AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’ve leaned against the counter as she made herself at home and stare at her as she glides her hands over her hips and sides. She’s nervous.
“Let me show you around on the first floor, and then we’ll go up.” I lead the way to the few other rooms on this level. “My office, washroom, and safe room.”
Gigi peeks into each of them and gives a shudder when I open the steel door to the safe room.
“I’ll show you how this works in the morning.”
“Okay.”
“This way.” I nod in the direction of the staircase going up to the loft.
I wait for her to go first and follow, having the pleasure of watching her sweet curves sway in front of me, those perfect ankles and calves peeking out with each step she takes. Those heels…fuck. When she reaches the landing, she stops abruptly, blocking my way.
“Gigi.” I put a hand on her hip to urge her forward so I can get off the stairs and stand abreast with her.
She steps to the side to make space for me. “There’s only one bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“This wasn’t the plan, Steph.”
No, this wasn’therplan. I made my terms clear. This is going to be a proper marriage.With no sex. No kissing.Until she begs for it. And beg, she will.
“When you’re under my roof, you’re not sleeping alone. Not until Franco has been dealt with and we’re sure there’re no repercussions.”
29
GIGI
He’s played me. But not really. We were sparring when we made those stupid terms, working each other up. I’ve underestimated him. In the past few days, Stephano has been different. Super focused. My first impression of him holds true: he’s one of the most dangerous men I’ve ever met. Not only because he is in such control of himself, but because he is always five steps ahead of me.
I was stupid not to think this would come my way. He did, after all, say this would be aproper marriage.
With no kissing and zero sex.
There’s no chance that’s going to last. That notion of control I’ll have by denying him? I can already feel myself slipping. This isn’t forever. Only until we can safely go back to Italy. The sooner, the better. I’ll have to be strong.
Problem is, I’ve been attracted to him since the very first moment I saw him on the Cannes marina, when he caught me when I stumbled. And he’s just a man. He wants me. I can see it in his eyes, in the way his gaze travels over my body. He might not have caved in on the night of the auction because he had apoint to prove, but he’s just playing plain dirty now, and so will I. Whatever happens next, I can’t give in to him.
I take in the big room. Mirrored cupboards line one wall, doubling the space, and a door between leads to the en suite bathroom. Floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the room give views over the park and city scape. Two occasional chairs face a fireplace in that corner, and around it, bookshelves cover the wall, forming a reading snug. This man is full of surprises I didn’t foresee. I bet his mom read bedtime stories to her kids, just as I did to Carla.
Center stage stands the one and only bed. It’s big and made up in slick grey silk that I can almost feel on my naked skin.
“It’s perfect,” I say, because it is. It’s the perfect nest of seduction, just as he planned it.
I walk deeper into the room, making my way to the windows. The view is magnificent. Wispy clouds tinged in soft oranges and pinks stretch across the sky in the last sun rays.
With a deep inhale and focus, I turn to him. He might have control over every inch of his being, but I’m used to delayed satisfaction. I know how to bide my time and play the long game. I’ll wear him down by not caving in, and hopefully, by the time I can’t stand it any longer, the divorce papers will be signed.
As I walk towards Stephano where he stands two feet away from the stairs, I pull the pins from my hair. It hasn’t been over-styled, and now, the thick tresses cascade in soft waves to my bare shoulders.
“Can you help me with the dress’s buttons?” The long row leads the eye from the middle of my back down to my butt where it widens the dress enough to slip it off. I didn’t think this far, but I can’t unbutton all of them without help. It is, after all, a wedding dress and needs assistance getting on and off.
“Sure.” He steps up, and I turn my back to him.
He’s so close, I can feel his breathing and then his soft touch to my shoulder as he sweeps my hair to the side. My body reacts to the simple, slow caress—a frisson of desire spreads over my skin to harden my nipples. And then his fingers glide down to fiddle with the silk-covered buttons, his knuckles softly kissing my skin with each one.
It’s torture because it makes me feel like a true bride being undressed by her beloved, in an arousing game of seduction that’s going nowhere tonight. With every inch he progresses to the last one in the row, need builds in my core, and desire wets me right where I want him to go so badly.
