Chapter 43 #2
"I want you at the appointment Friday," I say.
Konstantin sets both cuff links beside the paper. "I'll be there."
"Grandma wants her regular driver removed from grocery selection," I say. "He brought pears that may ripen by spring, though she admits he's got other strengths."
"I'll find them before she fires him."
I drink half the water while he studies the estate note. "Galina doesn't want a reconstruction plan yet."
"Then the survey will preserve the site until she does."
For once, he has not hired an architect or ordered a replacement before asking what the family wants.
I set the bottle down. "We're becoming reasonable."
"Speak for yourself."
His mouth moves at one corner.
The dark suit, silver at his temples, and quiet arrogance still belong to the man who asked a stranger for ten minutes.
Now his cuff links rest beside my medical schedule.
My clinic shoes wait near his polished ones.
Small evidence of our lives has begun collecting around the dangerous parts, domestic and stubborn as weeds between stones.
"I need a shower," I say.
Konstantin's gaze travels over the scrubs, lingering where the drawstring sits low against my hips. "You do."
"That sounded insulting."
"It was anticipation."
Heat reaches me before he moves.
I walk upstairs with him behind me.
The shower occupies one wall of our bathroom behind clear glass, with pale stone under a wide sheet of warm water. Steam softens the mirrors as I pull my scrub top over my head. Konstantin leans against the closed door, watching navy fabric reveal my black bra.
I undress without hurrying.
My body has begun to show pregnancy in small ways, heavier breasts and a faint curve low on my abdomen. Under the bathroom lights, my nipples are darker than they were before conception. The skin at my waist catches a trace of moisture from the steam.
Konstantin removes his suit with less patience.
The jacket drops over a chair. His shirt opens beneath quick fingers, showing the dark hair across his chest and the hard planes below it. When his trousers fall, his cock is already thickening against his thigh.
I step into the shower.
Warm water darkens my hair, running between my breasts before following the new curve below my navel.
Konstantin enters behind me. Droplets gather along his shoulders, traveling over muscle, dark body hair threaded with silver, and the veins that rise across his forearms when he reaches for my waist.
He turns me toward him. "Tired?"
"Not anymore." I kiss him before he can ask another question.
Water runs into the kiss, warm at my lips and cool where air reaches my back. His hands move over my wet skin, one spreading below my breast while the other gathers my hair away from my face. I press closer until his cock hardens between us.
He tastes like coffee from the terminal.
My hands travel down his body. Water slicks the hair on his chest flat under my palms and then runs through the tight muscle of his stomach. I close my fingers around his cock.
Konstantin's breath changes against my mouth.
I stroke him slowly, watching the broad head darken as it fills. Water beads over the skin before my thumb clears it away. His hips move once into my grip.
"I want to taste you," I say.
His attention locks on mine. "Then kneel."
The command sends desire through me.
I lower myself onto the stone bench rather than the wet floor. Konstantin steps between my knees. His cock stands level with my mouth, thick, veined, and shining beneath the water that reaches us in warm spray.
I take the head between my lips.
Salt reaches my tongue under the clean water. He pushes one hand into my wet hair without forcing me deeper. I open around him, drawing more of his cock into my mouth until the thickness stretches my lips.
A low sound leaves him.
I look up.
Water tracks over his face and chest. Restraint has narrowed his eyes, while every muscle below his ribs tightens when I take him farther. I work my hand around what my mouth can't hold, matching the movement of my tongue over the sensitive underside.
Konstantin lets me choose the pace until I pull back to breathe.
Then he catches my upper arms and draws my mouth away.
"My turn." He presses me back along the wide stone bench. Warm water reaches one shoulder, leaving the rest of my skin exposed to cooler air. Konstantin opens my knees, steps between them, then puts his mouth on mine.
His fingers slide through my pussy.
I'm already wet beyond what the shower can disguise. He separates me with two fingers, finding the slick heat before circling my clit. My hands grip his shoulders.
"Konstantin."
He pushes two fingers inside, curling them as his thumb works above. Pleasure gathers quickly after watching him lose restraint in my mouth.
I pull his hips closer. "Fuck me."
He removes his hand and guides his cock to my entrance.
The stone supports me while he enters in one slow stroke. My body opens around him, tight from the angle, every inch of his cock visible between us until his hips reach the inside of my thighs.
I wrap my legs around him.
Konstantin grips my waist, lifting me slightly from the bench as he begins to move. Water strikes his back. Each thrust brings him deep, then draws him nearly free before filling me again.
I laugh when his wet hand slips half an inch at my hip. His glare lasts until I tighten around him.
"Do that again," he says.
"Lose your grip?"
"Laugh." He drives into me harder, and the next sound is a moan.
My clit rubs against his body while the pace strengthens. I hold the back of his neck, meeting every thrust with my hips as pleasure winds tighter inside me.
Konstantin watches where we join. His cock shines as it leaves my pussy and then disappears into me with a wet stroke. He moves one hand between us, thumb finding my clit.
The first circle makes my legs tighten.
"Come for me, wife."
This time the word carries no deadline.
Pleasure breaks through me. My pussy contracts around his cock while water runs over both of us, carrying my cry into the stone room. He holds me through the shaking, thrusting deeper as each pulse grips him.
His body loses its remaining restraint.
Konstantin buries himself inside me. Heat spills with the first hard jerk of his cock, followed by another as he comes. His forehead lowers against mine while my legs keep him close.
For several breaths, we remain joined on the warm stone.
"We are becoming a municipal water emergency," I whisper.
"Then I have no defense." He turns off the shower.
Konstantin wraps me in a towel before taking one for himself. He dries my hair with no respect for tangles, making me steal the towel from him and finish the job.
We go to bed smelling like soap, with my hair damp against his shoulder. He places one hand over the slight curve below my navel. I cover it with mine.
Outside our room, guards change shifts. Somewhere downstairs, my clinic shoes wait for morning beside the bag holding an unsigned exit.
I fall asleep beside the man who asked me for ten minutes, with nobody waiting for our arrangement to expire.