“Why did she think Shay was dead?”
“Pelon said that Lalo, Shannon and Shay were missing. Everyone thinks Lalo killed Shay and Shannon and ran off to Mexico.”
“Who is Pelon?”
“My sister’s boyfriend,” Hector said. “He used to be in a gang, but he got out when they shot his brother. He’s a roughneck offshore now, but he’s still down. He hears all the good stuff.” Hector twisted in his seat “Hey, do you want to buy some wrapping paper?”
The swift change in subject amused Alexei. He started to tell the kid no but changed his mind. “Maybe.”
Hector reached for his backpack and dug around inside it until he found an ordering form and small catalog. “We’re raising money for school. If I sell enough paper, I get to take a limo to a pizza party with my friends.”
Alexei disliked the way the area schools pushed the kids to raise money like this. Every time he walked into the employee lounge at the dealership, someone was selling cookie dough or wrapping paper or some other bullshit. He hated the pressure to buy.
He flipped through the catalog and glanced at the order sheet. Shay’s name was the last one on the form. She had purchased three rolls of wrapping paper and a box of Christmas cards. The little smiley faces she had drawn inside each zero made him grin. She really was the sweetest thing. Maybe Hector’s mother was right. Maybe he did need a swift kick in the ass as a reminder that Shay could have any man she wanted.
Alexei did the math between what the kid had sold and what he needed to reach the grand prize level on the flyer. “I’m not interested in wrapping paper, but I’ll make a donation instead.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He wrote down the amount he was pledging in the correct spot on the form and then reached into his jacket for his checkbook. The last check he had written had been earlier that morning when one of the employees from the trailer park had come to the dealership with the invoice for Shay’s lease. As he scrawled on the check, he said, “If you don’t win that limo ride, you call Shay and she’ll tell me. I’ll make sure you and your friends get your party.”
There was a knock at the driver’s side window. A moment later, Shay’s face appeared. Alexei tore free the check and handed it to Hector along with the form and catalogue.
“Thanks.” Hector stuffed everything into his backpack. “For all of this.”
“When you get ready to buy a car, come by the lot for a test drive.”
The kid’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Sure.”
Hector practically bounced as he got out of the car. A few seconds later, Shay slid into the seat he had just vacated. She closed the door and put her hands on the wheel. Alexei waited for her to speak but it became clear that she wanted him to go first.
“I’m sorry, Shay.” It occurred to him that this was the second time he had said it to her today. You’ve got to be more careful with her. He was painfully aware that Shay could have any man she wanted. Right now, she wanted him, and he needed to work to make sure that never changed.
“What are you sorry for exactly?” Shay turned in her seat so she could look at him. “Because I need to know if you actually get it, Alexei, or if you’re just saying you’re sorry because you think that’s what I want to hear.”
“I should have told you about Spider having his daughter pack up your place. I should have told you—and not Stas—that those boxes were coming today.”
“You should have asked me if I wanted to move out of this house,” Shay corrected. “I thought you asked me to move in with you as a temporary thing. This is a huge step, Alexei. You should have made sure I was ready for it. You should have let me decide what to do with my home and my things.”
“I thought I was being helpful.” Alexei tried to explain his reasoning. “I’m used to the women in my life enjoying the way I take charge. I thought you would be relieved to not have to deal with it after everything else that’s happened in your life.”
“You would think that,” Shay said with a sad little smile playing on her lips. “And I get it, Alexei. I get that you show people you care by doing things like this.”
“I do care, Shay.” He reached for her hand. “I care more about you than I have any other woman.”
Just fucking tell her that you love her! But he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t ready. Coward.
“I believe you,” she said softly. “I do like the way you want to take care of me and help me—but you have to talk to me, Alexei. I don’t like the feeling of losing control when it comes to big decisions like this.”
“I will,” he promised. “I’m not perfect, and I’m going to fuck this up again—but I’ll try.”
Still holding his hand, Shay glanced out the window into the darkening evening. “I needed to make the decision to move out of this place on my own, Alexei. You sort of blindsided me with the penthouse and the mistress thing. I was still trying to wrap my head around that when you blindsided me with the move to your house. Then you shoved envelopes of money in my hand this morning. I’m just not sure where I stand anymore.”
Leaning over, he touched her face and drew her gaze. “You stand next to me, Shay. That’s where you belong.”
“Is it? Because I’m not sure you want an equal partner who walks beside you. I think you want a woman who is happy to walk a few steps behind you. I think you want someone you can lead and someone who won’t question your decisions.”
Alexei shifted uncomfortably. Her questions needled him. “I’ll be honest, Shay. I’ve always been the kind of man who likes to be in charge and in control of everything.”
“I don’t want to be controlled.”
“I don’t want to control you,” he assured her. “But I’d be a liar if I sat here and said that I don’t want to be the man of our house. I am who I am, Shay. I can change, but essentially, this is me.”
“I like the man you are.” Shay squeezed his hand. With a lopsided smile, she said, “You just piss me off sometimes.”
“I wish I could say I won’t piss you off again, but I’m a flawed man.”
“Your flaws aren’t that bad.” She touched his jaw. “You’re a good man. You’ve been nothing but kind and generous toward me.”
“But you wanted to leave this house and this neighborhood on your own terms,” Alexei guessed. “And with your own money?”
She nodded. “It feels like I didn’t earn it.”
“Fuck that,” he swore roughly. “You’re the hardest working woman I’ve ever met.” Brushing his knuckles along her cheek, he said, “You don’t have to be a martyr, Shay. It’s okay to let someone—to let me—help you. It took me decades to get where I am. I want to spare you that.”
Alexei captured her mouth in a tender kiss. He swept his finger down her jaw. “If I walked away right now, you would still make a success of your life. You’ve already proven that you can stand on your own two feet. You don’t need me. You don’t need any man to get where you want to go.” He leaned in and kissed her again. “But I hope you want me there with you. I hope you’ll let me help you reach your goals faster.”
Shay cupped his face in her small hands. “I do want you with me.”
“I just want to take care of you, Shay.” He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “It makes me feel—”
“Proud? Like a good provider? Like a man?” she guessed.
He nodded. “It means something to me to be your man.”
She leaned into him and pressed her warm lips to his. “It means something to me to be your girl.”
Relieved she had accepted his apology, Alexei kissed her until her lips were swollen and red. He flicked his tongue against hers one last time before reluctantly easing off their kiss. He swept the long strands of hair that had escaped her loose braid behind her ear. “Let’s go home. I’ll build a fire and open a bottle of wine and then I’ll spend the rest of the night making this up to you. How does that sound?”
“Like the best apology ever.”
“Let me give my keys to Stas. He can drive my SUV back to the house. You can be my chauffeur for the ride home.”
Outside in the chilly night, Alexei found Stas leaning against the door of the SUV waiting for them to finish. Sitting on the hood of the vehicle, a plate wrapped in aluminum foil rested on top of a thick blanket still sealed in its plastic packaging.
“Shay’s friend decided I needed to be fed,” Stas explained. “The blanket is Shay’s. That surrogate mother of hers said she won it at bingo. It has a tiger on it.”
“Cobija,” Alexei said. “That’s what they call these blankets. I used to have one,” he admitted, eying the garish blanket with some envy. “One of the vendors at the flea market where I used to unload counterfeit shipments thanked me with a cobija when I got his mother some cheap diabetes medicine.” He touched the blanket and laughed. “That was the warmest fucking thing. I lost it in a move and was so pissed off.”
Stas pushed the blanket toward him. “Well now you have a replacement.”
Alexei grabbed the blanket and tossed his keys to Stas who caught them in his meaty fist. “Follow us home. You can leave as soon as we reach the house.”
Stas nodded and trudged around to the driver’s side of the SUV. Alexei returned to the Maserati and slid into the passenger seat. Shay had turned on the radio and had the heater on low to warm the interior of the car. She waited for him to fasten his seatbelt before putting the car into drive. She was easy on the gas as they left her old neighborhood.
“Malysh,” he scolded with a laugh. “Do you always drive like a little old lady on her way to church?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” She sent a warning glance his way. “And if you intend to backseat drive, I’ll pull over and you can hop in with Stas.”
Alexei smiled. “Fair enough.” He waited a moment before adding, “I just came down the Beltway and 290. It’s a mess. Take Sam Houston to 45.” When she shot him a look, he held up both hands. “That isn’t backseat driving. It’s navigating.”
“Make yourself useful and navigate us to a restaurant with takeout,” Shay suggested.
“I know a place you’ll like.” Taking her hand, he lifted it and kissed the back of it. Holding it, he relaxed in his seat. Although he didn’t want her to worry, he said, “Eric came to see me today.”
“And?”
“He thinks the body in the motel belongs to Lalo. It’s only a matter of time before it’s confirmed.” He hesitated. “He also told me that they know your sister was at the motel. She used one of her aliases for the room.”
“So once they confirm it’s his body, everyone is going to think she killed him.”
“Yes. That’s why Eric came to see me. He wants to find Shannon first.”
“Good luck,” Shay replied hotly. “Nobody knows where she is. She hasn’t tried to contact me since that night.”
“If she does contact you, I’ll do what I can to get her out of the state. I can’t promise anything more than that, but I’ll try.”
“You don’t need to put yourself in any more risk, Alexei.”
“She’s your family. I wouldn’t be much of a man if I let your sister get hurt when it’s possible for me to protect her.” He had been giving the issue with Shannon some thought. If something happened to Shannon and he could have prevented it, Shay would never forgive him. He didn’t want that wedge driven between them.
Shay remained quiet as she drove, and he didn’t push her by asking what she was thinking. When she was ready for his help or needed his opinion, she would ask. Until then, he was perfectly content to hold her hand…and wait.
Chapter Twenty-One
Standing at the sink shaving the next morning, Alexei kept hearing the click of a cell phone snapping photos. Wondering what the hell Shay was up to, he finished shaving, wiped his face with a warm towel, stepped away from the sink and peered into the bedroom. In the soft morning light, she reclined against a mound of pillows and seemed to be making silly faces at her phone. Amused, he asked, “Baby, what are you doing?”
“Snapchatting with Kylee.”
“I have no idea what that means.” He didn’t like admitting that. For the first time since the start of their relationship, he felt uncomfortably aware of their age gap.
“It’s an app,” she said before tossing her phone aside to give him her full attention. It was a small gesture, but he loved that she didn’t constantly have her phone in her face. “It lets you message, send videos and snaps—photos—to friends. You can make stories, like a replay of your day, for your friends to view. The snaps disappear after they’re viewed.”
“What is the point of that? If you send me a picture, I want to keep it.”
She smiled at him. “That’s sweet.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Well, maybe, some pictures shouldn’t be kept,” she said coyly, her gaze dropping to the comforter.
A flash of heat burned low in his stomach and arced through his chest. With a smoldering stare, he ordered, “Put that app on my phone right now.”
With a giggle, Shay rolled onto her side and then crawled across the bed to the table where he kept his phone charger. As she moved, the shirt she had borrowed from his side of the closet rode up higher and revealed an enticing peek at her perfect little ass. Getting dressed no longer interested him. He tossed the towel back onto the counter and crossed the bedroom with long strides.
Grasping Shay’s ankles, he tugged her across the mattress. She squealed with laughter at his sneak attack. “Alexei! What are you doing?”
He smacked her bare bottom and drew a shocked gasp from her throat. “Teaching you what happens when you tease me with this incredible ass of yours.”
When he bent down and nibbled the curve of her bottom, Shay cried out in shock. He dotted kisses atop each plump cheek and then licked a long, slow trail up her spine that ended in a noisy kiss on the side of her neck. She shivered and gasped, but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted Shay to go wild.
Grasping her hips, he canted her bottom up higher and cupped her pussy from behind. He pushed between her shoulders to coax her into the right position. Face down. Ass up. “Perfect,” he said, nipping at her backside. “Stay just like that.”
Shay’s toes curled, but she didn’t move. Her ragged breaths and the slick heat seeping from her betrayed her excitement. He traced her labia with soft strokes before gliding a finger down the seam of her pussy. He dipped a finger into her, gathering the moisture there, and then circled that wet finger around her sensitive clit.
Shay shuddered as he worked her with both hands. Thrusting. Rubbing. Pumping. Flicking. She pushed back against him, rocking on her knees, and moaned. He nipped at her fleshy bottom again, just a little tease of pain, and Shay cried out with ecstasy. She clenched around his fingers in a rhythm matching the waves of pleasure coursing through her incredible body.
She was still trembling and trying to catch her breath when she pushed up on both hands and spun around to attack him. Laughing, he fell back against a wall of pillows and wrapped his arms around her waist. As he hauled her on top of him, Shay smothered him with kisses. His stiff cock rubbed against her inner thigh and then nudged against her wet heat.
Hands on her hips, he guided her down onto the length of him. It felt so fucking good to slide deep inside her. “I did all the hard work last night.” He palmed her ass in both hands. “This morning, it’s your turn.”
With a hand on his chest for support, Shay shyly said, “I don’t know what to do.”
“Move.” Thrusting up into her, he dragged a low moan from her throat. He gripped her waist and pushed her back before pulling her forward. “Like this.”
Her first movements were uncertain and embarrassed. Wanting her to relax, he kissed her breasts and the side of her throat while caressing her back. He tangled his fingers in her hair and dragged her closer for a kiss. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Shay.”
Seemingly reassured, she smiled back at hi
m. Her uncertain movements grew more languid and relaxed. Eyes closed, she rocked back and forth on top of him. Content to watch and feel, he didn’t try to rush or coach her.
It didn’t take Shay long to find the rhythm and movements she liked best. Moving like a belly dancer, she sat up straighter. He was taken aback by how unbelievably sexy she looked in the pale morning light. Her long dark hair curled around her shoulders and back. Her breasts bounced, the nipples taut and begging for his touch. Her lips were curved with a heady smile.
He noticed the moment she found the right pace and friction. Her thighs squeezed his waist and her fingernails bit into his chest. Awed by her sensual beauty, he watched her come alive on top of him. Desperate need surged through him. Holding her waist, he held on tight as she rode him hard and fast.
Shay covered his hands with her own. She pinned him in place with her smoky gaze. In a husky voice, she begged, “Come with me, Alexei. I want to feel you come inside me.”
“Fuck.” Hearing her talk like that set him off like a firecracker. The first pulse of her tight pussy around his shaft was all it took. Helpless beneath her, he came hard while she rode him for all he was worth, taking her pleasure and giving him a taste of his own. Even after the last drop of cum had been milked from him, she rocked slowly back and forth until he shuddered and melted in a boneless heap of sated flesh.
Draping herself atop him, Shay exhaled a long, deep and very satisfied breath. With a smile in her voice, she whispered, “I think I like that position best.”
Swearing in Russian, he wiped a hand down his face. “I think it’s my new favorite too.”
She giggled softly and traced one of the tattoos on his chest. Quietly, she said, “We forgot again.”
His stomach clenched with guilt. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s as much my fault as it is yours.” Lifting her head, she said, “I’ll call my clinic when they open and see if they can squeeze me in today or tomorrow.”
He nodded. “That’s probably the best idea since it appears I can’t be trusted to remember to wear protection with you.”