Chapter 9
Nine
I n the gentle glow of the evening light, she looks like a goddess surrounded by the muted string lights that adorn the rooftop. I carefully chose these soft, warm lights to maintain the peaceful and tranquil ambiance of my oasis.
Few people have been granted entry into this sacred space. It is my sanctuary, the one place where I can simply be myself without any pretense or expectations. Only the members of my brotherhood and my closest friends, Wataru and Hiro, have been welcomed here. Not even Ai, my personal assistant, has set foot on this rooftop.
I can sense that Evaline is hiding the true reason for her sudden departure from our dinner table. While Ai may irritate her to some degree, I suspect it was her parents who pushed her over the edge. Inviting them to join us was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and one that I have no intention of repeating in the future. Gerard and Charity LaMontagne are nothing but social climbers, always chasing after the next big thing that will earn them a spot on the front cover of a magazine or newspaper.
Keeping her tight to my body, I lead her over to one of the cushioned patio sofas. She resists slightly, but after a stern look, she melds to my body and allows me to direct her. Taking a seat, I twist her away from me before grabbing her hips and pulling her down into my lap. I lock my arm around her waist when she squirms.
“We’re going to hold the wedding in one week,” I tell her, brushing my nose against the softness of her neck. Letting my hands wander, I sneak them up under her blouse, caressing her silken skin, relishing the goose bumps that follow in their wake. Her bare feet dangle between my legs. She fits so perfectly in my lap, so snug.
This is where she was made to be.
“Are you kidding me?” she asks incredulously. She keeps her hands in her lap and her eyes on the horizon. “People are going to think it’s a shotgun wedding. They’ll think I am pregnant.”
I shake my head. “My PR company has been leading the narrative for the last three years,” I gently try to assure her. Not that it matters much either way to me. Her belly will be swollen with my child sooner or later, but I know how much this could impact her standing. Evaline doesn’t care much about what people think of the way she dresses or acts, but a pregnancy scandal is something that could stir rumors that could potentially end up isolating her.
That is something I won’t allow to happen.
I’m well aware that my new wife has several friends in the higher social circles and connections that could be useful for future endeavors. My wife is young, only a few years younger than me, but young enough that her social circles vary from her father’s stodgy uptight old wanker club. Men who are on their way out while their sons are biting at the bit to take over.
“A week isn’t enough time to plan a wedding, Kenzo.” She tries another tactic. “I’ll need to hire a wedding planner and flowers and all the things that take months to get.”
“I don’t want you to worry about that,” I tell her, chucking her under the chin, forcing her eyes to meet mine. “I’ve already hired the best wedding planner. She’ll be here tomorrow, and I’ve been assured it won’t be a problem to get everything in time.”
“I guess money talks,” she mutters.
I shake my head, my lips pulling up in amusement. “You know very well that it does, princess.”
Her jaw clenches, teeth gnashing together, but she holds my gaze. “I don’t want Ai there,” she bites out before turning her face away, as if she’s afraid to hear my response. Something happened between them. Something I’m going to have to get to the bottom of.
“All right,” I placate her. She won’t have to deal with Ai, but I’ll be sending of Chiyo to take notes and keep everything organized. My wife shouldn’t have to worry about any of that. “But I want something from you.” I run my top teeth over the vulnerable part of her neck, just above her carotid.
“Of course you do.” The bite in her tone is weakened by her sudden breathlessness as my hand dips into her pants. She isn’t wearing panties. There is no barrier between my fingers and her soaking wet pussy.
“You were a good girl today. Besides dinner.” I press her back into my chest, opening her thighs slightly with my legs.
“Kenzo,” she breathes, pushing at my hand. But my fingers are already working their magic on her sweet-smelling cunt.
“Already so wet for me.”
Evaline moans, her back arching slightly as I plunge two fingers straight into her channel. She’s tight. Fuck, she feels like a virgin. Something shifts in the back of my mind, but I ignore it. She rolls her head back against my shoulder, staring up at the night sky. The wind whistles through the buildings around us, carrying the distant hum of the French Quarter twenty floors below.
While my two fingers work her over, my thumb concentrates on her clit, pulling a moan from her sultry lips.
“Such a good girl,” I tease, whispering in her ear like we’re midnight lovers. Evaline clenches her teeth, her eyes shutting tight. She is warring with herself. Telling herself that she doesn’t want this. Want me. But the juices coating my fingers don’t lie.
“Don’t tense up,” I warn her with a small bite to her bare shoulder. “Relax, utsukushī bakuchiku. Let me make you explode, little firecracker.” I nip at her earlobe. “Let me show you how good of a husband I can be.”
Pressing my chin into the notch of her shoulder and neck, I rip open the buttons of her blouse with my free hand, exposing her naked breasts.
“Naughty girl,” I purr when I see she isn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples begin to harden before I’ve even touched them. Bringing up my free hand, I gently pinch one nipple, earning myself another wanton moan. “I can tell you are close, Evie. Your cunt is squeezing the hell out of my fingers.”
Mutely, she nods. I know what she is doing. Trying to stop herself from begging me for her release. “Tell me, little firecracker,” I purr into her ear, kissing the shell before biting down. Evaline gasps, her hips bucking into my fingers. Her body pleading for release, even if she refuses to ask for it. “Are you still a virgin?”
“Please…” The word slips from her mouth breathlessly when I pull my fingers to hover over her entrance. Even without her answering, I know the truth. A blush stretches from the tips of her ears down her neck, and it makes my dick hard. But still…
“Has anyone touched you?” I ask, trailing sweet kisses down her neck, leaving a trail of love bites as I go. She’ll be marked by me for all to see, and when they disappear, I’ll just leave more. “Have you let anyone play with these pretty pert nipples?” I tease her left nipple with my fingers, relishing her groan as her pain and pleasure mix in a heady wave. She arches her body, her hips thrusting into my unmoving hand between her thighs.
“No,” she breathes, the heat spreading across her body even more.
“No, you’re not a virgin?”
“I’m a virgin,” she whispers, either ashamed or embarrassed, I’m not sure.
“Good girl.” With one quick thrust, I plow my fingers into her, then add another. She wraps her hand around my forearm, squeezing tightly as I force the pleasure from her body. I won’t stop. I’ll give her what I promised. “So tight and wet for me.” I pinch her nipple again; this time I linger for a moment before releasing it. She’s right there, standing on the precipice. I just need her to go a little further. Evaline rolls her head to the side, completely opening her neck to me.
I leave another mark.
Then another.
Soon they won’t only be on her neck, but on every available space I can get my lips on.
“Come for me, utsukushī bakuchiku ,” I whisper in her ear, plowing my fingers even harder into her tight cunt. “Show me what a good, obedient wife you can be.” I curl my fingers, twisting them as I fuck her with them mercilessly. The heel of my hand presses hard into her clit, rubbing circles. The only sounds on the roof come from our combined heavy breathing and my fingers pumping in and out of her soaking wet pussy. Every muscle in her body suddenly tenses, and in mere seconds, she is screaming her release.
Her hips buck and shake as she chases every pulse of electricity thrumming through her.
“That’s it,” I coo softly. “Let it all go, Evaline.” She sinks into my lap as her pleasure courses through her. Pleasure I brought her. By the time the pleasure has faded, she is leaning slack against me, gasping for air. The pulse at her neck is beating a steady rhythm.
Slowly, I pull my hand from between her legs, my gaze burning into hers as I lick my fingers clean. I moan at how good she tastes. Sweet, like summer fruit at the height of its season. Fixing her blouse so that it covers her breasts, I lean back, cradling her to my chest.
She doesn’t fight me, her eyes sliding shut as her breathing evens out. A gentle scent washes over me. Apricot and orange blossom.
“This is how good it can be,” I say.
“Our marriage can’t just be about sex, Kenzo,” she says into my shirt.
My chest rumbles with laughter. “It’s a good place to start,” I tell her, pulling her closer to me.
“If you keep me in a tower, my soul will wither and die,” she whispers sadly. The Evaline in my lap is vulnerable, hiding her face in my chest instead of facing me with her fiery gaze of defiance and wit.
“You’re not a prisoner, Evie,” I assure her. “You are free to come and go as long as Saito is with you. Or me. You’re free to run charities, partake in activities at the club. I’m sure your friends will want to hear from you.”
She shakes her head, taking a long, deep breath. “Is that all you think I am good for?” she scoffs. “Charities and activities at the country club?”
“I think that until you can show me you can be trusted, your comings and goings will be limited.” I can’t trust her not to run off again. But also, there is still the threat of whoever sent Berty to rape her. She says she’s a virgin, and I’m inclined to believe her. A practiced seductress doesn’t have the innocent reactions Evaline did while I made her come.
Still, her medical records show she had a depo shot not that long ago at a dime shop clinic in one of the cities she ran to. That doesn’t mean she’s not a virgin, but it begs the question of why she needed one.
“Just because you let an animal out of the cage every now and then doesn’t mean it still isn’t in captivity,” she retorts hotly. “What if I wanted to go to school or work or something?”
This is the first time I’m hearing of her wanting to do either of those things. Before we were set to be married—the first time—we discussed whether she had plans for her future. She said no. Did she say that because it was what she thought I wanted to hear? If she had told me she wanted to go to school, I would have supported it.
“Do you want to go to school?” The fact that me asking the question shocks her is concerning. I’m not a monster. Not with my wife. If she wants to go to school, I will enroll her in the best one. Online, of course. It isn’t safe enough for her to be wandering around campus with potential threats. Although there aren’t many people who know me as the head of the Yakuza, I am well known as the CEO of Nakamura Tech. It might be a legit business, but there are still those who would see it fall.
“I…” She stumbles over her first word. “Yes, I want to, but I know you won’t let me.”
My forehead puckers and I ask, “And what gave you that impression?”
She raises a brow at me. “You’re the one who laid out your expectations for me,” she scoffs. “Charities. Parties. Trophy wife duties. Blah, blah, blah. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you would allow me to work all that around a school schedule and a work schedule?”
“You never said anything about this before,” I point out. “I gave you the opportunity to tell me when we finalized our engagement, and you said nothing.”
She snorts. “My whole life has been about learning to please you.” She shakes her head sadly. “Everything I’ve been taught has all revolved around you. How my hair was cut. The makeup and outfits I wore. None of it was me. All of it was you. My parents spent day after day molding me to complement you. Do you honestly think that I would have spoken up about my own aspirations when the only ones I was told I could have revolved around you? Your father’s agreement with mine took everything from me. Since birth, I’ve been nothing more than your soon-to-be wife. That was my identity. My life. So excuse me if I didn’t share the only thing I had for myself.”