Chapter 19 - Roman
There’s something soft about her smile that’s almost disarming. It feels genuine, even if it isn’t.
Victoria is someone else entirely, despite her initial refusal and her evident reluctance.
Rather than looking too clever or spiteful, she gives me the kind of smile that has me second-guessing all of her previous resistance and resentment.
For all of our arguments before, it’s almost like she doesn’t hate me…as if she truly does feel the things she’s portraying for the room to see.
She laughs like it’s easier than breathing, leans into me like she’s magnetized to me, and she grins like it’s an invitation.
Every part of her demeanor screams that she’s mine…and while I know it’s all for the image, all for my request, something about the way my body reacts to her makes me forget.
I asked her to do this. I told her to bide her time and at least show the others she doesn’t despise me. That she is my wife—and a doting one at that.
Now, I can’t help but wonder if that was a mistake.
She’s almost scarily good at it, which should concern me to a degree.
While I know it’s all forced, I can still feel her pulling me in, and for the first time, it’s like I’m the one being played.
But at the same time, there’s something almost addicting about the way she clings to me…how she looks empowered with me.
Her hand lingers against my chest while looking at me so earnestly, I can’t help but believe her.
She presses a bit closer, causing me to warm all over. Cocking her head slightly, she gives me a small, demure smile.
“I like how you’re looking at me…”
I lift a brow, feeling like I need to tread carefully for my own sake. “How so?”
She hums. “Almost like you’re not sure if you should strangle me or kiss the ground I walk on.”
She’s too right and doesn’t even know it.
“Careful, Victoria…” I warn her with a low tone, grip tightening against her back ever so slightly.
“Why?” She asks, giving me a subtle look of mischief. “Afraid you’re feeling things?”
My eyes narrow at her, still trying to work out her angle. “Do you think this is a joke?”
“No, I don’t,” she murmurs, almost too sweetly, while her fingers lightly brush against my jaw, then down along my neck. I’m forced to suppress a shudder from moving through me. “…I think this dance of ours is dangerous.”
Right again…
Holding her gaze, I find myself almost struggling to come up with things to say.
Even if she’d likely claim otherwise, she looks far too relaxed and in her element. She seems practiced in this art of making me flustered despite myself.
I’ve never been stunned into silence before, yet she’s throwing me completely off-kilter, and I have no one to blame but myself.
“It is…and you’re doing it right in front of the entire place.”
Grinning, Victoria leans closer, leaning her cheek against my chest. “I am just as you asked. You should be thanking me.”
The gesture, regardless of how performative it might be, makes me soften slightly, and I loosely wrap my arms around her, holding her near. We sway carefully, and I can see the lines beginning to blur.
She looks so at ease…so smitten.
I can’t tell what’s fake anymore.
“Maybe I should be,” I murmur back, resting my cheek against the side of her head, able to speak directly in her ear.
The soft, classical music surrounds us, and I can’t help but get lost in it.
Instinctively, I expect her to try and push me off…to recoil in disgust. But she doesn’t.
Instead, she stays right where she is, moving slowly with perfect complacency. She’s almost pliable in my arms, and for the first time in a while, it feels like I’m receiving genuine affection from her.
While we dance, I feel the others watching us. They do it shamelessly, telling me exactly what they’re thinking.
When they look at us, they see nothing but power…a collected force of two influential individuals.
Even if Victoria doesn’t have experience in my world, she at least makes it seem that way.
It looks like she belongs there…belongs with me.
“I think you’ve convinced everyone here now,” I murmur to her, soaking in her warmth and the feeling of her curves beneath the dress.
“You think so?”
I hum without needing to consider it. “Absolutely…you’re acting like you can’t get enough of me.”
Even if I can’t see it, I can feel her faint smile.
“And to think, I had another trick ready to go. It’s a shame they won’t be able to see it.”
At her words, immediate curiosity consumes me. “What trick?”
Victoria pulls back slightly before meeting my gaze. Those brown eyes gleam back at me, ripe with a convincing tangle of knowing and need. “The one where I kiss you in front of everyone.”
The words make me pause, sending a thrill down my spine. I feel myself falter before schooling my emotions.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Looking up at me through those dark lashes, another vaguely teasing grin pulls at her lips. She leans in slightly closer, letting our noses brush together. “Maybe I am…”
It takes everything in my power not to pull her even closer or to let my hand drop lower. My stomach clenches, and I can’t fight the tension in me that’s begging to be soothed.
She’s being so soft…so agreeable.
Blocking out everyone but her, I whisper against her lips. “Then keep convincing them.”
A little too satisfied with herself, Victoria lightly presses her lips to mine, in no rush, while she kisses me tenderly.
My eyes close instinctively, soaking in the rush of addicting sensations that course through me.
With incredible self-restraint to not take it any further, I gently meld our mouths together, able to taste her without being too obscene.
I shiver as her fingers brush against the nape of my neck, metaphorically bringing me to my knees.
If it weren’t for everyone around, it would be an easy choice to have my way with her here and now.
We’ve had sex before, but there’s something different about that kiss. Something almost sincere and playful despite the truth behind it.
Hell...even I can’t discern what’s genuine or not anymore, and a small part of me doesn’t care.
Having her against me like this, able to feel that warmth exchanged between us is enough…But I know it won’t satisfy me for long.
***
By the time we get back to the house, I don’t know how I’m still hanging on. How I haven’t completely folded already.
Victoria managed to blindside me with her loving act, and my nerves felt completely shot from holding back.
I want her on the best of days, but now, I’m even more strung out.
With an air of satisfaction, she enters the house while carrying her heels, looking vaguely tired but much less pissed off than she had been at the start of the night.
Still feeling the heat pooling in my gut, I reach for her heels, letting my fingers brush against hers while I silently take the shoes from her.
She pauses, glancing back at me with a flicker of surprise in her eyes, but she gives them up anyway.
Even if the act doesn’t need to continue, she remains shockingly subdued.
We both seem to hesitate, caught up in gazing at one another, before I gesture with my head toward the living room. My hand returns to the small of her back while I carry her heels, unable to resist touching her to some capacity. “Come…”
Victoria looks like she’s contemplating it before she relents and follows me without complaining or throwing any kind of fit. It’s a refreshing change, honestly.
Together, we drift to the dimly lit living room, and I set her heels and my tux jacket aside before guiding her to sit. Leaving a small space between us, I let my eyes roam over her.
“Sit back.”
She gives me a questioning look, then carefully shuffles back until she’s leaning against the armrest. As her legs come up, I reach for one of her feet and gently run my thumbs along the surely tired soles.
Victoria subtly flinches but relaxes into the touch. “What’s this about?”
Focusing on rubbing against her soft skin, I hum to myself. “Consider this your reward…for being agreeable and doing as I asked of you.”
She softens a touch more, seemingly easing into the couch and allowing herself to take in the attention. “It wasn’t so bad.”
A small smile settles on my lips while I continue, offering her as much of my attention as possible. Despite myself, I enjoy the quiet, intimate moment. “Regardless, you did well. Thank you.”
Something moves through her eyes then, and I catch the sound of her swallowing harshly. She’s quiet, then lets go of a gentle breath. “You’re welcome.”
While a simple response, it’s sincere…truly, completely genuine.
We sit in that surprisingly comfortable silence for a time as I massage out the tension in her feet, able to catch her occasional sigh.
With each passing second, I can feel something heightening between us, a crackling in the air, regardless of not saying anything.
Looking up, I catch her already assessing me, unable to hide the rare vulnerability in her expression. Inexplicably, I can feel the same happening to me.
It’s just us…it’s nice.
Caressing her skin, I tell myself to keep it in—to hold back.
But having her eyes on me like that, I can’t help myself.
Leaning in closer, I let my lips brush against her ankle, peering up at her to watch as her brows lift almost indiscernibly before a faint shiver moves through her.
Victoria doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t pull away, either.
Instead, there’s another shift in her gaze, and she swallows hard.
Taking that as a good sign, I continue, slowly kissing up her leg and scarcely taking my eyes away from her.
After having to endure her lovestruck demeanor, regardless of its sincerity, and forcing myself to behave among everyone else, that resolve of mine has crumbled.
And in that moment, while I slowly caress her skin with my lips while she breathes a bit heavier, I can’t help but wonder if my request of her was my undoing in disguise.
Sliding my fingers along her smooth calf, I reach higher, feeling as she shivers. It sends an immediate thrill down my spine, and I don’t know how much more I can take.
“Roman…” Victoria whispers, sounding like such a sinful prelude for what’s to come…
I reach just beneath her knee as I hum, allowing myself to give in to that desire.
“Roman…” she repeats, heightening my senses before her next words reach me. “I might be pregnant.”
I freeze, and the words seem to detonate in that little space between us.
At first, I wonder if I misheard her…but those words echo again and again until I have no choice but to lift my head and look her in the eyes.
Pregnant.
Victoria watches me closely, dripping with more vulnerability and a touch of worry. She’s waiting for me to say something—anything, apparently.
Forcing my brain to reboot, I murmur, “How long?”
“I’m late by two weeks.”
Her voice is small and unsure, but it makes something stir in me—that protective urge.
There’s a beat of silence between us that feels so full of unspoken things.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I’m telling you now.”
Touche.
It feels like half a century goes by before my mind catches up fully, and the reality of that confession grips me by the neck.
A baby…our baby.
An heir of my own.
The thought alone makes something come alive within me, and I can’t stop myself from moving closer and nearly invading her space.
Reaching forward, I cup her cheek, not allowing her to look away from me.
“Are you afraid?”
She blinks back at me, unable to hide the raw emotion within those gorgeous eyes. “Yes…”
“Then trust me,” I murmur, letting my thumb brush along her cheek, just beneath her eye. “Share your fear with me…share your anger, your joy, and everything else. Put your faith in me. In us.”
Victoria’s eyes soften, and her voice registers just above a whisper. “Can I really do that? Can I trust you, Roman?”
Even hearing her say my name is enough to bring my walls down completely, making me succumb to that deep-seated desire.
“Yes, you can,” I manage through the haze that quickly sets in as I drift closer, drawn to that mouth of hers. “Trust me with your life…and the life of this baby. Give yourself to me, and I’ll give you the world, Victoria…allow me that pleasure.”
Her breath catches at my words, and she seems just as dazed by the heat as I am.
Searching her eyes, I can’t pull away. “Tell me you want this…just say the word.”
There’s another moment of silence while she considers it, and then everything seems to click into place.
“I want it—I want you.”
That’s all it takes.
My lips are on hers in an instant while my fingers thread through her hair, gently cradling the back of her head.
There’s nothing gentle or soft about it. The kiss is the kind that can break through walls and render anyone completely speechless. It makes me wish I had never had to stop.
I feel her inhale deeply before sighing into my mouth, letting her hands fall to my waist to pull me in.
The mutual desperation burns bright between us while I brace myself against the arm of the couch and meld our lips together, fully prepared to devour her and everything she’s willing to give me.
All the while that lust rushes through my veins, I can only focus on the way she feels beneath me and the idea that everything is about to change.