Over the next two weeks, Livia thought she was floating on cloud nine. If her feet actually touched the ground, she wasn’t aware of it. She happily floated from one errand to the next, trying to organize her wedding as quickly as possible. Stefan had given her an enormous budget, with the only stipulation that the date was no longer than two weeks. Other than that, he didn’t care what happened. Oh, and he’d told her to resign from her job, effective immediately. She’d balked at that initially, but he’d simply pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she was a quivering mass of need. That seemed to be the end of the argument. Livia went along with that stipulation, only because she knew that organizing a wedding in two weeks was going to take up a lot of her time. He’d also told her to expect a two week honeymoon, but he wouldn’t tell her where, only that it would be in a warm place and she needed to get a whole new wardrobe for the trip.
So she’d resigned, but she’d started searching for a new job, submitting her resume for potential positions but with the stipulation that she couldn’t start until after her honeymoon. She felt empowered each time she submitted her resume for a position. Stefan was a wonderful man, but he was more than a wee bit domineering and she didn’t want to let him take control of all of her decisions. Having a job would give her…she thought about her mother’s situation and…yes, having a job would give her options. She had to have options! Stefan might not understand, but there was no way she was going to be completely dependent on a man. She’d watched her mother’s life deteriorate over the years and she wouldn’t put herself into that same kind of predicament.
Besides, she liked working. She liked thinking and being creative. So a job was a necessity to her mental well-being. Stefan would understand that. He worked even though he didn’t need to. And he enjoyed the mental stimulation of winning in the business world.
Another pastime he seemed to be enjoying was torturing her! Every night, he would pull her into his arms and kiss her until she was weak in the knees. And every night, she would pull his hands closer to her breasts, wanting to feel his fingers touching her in such an intimate way.
But his only response to her efforts was a groan or a soft chuckle as he pulled his hands away. He kept them very firmly on her back or her waist. When they’d first started dating, he’d tried to touch her breasts and she now berated herself over and over for stopping him.
One night, about a week away from their wedding, she practically growled in frustration when he wouldn’t touch her the way she wanted him to. “Why?!” she’d demanded, standing up from his lap where he’d pulled her after yet another scrumptious dinner his housekeeper had prepared.
“Why what, love?” Stefan asked. But he knew! And he smiled up at her as she glared at him from her standing position.
Livia glanced down at the obvious evidence of his arousal, blushing when her eyes moved back up to his. “Why won’t you at least touch me?”
Stefan reached out for her hand, laughing softly when she pulled her hand out of his reach. “Because we are waiting until our wedding night before we go any further, love.”
Livia wanted to scream. “Well, then you can’t kiss me anymore. Not until you’re willing to…” she inadvertently let out a yelp when he reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her very effectively back into his arms. But she was no longer sitting on his lap this time. Instead, she was on her back with Stefan’s enormous shoulders blocking out the light.
“We’re not going further, love. Not until after the wedding.” And he kissed her neck, nibbled on her ear.
Livia was ready to scream as her body arched against his. She pressed herself against him, trying desperately hard to ease this ache that was throbbing inside of her. “Please Stefan!” she gasped when his tongue nibbled against her wrist. She snatched her hand away when he did the same thing to her finger, feeling the erotic sensations all the way to that secret place in her body.
Stefan looked down at the woman writhing underneath him and knew that he should stop. His body was in an almost constant state of arousal, anticipating their wedding night.
But he had a plan. He was going to stick to it even if it killed him. He’d never met a woman like Livia before. All of his old-fashioned notions about marriage and a woman’s virginity were swirling around in his mind, keeping his libido in check. Barely.
“We’re waiting, Livia.”
She punched his arm but not hard enough to do anything other than make him chuckle. “There are things we can do other than sex!” she grumbled, running her hands along his arms, reveling in the muscles underneath her fingertips.
Stefan watched the enchanting blush sweep across her beautiful skin. “Yes. And we’ll do all of them.” He paused, his body aching when her eyes widened with hope. “After the wedding,” he told her firmly. phnx
Livia screamed, but it came out as more of a gasp when Stefan took the opportunity to nuzzle her neck again. She tried pushing against his shoulders, but the horrible man was just too big. “Stefan! No more! Please!” she begged. “Not unless you’re going to finish.”
He ignored her begging but enjoyed the sound. “After I have my ring on your finger,” he told her mercilessly.
“Fine! Then I’m not coming to dinner with you. All we do is eat delicious foods and then you drive me crazy and I can’t take it any longer!”
Stefan was not going to allow that. “You’ll be here,” he told her as he moved his lips to her shoulder, finding yet another sensitive spot on her body. He was delighted to find that his future wife was made up of a pattern of erogenous zones. “I’ll have my housekeeper make pasta tomorrow.”
Livia groaned. She loved pasta! It didn’t matter what was on it, she loved pasta. Some people preferred rice or potatoes. She loved pasta! “I won’t be here. I’m getting fat and my wedding dress isn’t going to fit me at this rate.”
His mouth moved down to the slight V of her blouse. “Buy another dress,” he told her without concern.
Livia’s hands reached for his face, trying to lift his head off of her skin. “I can’t buy another dress, Stefan.”
He took her hands and pulled them away from his head, pulling them up over her head. “Yes, you can. You haven’t spent a fraction of what I gave you for the wedding, Livia.” And his lower body pressed against hers, forcing her eyes to close as the pressure against her heat focused all of her mind to that feeling. She even lifted her hips, wanting to increase the pressure but Stefan only chuckled, knowing exactly what she was doing.
“No, Livia. We’re not doing that either. Not until after the wedding.”
Livia was going to argue with him, but before the words could even leave her lips, he was sitting up in the couch once more, with her primly sitting next to him.
“I can’t believe you are doing this Stefan. You’re being ridiculous.” She thought about just standing up and stripping off her clothes but she wasn’t quite that brave. Although she had to admit that her desperation was quickly about to overwhelm her shyness.
“Come, I’ll drive you home.”
He stood up and pulled her up with him, latching his arm around her waist when she had a bit of trouble standing on her wobbly legs. “You’re a tease, Stefan,” she grumbled as she picked up her purse and walked with him.
When he walked her to her apartment door, she tried one more time to get him to come inside. But he was prepared for her efforts and wouldn’t even pull her into his arms to kiss her goodnight. Instead, he braced his hands on either side of the doorframe and lowered his head, frustrating her efforts.
“Goodnight, love. Sleep well.”
She glared up at him. “I won’t! I haven’t slept well since the first night I met you and it is just getting worse!” But she didn’t wait for a response. Instead, she stomped into her apartment and slammed the door on him. Once inside, she screamed out her frustration only to hear his laughter as he walked away. The man was diabolical!