Maelstrom

Chapter 41: Clearly an Idiot

A shiver coursed up my spine as that heat enveloped me. My breath caught in my throat as Ivan lifted my right leg by the ankle and laid it across his lap.

"Do you think I need protection from you?" I asked; I was striving for a light tone, but the question came out breathlessly. His fingers trailed lightly up the inside of my leg, igniting my skin like lit matches.

"Most definitely," he murmured. His hand brushed past my knee and continued up my inner thigh.

I was starting to lose anything resembling self-possession. "I'm pretty sure I can handle you myself."

"Can you?" he asked. His fingers had reached the ludicrously high hem of my dress and continued their slow exploration past that flimsy boundary.

"Yes," I lied. I gasped as Ivan's fingernails grazed over the gusset of my stockings, producing another surge of wetness between my legs.

"Let's find out," he whispered. In an instant his mouth was on mine, parting my lips with his skillful tongue, making me moan with my need for him. My hands slid into his unbuttoned suit coat and around to his back, tugging on the silky fabric of his shirt, desperate for the feel of his skin.

"We're here," the cabbie barked.

Ivan slipped out of my hands like smoke, opening the door and pulling me after him in one liquid movement. I barely remembered to grab the opera cloak and my bag off the seat before I was disgorged onto the harsh, cold pavement of the city sidewalk. I barely felt the biting February wind as I scurried to the front door of Ivan's building and ducked inside.

The doorman greeted Ivan warmly, struggling hopelessly to keep the knowing smile off his face.

"Good evening, Joey," Ivan returned. He didn't slow his pace even a tick as he wrapped an arm about me and ushered me to the elevator at the back of the lobby.

The seconds it took for the elevator doors to open were agony. Ivan's hand on my hip was crushing me into him, belying the calm he projected. I knew that his affected cool demeanor was for Joey and therefore, indirectly, for me. He wasn't the type of man to be embarrassed by what anyone thought of him, but obviously he would not disrespect me by flaunting the reason he had brought me home with him tonight. I fought the urge to rest my head on his hard shoulder.

Finally, the doors parted, and we practically ran into the elevator. Ivan produced a set of keys from his trouser pocket, inserted one into the lock on the elevator's panel, and punched the button for the top floor. As the doors slid shut, he was on me.

My head thumped against the vibrating wall as Ivan pressed me against the handrail. His hand ran up the back of my thigh to my ass as his mouth greedily devoured mine. He broke off the kiss in frustration.

"Why did I buy you these things instead of the thigh-high kind you were wearing the other night?" he grunted. He hiked my knee up under his arm and began deftly unbuckling my sandal.

"Maybe you were thinking more of how they would look with the dress than of accessibility," I guessed, lifting my lips to recapture his mouth. My shoe hit the floor of the elevator with a dull thunk, and I quickly put that foot down and lifted my right to remove the other sandal.

"I'm clearly an idiot," Ivan whispered against my lips before sliding his tongue inside my mouth again. We heard the second shoe drop, and Ivan slid both hands up my dress, ruching it up my belly so he could hook his thumbs into the waistband of my stockings and slide the silky fabric over the lace boyshort and down the smooth curves of my ass. Thank God this elevator seemed to be moving at the pace of an overburdened sloth climbing a tree.

With a rumble deep in his throat, Ivan released my mouth and dropped to one knee to continue peeling me out of my stockings. My eyes closed and my mouth fell open as his strong, sure fingers caressed my legs. I lifted one leg to the side to pull my foot free and almost jumped out of my skin as he brushed his lips across the ivory lace covering the mound of my sex. Ivan forced my thigh higher and pressed his face into me, nuzzling and nipping through the thin fabric. My head thumped back against the elevator's wall again, and I panted wildly at the thought that I might come right there and then.

The doors whooshed open to reveal a blessedly empty, fairly short hallway. Ivan impatiently threw my shoes and the forgotten cape out of the elevator and onto the floor, then yanked the stockings off my other foot and tossed them out as well. Before I could gather my wits enough to move, Ivan grabbed my left hand and the back of my right thigh and rose, lifting me onto his shoulder and carrying me, firefighter-style, out of the elevator and down the hall to the only door on the right.

He released my hand to dig for his keys again, and I frantically grabbed hold of his hips to steady myself, dropping my clutch so that it dangled from the strap around my wrist. I couldn't hold in the breathless laughter any longer and practically giggled in outraged delight as he unlocked the door to his apartment and carried me in.

Using my hands on his back and some highly toned core muscles, I righted myself on Ivan's shoulder. He took my cue and loosened his hold enough to let me slide ... slowly ... down the front of his body. I inhaled sharply as I glided over the hard bulk of his erection and settled on the ground in front of him. There were no lights on in the apartment, but the dim amber glow from the city outside the windows was enough to make out half of his beautifully sculpted face as he brought it down to kiss me again.

I heard the soft clicks of a pair of deadbolts sliding into place, then both his hands were on me and I collided with another wall. I was starting to be grateful for the slight cushion of my chignon as he pinned me again with his mouth. I slipped my wrist free of my bag and, whimpering softly beneath the ardor of his kiss, pushed his suit coat off his shoulders and onto the floor.

Already free of the stockings, I hooked a leg around his hips and pulled him hard against me. I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and freed the back of it from his trousers. My mouth curved into a wicked smile against his lips as I ran my fingers over the hot silk of his skin, felt the rippling play of his muscles as he pulled away from me to slide his hands under my dress and onto my hips. With a single, smooth tug, he pulled my panties off of me, and I scissored my thighs slightly to coax them to the floor.

Ivan reached between my legs, gently probing the wet folds of my sex. I moaned against his mouth as he glided his thumb over my clit and slipped a long finger inside of me. My sex clamped down on him, and he growled softly. My hands quickly unbuckled his belt and began unfastening his pants.

"I don't know if I can wait," he panted. I unzipped him and pushed the trousers off his lean hips.

"Don't wait," I gasped. "I can't."