Page 58

Tori

Chapter 18

“Wait,” I begged as Stefan pushed me away. “Please.”

“Get dressed,” he said gruffly, re-buckling his belt and swearing under his breath.

I was completely naked, wilting and spent after the intense orgasm he had just given me. I was still coming out of my haze, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

It was the single hottest moment I’d ever experienced. And now it was over.

Stefan grabbed a new tie and fixed his buttons, looking over at me.

“Pull yourself together,” he growled. “And make sure you look presentable, not like a whore who just got fucked in a closet.”

His words should have stung, but they just made me hotter. I liked it when he was rough. When he was intense. I wanted more.

I wanted to wrap my body around him, slide to the ground, and unbuckle his belt before taking him into my mouth. I wanted to drive him to the edge and push him over, just like he had done for me.

But now wasn’t the time. His family was here.

Stefan finished adjusting his clothes and stormed out of the closet. He was upset, but I didn’t think it was because his family was here. I was sure that he had been seconds away from giving me what I wanted. Tearing his own clothes off and fucking me right on the floor of our shared closet. He had been about to lose control.

I had learned by now that it didn’t happen often. Maybe that’s why he was so pissed off.

Was that why he had been avoiding me? He didn’t want to give up his power?

Somehow, that made me feel better about everything that had happened. Maybe Stefan did want me, and desperately, but because of some fixation on maintaining complete dominance, he wasn’t allowing himself to fuck me. It wasn’t serving me, but I had to admit it was kinky.

I quickly put on one of the more modest dresses I had bought in Vienna, a lavender, knee-length sheath that covered me modestly while still showing off my shoulders. I’d find a way to break through Stefan’s ironclad control. I’d done it once, I could do it again.

With a quick check in the mirror, making sure I looked neat and presentable, instead of freshly fucked, I headed out to the dining room to greet Stefan’s family.

This would be the first significant time spent with them since the wedding, when our interactions had been brief and perfunctory. If the huge reception didn’t count, we’d never all sat down and had a meal together. I was looking forward to getting to know them better.

Four pairs of eyes turned toward me as I entered the living room. Three pairs assessed me with appraising once-overs—Stefan, his brother, and his father—and all seemed to approve of my dress. I ignored Konstantin’s overly familiar gaze, and turned a friendly smile toward Stefan’s younger brother, Luka. Ignoring the way his eyes were still weighing me up, I slid past him to greet my sister-in-law, Emzee.

During the wedding, she had been the friendliest of the family, unabashedly eager to get to know me better. I didn’t know much about her personally, except that she was the baby of the family at twenty-two, and that her photography career was mostly centered around the family business.

“It’s so good to see you again! I love your dress,” Emzee told me.

“It’s good to see you all again, too. Now that we’re all here, shall we move into the dining room?” I asked, wanting to appear as much of a proper trophy wife as possible.

I had a feeling it was important to put on that show for Stefan’s family, especially his father. I didn’t love it, but I had accepted it as part of the deal. I really didn’t like how Konstantin seemed to always be standing just a little too close to me. He was unbearably creepy, his eyes dragging over my body as I walked across the room.

I didn’t know where to look. I could barely look at Stefan; I knew if I did, I’d think of what had just happened in the closet and the last thing I wanted was to be blushing and flushed in front of his family. I had zero experience trying to act casual after a sexual encounter.

We all sat down to a beautifully set table, Konstantin on one end, Stefan on the other. I was seated at Stefan’s right hand, with Emzee and Luka across from me. Wine was poured, the food was served, and immediately everyone began discussing work. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“How was casting in Budapest?” Konstantin asked Stefan. “Did you find the kind of girls we’re looking for?”

Stefan nodded, not looking at me. “I think you’ll be pleased with the options.”

“Options are good,” Luka added, clearly looking for some way to contribute to the conversation. Emzee caught my gaze and flashed me an eye-roll.

Out of all of Stefan’s family, Luka was the one I’d had the least amount of contact with. Though he was polite enough toward me at the wedding, he’d seemed like a total party boy—and no stranger to women—which was why I hadn’t given him Grace’s number. Not yet, anyway.

Not that I could blame him. He was young, handsome and rich, with his own MBA freshly under his belt. Of course he wanted to have fun, wield all those gifts to his advantage—especially when he saw the toll that working at KZM took on someone like Stefan, who seemed incapable of having any fun that wasn’t specifically sanctioned by the agency.