Near the end of the month, I woke and got dressed in a short skirt and a sweater. I felt Peregrine’s eyes on me as he stood before the mirror.
This was one of my favorite parts of my new life with him. There was something so comforting about the way he smelled when he was fresh from the shower. Like warm, burnt spice. I would linger in the bedroom, taking longer than usual to pick out my clothes, just to watch him put on his suit.
“What do you do all day for work?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“This,” he said, “and that.”
I frowned.
“I’m a diplomat for the outfit, which means I sit through a lot of boring city meetings,” he said. “I know all the city officials by name, I’ve sat at their tables, I make sure they have a favorable opinion of us. One of them actually made me the godfather of his child, but we are friends outside work.”
“What do you have to do today?”
“Funny you should ask,” he said, going to the bed and sitting beside me to put his shoes on. “I have a dinner tonight that I need you to attend.”
“Really?”
“I need my wife there because there’s a senator from New York and he’s bringing his wife,” he said. “I think it would help her be more at ease if you were there too. So she has someone to talk to who isn’t one of us.”
“I don’t know how to do that,” I said, worry settling in my stomach. “Be a diplomat’s wife, I mean.”
“Talk about the weather, talk about upstate New York this time of year and how beautiful the foliage is,” said Peregrine, striding to the door. “No one is expecting you to carry the conversation. Alright, I’ll be back at five to pick you up.”
“Okay,” I said hesitantly.
I’d intended on going to the library, but instead I went to the city and picked up a dress for me and a new suit for Peregrine. Then I took a long bath and a nap and did a few hours of homework. It was four when I stretched and took a shower and redid my makeup and put my hair in a demure bun behind my ear.
I zipped up my tight, black dress and adjusted my breasts until the deep V showed just a trace of them. The material was thick and soft and the sleeves came down to my elbows. As I stood, admiring myself, I heard Peregrine walk into the bedroom and pause.
I clicked into the room on my black pumps. Peregrine stood with one hand in his pocket, looking down at his suit laid out on the bed.
“You bought me a suit?”
“I was at Ralph Lauren and I liked it,” I said.
His eyes narrowed. “You know my sizes?”
“Of course I do.”
A slight frown crossed his face and he picked up the suit and disappeared into the bathroom. There was a pit in my stomach as I stood before the mirror and slipped my earrings in and fastened a tennis bracelet around my wrist. When Peregrine returned, he wore the suit and, if I did say so myself, it looked extraordinary on him.
“Ready?” he said.
There was a tenseness in his body that I didn’t like. I grabbed my purse and followed him out to where he’d parked. He pulled open the door, but didn’t meet my gaze as he helped me into the seat. Something was definitely off and the sick feeling in my stomach doubled.
“Did I do something wrong?” I said.
He pulled out onto the street. “Of course not.”
“You seem angry.”
He glanced at me and his hand flexed. Then he reached across and put his warm palm on my knee, sliding it to the inside of my thigh, and something snapped. I heard the screech of the tires before I even saw him spin the wheel and pull the car to the side of the road. He threw it in park and pushed his seat back, unfastening his seat belt. I caught a flash of his burning eyes and then his hands were on me, pulling me onto his lap.
His fingers dug deeply into my hair, yanking my head back. My heart hammered between my thighs as he pressed kisses up my neck, nipping and biting. His rough fingers dug beneath my skirt and edged the tight fabric up over my ass. His hand pushed between us, his belt clinked, and I gasped as he pulled my panties to the side and thrust into me.
“Fuck, angel,” he breathed against my neck.
I forgot we were parked on the side of a dark street, I forgot he’d been so cold and distant, I forgot everything but his desire. The world outside was icy, but inside there was nothing but our hot bodies and the steam gathering on the windows.