“Sort of like his work?”
“His work?”
Magnolia sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Viktor never talks about his work, that’s why he doesn’t really get too involved in the community. He keeps things to himself, keeps everything private. At least, I assumed that’s why.”
“Yeah, it’s sort of complicated.”
Silence fell for a moment and then Magnolia’s eyes glittered and she leaned forward. “Can I ask a super personal question?”
I smiled nervously. “Sure.”
“Okay, you don’t have to answer,” she said mischievously. “Was it a shotgun wedding? Viktor seems like the sort of man who might have one. He’s so uptight sometimes, surely he gets a little reckless now and then.”
“A what wedding?”
“Like, did he sweep you off your feet?” she said, her eyes going dreamy. “Seduce you and then you had to marry him because he got you pregnant?”
I stared at her for a moment, mentally comparing this wild fantasy to reality. Then I laughed aloud, unable to hold it in.
“I’ve known him for less than two weeks, it would be a medical miracle if I was pregnant,” I said, wiping my eyes. “And, believe me, it wasn’t love at first sight. Or second, or third, or fourth.”
She sighed, still smiling. “Maybe I read too many romances.”
“Maybe I read too few,” I said.
I felt comfortable with Magnolia, more so than anyone I’d been to school with or any of the women from the outfit. Sitting here, having tea in this beautiful old house with Magnolia was the most healing thing that had happened to me in a long time. We talked for the rest of the afternoon and I could tell Magnolia was enjoying herself as well so I let the time get away.
We had dinner together on the back porch and I told her about college and my interest in natural science. She broke out a bottle of wine and told me about her life here, about what it was like to be a clinical psychologist in South Carolina and live in a beautiful Victorian house by the marsh. Before today, I would have been jealous of her life, but now I was simply grateful that I got to share it in some small way.
Leonid picked me up at the end of driveway to bring me home in the early evening. The guard let us through the gate and Leonid walked me to the door before taking off for the steward’s house. I stood in the doorway and watched him go, hesitant to step inside. After that moment against the car, my body was flooded with a dozen confusing feelings toward my husband.
Did I want him the way he wanted me? With that same desperate hunger that had stirred in his pale stare as he watched me climb the stairs to Magnolia’s porch?
How could I know? I’d never experienced enough to know what it felt to really truly desire someone. I’d never had a man I wanted so badly I could scarcely wait to fall into bed with him. But clearly Viktor understood his desire and what he wanted or he wouldn’t be withholding it. That knowledge sparked my curiosity.
I slipped into the front hall and locked the door. Leaning back and closing my eyes, I let my fantasies take over for a moment. Wondering if he was the sort of man who could inspire the kind of desperate desire I’d been missing out on. The kind of wild desire Magnolia had joked about when she asked me if I’d had a shotgun wedding.
What did that kind of desire feel like? Was it purely physical?
I’d felt the hard ridge of his cock beneath the front of his pants and I knew it was a good size. But how big? Large enough that when he slid it against my entrance I would gasp and push at his chest, begging him to slow down? Would his jaw tense and his pale eyes burn over me as he worked his way into my body?
Would he fill me until I felt his cock stretch my walls, pushing up against the deepest part of me? What would it feel like when he thrust his body against mine, taking me with every punishing stroke? Would I come around him, my pussy barely able to pulse with how full I was?
Feeling vaguely ashamed, I shifted my legs and found the thin lace of my panties was soaked. For a moment, I thought about going upstairs to take care of it myself, but then I remembered I shared a room and a bed with him. If I wanted to do that, I was going to have to lock myself in the bathroom and use the shower head.
Or…or I could just ask him for it. After all, he was my husband. And he’d already seen me naked and made me come. Three times.
Maybe I wasn’t that desperate after all. I hung my purse over the railing and removed my shoes and padded into the kitchen. There was a plate of sandwiches on the table and I took one, biting into peanut butter and jelly. The taste jolted me back to my childhood and I instantly craved a glass of milk to quell the bittersweetness in my throat.
Standing in the dark kitchen, I finished my sandwich and sipped on a mug of milk in silence. Viktor was nowhere to be seen and I wondered if he was upset with me after our argument in the car. He hadn’t seemed angry, maybe a little frustrated. Viktor didn’t really seem to ever get angry.
Behind me, the door connecting the kitchen and the garage swung open and shattered the silence with a clatter. Almost dropping my glass, I released a squeak of surprise, blinking as my husband swam into focus.
Then a flood of heat replaced the shock. He was dirty, like he’d been working with his hands. Instead of his usual suit, he wore jeans and a white t-shirt. There was a scuff of oil across his front and as he ran a hand over his forehead, I caught a glimpse of his ridged abdomen as his shirt hem rode up. He looked younger, freer, and it was incredibly attractive.
I squirmed, caught off guard by how quickly heat was gathering between my thighs. My clit pulsed and I shifted my hips, trying to quell the ache. His eyes glittered in the faint light coming in through the window and he stepped toward me as if mesmerized.
I shrank back, setting the milk on the counter. The counter was cold on the middle of my back, icy against the hot blood pumping through my body.