Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Apollo
Elio
Your fiancée’s door is fixed.
Ilook down at the text, a small smile playing on my lips. Something about Rayna being referred to as my fiancée gives me a smug bit of satisfaction. Especially now that it doesn’t feel like a lie.
She hasn’t officially agreed yet, but she hasn’t outright rejected me either. I knew she wouldn’t. She may have been deep in denial about what’s been brewing between us for ages now, but she’s waking up to reality. We have a connection, one that I won’t allow to go ignored any longer.
Her shooting me today only solidified what I’ve been coming to realize for weeks. Rayna is everything I have pictured as a wife for myself and as a mother for my children. She comes with a take-no-shit attitude, and bags of sass that I didn’t see coming, but I’ve become accustomed to all the same.
Where would I ever find another woman brave enough to curse me to my face? Bold enough to try and strike me for disrespecting her? Beautiful enough for me to dream of her yelling at me and only wanting to kiss her in retaliation?
No, no other woman would do.
“You’re all set,” Doc says, pulling me out of my thoughts. Our family doctor is almost always available for patch ups like this, and never far when we need him. “Try not to get it wet for a few days. Pain medicine this time?”
“No,” I answer quickly. “Barely hurts. Gin will do.”
Honestly, wine could probably handle numbing the small soreness from my wound. But gin has been my choice of drink for years now. The sharp and crisp acquired taste is more appealing to me than the smokier notes of bourbon that my brother Nico prefers.
“Mmm,” he grunts, nodding like he expected the answer. “Shall I alert our Capo about this incident, or?”
“No incident,” I reply with a roll of my shoulders, standing up from my chair. “An accident with my woman. I’m sure he’d rather not know.”
He huffs, the stern older man almost looking amused. “Foreplay has changed so much since I was in my youth.”
I chuckle. “You’ve got no idea, Doc.”
Pulling out my phone, I bid him goodbye and start typing out a message to the woman who put me here.
Apollo
How are you?
I don’t have to wait long for a response.
Rayna
How am I? I should be asking how YOU are.
Apollo
Would you like to?
Rayna
Would I like to what?
Apollo
Ask how I am.
I grin, watching her text bubbles pop up and disappear. I wonder if she’ll choose to be sincere or snarky.
Rayna
You’re texting me so I assume you’re fine.
Snarky it is.
Apollo
Excellent deductive skills, micina. I can’t wait to see you instill them in our offspring.
Rayna
You’re actually insane. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head today?
Apollo
Cute.
Apollo
Tomorrow while Yordan does his tutoring with Javier, we’ll talk and come to terms.
She takes much longer to reply this time.
Rayna
Come to terms?
Apollo
Negotiate.
Apollo
We will have a contract for our arrangement. Start thinking of the things you’d like included in it.
Rayna
You’re acting like I’ve agreed to this.
Apollo
It’s like you said. I wasn’t asking.
Before she can bite my head off in a text, I add another.
Apollo
If you wanted to reject me, you would have already. Save us both the headache of denying this is going to happen.
Rayna
I should tell you to fuck off just to spite you.
Rayna
You assume too much.
Apollo
You like it as much as you hate it.
Another ten minutes pass, and then:
Rayna
Fine, we can have a meeting. A professional one. But I reserve the right to walk away if we can’t come to terms. Don’t expect to be able to swindle me into some deal where I lose my whole personality and bow down to you as my controller or something.
Apollo
I wouldn’t dream of it, love. See you at noon.
Rayna
Stop calling me love!
I chuckle, putting my phone away.
Never going to happen.
I arrive five minutes early, stand contracts and pens in hand. My future wife lets me into her home with a wary look in her eyes, but manufactured confidence keeping her head held high. I imagine she doesn’t know what to expect from today, but it won’t be as daunting as she might assume.
At least, it shouldn’t be.
She’s prepared by wearing her proverbial armor. Dress slacks and a blush pink blouse that makes her look more like she’s going into work as a high-end secretary than sitting down to discuss marriage.
Her small dining table is set with two water bottles and a stack of sticky notes. I hide a smile, noting the set up.
“You’ve prepared, I see,” I note, nodding to the setting.
“I baked the croissants too,” she mutters, rounding the table to find the furthest chair. “But we’ll see how this goes before I offer them.”
“I’ll endeavor to earn one.”
“Before we get started,” Rayna begins, sitting down with her shoulders straight and head held high. “I have a condition that I’m unwilling to negotiate on.”
Taking the seat across from her, I set my contracts on the table top. Passing one to her, along with a pen, I open a blank page. Writing Rayna’s condition at the top, I reply, “I’m listening.”
There’s only a small beat of silence. And then:
“I want orgasms.”
My pen stills, eyes lifting from the paper to meet hers. Rayna’s expression is composed, but the rapid rising and falling of her heartbeat in her neck gives away her nervousness. She may put on a brave face, but she’s still a human untrained in keeping her physical composure.
“Care to elaborate on that, micina?”
She ignores the nickname, only offering a small scowl at the sound of it. Folding her hands on the table, Rayna attempts to remain formal and professional as she clarifies her utterly informal request.
“If one of our main goals of this marriage is to produce an heir, I want orgasms.” She swallows, trying to portray an even and controlled tone. “I refuse to be bred like a broodmare without receiving pleasure in exchange. I want to enjoy sex, even if it’s with you.”
Even if it’s with you.
The fucking mouth on this woman.
“You want me to write your guaranteed pleasure into our marriage contract? The contract that my father would read, review, and sign?”
Rayna lifts a shoulder. “The man has ten children, I’m sure he’s familiar with the mechanics of making babies. I doubt my desire to enjoy the process will scandalize him.”
Point taken.
“You seem argumentative,” she continues, narrowing her eyes. “Do you have a problem with my request or your ability to perform the task?”
The fucking cheek of her.
“I neither have a problem with your request, nor do I lack any confidence in my ability to fulfill it. I’m simply surprised you’ve become so bold overnight, Miss Todorova.
Mere hours ago you were scandalized by the idea of procreating with me, and now here you are, petitioning to writhe beneath me in ecstasy while we try for a baby. ”
“I was not scandalized. I was shocked by the idea of a man I shot trying to marry and fuck me moments after said assault,” she argues, sniffing.
“What’s a little bloodshed between friends?” I shrug. “You looked nice with a gun in your hands, love.”
“I told you to stop calling me that.”
“So, you prefer micina?”
“I prefer you stop taunting me.” Rayna huffs. “Back to my point. Orgasms are on my will not give up list. If you can’t accommodate, then it seems this meeting has run its course.”
I can be very accommodating, and if she doesn’t cease trying to bait me, I’ll gladly show her just how much her request doesn’t deter me.
“Any particular way you’d like me to write your demand?”
She smiles, bright and wide like she’s won a battle. “I believe I want the exact wording in the contract to be Apollo agrees that he cannot come inside of Rayna, unless she has already come on him first.”
My cock twitches in my slacks and stomach stirs with heat. The temptation to bend her over the table grows to a nearly unbearable level. I’ve been thinking about how she would feel wrapped around me since I had my tongue down her throat sixteen days, and four hours ago.
“Your condition is noted and accepted,” I tell her, watching surprise light up behind her eyes. She was either expecting a fight or some kind of push back on my end, but she couldn’t be more wrong.
Sex is much more satisfying when both parties are consumed by it.
“Just like that?” she sputters.
Calmly, I agree. “Just like that.”
“How do you even know you can fulfill it?” she demands hotly. “What if I’m really difficult to please. What if I’m unresponsive to your efforts? Do you plan to give up if I take more than five minutes?”
“One,” I start, lifting a finger. “I’ve made you whimper with mere kisses, Rayna. You’re not unresponsive to my efforts.”
“I—”
“Two,” I continue. “I’m perfectly confident in my abilities to bring you pleasure, and I hope it takes more than a few minutes. Unlike whatever pathetic excuses for men you’ve apparently let touch you before, I enjoy bringing a woman to the brink of ecstasy. It’s half of the enjoyment.”
“How do I know you’re being honest?” she rasps.
I lift a brow. “Would you like a test ride?”
“You seem like you’re teasing me, but yes, actually,” she rebuttals, a challenging glint in her eye. “I want our finalized contract to be contingent on you proving yourself.”
“You want a trial fuck.”
“Unless you have a problem with that.”
My only problem with it is that it’s not currently happening.
“No problem,” I reply with a thoughtful hum. “We’ll schedule a time at the end of our meeting.”
“O-okay.” She doesn’t mean to stutter, but she does.
I want to taste the nerves straight from her lips.
“While we’re on the topic of must haves for our intimate life, I have a condition of my own.”
Rayna drops her previous smile and gives me a suspicious look. “If you have some kind of fucked up fetish—”
“Relax, micina,” I interrupt with a huff. “Your feet are safe from me.”
She hides a laugh poorly, shaking her head. “I was thinking more like you wanting to chase me through the woods or stick needles through my ribs.”