He gazed at me, his face frozen. There was nothing, no expression, no darkening or lightening of his countenance.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I whispered.
He cleared his throat. “Why the fuck do you think you deserve an answer when it comes to my family?”
His words stung. We lay in silence for a long time and then his breathing changed and he was asleep. Feeling deeply hurt and confused by his reaction, I closed my eyes and forced myself to at least pretend to get some rest.
The next morning when I woke, I blinked through sticky eyes and saw Lucien standing before the mirror adjusting his tie. I lay in bed, not moving, and watched him fasten his cufflinks. Then he smoothed his hair back and turned to face me, cocking his head. I scowled a little and balled myself up, pushing the blanket up to my chin.
“You need to get up,” he said. “Iris is throwing a customary party to welcome us home tonight. It’s tradition for newly married underbosses. Why don’t you help her put it together?”
“I don’t know how to put together a party,” I said quietly.
“You’re about to learn.”
He stepped up to the edge of the bed and pulled back the covers and his eyes fell on my naked body. His gaze perused me for a long moment and the tips of his fingers grazed over my hips. Then he slipped his hand between my thighs and drove his index and middle finger into my pussy. An ache of pleasure and pain went through me and I bit my lip, determined not to let him see my arousal.
“There are some parts of my life I will never be able to share with you,” he said. “I ask that you respect that and don’t ask about them.”
He flicked my G-spot hard and his thumb circled my clit until pleasure began building. I gasped and arced my lower back, an orgasm rising quickly to the surface. At the last minute, he pulled his fingers from my pussy and stood back.
“What was that?” I cried out in frustration.
He traced my stomach with his wet fingers, trailing my arousal across my skin. “I’ll fuck you tonight. In the meantime, be a good girl and do as I say.”
I managed to bite back the angry retort on the tip of my tongue as he left. As soon as his footfalls disappeared down the hall, I threw the pillow across the room, falling onto my back and kicking my heels into the bed in rage.
I showered and dressed in a long-sleeved, black dress that clung to my body and fell to the middle of my thigh. I pulled my hair up in a high ponytail, fluffed my bangs, and slipped on a pair of black pumps. Then I left the room and went in search of Iris.
She stood in the front hallway holding a tablet, her finger poised over the screen. She wore a white sweater and jeans and her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose braid. Despite how good our honeymoon had been and how little I wanted to return, it was nice to see Iris again.
She hugged me and drew back. “How was the honeymoon? How were the Adirondacks?”
So that was the story Lucien had told everyone. I’d forgotten for a moment that only Duran knew where we had actually gone for our honeymoon. A twinge of guilt went through me at having to lie to Iris.
“Amazing,” I said. “It was cold, so we didn’t get out too much.”
“Do you need to get out much on your honeymoon?” she said, her eyes glinting.
I smiled and headed down the hall toward the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Iris followed at my heels, her excitement palpable. We’d both been dying to discuss our honeymoons with each other and now that the men were out of house, it was the perfect time.
In the kitchen, Iris pushed the door shut and I began making a French press. In minutes, the kitchen was full of the smell of coffee and chocolate croissants. Iris sat down, crossing her long legs, and setting her phone aside to give me her full attention. Other than the quick chat we had had while getting ready for the wedding, we hadn’t been able to discuss anything in several weeks.
“So how was it?” she asked, her voice hushed and excited.
I thought about it for a moment as I stirred cream into my coffee. “The honeymoon really was good. Lucien isn’t what I expected at all. Honestly, I thought I knew him before the wedding, but I had no idea what he’s actually like.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s far more…kind than I thought,” I said. “And I’m saying that even though we had a fight this morning, so it must be true.”
Iris tore her croissant in half and laid it aside. Her eyes were brimming with mischief and I knew what she really wanted to talk about. I’d been wanting to talk about it too, although now that I had the opportunity to, I felt a little shy about discussing my sex life.
“So how wasit?” she asked.
“How was it for you?” I asked, smiling over the edge of my coffee.
“I told you,” she said, looking over her shoulder make sure we were alone. “We didn’t wait until we were married, but honestly it was fine because that way I was relaxed enough I got to finish a few times on our wedding night.”