2. Layla
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Layla
Stefan had been secretive for three days.
Every time I asked what he was planning, he deflected with that grin of his. The one that made me want to kiss him and shake him in equal measure. The one that told me he was up to something but refused to give me even a hint.
“Just trust me,” he kept saying. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Now I understood why.
It was also why I hadn’t told him yet. I’d promised myself tomorrow, and then tomorrow had arrived wearing that grin, carrying a secret of his own, and I’d decided my news deserved better than being blurted over breakfast. Two secrets. One perfect night. His first, then mine.
The hostess led us past the main dining room of Leon’s, down a hallway I’d never noticed before, to a wooden door at the very end. She opened it with a knowing smile and stepped aside.
I walked through and my breath caught in my chest.
A private room. The walls were exposed brick. A single table sat in the center, draped in white linen, set for two. Candles covered every surface.
And there, resting across my plate, was a single red rose.
“Stefan.” I turned to look at him, my throat suddenly tight.
“Too much?” He was watching my face, searching for my reaction, a hint of nervousness in his eyes.
“Perfect.” I shook my head slowly. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
His whole body relaxed. He stepped forward and pulled out my chair, and as I moved to sit, his fingers trailed across my bare shoulder. The touch was light, barely there, but it sent goosebumps racing down my arm.
“Cold?” His voice was low, close to my ear.
“No.”
“Good.” He let his fingers linger for a moment longer before pulling away.
I watched him walk around the table and take his seat across from me. The candlelight caught the angles of his face, the sharp line of his jaw, the way his eyes never left mine.
A waiter appeared with wine. Stefan ordered for both of us without looking at the menu, and I lifted my glass to my lips and pretended to drink. The liquid touched my tongue but I didn’t swallow. I couldn’t. Not with the secret burning in my chest.
I’m pregnant. We’re having a baby.
I wanted to just come out and say it.
But not yet. Not here. I wanted to tell him at home, just the two of us, where I could watch his face transform without waiters interrupting.
“I’ve been thinking about this all week.
” Stefan reached across the table and took my hand, his thumb finding the inside of my wrist. He traced slow circles over my pulse point, and I felt my heartbeat quicken beneath his touch.
“About getting you alone. Having you all to myself without any distractions.”
“You have me alone every night.”
“That’s different.” His thumb kept moving. “We come home exhausted. We eat dinner in front of the TV. We fall asleep before we’ve said more than ten words to each other.” He shook his head. “I hate it, Lay. I hate that we’ve fallen into this routine where I barely see you.”
“Work has been crazy for you.”
“That’s not an excuse.” His grip tightened on my fingers. “You’re my wife. You’re the most important person in my life. And I’ve been acting like you’re just another item on my to-do list.”
“Stefan-”
“Let me finish.” He brought my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
“I wanted tonight to be special because I wanted to remind you what you mean to me. Not with words. With actions. By taking the time to actually be present with you instead of thinking about the next meeting or the next deal.”
I watched him in the candlelight. The earnestness in his eyes. The way his thumb kept stroking my wrist like he couldn’t bear to stop touching me.
Tell him. Tell him now.
But I wanted it to be right.
“What are you thinking about?” Stefan asked, his eyes studying my face.
“You.”
“Tell me.”
I took a breath. “I’m thinking about how much I love you. How I didn’t know it was possible to feel this way about another person. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and look at you and I still can’t believe you’re real.”
His expression shifted. “Come here.”
I rose from my chair and walked around the table. He pushed back from the table and pulled me onto his lap, his hands coming up to frame my face.
“You’re my whole life, Layla.” His voice was rough, raw. “You know that, don’t you? Everything I do, everything I am, it’s all because of you. It’s all for you.”
“I know.”
“I’d burn down the world for you.” His thumbs stroked my cheekbones. “I’d destroy anything that tried to come between us.”
“I know that too.”
He kissed me. Slow at first, his lips soft against mine.
Then his tongue slid into my mouth and his hands tangled in my hair and I forgot where we were.
I forgot about the restaurant and the candles and the waiter who might walk in at any moment.
There was only Stefan. Only his mouth on mine. Only the heat building between us.
“Take me home.” I pulled back just enough to speak, my lips brushing his. “I need you.”
We didn’t wait for the check. Stefan threw a stack of bills on the table and pulled me out of the restaurant so fast I nearly tripped on my heels. The drive home was a blur of his hand on my thigh and my pulse pounding in my ears.
***
“Fuck, Lay, I can’t stop...” he said in between kisses.
We barely made it through the front door.
His mouth found my throat the moment the door closed behind us. He pressed me back against the wall, his body pinning mine, hands gripping my hips.
“I’ve been thinking about this all night.” He dragged his lips up the column of my throat, and I tilted my head back to give him better access.
His teeth scraped against my pulse point and I gasped. He sucked gently at the sensitive skin, and I felt the sensation all the way down to my toes.
“Stefan.” My fingers found his hair, pulling him closer.
He moved lower, his mouth tracing the line of my collarbone. He kissed along the ridge of bone, his breath hot against my skin. Each press of his lips sent shivers racing through me.
“You’re so responsive.” He pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes dark with want. “I love watching you react to me.”
His mouth found the swell of my breasts above my dress, kissing along the edge of the fabric. I arched into him, desperate for more, but he kept his pace torturously slow.
“I need you.” My voice came out breathless. “Please.”
“I’ve got you.” He lifted his head and met my eyes. “I’ve always got you.”
He stepped back and scooped me up in his arms, one arm under my knees, the other around my back. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me up the stairs, his mouth finding mine again.
He laid me on the bed like I was made of glass, lowering me gently onto the mattress. Then he stood at the edge of the bed and just looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m just looking.” His eyes traveled over my body, slow and reverent. “I don’t tell you enough how beautiful you are.”
“You tell me all the time.”
“Not enough.” He knelt on the bed, crawling over me, his hands braced on either side of my head. “Never enough.”
He kissed me again. Then he pulled back and reached for the zipper at the side of my dress.
He dragged the zipper down slowly, his eyes never leaving my face. “I’m going to take my time. I can’t wait to touch every inch of you.” He stopped again, and just looked at me.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Fuck, baby, how do you get hotter every time I look at you?”
I couldn’t help the blush forming on my cheeks as he leaned down and kissed me.
He peeled the dress down my shoulders, and his mouth followed the path of the fabric. He pressed a kiss to my right shoulder. Then my left. His lips traced down my arm, kissing the inside of my elbow, the inside of my wrist.
“Layla.” He murmured my name against my skin like a prayer.
He tugged the dress lower, baring my stomach. His mouth moved down my chest, kissing the valley between my breasts through my bra.
“Lift up.” He pulled the dress over my hips, and I raised myself so he could slide it off completely.
He tossed it aside and sat back on his heels, his eyes roaming over me. I was wearing a black lace bra and matching underwear, and the way he looked at me made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.
“God.” His hands settled on my hips, his thumbs stroking the skin just above my underwear. “Look at you.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my hip bone. Then the other. His hands slid up my sides, over my ribs, and I shivered at the sensation.
“You’re so beautiful.” He kissed my stomach. “So fucking beautiful.”
His hands found my breasts, cupping them through my bra. His thumbs brushed over my nipples, and even through the lace, the sensation made me gasp.
“More.” I arched into his touch. “I need more.”
He reached behind me and unhooked my bra, sliding the straps down my arms and tossing it aside. His hands returned to my breasts, skin against skin now, and he squeezed gently.
He lowered his head and took one nipple into his mouth, sucking softly. “I love how sensitive they are.”
I moaned as his tongue circled my nipple. He sucked harder, and I felt the pull all the way to my core. His other hand kept working my other breast, pinching and rolling my nipple between his fingers.
“Stefan.” My hands fisted in the sheets. “That feels so good.”
He switched sides, giving my other breast the same attention. His mouth was hot and wet, his tongue flicking over my nipple before his lips closed around it.
His hands slid down my body, tracing the curve of my waist. He gripped my hips and pulled me closer, grinding against me so I could feel how hard he was.
“I want to taste you.” He kissed his way down my stomach. “I want to make you come with my mouth.”
He hooked his fingers in my underwear and pulled them down slowly. When they were off, he spread my legs and settled between them.
“Look at me.” His breath was hot against my center.
I lifted my head and met his eyes just as his tongue dragged through my folds. The sensation made my whole body jerk, and I moaned at the first stroke.
“That’s it.” He licked me again, slower this time. “Keep your eyes on me.”
He worked me with his tongue, long slow strokes from my entrance to my clit. He circled that sensitive bundle of nerves, teasing, before sucking it gently between his lips.
“Oh god.” My thighs trembled. “Stefan.”
He slid one finger inside me, then two, pumping slowly while his tongue kept working my clit.
“You’re so wet.” He curled his fingers, finding that spot that made me see stars. “So wet for me.”
“Don’t stop.” I grabbed his hair, pulling him closer. “Please don’t stop.”
He increased his pace, his fingers pumping faster, his tongue pressing harder against my clit. I could feel the orgasm building, that familiar tightening in my core.
“I’m going to come.” My voice was barely a whimper. “Stefan, I’m going to come.”
He sucked my clit hard and curled his fingers, and I shattered. The orgasm crashed through me in waves, my whole body clenching and releasing as I cried out his name.
He gentled his touch, licking me softly as I came down, his fingers sliding out of me. Then he kissed his way back up my body and settled over me.
“I need to be inside you.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “I need to feel you.”
I reached between us and fumbled with his belt, my hands shaking. He helped me push his pants and boxers down, and then he was there, the head of his cock pressing against my entrance.
“Look at me.” He cupped my face in his hand. “I want to see your eyes.”
He pushed inside me slowly. I gasped at the stretch, the way I always did, no matter how many times we’d done this.
He stilled when he was buried to the hilt, his jaw clenched with the effort of holding back.
“Okay?” His voice was strained.
“Don’t stop.” I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Please don’t stop.”
He started to move. Slow, deep strokes that made me feel every inch of him. His forehead stayed pressed to mine, his eyes locked on my face.
“I love you.” He thrust deeper, and I moaned. “I love you so much, Layla.”
“I love you too.” I dug my nails into his back. “I love you too.”
He kept his pace slow. Reverent. Like he was worshipping me with every stroke. His hand slid between us and found my clit, rubbing gentle circles.
“You feel incredible.” He kissed my forehead. “Nothing compares to this.”
I could feel another orgasm building, slower this time, deeper. The drag of his cock against my inner walls combined with the pressure on my clit was pushing me higher.
“I’m close.” I clung to him. “Stefan, I’m so close.”
“Come with me.” He increased his pace slightly, his thrusts deeper now. “I want to feel you come around me.”
The orgasm rolled through me, gentler than the first but just as intense. My inner walls clenched around him, and he groaned.
“Layla.” He buried his face in my neck as he came, his cock pulsing inside me. “Fuck. Layla.”
We lay there afterward, still connected, our breathing slowly returning to normal. He pressed soft kisses to my neck, my jaw, my cheek.
Finally he rolled off me and pulled me against his side. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat slow.
“That was incredible.” He pressed a kiss to my hair.
“Yeah.” I traced patterns on his chest. “It was.”
We lay in comfortable silence. His hand stroked up and down my back, and I let my eyes drift closed.
My hand found my belly beneath the covers.
Soon, I thought. I’ll tell him soon.
But tonight, I just wanted to stay here, wrapped in his arms, holding onto this perfect feeling.
I smiled and let myself drift toward sleep.