The Winemaker's Dinner: Dessert (The Winemaker's Feast) (13 page)

As Jaden felt the last orgasmic tremors subside, Ivan withdrew his fingers from her body and released her. He backed away to lean against the opposite wall. She was taken aback by the feral glint in his eyes, but now was not the time or place to analyze anything. She wanted him to be in her.

She closed the gap between them and pressed her body against his. But he didn’t respond, not the way he usually would. His hands were knotted in his hair, his eyes raised to the sky above them. It was clear he wasn’t interested in talking, but at that moment neither was she. Moving into hardcore seduction mode, she brushed her breasts against him. He moaned, but when she tried to kiss him, he dodged her lips and offered his neck to her. She took what he gave. As she bit his neck, she reached between them and ran her hand across his hard cock, still tucked away. When she pulled back to look at his face, his eyes were closed and a tense wrinkle knit across his brow. She unzipped his pants and heard him hiss as she took him in her hand. She stroked the length of him once, twice, and on the third pull, his eyes flew open and locked on hers.

Ivan’s breathing was heavy but controlled as she continued to manipulate him. Then finally, he ran his hands along the sides of her neck and tangled them in her hair. He studied her as he held her face in his hands, then pulled her roughly to his lips and moaned loudly in her mouth before he broke away.

Jaden quickly found him again and moved her hand in a steady motion while she rubbed her body against his. His stomach flexed and twitched with every stroke, and as she watched, his eyes rolled back in his head and the veins and muscles in his neck strained under the intensity.

“Wait,” he said sharply, glancing over his shoulder.

She did as he asked but didn’t back away or let go. Ivan reached between them and moved himself out of her grip with a bit of a groan. He stepped back and zipped up his pants.

Jaden smoothed her dress, and when they both looked somewhat presentable, she took his hand and led him to the street. “Follow me.”

Cars sped past in a blur as they stood on the sidewalk. Jaden signaled for a taxi. When at last they were able to hail one, they fell into the backseat.

“Where to?” the taxi driver asked.

Jaden could feel Ivan’s stare. Her place was farther, but she was making the decisions, at least for the moment. She gave him her address and the car raced toward her apartment. Silence settled over the backseat, and Jaden had no idea what to say—or if she should even speak. It had been six months since Ivan had even really acknowledged she existed, and what happened in the alleyway had certainly taken her by surprise. So much needed to be said, and yet there were no words.

She looked over at him sitting beside her and watched the lights from passing stores and streetlights dance across his face. The illumination accented his elegant features, and she longed to lean over and kiss him. But he didn’t hold her hand or snuggle up beside her. Instead, he sat wordless and motionless, a stranger of sorts. He offered her no more than the occasional casual glance, wearing a poker face she’d never seen and couldn’t read. It intrigued her sexually but worried her all the same.

It was undoubtedly him, but he was different, and not just because he’d let his hair grow out and grown a beard. There was a hardened edge to him now. Jaden stared at him as they rode in silence. She drew her hand to her swollen and tender lips, remembering the feel of his mouth on hers and the tickle of his whiskers against her cheeks. Her eyes drifted from the top of his head, past the cowlick in his hairline to his beautiful profile, the small scar above his left eyebrow, and the curve of his ear. Her hands were desperate to touch him. And yet she didn’t dare.

What did this mean? Why had he done this? Did he want her back? Did he forgive her, or had her actions changed him, and changed them, forever? But the answers didn’t really matter. She needed him, and she wanted this—whatever
this
was. No matter the consequences, she’d pay them just to have him back, even if for only a moment in time.

“You can stop here,” she called to the driver and threw a ten-dollar bill onto the front seat. Without a word, she reached for Ivan’s hand and pulled him from the cab.

Chapter 18

“Hold On”

A
S
T
HE
E
LEVATOR
A
SCENDED
, Jaden’s mind raced. What did this mean? Did she have the right to be hopeful after what she’d done to him? To them? God, she hoped so.

In the light now, she studied him more carefully than the dim alley and taxi had allowed. When her focus shifted from his sharp jaw and lips to his eyes, slightly obscured by the errant strands of hair that hung over his face, she found him staring back at her. He seemed to look into her soul in a way he’d never done before. Or maybe she’d just forgotten. It was as if he searched for the answer to a question that hadn’t been asked out loud.

The tension between them grew ever thicker, and their silence more and more awkward. But what should you say to a man who’d just had his way with you against a damp brick wall after you refused his proposal months ago? “I’m sorry” just didn’t seem like enough. “I’ll do whatever it takes” was a start, but based on the way he looked at her from across the elevator, she suspected he already knew that. The question was: Would it be enough?

Goose bumps pricked at her skin, and she shivered with anticipation as his lips curled into a seductive smile. She watched his face as he studied her. She could tell he was in to this, but was he in to
her?
That was harder to say. Jaden bit her lip and waited for his reaction, which was pretty much instantaneous. He tried to conceal his mounting…
interest
…by shifting his stance, but she knew him too well. She smiled, feeling more confident, but then the heavy-lidded gaze he turned on her went dark, sexy, and dangerously raw—not like the Ivan she remembered at all. She could feel her heart beating in her throat. Evidently a little danger and a whole lot of sexy was one hell of a turn on for her. Good thing too, because the shadow that darkened his eyes seemed to be setting the mood for the evening.

With a ping, the doors to the elevator slid open, but neither of them moved, their eyes locked in a lusty stare. The old Ivan would have guided her out of the elevator with his hand at the small of her back or by taking her hand in his. However, after a moment, this new Ivan gestured to the open door and tipped his head toward the corridor with a smile.

Jaden grabbed his hand as she passed, towing him out of the elevator behind her. She tried to steady her breathing as she walked down the hall. If she hadn’t been able to feel the warmth of his hand in hers, she might have been convinced this was all a dream. And even so, if she glanced over her shoulder or closed her eyes too tightly, she wondered if he might disappear as he had so many times in her fantasies. She dared a look behind her. He was here now, and she was going to make tonight amazing for as long as he wanted. And after that, if he ever let her speak, she’d fall at his feet, repentant for her sins, and hope he believed there was something between them to salvage. For her, there was no doubt.

Resigned to whatever lay ahead, she gripped his hand tighter and picked up the pace. When Jaden stalled at the door, fumbling for the key, he grasped her waist, warming her hip bones with grip that screamed eroticism and need. Her body reacted immediately as a hint of the old Ivan rushed through her. His closeness behind her made it impossible to fit the damn key into the lock. The feel of his breath on the back of her neck was intensified by his beard as it raked across her spine. She arched her back and pushed her ass into his crotch, relishing the hardness that pressed back against her.

Finally managing the lock, she flung the door open and the two plunged inside. She turned in his arms and met his eyes, silently pleading for what her mind, body, and soul craved. Without words she grasped his shirt, pulling him into her darkened apartment and back into her life—at least for tonight. She would take it. She’d take anything he offered.

Ivan gathered her roughly in his arms and searched her face with that unfamiliar gaze. He kicked up his foot and slammed the door behind them, then pulled her close to kiss her hard. Jaden dropped her bag and keys at their feet and put everything she had into kissing him back. Her relentlessness matched his aggression. She guided him toward her bedroom as they ripped at each other’s clothing like wild beasts. She sent buttons flying as she exposed his chest and stomach. Ivan grasped her waist and threw her onto the bed in a fury of passion and want.

In the pale moonlight she watched as he pulled his tattered shirt from his body and threw it to the floor beside him. He slid his hands up the sides of her legs, beneath the hem of her dress, and grasped her lacy panties, ripping them from her body. He looked down on her, breathing heavily, as if he were considering something. Jaden searched his face, quietly trying to reach the part of him that might still love her—the soft part of his heart that might bring him back. But all she could discern was carnal desire staring back at her, and she couldn’t help but lick her lips in response. As Ivan bent down, she braced herself for what was sure to be pure ecstasy. He grabbed her hips roughly and dragged her ass toward him, forcing her dress up around her waist as she moved across the bed, spreading herself open for him.

She arched her back as she felt his hot breath wash over her damp pussy. Running her fingers through his hair, she shuddered as his tongue began exploring her. She couldn’t help but moan aloud as he tongued her further and further into a frenzy, pulling begging whimpers of
fuck me
and
love me
from her.

As he slid a finger into her, Jaden nearly came at just the thought of him fucking her. When he slid the second one in, she did. Exploding around his fingers and tongue, she rocked her body back and forth.
God, this is it
she thought as she ground her pussy against his bristled face and pulled at his long hair. She’d dreamed of being back in his embrace for so long, and she was finally there, her hips held in place as his mouth coaxed her to climax. She held back tears as her orgasm subsided and her body slowed its rhythm. Returning to his feet, Ivan tossed his long, dark hair away from his face.

He looked down at her once again as he unbuttoned his pants. They dropped to the floor, along with his briefs. His dick stood fully erect, and Jaden marveled at the authority and demand that radiated from his body. Offering herself in the best way she knew how, she rolled onto her stomach and presented her ass to him. It was his. And only his.

As Jaden adjusted her position, clearly offering herself to him, Ivan felt a rush of entitlement. This was his redemption. This was his sexual justice. Except…

He knelt and reached into his pants pocket for a condom. No matter how much he needed this, there were rules. Tearing it open with his teeth, he made quick work of rolling it over his shaft. The smell of sex filled his nostrils as lust soaked his brain. He grabbed her hips and positioned his cock at the entrance of this long, lost secret that he loved so much.
Mine.

Running his tongue along his beard, he savored the flavor she’d left on him—the definition of sex. Focusing his attention, Ivan steadied himself with his firm grasp on her hips. He repositioned his hands and held her tightly against him. He closed his eyes, and with a final push he entered a world that soothed his spirit, sedated his tortured mind, and brought him untainted pleasure for the first time in ages. The sensations were blinding, deafening, and overwhelming as he entered her over and over again, pushing deeper with every thrust. More, harder, farther, the freak, his body, and his own soul demanded as his fingers encircled her waist, pulling her harder and faster into his strokes. His body rejoiced as it fucked itself to contentment, and his mind celebrated being set free from the prison that had held it these past months.