Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“It’s great,” I said.
“Charlotte?”
“There’s not a lot to say, Cassie. Honestly, I wish there was a lot I could say, but there isn’t. We … for the first month, we didn’t see each other. I was at his home, and he was here. Only when Ivan came to pay me a visit did I move out here, and to be honest, I miss his home. It’s a lot nicer and I can go exploring the grounds, and the rooms. It is a lovely home. Here, it’s boring.”
“You never liked the city life,” Cassie said.
“I was … the mistake,” I said.
“Don’t say that.”
“They were going to kidnap you,” I said. “You do know that. They wanted to have someone to use leverage against our dad. Instead, someone fucked up and they got me. You should be the one here, married. You would fit in.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Cassie said. “You haven’t seen the way Ive looks at you.”
“He doesn’t look at me.”
“No? I saw the way he looked at you through dinner. He wants to see you happy.”
“He and I … we haven’t … you know … done it.”
“You haven’t had sex?”
“He doesn’t find me attractive.”
“I doubt that,” Cassie said.
“He sees me as a child.”
Cassie scrunched up her nose. “Is that a bad thing? I mean, seriously?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, because in truth, that wasn’t a bad thing. “I’m not a child, but I also don’t want to stay in a bad marriage.”
“Is he mean to you?”
“No.”
“Then why not talk to him? Why not ask him for … you know.” Cassie groaned. “I cannot believe I’m advising my sister to ask for sex.”
Cassie pressed her fingers to her head as she was trying to rub out the memory of her asking. This did make me smile.
“What’s it like?” I asked.
“Sex?”
“Yes.” I know Cassie has done it. There were a couple of guys at school, who after having sex with Cassie, announced it to the whole school. She’d been mortified. The club had been sure to punish the guys. One of them had been a jock, and Dad or one of the guys had broken his pitching arm, when he needed it most. The other guy had been a geek, and well, he’d been at the hospital while some kind of important life-changing decision was being made by some tech scouts or something. I don’t know. Either way, they had both paid the price for humiliating my sister.
“It, er, it can be good. The first time isn’t great. It’s kind of awkward, but I don’t know how it would be for you. My first time was with a loser, Charlotte. He didn’t have the first clue of what he was doing, and it wasn’t great.” She wrinkled her nose. “Ive doesn’t look like a loser who doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
There was that.
The door to Ive’s office opened and Rage walked out. He didn’t look happy, and neither did Ive. Ivan seemed to be in quite a pleasant mood still. I wondered if he had put my husband and Rage in a bad mood.
Rage, Cassie, and Ivan left minutes later. It was just Ive and me.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Fine. I’m sorry I didn’t know it was your birthday.”
This made me smile. “It’s okay.”
“I had no idea what to get you.”
“I like the idea of a honeymoon,” I said. “That sounds like fun.”
Ive nodded. “Is there anything you want?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know I had no intention of a honeymoon, but I was going to offer you anything you wanted.”
“I can have anything I want?”
“Yes, name it, it’s yours. It doesn’t matter the price or the time.”
“And we’re still going on a honeymoon?” I asked.
“Yes, Ivan insists on it.”
I looked at Ive then glanced away. Could I ask him for what I wanted?
“If you don’t know what you want right away, don’t worry. Think about it, and let me know.”
He went to walk away and I just couldn’t let that happen.
“I know what I want,” I said. Damn it, I felt my cheeks heating even as I said it.
“What do you want?” he asked.
I opened my mouth, closed it. It was so stupid, but it was the only thing I could think of.
“I’d, er, I’d like you to kiss me.” I pressed my lips together.
“A kiss?”
“Yes, but not like on the cheek, I’d like a proper kiss, if you don’t mind. How you would expect to kiss your wife. One that you wanted.” I struggled to look him in the eye as I asked this.
When Ivan had told me I was going to marry Ive, I’d been terrified. These were my kidnappers, but in a short time, I had gotten used to the idea. They hadn’t killed me. Even when my father had begged for them to do so. They hadn’t. In fact, they had made me comfortable, and showed me affection and care.