Beneath the Ice Ch. 04

"Alexei." She pressed her hand over his as two fingers slid up beneath her panties where they rested on her hip. "We can just sleep."

"You can sleep after I do this."

And he shoved her panties down, his hand coming up between her thighs. She gasped, her body bowing in his grasp. He chuckled, the low rumble sending shivers up and down her spine where she felt it.

"Quiet."

Charlotte twisted, pressing her face to her pillow as his fingers parted her below. His mouth clamped onto her neck as he slid his fingers inside. He stroked her like that, his thumb rubbing in time against her clit and she clutched his arm. The muscles flexing beneath her palm, his hot breath on her skin, and the rigid length of him pressing against her, altogether it sent her spiraling towards a climax that stole her breath. Quiet? Yeah, she couldn't have caught her breath to live through it, never mind anything more.

Her body shook as Alexei drew her back down to earth. The words in her ear were soft and spoken in Russian, but she gathered his meaning all the same. Turning, her chest heaving, she drew him down to her mouth for a kiss. It was slow, hot, and full of everything she couldn't put into words.

"Sleep." He held her close, turning each kiss lighter than the one before, until she obeyed with a contented sigh.

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When Alexei woke in the morning, he was on his back, one arm half off the bed, and the other serving as Charlotte's pillow. He couldn't feel anything below his bicep and it was the best morning wake-up he'd had in years. Turning his head and careful not to disturb her, he looked at her sleeping face, counting her perfect freckles.

He was on his third count and hard as a rock when her beautiful aquamarine eyes blinked open. She squinted when her gaze landed on him and then she smiled.

"Alexei."

Fuck.

He rolled onto her, sealing their lips together. She moaned into his mouth, her legs splitting around his body. He ground his cock against her, eliciting another sleepy moan that he devoured. He shoved again, wanting in. God, he wanted to be inside her more than he wanted anything else.

Her hands were all over him an instant later, her nails scraping through his hair and over his shoulders. Her hips undulated under him and he growled into her mouth, tangling their tongues together as he thrust again and again. She gasped, he stole the sound. She moaned, he tasted that too.

Then her hands were inside his underwear, her fingers curling into his ass and drawing him against her. She met his thrusts, took his kisses like she was meant for them, and they were a panting, overheated pile of tangled limbs in seconds.

Alexei dropped his weight on her, rubbing against her in exactly the right spot. He knew it was exactly right because her nails dug into the skin of his lower back and she started to shake all over. He kept at it, so close to losing his damn mind. A moment later, he had to bury his face in the pillow under her head, his hand fumbling to cover her whimpers and moans as they both came apart.

When reality sank back in a few minutes later, he rolled to his side, his arm still cradling Charlotte's head. They stared at each other, bodies cooling and Alexei couldn't stop the silly grin from spreading across his face. Charlotte's eyes, glassy from what they'd done, widened and then she pressed her face to her pillow to smother her giggles.

"Oh, my God, Alexei." She wriggled closer to him and he chuckled as he folded her in his arms. "I can't believe we just did that."

He couldn't either. He hadn't dry humped since he was a kid. Never had it been so damn satisfying though.

"Good morning." He kissed her nose and then her lips, his voice rough.

She shivered and kissed him back, a sweet blush blending around her freckles. He kissed those too, because he could. She opened her mouth as if to say something but they heard a door bang in the apartment, followed by the sound of running water.

With a sigh, Charlotte cupped his cheek and lifted her head to look at the clock. "That kid has an internal clock, I swear." A moment later, her alarm started to chime and she reached over to flick it off. "Come on. You need to clean yourself up before breakfast, mister."

He did but gave her one more thorough kiss before letting her get up. She wobbled on her feet for a moment before grabbing her discarded clothes from the night before. She tossed him his pants and shirt and he went into the bathroom while Charlotte went out to see to Zoe first.

He found them in the kitchen, Charlotte pouring a bowl of cereal for the little girl who sat patiently at the table waiting. Her face lit up when she saw Alexei come into the kitchen and scrambled to her feet on the chair, her arms reaching for him.

"Grumpy!"

Smiling, Alexei bent to give her a quick hug and dropped a kiss on her head. "Good morning, zaya. Did you have a good sleep?"

She nodded and dropped back to her chair as Charlotte deposited her ready bowl in front of her. "I did and the game was so much fun."

"Good." Alexei walked around to Charlotte's side and stole another kiss before grabbing something to eat for himself.

The morning passed by in a blur of Zoe's scattered recap of the game the night before and Charlotte sliding hot glances his way. After an hour, Charlotte and Zoe were ready for daycare and work, and he dragged his ass downstairs to his own place to get ready for his team meeting later that day.

His smile throughout the meeting got him some sideways looks and he didn't give a damn. After that night, he didn't want to spend another night without Charlotte in his arms.

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The next couple weeks passed by in a fog of late night talks, more kissing, and blissful mornings of the three of them sitting around the table eating breakfast. They still didn't do much more than kiss or touch-- a lot-- and Charlotte was dying for more. She had so little experience really, and none at all of a committed adult relationship. Anytime she thought about talking to Alexei about sex, she burned with embarrassment. Sarah told her to get over it, when they were at work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

"If the man hasn't run screaming after everything so far, he's not going to."

Charlotte sighed as she finished the Black Friday sign for the lamp shades. "That's comforting, thank you."

"Come on." Sarah nudged her, her dark skin flushed from all the work they'd been doing that day so far, getting ready for the Black Friday sales. "You know you can talk to him about anything. He's got to be the least judgmental guy we've ever known."

Alexei and Sarah had met a few times, when he'd surprised them at the store with coffees on different days. He got along with Sarah, and had completely charmed the pants off Ursula when they'd met.

"I know he'd never judge me, but I've never had any kind of sex talk with anyone, Sarah." Charlotte straightened the sign and moved on to the next one. "Not even my mom. I'm not stupid, I knew enough to use condoms, for all the good that did me, but that much I knew from sex ed, no more."

Sarah snickered and Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Okay, but could you have truly seen yourself sharing a sex convo with your mom. Your mom?"

Charlotte cringed. No. Her parents were small-town born and bred and so old-fashioned they hadn't even understood her desire to go to the University of Chicago. They thought she'd get a job in their little town two hours away and find a local boy to settle down with. Never mind that her older sister, Theresa, had already gone to university herself. Last Charlotte had heard, Theresa had even married some fancy lawyer from Chicago's high society. For some reason, their little baby was supposed to walk a different path.

"Okay, so what you need to do is have the conversation you want to have with Alexei inside your head first."

Charlotte looked over at her friend. "In my head?"

"Yeah." Sarah counted one stack of lamp shades, then straightened the stack. "Don't assume what he's going to say, just figure out exactly what you want to say. Do it a few times. Practice in the mirror if you want."

"That's silly." Charlotte wouldn't be talking to herself.

Sarah shrugged. "Fine, just do it in your head then. I'm telling you, it'll help to sort your thoughts first."

"What if he laughs?"

"He won't."

"What if--"

"Charlotte, honey, I told you: don't assume anything." Sarah gave her a pointed look before turning away to start on another display.

Charlotte followed after finishing the last sign for that section. "So I should practice in my head. I should think to myself, hey, Alexei, you know how we're on third base and it's awesome, but I want a home run?"

Sarah laughed and nodded. "If that's how it comes out, then yeah. Although, will he understand the reference?"

"I have no idea." Charlotte laughed with her, some of her tension easing. Sarah had a point. Alexei had been patient and understanding about everything since the day they met. Well, almost everything. Once they started spending all their time together, neither of them worried about Zoe's noise level anymore, and that had been the only thing she'd ever seen him upset about before.

"If you're scared to bring it up no matter what, just throw a box of condoms at him." Sarah leaned closer. "He'll take the lead from there, trust me."

Charlotte giggled at the image of Alexei catching a box of condoms she threw. She bet that would be enough to get her point across, but it would also involve her buying a box of condoms and that had her blushing all over. Jeez, she really was hopeless. She'd had a kid! She should be able to handle sex talks and buying condoms, for crying out loud.

Pushing it out of her mind for now, she finished working up the Black Friday displays.

The next day, Alexei helped her pick something to wear to Olle and Joelle's for dinner. He had on dark khaki pants and a light blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled partway up his arms. Casual, but still nice.

"Should I wear a dress?"

Zoe, perched in the middle of Charlotte's bed behind Alexei, who sat on the edge, nodded with a smile. "Yeah, like mine!"

Charlotte had managed to wrangle Zoe into a cute purple dress with black leggings underneath, since it was full winter outside now, with snowbanks on every corner and slush on the streets.

"You don't have to wear a dress." Alexei glanced at Zoe. "She doesn't have a purple one to match yours anyway."

Zoe made a face and went back to her game on the tablet.

Charlotte slid her fingers over the few dresses she did have. She wasn't even sure if they'd fit her. She pulled out a little black dress and eyed it.

"Try it on."

She nodded at Alexei's words and slipped into the bathroom to do so. It was a little snug around her butt. Other than that, it fit. It had a high V-neck and capped sleeves, and fell to her knees in a plain A-line shape. She opened the door, smiling when she glimpsed Alexei and Zoe with their heads together over the tablet. Grabbing a cardigan from the closet, she pulled it on and walked out to model for them.

"Well?" She did a twirl and Zoe applauded, making her smile.

Alexei stood up and hugged her, planting a quick kiss on her head. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." She hugged him back, careful not to smear make-up on his light shirt. "Now, we should get going. No telling what traffic will be like."

He nodded in agreement and they headed to the door to put on their winter outerwear.

Traffic turned out to be just as bad as she'd suspected and Charlotte was glad she'd allowed Zoe to bring the tablet in the car. It kept her quiet for the most part and Charlotte was content to sit with Alexei's big hand enveloping hers as they inched through busy Chicago streets.

"You're quiet."

Charlotte glanced at Alexei. "Am I?"

"You're nervous."

It made her smile that he phrased it not as a question. "I suppose. I only know Joelle."

"And me." He lifted her hand to his lips for a brief kiss before the traffic light ahead turned green.

Charlotte sighed. Yes, she knew Alexei but that was perhaps what had her nerves jumping around in anticipation. This was their first real outing as a couple. They did plenty together when their schedules allowed it, but other than the odd trip to the grocery store or the park to make snowmen, they hadn't gone 'out.'

"There will be enough people there that you won't have to worry."

She let out a light laugh. "No? I should think a bigger crowd makes me more nervous."

"No. A lot of people, a lot of talking, you can ignore most of them." He gave her a crooked smile that made her stomach flip. "They're mostly boys who talk only of games and practice and won't bother you."

She supposed he was right. She could handle conversation with Joelle or any other ladies that might be there, and Alexei had said that there would be a few other children, so at least Zoe wouldn't be bored either.

A short while later, they rolled down a long driveway to a lovely house set into some trees, bare of everything except snow and ice. There were a half a dozen other cars already parked and Alexei rolled up behind the last one in the line.

They climbed out and made their way carefully up to the house. A tall man with floppy blond hair and bright blue eyes answered the door with a welcoming grin.

"Happy Thanksgiving. Come in, come in." He stood back, holding the door and waved a hand to usher them all in.

As they walked in and started working off their winter layers, Joelle came down the hall, a wide grin on her face.

Zoe clearly remembered the woman. "Auntie Joelle!" She launched herself at Joelle's legs, making the woman laugh as she bent to embrace the child.

"Hello, pumpkin. How are you?"

"Hungry. Is there food?"

"Zoe!" Charlotte covered her eyes and laughed with everyone else.

"Yes, there's food, dear." Joelle smacked a kiss on Zoe's head and took her hand. "Come with me, and we'll get you something."

Charlotte watched them go and turned when Alexei introduced her to the man.

"This is Olle. Olle, this is Charlotte."

Olle gave Charlotte a hug, even as she started to lift her hand for a simple handshake. "I'm so pleased to meet you. Joelle talked about you and Zoe so much after you met."

"Did she? I was such a mess, I hope she didn't tell you everything."

Olle pulled back and patted her shoulders. "She said you guys were great fun. Now, are you hungry?"

"Not as hungry as my daughter."

He grinned and tugged her down the hall. "Come meet everyone and we'll get you something to drink as well. Coffee, or tea?"

"A tea would be lovely, yes."

Alexei followed and made introductions as they reached the great room where everyone had gathered. There were two other young couples so far, and a few single guys. Charlotte was never going to remember their names, except for maybe the one guy, Adam, who winked at her, earning a dirty look from Alexei.

Charlotte laughed as he tugged her away towards the kitchen where Joelle had Charlotte sitting on the edge of the island, feeding her something that looked like a pumpkin cookie.

"Is that tasty, sweetie?" Charlotte touched her daughter's shoulder.

Zoe didn't even open her mouth to respond, just nodded.

"Joelle, is there anything I can help with?"

"Oh no, everything's ready, really, except for the turkey." Joelle smiled and handed over a steaming mug. "Here's your tea. Cream and sugar is just over there if you want some."

"Thank you."

"I'm so glad to see you both fully recovered." Joelle squeezing Zoe's knee and making the little girl giggle.

"Oh, I should hope so." Charlotte cupped her mug to her chest. "That was weeks ago."

"It was a good thing Alexei was close by." Olle glanced at the big man beside her.

"Yes." Charlotte still got chills to think of how long she was so out of it. If Alexei hadn't been there-- but he had been, and it had changed her life in so many ways already. She looked up at him to find him staring down at her, that barely banked heat in his golden brown eyes.

"All right, you two. Simmer down." Olle chuckled and thrust a bottle of soda at Alexei. "Here."

They were all about to move to the other room to join everyone there, when the doorbell rang again. For the next ten minutes, the bulk of the guests arrived, several with small children in tow. It was a noisy, wild place for a while as more introductions were made and Zoe clung to Charlotte's side in a sudden spat of shyness.

Leaning against the kitchen island, Charlotte smiled as Zoe wrapped one little arm around her thigh, her eyes big as she watched two girls and one boy around her age.

"Don't you want to join them, sweetie?" Charlotte rubbed a hand over Zoe's braided hair.

Zoe said nothing, but squeezed Charlotte's leg tighter, her little fist at her mouth. In spite of her energy, she did get shy around new people on occasion. Except Alexei, anyway.

The kids didn't let Zoe stay out of things. They noticed her and one of the girls came over at her own mother's urging.

"I'm Katie."

Zoe looked at her and her fist dropped. "I'm Zoe."

A moment later, Zoe was gone, swept into the circle of kids as they became instant best friends.

Charlotte shook her head, a smile on her face. Alexei put his arm around her shoulder and leaned over her.

"So easy when they're little, yes?"

"No kidding."

"And you were worried she'd be bored."

Charlotte snorted out a laugh as Zoe and the other kids shrieked and ran off for the playroom Joelle led them to.

A short while later, everyone was halfway through their meals, or their second helpings. A few of the guys were more than a little tipsy and there was a lot of laughter ringing in the big house.

Charlotte helped Joelle with clearing some of the dishes and tucking leftovers away in the fridge after some of the food furor had died down.

"I forgot to say earlier, Charlotte, but you look lovely today." Joelle smiled as she leaned against the counter beside her.

"So do you." Charlotte glanced at the woman, who was wearing a lacy red top over fitted black pants.

"Oh, thanks." Joelle smoothed her hands down over her hips. "I wanted to be a little festive but I knew no one would want a big fancy affair."

"No." Charlotte nodded as she looked out over the kitchen island at the crowd of boisterous hockey players. Some had dressed well, in slacks and nice shirts as Alexei had done, but several had on jeans and worn-out T-shirts that had clearly seen better days. "But it's nice that so many people came over."

"Oh yeah. Not many people want to bother with the fuss of a big Thanksgiving dinner in the middle of the season."

"I can understand that." Charlotte looked around for what else needed to be put away or cleaned. She reached for the half-full bottle of wine on one end of the counter. "Did you want some? There's not much left in here and then we can toss the bottle in the bin."

Joelle's cheeks turned a little pink and she shook her head. "I'm not drinking."

Charlotte squinted at her and smiled. "Are you saying something without saying something?"

Joelle snickered and shrugged. "It's too early to say anything about something."

Excitement and happiness for the woman rose in Charlotte but she maintained her outward calm. "Well, then, I won't say anything about how wonderful something is."

They shared a look before they both burst into laughter. Charlotte tipped the wine into her own glass and lifted it towards Joelle. "Cheers to nothing!"

Another laugh and then Olle and Alexei swept into the kitchen beside them. Olle gathered his wife up in a warm hug that made Charlotte swoon as she watched. It was clear that Olle was aware of the something and she was beyond happy for them, even if she'd only known them such a short time.