A quick shower washed off the jail stench. Dressed in a T-shirt and tracksuit pants, he quickly toweled his hair dry before dialing Alice’s number.
“Are you all right?” her sweet voice asked.
“Never better. Can I come over?”
There was a small hesitation, enough to work him into an immediate state of agitation. “Don’t want to see me, Princess?”
“I have company.”
He tensed to the point of snapping. “Who?”
“Sean and Maya.”
His shoulders slumped, again. For a moment he’d thought… He couldn’t even go there in his thoughts. “See you in twenty.” He hung up before she could protest.
Donald pulled away from the curb and stopped next to Ivan as he left his building through the back.
“Get in,” the bodyguard said.
Ivan leaned on the open window. “Still working for Kate?”
Donald pulled his shoulders up to his ears. “Who else? I’m on contract.”
“I thought after this morning you would’ve bailed.”
“What can I say? I need the money.”
Ivan grinned and got into the car. “Sorry about that.”
“Comes with the job.” He put the car into gear. “Where to?”
“Alice’s place.”
“I’m sorry about Ben.” Donald shot him a quick glance as he steered the car into the traffic.
“Me, too. I shouldn’t have put him under so much stress. They released him before they let me out.”
After a while, when Donald didn’t speak, Ivan said, “Aren’t you going to ask what happened?”
“Don’t want to know.”
“Good answer.”
The same SUV from that morning was parked in front of Alice’s house.
“Staying?” Ivan asked as he got out of the car.
“Whatever your orders are.”
“Keep an eye out.”
“Sure.” Donald saluted him.
Alice had the door open by the time he arrived on her step. Her face was a little pale, but besides that, nothing of the morning’s debacle showed in her physical appearance. Her white dress didn’t have a crease and her hair was smoothed back into a ballerina bun. A fragrance of vanilla wafted from the house.
Giving him a once-over, she evaluated him with her gaze. “Come in.”
She backed up, but before she could escape, he grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her hard. A little shiver wracked her body.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Princess.” He pulled her hard against his chest.
Her body melted in his embrace for only a second before she straightened and glanced over her shoulder.
He stepped inside and locked the door behind him. “Where are they?”
She lifted her eyes to the landing. “Upstairs.”
Not able to wait longer, he took her hand and pulled her down the hallway.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Kitchen.”
The smell of baking welcomed him when he pulled her through the door. It was comfortably warm inside the room. A cake was rising in the oven. For the first time in a very long time, he felt at home.
He buried his nose in her hair. The same vanilla scent that infused the air clung to the soft strands. He lowered his head to nuzzle her neck and inhaled the sweet perfume of her skin. This was where he belonged. To him, Alice was home. The nagging voices were quiet.
“You smell like cake,” he whispered against her ear.
“Sorry. I’ve been baking all evening.”
She arched her back, trying to put distance between them, but he didn’t ease his hold.
“I meant it as a compliment.” He planted a kiss on the shell of her ear and licked a path down to her shoulder. “Mm, delicious. What is it?”
Her arms broke out in goosebumps. “Nothing extraordinary. It’s just Madeira.”
He liked her reaction to his touch, but her hands should be on him, not hanging limply at her sides. More than ever, he needed her touch, her reassurance that this was real.
“Touch me, Alice.”
“Ivan…” She bit her lip.
“Don’t you want to?”
“It’s not that.”
He cupped her breast and rolled the tip between his fingers through the fabric of her dress. “What is it?”
She gasped softly, and then louder when he gave a gentle pinch. While she was making up her mind about why she shouldn’t touch him, he did all the touching he’d been craving. He dipped a hand under her dress and stroked his palm up her inner thigh. Her skin was smooth and soft, the juncture between her legs beckoning.
“Ivan…” Her breath caught when he reached her sex.
Hearing the desire in her voice, he smiled with satisfaction. “What is it, Princess?” His fingers played over the silk of her panties. He wanted his cock in her so badly he was ready to come in his pants. “I shouldn’t stay away from you so long,” he gritted out.
He wasn’t going to last one second more. He cupped her pussy while his thumb found her clit, caressing it with circular movements. When she parted her lips on a soundless gasp, he kissed her hard, taking her mouth like he wanted to take her body. Her knees dipped at the same time she opened her lips wider to let his tongue inside. With one arm around her waist and the other under her dress, he marched her to the wall and pressed her against it for support. She made a protesting sound as her back hit the bricks.