Page 18 of Sweet Dreams
I straightened up, pulled out of Ivan's embrace, and said, "Thanks, babe, but I need to keep doing my normal activities. That'll help more than anything. If I sit here at home, I'll have too much time to just think and worry. Besides, I may have to hire a private detective in the future, so I better drum up some business. I've got a meeting with the property management company about running a spring event with some of the other vendors and I don't want to miss it. But I won't stay too late. I promise I won't be burning the midnighttrain."
Ivan burst out laughing. "Um, okay, I'm glad all the midnight trains are safe. Maybe you shouldn't burn the midnight oileither."
I cocked my head to the side and turned the words around in my head. "Yeah, that's what Imeant."
He just looked at me with amusement and shook his head in defeat. "I'll drop you off on the way to work." Then he pulled me back in with one hand around my waist and the other cupping my face. "How about dinner at my place tonight? I'll cook, you can relax, then spend the night with me. What do you say?" he continued in a lower voice, eyes becoming lazy and heated. It was a good look onhim.
"Well, I can't refuse that offer. But only if you'll let me help you makedinner.”
“You know, you really need to learn to let someone take care of you. I'm cooking you dinner and you can't help. You can sit in the kitchen with a glass of wine and chat with me, but that's it. I want you to relax. You got me?" Ivan had a stern look on hisface.
"Yes, sir! Now may I go get dressed, please?" I asked with fake innocence. A little sass would make sure he didn't think he could always get his way. At least, that's what I toldmyself.
"Yes, I'll allow it," Ivan teased, smiling at me. I gave him a nasty glare before turning to go upstairs to my room. I yelped when he smacked me on my ass, spurring me into a run to escapehim.
"Watch out, hottie lifeguard! Payback's a bitch..." I warned him as I ran up the stairs. I know he saw the evil gleam in my eye, but he just smiled back at me, like you would at a cute, mischievous puppy. Clearly, I would have to work on mythreats.
11
Later that night,Ivan took me home to his place, a condo north of Main Street. It was two stories, with shared walls on both sides. The inside was decorated in sleek modern lines and grey-blue colors. It was surprisingly clean for a guy's house, but then again, Ivan wasn't your typical frat boy with a bachelor pad. He set me up with a glass of wine and a barstool in the kitchen while he made usdinner.
"It's nothing fancy, but it'll be quick. And also good for us," he told me with a wink. He pulled out a large saucepan and tossed in two bags of frozen Asian vegetable mix. He set it on the stove toheat.
"I would expect nothing less from you. Besides, I haven't been able to do my beach runs with all the craziness, so I could use a little bit of healthy.” I sipped my wine, enjoying theshow.
"You look damn good to me. But healthy food is good for more than just what you look like. The right food will give you good energy and strength, not to mention stamina," Ivan said with a wink. Okay, seriously, before an ovary exploded, I needed to sleep with this man. My expectations were getting higher and higher, so I hoped I wasn't setting myself up for disappointment. My gut told me Ivan wouldn'tdisappoint.
He turned his gaze from me to the chicken breast he was chopping. He added it to the pan, covered it with a lid, then washed his hands before throwing down the towel and stalking over to me. He took my wineglass out of my hand and set it on the counter. One hand fisted in the back of my hair as he tilted my head back and claimed my lips with his. He let out a low moan as his tongue swept through my mouth. He deepened the kiss and pressed my body into his as he crowded me into the counter. I wasn't in control of this kiss as it was all Ivan. With my head tilted back and sandwiched between his body and the counter, I was at his mercy. I usually enjoyed being in control of everything around me, but his claiming me was electrifying and it turned me on somethingfierce.
"Hmm, I missed you today," Ivan whispered against my lips as he came up for air. Then he sniffed and straightened up suddenly. He pivoted to the stove, jaw locked in irritation. "Ah shit, I almost burned our dinner," he said as he lifted the lid on the pan, turned down the burner, and tossed in some soy sauce and a splash of hoisin sauce. "You're dangerously distracting, Ms. Grant, sitting there with your hair all tousled from my kiss," he said over his shoulder with a slygrin.
I touched my fingers to my lips, feeling them swollen and definitely wanting more. I also wanted to know how he learned to casually toss the word 'tousled' into a conversation. Ivan was turning out to be an intriguing mix of typical macho male behavior and old-fashioned Victorianhousewife.
I knew he was busy making dinner, but as I sat sipping my wine, I was wondering if we could go back to the kissing portion of this date before we sat down to eat. Suddenly I was ravenous, not for food, but for a taste of Ivan. I think I could feast entirely on his body. So many places I wanted to lick and nip. How far would he let me go before he put an end to it? Was I ready to take thingsfurther?
Ivan interrupted my thoughts by placing two steaming plates of chicken stir-fry on the dining table. He was looking at me expectantly, head tilted toward the waiting food. I got up and joined him at the table, realizing I must have completely zoned him out. The steam was rising from my plate, carrying the scent of the Chinese food Iloved.
I took my first bite, chewed, swallowed, and grabbed his hand. I pleaded in my best throaty voice, "Marry menow."
Ivan laughed and dug back into his plate. "I'm glad you like it. Maybe you should wait to see if I can take out the trash before you offer yourself up in marriage,huh?"
"Nah, I'm easy. You can make Chinese food. I'm sold.” I laughed and continued eating withgusto.
We spent the whole meal talking about our day and little things that came up at work. Ivan was a good listener and offered ideas when I asked for them. Otherwise, he just listened and asked questions. Very easily, I could see us sitting like this every night, enjoying each other's company. It was probably too soon to be thinking that far in the future, but I was taking it as a good sign. He never once told me what to do, or belittled my ideas. Already a complete opposite ofJackass.
Speaking of Jackass. As we were finishing up our meal, Ivan finally asked, "I know this is a touchy subject, but I have to ask...do you feel comfortable telling me why you had a five-year drystreak?"
Ah, the ex-boyfriend conversation. I knew I'd have to have it, I'd just been avoiding it. It was hard to talk about and I didn't want Ivan to view me differently, knowing the crap I put up with before. I wasn't the same girl anymore, and I hoped that he would see I'dchanged.
"Well, it's not a story I like to relive, but I'd like for you to know. I dated a guy in college. Name was Rylan. I was still emotionally raw since it was so soon after my parents died. Looking back now, I think he could see that. He was so sweet and attentive at first. He totally love-bombed me in the beginning." I took a deep breath. "And then once he knew I was committed to the relationship, after the first night we slept together, hechanged."
I brought my gaze back up to Ivan, searching his face for clues about how he might take all the details I was about to unload. "I'm not sure how much detail you want me to go into," Iwhispered.
Ivan ran his hand through his hair, his eyes tortured. I was sure this wasn't easy for him to hear. "I want to know everything so I can help you deal with your past. Make sure I don't do anything to hurt you, given your history." He ended with a firm nod, as if to convince himself, along with me, that he could handle the fullstory.
"Okay. Stop me if it's too much." I took a deep breath and launched into the ugly. "Our first time together, he was sloppy at first, then his hands pushed my head down to his lap with an obvious request. He kept his hand on the back of my head with a painfully tight grip on my hair. When he was done, he pulled me up the bed and just fell asleep. I was disappointed, of course, but wasn't alarmed quiteyet."
"At some point during the night I woke up on my side with hands grabbing my hips from behind as someone rubbed themselves along my backside. I barely got out his name before he lifted my leg and thrust into me. I remember it stung. He was thrusting into me roughly, grunting the whole time. He lifted my leg even higher toward my chest, pinning my knee to the mattress. With his upper body lying on top of me, I couldn't have moved even if I’d tried to fight it." I paused as Ivan looked down at his clenched fists, the muscle in his jaw twitching. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them, looked back to me, and nodded at me to continue. His eyes looked guarded, but I couldn't stop now. I had to get it all out, so I just keptgoing.
