Virgins for sale

chapter 18

I push out my stomach, feeling how tight the dress is. I had never planned to accommodate for the start of a baby bump. Everything I've read online has said I shouldn't start showing until I'm at least twelve weeks pregnant, but I'm pretty damn sure I can see it.

"How are the ice swans holding up?" I try to distract myself by talking to my mom. She's sitting in the chair beside me having her hair done. All dolled up, she looks about ten years younger, more like my prettier sister than my mother.

Her lips press into a hard line. "I know this is your dream wedding, but were ice swans really necessary? It's the middle of summer...in California...and you're having the wedding outside."

I groan internally, feeling tears pricking at my eyes. That's a very subtle way of saying that my ice swans are probably quickly turning into indistinguishable lumps.

"At least the real swans won't melt," I grumble.

"Althea." She turns to me, accidentally pulling her long auburn locks out of the hairdresser's grasp. "Your wedding is going to be beautiful. Stop fretting over it."

"Oh, Mom." I reach out to take her hands in mine. "I feel fat. This dress is practically strangling me. I'm nauseous, and I can't tell if it's from nerves or sickness from the baby. And my fucking swans are melting!"

"And you're about to marry the most wonderful man who loves you very much," she reminds me.

Thinking of Gavin instantly calms me. He didn't even want this big wedding. He would have been fine going to the justice of the peace. Though he did make me rush things, essentially I did this to myself. I was the one who wanted it all and thinking about all of the little things going wrong made me lose sight of the only thing that mattered. Being here with him and the people we love and call friends.

"You're right." I squeeze her hands, trying to draw strength from her reasoning.

"I'll still never understand how you were able to find such a catch at the library." Mom pulls away from me, allowing the hairdresser to finish up curling her hair.

"At the library," I parrot softly, thinking about how it was all a lie. Gavin and I told everyone the same thing about how we met so that our stories would match up.

My smirk conceals the truth.

GAVIN

There's been nothing conventional about our relationship. Nothing conventional about how we met. About our wedding. Everything has been extraordinary because that's what kind of people we are. Why should our honeymoon be any different?

I took Althea to Aruba because that's where she wanted to go. In the daytime, we did all the touristy sightseeing stuff. Sailing and snorkeling, lounging around on the beach. But at night...well, the night is my domain.

I told her I'd be pulling out all the stops. I know I have to be careful with her because of the baby. But tonight I want to remind her what she signed up for. Tonight, I demand her complete subservience. And she's agreed. It's her wedding gift to me. I just hope she knows what she's in for.

Althea peeks out of the bathroom before her body follows in the black outfit I bought for her. The black bodysuit hugs her curves. She swears that her belly is already swelling, but I can't see it. All I see is the sexy kitten I married. The tight black skirt she's wearing barely covers her ass. The black thigh high stockings that run down her long legs are sexy as hell. She looks nervous. She should be.

"Come. Sit." I motion for her to sit on the tall round bar stool in our suite.

I'm dressed like James fucking Bond. This is a black-tie affair, after all. I want her to get the rich feeling of all the darkness I'm about to unleash on her.

She pulls herself up onto the stool, and the second she does her skirt hikes up so high that I can see the snaps of the bodysuit between her thighs.

"Fucking pervert. Can't even keep your skirt down." I round her, giving her something to lean against. She tries in vain to pull her skirt down, and I grab her arms, forcing them behind her back. The skirt slides back into place, showing her mound. The bodysuit is so tight that the crotch is threatening to slip between her folds. I bought a size too small on purpose.

She tries to close her legs as if it will help the skirt fall down, and I wrap a hand around her throat, squeezing enough to startle her but not enough to hurt. "Keep those legs spread. If you want me to see it, I'm going to see it." I use my free hand to hike her skirt up even further, exposing her pale, flat belly.

Althea lets out a stifled giggle as I step into her view. I release her neck, my hand moving to her hair to fist into it. She says it looks better short, but these past few months I've made her grow it out so that I'd have more to grab onto. She gazes up into my eyes with lustful aggression, and I turn her lips into an O as my other hand slips between her legs, pressing the rough material against her sensitive clit.

"I'm going to make you ache to come," I tell her as I begin to massage my fingers against the spot that gives her bliss. She's never felt need before like she will tonight. I'll make sure of that.