Hot Spice Wife

Mai loves her husband. She turned many heads in Moscow. But she only had eyes for Nikkita. He was a flirt, but he never cheated on her. The flirting was for their sex life. He confessed that he found it hot when she got angry. Mai gave him a puzzled look.

“Why?” she asked. Nikkita shrugged.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “It’s just that hot.” Nikkita was a strange man. Her friends didn’t get it. Her sister definitely didn’t get it.

“What do you see in him?” Takako asked. Mai giggled. The older sister rolled her eyes. She didn’t get it. But what did she know?

Their marriage wasn’t exactly a love story. Mai had always been the good girl. She was her parents’ little angel while Takako was the wild child. In the beginning, Mai did what she was told. Her life followed a predictable trajectory. She didn’t have many goals. Mai just wanted to make her parents happy. Her family expected her to finish school, get a job, get married, and have a family. Well, she had three-fourths of that finished. The third part had her family asking questions.

Dad never approved. Mom raised an eyebrow. They were not happy that their good little girl had sex before marriage. Slept with a stranger no less. This would not do. It was either get married or Nikkita would experience Hell even after going home to Russia. He had no choice but to go through with it. She had to go to Russia with him to begin their married life.

It’s been a year now. The parents still weren’t too happy about it, but they were happy that she was happy. Takako travelled back and forth between Russia and Japan to check in on the couple. Mai knew what was going on. She didn’t say a word, though.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she told her sister. Takako rolled her eyes.

“You know why I’m doing this,” she said.

“Yes.” Mai narrowed her eyes. “You don’t want to do this, do you?”

“You know why I’m doing this.”

“Yes, yes!” Mai lay back on the couch. Takako watched her with a frown. The younger sister turned her head.

“Be honest with me,” she said. “Why are you really here?” Her sister stared at her. Mai held up her hand.

“Don’t say to check on me,” she said. “We both know that you are using that as an excuse.” Her sister didn’t answer. Mai raised an eyebrow.

“Taka-chan?” she asked. Her sister shifted her eyes away from her.

“Taka-chan?” Mai asked again. The women looked up when they heard the front door open.

“Ah! Nikkita’s home,” Mai said. She didn’t notice the look of relief on her sister’s face. The Russian man walked into the room and rubbed on Mai’s shoulder. She turned and gave him a kiss.

“How was your day?” she asked.

“Hectic,” Nikkita said. “Stefan got fired.” Takako froze when she heard that.

“Oh no,” Mai said. He waved her off.

“It’s fine,” he said. “He got his job back.” The sisters looked confused.

“How did that happen?” Mai asked. Nikkita shrugged.

“He said that he had skills,” he said.

“And what does that mean?” Takako asked.

“He wouldn’t say. And you’re still here?” the Russian man said. The older Japanese woman snorted.

“I’m just here to be there when my sister realizes that fucked up and wants to come home,” she said. She got up from the table and walked over to the front door. Mai cocked her head to the side.

“You’re not staying for dinner?” she asked. Takako waved her off.

“No, I already made plans for the evening,” she said. “See ya.” The couple looked at each other as she walked out the door.

----------

It was going to be a quiet evening tonight. This time, it was Nikkita’s turn to cook. Mai sat at the kitchen table, waiting.

“What are we having tonight?” she asked. The man chuckled to himself.

“You’ll see when it’s ready,” he said. “You’re going to love it.” His wife smiled to herself. Both of them were happy to do the cooking. His skills were better than hers. Mai barely did any of the cooking in her life.

“Not even when you went to university?” her husband asked.

“No,” she said. “It was mostly cheap meals and ramen.” Nikkita made a face at her.

“That saddens me,” he said.

“Taka-chan and Mama did try to teach me, but it never stuck,” Mai added with a nervous chuckle. The Russian man sighed.

“Okay! Sundays will be cooking lessons!” he declared on a whim. His wife blinked at him.

“You’re going to teach me how to cook?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. She raised an eyebrow.

“Is that right?” she asked. Her husband wasn’t going to take that back. The Japanese woman threw her hands up.

“Fine! Teach me your ways, oh great kitchen master!” she said aloud.

“I can’t tell if you mean that or if you’re just being sarcastic,” Nikkita said. Mai reached out and put a finger to his lips.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked in a husky voice. Nikkita chuckled and licked her finger. His wife shivered. Since then, she looked forward to Sunday cooking lessons.

Mai leaned back in her chair, wondering what was on the menu tonight. She was getting to having Russian food. The first night eating it wasn’t that easy. Mai ended up not eating the whole meal.

“Hm? Are you okay? You haven’t touched your food,” Nikkita pointed out. Mai shook her head.

“You’re not sick, are you?” he asked. His wife shook her head. She picked up her fork but held it over the plate.

“Is it too much?” he asked. His wife didn’t answer as she stared down at her plate.

“So much food,” she said more to herself.

“Oh? Did I overload your plate?” her husband asked. Mai nodded once. Nikkita gave her a sympathetic look.

“You don’t have to eat all of it right away,” he said.

“No, it’s fine. I can finish it,” Mai said in a low voice.

“You don’t have to force yourself,” Nikkita insisted. “You can have it tomorrow.” His wife lifted her head. He had a calm look on his face. She slowly lowered her fork.

“Oh,” Mai said to herself. “Thank you for the meal.” She bowed her head and went to the bathroom to take a bath. Nikkita put away her food for her. Mai’s gotten used to eating Russian food over time.

“It smells good, baby,” Mai said as she smelled the air back in present day.

“It’s almost ready,” Nikkita called back. His wife kept her eyes on his back. He had been learning how to cook Japanese food lately. Some dishes were easy. Others left a lot to be desired. Mai couldn’t complain because she was still learning how to cook. Sometimes, Nikkita would mix Russian and Japanese food together. This was met with mixed results. It was still a work in progress. Her husband vowed that he would get it right.

“Food’s ready!” Nikkita said. Mai lifted her head.

“What are we having for dinner?” she asked. The Russian man smiled.

“I decided to do something a little more classical tonight,” he said. Nikkita walked into the dining room with two hot plates.

“Vola! Pork kotleti with jasmine fish and roasted vegetables!” he said. “Eat up!” The Russian man shoved the plate in front of her. Mai closed her eyes and took a sniff.

“It smells great,” she said. Nikkita sat down in front of her.

“My grandma used to make this,” he said. “I figured that I would give it a try.” He sounded so proud when he said that. It wouldn’t hurt to try it. Mai picked up her fork and stabbed the cutlet. The Japanese woman took a bite. Her husband sat there and waited. Mai took a moment to chew her food.

“Well, how is it?” her husband asked. The Japanese woman swallowed as she smiled.

“I love it!” she said. Nikkita looked like a child around Christmas time.

“I’m so glad that you like it,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right or not.” Mai happily ate more meat. Her husband had an excited look in his eyes as he started to eat his meal too. He knew what was coming next. If his turn-on was her anger, her turn-on would be his cooking. (There were more turn-ons, but this one was the one that mattered.) The Russian man knew how to get her excited. His wife took a moment to look up with the fork to her mouth.

“Baby, is there going to be dessert tonight?” she asked. Nikkita broke into a little smile.

“What exactly did you have in mind?” he asked. His wife giggled. She put down the fork and crawled across the table to her husband.