In Bad Faith

Chapter 41

A breeze of fresh air touched my face as soon as we left the venue, and it was very welcome. I instantly felt relief, having it collide against the heated skin of my cheeks. The way we just kissed still had my heart racing, and I could hardly wait to resume our passionate get-together in a more private place. Because that was exactly what was going to happen, and we both knew. We knew, but we didn't think twice. We didn't speak about the agreement we made in his car after that stormy night, and we didn't even hesitate. Instead, we started making our way through the still lively street towards the hotel, not even keeping our distance.

I was drunk, and he was too. I noticed it in the way we stumbled into each other a little with each step we took, but also given the fact that we just didn't seem to care anymore. The possibility that one of his employees might've had the same idea as we had was still real. We hadn't been gone for that long at all, and the chance that we'd run into someone was still present.

"I can barely walk anymore," I exaggerated, as I held onto his arm and looked up at him, grinning. Misha chuckled as he averted his gaze to me, revealing his slightly bloodshot eyes. "Do I need to carry you?" he smirked, jokingly tightening his grip around me as if he was really going to pick me up. 

"As if you can still carry me in this state," I laughed, as I gripped his arm a little tighter to stop him from doing so. "Are you challenging me?" he answered, grinning even wider, as he moved towards me again.

"Misha, no," I giggled, yes, giggled, as soon as I felt how he started picking me up in a swift motion. And before I knew it, he was holding me in his arms as if he was carrying his bride over the threshold. I squealed as I tightened my grip around his neck, and I couldn't contain a burst of playful laughter as he really started walking, still carrying me. 

At this moment, I forgot the bustling boulevard around us and the fact that people could see us. I didn't think about the investigation, and I most certainly didn't think about the consequences. It was just Misha I saw, and how his face got lit up by the streetlights perfectly. And as I looked up at him, I saw that he was smiling too. It made me feel a sense of pure bliss. I couldn't deny that it had been a long time since I felt feelings this intense.

"I take it back," I laughed while still holding on to him tightly. And after he kept on walking for just a little longer, Misha put me back on my feet. It took me a second to find my balance, but he made sure I didn't fall, as he only let go of me when he was sure I walked straight again. And as I started walking, I sighed deeply in an attempt to sort out my quickened breathing caused by the adrenalin rush that just gave me. 

"I only stopped because we're nearing the hotel," he grinned at me, after which I playfully pushed him against his upper arm for what he just did to me. But Misha was right, we were nearing the hotel. This time we did seem to realize that we needed to be careful since we automatically created a little bit more distance between us.

Entering the lobby of our hotel made me slightly nervous. The chance that we'd run into someone here was greatly present, and I also didn't want the staff no notice anything. Even though they probably didn't even know who Misha was. We had already been taking huge risks by doing what we just did. So now I needed to find the strength to make my way to the elevator looking like I didn't have had too much to drink, and like I didn't just make out with my boss at the bar of a nightclub. 

Misha curtly greeted the lady sitting behind the big, modern front desk as we made our way past. He was trying to be his professional self, as buzzed as he was. Why was there something so hot about him trying to be professional?

When we walked past and arrived at the elevators, the waiting game started. Because after he pressed the button of one of them to come down, we had to just stand there. Next to each other. We couldn't touch, we couldn't even stand too close. And all that while my whole body was begging for him. As if I felt incomplete now that his hands weren't in some way touching my body. For a brief moment, I looked up at him inconspicuously, while at the same time I saw him look down at me too. And even though we couldn't really speak right now, our eyes spoke volumes.

An electronic bell sounded to let us know an elevator on our right had arrived at the first floor. It made me break our gaze, and resume my step to enter the confined space together with Misha. It was like my heart knew what was about to happen, since It started to heavily pound in my chest, in anticipation of sharing this small and private space with him. It was evident that I lost all my senses, since I didn't even think about if all of this was righteous or not. It wasn't. All I could think about right now were the things this man was able to make me feel. I wanted all of that.

And apparently, Misha wanted the same. The moment the elevator doors closed shut, he pressed the button to the right floor. But after that, he didn't even wait more than two seconds to direct his gaze at me and move his body closer to mine. "Finally some privacy," he whispered with a hint of desire showing through his lowered voice, as he brought his face closer to mine. It made all the muscles in my abdomen tense up. I was never the type to let words affect me like this. And even though losing myself in a way like this should scare me, it only seemed to lure me closer to him.

I gave into him completely by grabbing onto his dark gray blazer, as I felt how he pressed his body against mine. It made my back touch the elevator wall, but we didn't kiss yet. Up until this point, we were just having this intense eye contact. Almost as if we were having sex with only our eyes, while still breathing on each other's lips. We were not even thinking about the fact that there could be security cameras in this cabin. And just as I thought I couldn't stand this teasing any longer, he finally longingly pressed his lips against mine.

The buzz of the alcohol seemed to make the intense feeling of heat rushing through me as we started making out even more intense. It made me grab onto him even tighter, but it wasn't enough. It felt like it would never be enough. I wanted to get rid of all the pieces of clothing interfering with being able to touch his bare skin. I wanted our bodies to melt together, just like they did that night in our office. But we weren't quite there yet. The ding sounding through the elevator reminded me that we still needed to bridge the distance to his hotel room. Luckily it seemed to be on a different floor than at least Macy and me since when I looked at the small screen, I saw that we were now on floor eight.

I reluctantly let go of his lips, and his blazer, leaving the taste of alcohol and him lingering on my tongue. And now that he wasn't touching me anymore, at all, I could feel every part of me longing for him even more. The warm, tingly, and throbbing tension in my stomach made its way down to between my legs. It made the fact that we had to contain ourselves for even one more minute seem impossible at this point. But we had to. Because the moment the elevator doors slid open, I could see the figure of a man walking through the hallway, toward the elevator.

As if my heart wasn't racing already, this made it even worse. And while a sense of relief did come over me when I saw that it wasn't someone we knew, I still felt caught. Because even though I didn't even have the time to look in the mirror of the elevator, I just knew we looked exactly like what we were - drunk, kissed, and turned on. Misha and I kept our distance as we passed the stranger, who gave us a small nod as a greeting without saying a word. He knew. For sure. And when we finally arrived at the door of his hotel room, I took a deep breath in a futile attempt to get a hold of myself as he was getting his key card.

I couldn't help but think about one of Misha's employees seeing us standing here the way we did. Not even in a bad way, but almost in an exciting way. The feeling that we could get caught at any moment.. It was the raging hormones. It had to be. "Hurry," I softly spoke while looking at him rummaging through his wallet, after which I looked up at him again. But my eyes must've told him that I didn't say this because of the fear of getting caught. No, I said this solely because I couldn't stand not touching him for just a second longer.