Chapter 35 Stefan
STEFAN
Her mouth on me is heaven and hell all mixed up in one perfect torture.
I grip the steering wheel with one hand, the other tangled in her hair. Not controlling her. Just holding on.
She takes her time. There’s no rush or urgency, just slow, deliberate attention that makes my brain short-circuit.
She retreats just enough to look up at me. Her eyes are dark and determined.
She winks. Then her mouth is on me again and I forget how to form words.
She’s good at this. Far too fucking good. Or maybe it’s just that it’s her who’s doing it. The simple fact that this brilliant, beautiful woman is on her knees in my car, taking me apart piece by piece because she wants to.
Because I defended her.
Because I called her my wife.
I should probably examine this strange, exhilarating feeling surging through me, but before I can get too deep into it, her tongue does this thing and my hips jerk involuntarily.
“Fuck.” I tighten my grip in her hair. “Olivia, I’m going to—”
That’s all she needed to hear. She hums and doubles down, sucking me to the base, and whimpers like she’s begging me to fall apart for her.
So I do.
The orgasm is like a sledgehammer to the solar plexus. My whole body goes rigid. I can’t breathe or think or do anything except feel as she takes everything I have to give, swallows it all down, and sighs happily.
When I finally come back to myself, she’s sitting up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. There’s a satisfied smile on her lips.
“Better?” she asks.
I can’t speak yet. “Uh…”
She laughs. The sound is light. Happy. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I reach for her, cup her face in my hands. “Come here.”
She climbs over the console. It’s awkward in the confined space, but she manages. Then she’s straddling me, her knees on either side of my thighs.
I kiss her. Deep. Thorough. Trying to pour everything I can’t say into the contact.
Thank you.
I’m sorry.
You’re everything.
She melts against me. Her hands slide into my hair and she kisses me back with the same intensity I’m giving her.
“We should go home,” she whispers.
“Not yet.”
“Stefan—”
“I need you.” I grip her hips. “Right here. Right now.”
Her eyes widen. “We’re in a parking lot.”
“You didn’t care about that two minutes ago.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I…” She opens her mouth, then closes it. “I don’t know. It just was.”
I slide my hands under her dress and find the edge of her panties. “Tell me no and I’ll stop.”
She doesn’t tell me no.
Instead, she lifts up just enough for me to pull the fabric aside. Her hand goes between us, guiding me where I’m already stiffening again. Then she sinks down and we both groan.
“God.” Her head falls back. “Stefan.”
I grip her hips, help her find a rhythm. She moves slowly at first. Testing. Adjusting.
Then faster.
The car rocks with our movements. The windows start to fog. Anyone driving by would know exactly what’s happening.
I don’t fucking care.
All I care about is her. The way she feels around me. The sounds she makes. The desperation with which her fingers dig into my shoulders.
“Look at me,” I demand. “Don’t ever look away.”
I can see everything in those eyes. Want. Need. Something deeper that neither of us has named yet. I know my eyes look the exact same.
“I’ve got you.” I slide one hand between us, find where we’re joined. “Let go for me.”
She comes then like the good girl she is, and cries out, loud enough that I’m sure anyone within a hundred yards can hear.
I don’t care about that, either.
Watching her face as pleasure crashes over her is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Then she collapses against me, trembling. Gasping for air.
I’m close again. So close. But I want to make this last. I’d give every dollar I’ve ever earned if I could stretch this moment out just a little farther.
“Again,” I growl against her ear.
“I can’t—”
“Yes, you can.” I thrust up into her. Hard. “Give me another one.”
She whimpers. Her body is sensitive and overwhelmed. But she doesn’t tell me to stop.
I help her. Guide her. My hands on her hips, setting the pace. “That’s it,” I murmur. “Just like that.”
She buries her face in my neck. Her breath is hot against my skin. “I can’t,” she whispers. “It’s too much.”
“You can.” I tighten my grip. “One more. For me.”
She moans. But when I touch her clit, she’s coming again, clenching around me, and this time, she takes me with her.
I empty myself inside her with a groan that comes from somewhere deep in my chest. My hips spasm. My fingers clutch into her hip hard enough to bruise.
We stay like that for a long time. Connected. Breathing each other’s air. Finally, she lifts her head and looks at me with dazed eyes.
“That was...” She trails off and laughs hysterically. “Very unlike me.”
“Good.” I brush her hair back from her face. “If that’s what it looks like, you should be unlike yourself more often.”
She giggles, blushes, and hides her face from me. I lean closer to press a fluttering kiss to her throat. “We should really go home now,” she murmurs.
“Probably.”
Neither of us moves.
“Stefan?”
“Yeah?”
“You called me your wife.”
Here we go. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“What if you did?”
I freeze. “What?”
She shifts a little. I’m still inside her, so the movement makes us both inhale sharply.
“What if you meant it?” she asks. “What if that’s what we did?”
“Olivia—”
“I’m not proposing. I’m just...” She bites her lip. “I’m just thinking out loud.”
“You’re thinking about marrying me.”
“Maybe.” She won’t meet my eyes now. “Is that crazy?”
Yes. Absolutely. Completely insane.
We’ve known each other for months. We’ve spent most of that time fighting. She’s carrying my child because of a business arrangement. This whole thing started as a misguided deal and got worse from there.
But when I open my mouth, what comes out is: “No.”
Her eyes snap to mine. “No?”
“It’s not crazy.”
“It’s not?”
I cup her face and force her to look at me. “You’re brilliant. Stubborn as hell. You drive me out of my mind. But you’re also the only person who’s ever made me want...” I stop, unsure how to finish that or if I should.
“Want what?”
“More,” I rasp. “You make me want more than I ever thought I could have.”
Her breath catches. “Stefan—”
“I’m not proposing, either,” I say quickly. “But I’m not saying no to the idea.”
A slow smile spreads across her face. Then she kisses me. It’s different from before. Softer. Sweeter. When she pulls back, her eyes are shining.
“We should definitely go home now,” she says.
“Yeah. We should.”
This time, we actually move. She climbs off me carefully and we both wince at the loss of contact. She fixes her dress. I fix my pants.
The windows are completely fogged. I wipe a circle clear with my hand so I can see to drive.
“This is ridiculous,” Olivia says, but she’s laughing.
Chuckling with her, I start the car and steer us out of the parking lot. She reaches across the console, takes my hand. I lace our fingers together.
“Thank you,” she says quietly.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do.” She squeezes my hand. “Because nobody else ever has.”
I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “Get used to this,” I tell her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
We’re halfway back to the estate when I make the turn that takes us in a different direction. Olivia notices immediately. “Where are we going?”
“There’s somewhere I want to show you first. If that’s okay.”
She studies my profile. “Okay.”
The drive takes fifteen minutes. We don’t talk. She keeps her hand in mine, her thumb tracing small circles on my palm. Finally, I pull into a small parking lot. It’s empty this time of night. The streetlights are dim, casting everything in soft amber.
“Another parking lot?” Olivia asks with a concerned laugh. “Stefan, I’m still sore from what we literally just finished doing. If you think I can—”
“Relax, woman,” I tell her, pinching her side playfully. “You already wore me down. I need a good night’s rest before I’m ready for that again, even for a temptation as delicious as you.” My face grows somber. “This is about something else.”
I kill the engine and we get out. I take her hand again and lead her down a paved path. The air smells like pine and water. Our footsteps echo in the quiet.
The path opens onto a clearing, with a bench overlooking a small lake. The moon reflects on the surface, turning the water silver.
“It’s beautiful,” Olivia whispers.
“My father used to bring me here,” I say softly. “When I was a kid. Before everything went to hell.”
She squeezes my hand but doesn’t speak.
“We’d sit on that bench.” I nod toward it. “He’d tell me stories about when he was young.”
“Good stories?”
“Mostly. Some were about the war. Those were harder.” I pause. “But he always ended with something about the future. Hopeful things, you know?”
We move to the bench and sit. Olivia tucks herself against my side and I wrap my arm around her to keep her warm against the night’s chill.
“I’ve been thinking about bringing our kid here,” I explain. “When they’re old enough. Telling them about their roots, where they come from.”
Olivia’s breath catches. “Stefan—”
“I know it’s early. We’re still figuring things out, and, fuck, maybe we’ll never quite get on top of our shit. But I can’t help it. I see this future with you, with our baby. And it feels...” I struggle for the word. “Real.”
She turns to look at me. Her eyes are bright. “It feels real to me, too.”
I cup her cheek in my palm. It’s so soft and pure against my rough calluses. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier.” I force myself to hold her gaze. “I was hurting and I was angry and I took it out on you. That was wrong.”
Tears well in her eyes. “I’m sorry, too. I kept pushing when you asked for space. I should have respected that.”
“You were being you.” I brush a teardrop from her cheek. “And I wouldn’t change that for the world.”
She laughs wetly. “Even when it drives you crazy?”
“Especially then.”
We sit in silence for a moment. The lake laps gently at the shore. An owl hoots somewhere in the trees. It’s like the whole world is whispering to me, You have to tell her, Stefan. You have to tell her everything and you have to do it now.
So, with a deep breath, I do.
“You wanted to know who’s in the basement, right?” I ask. She stiffens, but I continue. “It’s Mikayla. She’s the one down there. Not my mother.”
Olivia goes very still. “What?”
“We discovered she’s been working against me. Feeding information to my enemies and sabotaging my operations.” I pause and consider withholding this last piece before I sigh and let go of that, too. “And targeting you.”
“Me?”
“The smear campaign. The attacks on your clinic. That was all her.”
Olivia pulls back slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was worried you’d want to go down there. Talk to her, try to understand why she did it, put yourself in her shoes because empathy is your greatest gift.” I tighten my grip on her hand. “And I was worried she’d try to hurt you.”
“So you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth.”
“That’s the same thing, Stefan.”
“I know.” I force myself to meet her eyes. “But I won’t risk your safety, Olivia. Not for anything. Not even for honesty.”
She searches my face. “You really thought she’d hurt me?”
“I know she would. She’s dangerous. Unstable. And she blames you for...” I trail off.
“For what?”
“For the fact that I chose you over her.”
Olivia’s eyes go huge in the moonlight. “She wanted you.”
“She thought she did. But it wasn’t real. It wasn’t love. It’s not what we have.”
“And what we have is love?”
I could deflect. Make a joke. Change the subject. Pretend I’m suddenly deaf. Instead, I tell her the truth. “Yes. That’s exactly what it is.”
Her breath catches. “Stefan—”
“I love you, Olivia Aster,” I say. “I’ve never said that to anyone before. Never felt it, if we’re being honest. But I feel it with you. And it scares the hell out of me.”
Tears spill unchecked down her cheeks now. “I’m scared, too. I just love you so much and I need you so much, and if something happened to you, if I lost you, I… I… I…”
I pull her into my arms. She comes willingly, burying her face in my chest. “You’re not going to lose me,” I murmur against her hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Yes, I can.” I tilt her face up to mine. “I love you, Olivia. And I’m going to spend every day proving it to you.”
She kisses me then. It’s soft and sweet and tastes like tears. “I love you, too.”
The moon climbs higher. The night grows colder. But neither of us suggests leaving.
“What happens now?” Olivia asks eventually.
“Now, we go home.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
She laughs softly. “You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple. Everything else is just noise.”
“What about Mikayla? What about your mother? What about all the people who want to hurt you?”
“I’ll handle it.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll handle all of it. You just focus on taking care of yourself and our baby.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“Life’s not fair, lisichka. But we make the best of what we have.”
She nestles closer. “I like it when you call me that.”
“Little fox?”
“Yeah. It makes me feel special.”
“You are special. You’re everything to me.”
We fall quiet again. I stare out at the lake and think about the future. I remember the stories my father told me and I start to let myself imagine which of them I’ll pass down to my own child.
And I make a decision.
Before our baby is born, I’m going to make Olivia my wife. Not because of tradition or obligation, but because I want to. She deserves to know that I’m all in. That this isn’t temporary or conditional.
She’s it for me. The only one. And I need her to know that.
“Ready to go home?” I ask eventually.
She nods against my chest. “Yeah. I’m ready.”
We stand. I keep my arm around her as we walk back to the car. She leans into me, trusting me to keep her steady.
And I will. For the rest of my life, I will.