this so badly I can’t wait. Coach me through it so I know what you like and remember to keep as quiet as you can.”

Words and confusion catch in my throat for approximately two seconds. Because that’s all it takes for her hand to start rubbing my still semi-hard cock over the zipper of my trousers. My balls instantly draw up, already aching and needing release from what we did on the gondola.

“Princess,” I rasp, trying—I swear I’m fucking trying—to maintain some semblance of rational thinking, but it proves nearly impossible with all the blood in my brain shooting down to fill up my cock. She peers up at me through dark lashes and gives me a coy smile that will haunt me for eons to come. There is no way I can deny what she’s about to do.

I want it too badly.

Even in a restaurant with hundreds of people around us.

“Take me out and lick me.”

With eager, obedient fingers, she undoes the button and zipper and then slides her small hand into the soft cotton of my boxer briefs. She grips the base of my dick, frees him, and then bends under the table to run her tongue from the base all the way up to my tip, where she swirls her tongue around the fat head of my cock.

I hiss, one hand flying out to grip the table, the other finding the thick, glossy mess of her hair. I can’t remember the last time Elsie went down on me. Ages at least, but I swear to all that is holy, once again, it never felt like this. So hot and wet and timid, which somehow only seems to make it more wickedly sinful.

She does it again, flattening her tongue on the sensitive underside, her head ducked beneath the table, and I can’t believe Faina is sucking me off in a crowded restaurant. It’s unfathomable and easily the hottest thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ve pretty much done everything.

“That’s it, love. You can suck me now. Take me down your throat as deep as you can until you gag. I want to hear it. I want to see that moment in your eyes when my cock is too much for your pretty little mouth.”

She moans, her eyes swirling with heat, and I groan, even as I try to fight it. Her mouth… hell. Her mouth is going at me like sucking cock is her favorite sport, and she’s in it to win it. Her head dips down, diving as far as she can go, and when I hit the resistance at the back of her throat, she dutifully gags and then swallows, and I swear, Santa and his reindeer fly behind my eyes and promise me the world in her mouth.

She pulls off with a wet pop, catches her breath, throws me a look that could make me come right now, and then dives back down as deep as she can go once more. I can’t stop the groan this time. The way she’s sucking me down and bobbing on me as if there has never been anything better in her mouth has me smacking the table and shooting my hips up.

I cannot believe Faina—my good girl Faina of all people, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen—is doing this, and that only makes it hotter. My hand runs through her hair, brushing the strands back from her face and clasping them in a makeshift ponytail. I want to see her face and the angle is already crap for that given the confines of the table. Quickly my gaze scans out, making sure no one can see what we’re doing, but the table they put us in is perfect.

We’re completely shaded by the high booth and its curve, so I return my focus to my princess, already starting to wonder after only one day how I’ll let her go at the end of the week.

She dips back down, and I hold her there for a second, my eyes burning with heat as tears start to line hers. A shudder wracks through me as I slide back out, her cheeks hollowing and lips dragging as I do.

“Motherfuck, Faina. Jesus, that’s good. You are perfect. So bloody perfect, I can hardly stand it.”

Her hand wraps around the base of my cock, and she starts stroking me deeper into her mouth. With her doing this, with us being here, it won’t take me long. As much as I want this to last and last, we simply don’t have the leisure of it.

“You’ll do this again later,” I tell her through clenched teeth as sweat breaks out on my forehead. “Only I’ll be eating your pussy while you do. Shit.”

I bring my fingers that were inside of her up to my nose, inhaling her scent, and that’s what does it. The smell of her, the mental image of Faina sitting backward on my face, the magnificent way she’s sucking and gagging and swallowing and licking me has my hips bucking, my grip in her hair tightening, my balls drawing up, and my cum shooting down her throat.

She chokes and gags but continues to suck and swallow and finish me off until I’m nothing but hers. Soft and compliant and utterly spent. Using my grip on her hair, I pull her up, cup her jaw in my hand, stare into her breath-robbing eyes, and kiss her. Deep and hard and more passionately than I think I’ve ever kissed a woman before.

I chuckle against her lips. “How has it only been one day with you?”

It feels like ages. Like months and years, and yet at the same time, not nearly enough. This week won’t be nearly enough as there is no limit to the things I want to do with her.

“All made up now?” the waiter asks, and I laugh against Faina’s lips as I shift forward so he can’t see my softening cock that’s still out.

“Yup. All good,” I declare and glance over to him. “Sorry, mate. We need another few minutes. I promise, we’ll make it worth your while.”

Recognition lights his face, and there will be no privacy for us this week unless we make our own.

“Oh, sure, man. That’s great. Take all the time you need. I’ll be over there.” He points to a far corner. “Just signal whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks. We appreciate that.” He scuttles away, his face already on his phone, and I groan. And then laugh as I go about tucking myself back in and zipping up. I turn back to her. “Where was I?” I move in to kiss her again, but she pulls back.

“People will start to watch us now that he’s recognized you.”

“Right.” I tilt my head, still unable to remove my smile. “So, I shouldn’t kiss you then?”

She pushes in one of the dimples on my cheek. “Nope. I’m going to the restroom. Then let’s order because I’m starving.”

“My cum was just an appetizer then?”

She rolls her eyes, but I follow after her, needing the loo myself. I do my thing and wash my hands, and by the time I return to the table, she’s not yet returned. I start to glance over the menu when I get a text from Will.

Will: Fevers suck, and I feel like death, but this is my PSA to you that if you hurt my wife’s twin, otherwise known as my sister-in-law, I will be forced from my deathbed to kick your British rock star ass back across the pond.

Me: Sorry you’re feeling dicky, mate. Best wishes with that. And fuck you in your arsehole, because I am not going to hurt Faina. We’re having fun, and neither of us is looking for anything more. You should know, I’d never hurt her.

I bristle, ready to start typing more to him but stop myself. He’s just looking out for Faina, and I appreciate that, but I am too. She asked me to help, and that’s what I’m doing, and in doing so, she’s also helping me. It’s mutually beneficial, and we’re both in the same place on this. With an expiration date.

That’s growing closer and closer with every passing second.

Will: You mean because you’ve secretly been obsessed with her since you were fifteen and learned all the fun you could have with your dick while thinking about her?

I roll my eyes like a child.

Me: I’ve not been obsessed with her.

Will: What would you have called it then? You used to watch her like a creeper.

Me: Did not.

Will: Did too. And Ava agrees with me. It’s why she never told Faina you had a crush on her, even though everyone knew you did, with the exception of Faina.

Me: What’s that supposed to mean?

Will: I think you know.

I grunt, tossing my phone on the table face down. A strange, uncomfortable sensation washes over me, but I quickly shove it aside, glancing up just in time to watch Faina exit the loo and head back toward me. Her face is down, her eyes shadowed, giving me the opportunity to watch her unobserved, and that sensation comes back, only this time it slams straight into me.

Was I obsessed with her? Have I been all these years?

I wanted her at Will’s wedding. I couldn’t hide it, and Elsie saw it. But I remember feeling thunderstruck when she walked into the church. I hadn’t seen her since school, and there she was, and I remember wanting to rush over to say hi. I didn’t, of course. Instead, I was a miserable prick to her and spent the night trying not to think about the way her hand felt on my arm as I escorted her down the aisle or the way her small body fit so perfectly against mine when I was forced to dance with her.

I resented Elsie that night.

I resented her because I protected her feelings instead of Faina’s. I resented her because she was there, and that meant I couldn’t talk to or look at Faina. For months and months after, I resented her for that. But I also knew my resentment was futile. There was a reason why Ava never mentioned to Faina that I had a crush on her, and I was all too aware of it.

I was a bad boy, and she was a good girl. We all knew she deserved better, and I didn’t dispute that. Plus, she was out of my league, and I didn’t dare to imagine she’d ever return my affections. Over the years, Will would mention Faina in passing, and I’d jump all over him like a dog seeking a treat for any tidbits I could gather about her.

I knew she was in Boston.

I knew she was in PR and marketing.

But it was just something that was there. Useless thoughts that lingered in the back of my mind with no chance of becoming reality. Except now, here we are.

She pops down onto the bench and scoots in, picking up her menu and perusing it. I’m holding mine, though I can’t tell you anything on it. My heart is too busy pounding in my chest. And that strange sensation… it’s everywhere.

“Do you have a Christmas wish?” I ask her out of absolutely nowhere.

A bemused sort of giggle tickles past her lips. “A Christmas wish?”

“Yeah,” I continue, nervously licking my lips and gripping the menu just a bit tighter. “Something you wish would come true that you only ask for this time of year since it’s the only time of year where it doesn’t feel silly to do so. Something that feels impossible, but you’d give anything to have.”

She leans back against the booth. “I don’t know,” she says softly. “I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about it like that.”

But I can see it in her eyes. There is something.

“Go on,” I push. “You can trust me with it.”

She sighs and then glances down at her hands still holding the menu. “I guess I’d want to run my own company. I’ve thought about it off and on over the years, but the timing never felt right. Not to mention the risk that comes with it.”

“And now?”

Her eyes come back up to meet mine. “And now I’m not sure. The timing feels better, but the risk is still there, and I don’t know how to do that in Boston after what just happened. I’m likely making a bigger deal out of it than I should be, but maybe this was all fate’s way of telling me it’s time for a change. That I should take the leap and not be afraid.”

“Do you believe everything happens for a reason?”

“No,” she answers quickly. “My parents are dead, and I can’t think of one reason for that to have happened.” Her parents died in a car wreck when she was at university.

I nod in concession because I feel exactly the same way about my mum and dad. “I don’t either, truth be told. But I do believe that sometimes fate steps in when you need it the most.”

“What’s your Christmas wish?” she asks, and my immediate thought is you . Because I think it might be. I think Will is right, and I’ve wanted Faina for as long as I can remember. And she’s here, right in front of me, both of us escaping our lives at the exact same time.

“To be worthy of all the special and beautiful things of this world and to grab on with both hands when the right opportunity is in front of me.”

I may not believe everything happens for a reason, but I do believe fate brought us together. I just have to find a way to prove it to her.