Chapter 22
“Alexandra, I need your help,” I say, holding the phone tight as I wait for my new friend to have some fairy godmother skills, like Cinderella’s.
The weekend has gone by as fast as the waves erasing our intertwined names written in the sand. As fast as the roller coaster that Lionel and I rode on the Santa Monica Pier, and it was wonderful. One moment we were in our bed, enjoying our Sunday, the next my husband was waking me up with a coffee before leaving for the office.
Let me pause right here, because God, Lionel in a suit.
Lionel in a suit!
Without a doubt, the man knows how to look good in one. It isn’t the expensive fabric, nor the pristine white of his starched shirt, nor the cut of his tailored suit. It’s him. All of him. The way he smells, the way he moves.
The way he looks at me.
On top of that, I think we are finally finding the way to save our relationship. It isn’t the sex—even though I don’t have any complaints in that department—but we’ve talked a lot about our expectations.
And I think I’m finally ready to let go of the resentment that I have been accumulating all these days. Maybe I forgave him too easily, perhaps someone might think that I’ve been making a storm in a glass of water, turning the same page, but none of those people are in my shoes, none of them had their lives flipped upside down in a blink.
“Did you decide to make a dent in your husband’s bank account?” she asks jokingly when I tell her my plans.
“No,” I reply and it’s the truth. “You see, I have some money saved, money that I never told him about. I suppose this is a good time to make an investment.”
She laughs, and I do the same.
“Agreed, a woman’s wardrobe is always an investment,” she declares decisively. “Dress the part, that’s what they say, right?”
I’ve been thinking a lot this weekend and the time has come to become a slightly more polished version of myself. I don’t expect big changes, just something that seems less out of my town’s thrift shop.
“Something like that.” But there is something that Alexandra will need to use all her connections, magic wand and everything for. “Do you know someone who can give me a good haircut?”
She lets out a gasp, I think I might have offended her.
“Girl,” she snaps. “In my client portfolio I have the brightest stars in this city. I wouldn’t be able to do my job fully if I didn’t have resources at my fingertips. Let me make a couple of calls and we’ll make an appointment, you want to do all of this before the agency party, I suppose.”
I think about it a bit before answering. “The sooner, the better. Of course, although I have some money to spend, I can’t go crazy. If you could get a good discount, I would appreciate it.”
Sale is my favorite word, without a doubt.
“Leave everything in my hands, I’m loving this new project. Don’t worry, I will work my magic. The agency party is the event of the year, have you ever heard of the party that Vanity Fair offers after the Oscars? Get ready, because this is something like that. Everyone who boasts of having a name in this city will be there.” God, those words sound almost like a threat. Is it too late to call it off? “And don’t even think about bailing out at the last minute, Lionel attends alone every year. I’m sure that many jaws will hit the floor when they see him arrive with his wife by his side. Let’s get you ready. Oh, Stella, this is going to be a lot of fun.”
Her enthusiasm is so great that it’s even contagious. The gears in my head have started. I can already imagine Lionel’s face when he sees me walking through the door wearing new clothes and with a new haircut.
A thousand butterflies flutter in my stomach as I imagine entering the reception holding hands. I’ve never been to a formal party in my life, my mother never allowed me to go to school dances, those are things of the devil and as the good daughter I am, I always followed the rules to a T, with very few exceptions and with the aid of Val. I think that is the reason why my mother hasn’t fully accepted her, even after so many years of friendship.
I end the conversation by thanking her, thinking it might’ve been a mistake to have called her. Maybe shopping on my own at an outlet mall would have been better.
Well, there’s no going back now, what’s done is done.
The truth is, there is no time to waste. I should check the drying of the soaps and then start studying. At eleven I have an appointment with my tutor and over the weekend, I didn’t even open my books to study. And Lionel is to blame, of course, he is.
And my hormones are to blame.
After my online class, I have some time before getting dinner ready, so I start experimenting with fragrances. I want to create something new. Lionel has inspired me, not only something that is special for him, but also to offer a line of masculine products in my store. Maybe a shaving cream?
I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.
On YouTube, I find several videos. I spend about an hour reviewing the ones with the most views. After researching, I decided to change some ingredients for better quality ones, putting my personal touch on the formula. It’s about creating something unique, not copying someone else. That isn’t the point.
The creative process is exciting, I really enjoy it.
Bergamot has healing and antiseptic benefits, so in case the person using the cream gets a cut, the essential oil will help heal the wound. On the other hand, mint is refreshing, an astringent, and helps reduce inflammation, nothing better for a good shave. And once we add honey to this with its benefits, the results will be wonderful.
And the truth is that it smells really, really good.
After mixing the main ingredients in a double boiler bowl, I have put the mixture in the refrigerator to harden. It will need to stay in there for an hour, so it’s time to collect the mess and start preparing dinner.
As I finish loading the dishwasher, hands I know well take me by the waist, and scare me shitless.
“You came home early,” I say when I’ve caught my breath. I try to turn around, to greet him with a kiss, but I’m powerless. Lionel has a good grip on me and his face is buried in my neck, as if he wanted to breathe my scent and keep it in his memory forever.
I want to see him. I want my retinas to fill with the image of him. Although I don’t admit it out loud, today passed very slowly, despite having so much to do. Our routine has changed, it’s no longer me and him in our little bubble.
It has exploded and now we live in the real world. For better or worse.
“It was a slow day at the office,” he replies, I really can’t see how that could be possible. He’s the owner, for fuck’s sake, and has been gone for almost a month. Although he was doing some things from home, it isn’t the same.
“There was no land to buy and houses to sell?” I ask him jokingly.
The giggle that threatened to come out of my throat turns into a gasp when his tongue touches my skin.
“I want you to know,” he murmurs, leaving a trail of kisses down my neck. “That you are the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.”
Those words make me feel good. I put my hands on his, which continue to caress me around my waist, touching me over the fabric of my old shirt.
“And you are…” I try to add but one of his hands has escaped and pinches my nipple, making me moan.
A kiss falls on my covered shoulder as his other hand wanders around the waistband of my skirt heading south. Feeling his warm fingers on my bare skin, the heat of his palm boils my blood. Behind me I can feel the crotch of his pants grow taut.
“We’re in the kitchen, Lionel,” I complain again. “You’re crazy.”
He nibbles my ear, his warm breath shakes me whole. “Yes, I’m crazy. Crazy about you, my beautiful wife.”
I want to tell him more. I want to confess that I’m crazy about him too. Like never before, that I’ve fallen harder for this man that I’ve discovered since I arrived and he doesn’t compare to the one I married a few months ago.
The words can’t express how grateful I am for this new opportunity. Again I move, looking to hug him.
“Leave your hands on the counter, Stella,” he orders me and I complain, I also want to touch him.
“I can’t,” I complain.
I hear him laugh, after a moment he pulls his hands away, and I’m about to scream and tell him to put them back where they were, to finish what we started when he pulls mine together behind my back.
As he wraps some silky fabric around them. His tie.
Why does this excite me so much?
I make a little noise that sounds more like a gasp, it definitely wasn’t a protest. He laughs again as he pulls my skirt and my plain white cotton panties down to my ankles.
Which reminds me, I should also buy some lingerie that’s more exciting, more delicate. More feminine and sexy.
For me. For both of us.
A hand slides down my back, gently leaning me forward until my cheek touches the cold granite of the counter.
Another gasp.
“Another day I’d put your underwear in your mouth,” he murmurs. “Today I want to hear you scream my name when I make you come again and again.”
In fact, I say his name, panting, he masterfully touches me making me feel good. His fingers are between my folds playing.
“Only I can give you what you want, can’t I?” He speaks low in my ear, his chest pressed to my back. “You want to come right now, here in the kitchen like the good wife you are, right?”
I close my eyes, conjuring up the images he has put into my mind. The two of us in the kitchen playing with the fire that burns between us. Two fingers enter me and my head is spinning.
“I…”
“Shh…” I’m hot and wet, so his fingers move inside me easily. He knows what he’s doing, he knows what my body wants. “This is the best way to welcome your husband after a day at the office, don’t you think? Now give me what I want and come all over my fingers, love.”
That dirty mouth of his does things to me. I open my eyes to look at him over my shoulder and our eyes meet. His dark eyes are almost black, darkened by lust, but there is more to them than this physical attraction that makes us gravitate around each other.
Is it love? Now, I really think it is.
“I want to hear you, Hvězda . Scream like you do when you have me deep inside you and your body…”
I can’t help it, I do what he tells me as a reflex. It’s fortunate that the counter and his hands hold me up, because I very much doubt that my legs can do it. “Such a good little wife.”
In the middle of my cloud of happiness I hear the sound of a package tearing, thank God he’s taking care of me.
“Now I want to feel you,” he growls and wonders if I can deny him anything. But since he asks… “You have me so hard.”
“Yes…” I mumble. “Let me feel you, Lionel.”
“My wife never has to beg me for anything, least of all my dick.”
With a push he enters me. My hips hit the granite and I embrace the pain, the sensations adding and growing. Making me feel alive.
His swollen, hot cock moves over and over, making us both gasp. “Fuck yeah,” he murmurs through clenched teeth and a tight jaw. Without taking our eyes off each other, I squeeze my muscles and another growl comes from his chest. He continues to fuck me hard and fast, his body dominating mine in a way that I never thought possible, my hands on my back look for the fabric of his shirt when he gets up to continue pushing until the explosion hits us with the force of an atomic bomb. Lionel releases my hands, before dropping down on me, the two of us trying to catch our breaths, his face next to mine, our hands clasped on either side of my head.
“That was intense,” he says, still panting.
“That was wonderful,” I murmur when I can finally breathe normally again.
“I can’t believe we did it, here in the kitchen.”
“This is our house.” With his nose, Lionel touches the delicate skin behind my ear. “It’s time for us to christen all the rooms in it.”
That makes me laugh.
“My office is next on the list,” he continues speaking. “I can already imagine your legs spread open on my desk or riding me while I’m in my chair. Or, better yet, on your knees while I fuck your mouth.”
Who have I become? Lionel is still inside me and I’m already looking forward to it again.
What is he doing to me?
“You came home so early, I didn’t even have time to make dinner,” I mumble, changing the subject to a safer one.
“You have other things to do, it’s not your duty to cook for us every day,” he answers, kissing my neck, my jawline, my cheeks, even licking my lips, making me forget my protests. “How about we order something or go out to dinner?”
The heat floods my chest making my heart beat faster, this time it’s not because of sexual desire, it’s something deeper. Much more powerful.
And yet…
“The idea of going out doesn’t sound appealing,” I confess as he pulls out of my body and helps me up before even settling into his pants. “I missed you today.”
Then he hugs me and kisses me, I’ve been waiting for this all day since he left early this morning. His dominance over my body keeps me with my feet on solid ground, but his love makes my soul fly, fly high.
And I love it.
Lionel sighs before answering. “I missed you, too, Stella. It feels so good to be like this.”
It’s true, there is no place where I would rather be than in his arms.
“I’ll wear something skimpy to our date,” I tell him, thinking of snuggling with him on the old sofa on the second floor, watching an old movie of his that we both like.
“I don’t think so, beautiful,” he argues. “For our date, I want you naked.”
???
“I spoke to Alexandra Conrad today,” I inform him after our second round of toe-curling, house shaking sex. “I’m going shopping with her, so I have to ask you something.”
We are laying together on the thick carpet in front of the sofa. My body stretched out on his, our skin is warm and sweaty, his hands caressing my back and my hair, while I have my cheek pressed to his neck, his heartbeat is like my own personal lullaby.
“Just tell me how much you need…” he says like it’s nothing. “Tomorrow I’m going to the bank to ask for another credit card, so you can spend whatever you want without having to ask me.”
That makes me laugh, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I put my hands on his chest while resting my chin on them to look him in the eye.
“I have my own money, thank you very much,” I say with determination, and I can see annoyance cross his eyes, but the words never come out of his mouth. I know what he’s doing, he’s respecting my space and the lines I’ve drawn, although it’s hard for him. “What I need is for you to arrange for security. I know you are worried about leaving me here alone all day, so I imagine it will be the same for going out.”
His fingers frame my face, before pulling me in to give me a soft kiss on the lips.
“Ethan has the best men looking after his wife, I’ll talk to him tomorrow anyway. When are you planning to go out?”
“I don’t know,” I reply because that’s the truth. I tell him about our call, without revealing any details. I want him to be surprised when he sees me.
“Don’t forget to buy something for the party,” he tells me. “And maybe a couple more cocktail dresses for some upcoming events on my calendar, you should at least let me pay for those.”
The list goes on and on.
“We’ll see,” I reply. Nothing is impossible .
“Don’t forget, Hvězda .” His words are soft, but his tone sounds like a warning. “In the end I always get what I want.”
He kisses me again, in less than ten minutes he has me gasping for air. I have no doubt, this man is used to getting his way. And my body is his new playground.
I’m a very lucky girl.