Page 89 of Nine Months to Bear

His chest is heavy and hot on my back. He reaches down to stroke my clit and steer my hips with each of his hands, dragging me onto his length so that the thrusts find their way home even harder than before.

I just moan into the mattress as another orgasm rips through me like wildfire.

I can feel when he finally gets close. It’s like the light at the end of a tunnel we’ve been hurtling down for so, so long. The pace of his fucking stutters, stops, breaks, and then he says my name again, three times, back to back to back—“Olivia, Olivia,Olivia”—before he finishes in me, until I’m swimming with him, drowning in him, and there’s no part of me left that doesn’t belong to Stefan Safonov in every way that matters.

38

OLIVIA

The shrill ring of my phone cuts through a heavy, dreamless sleep. Eyes still closed, I fumble across sheets I don’t recognize until my fingers close around the vibrating device.

“Hello?” My eyes are practically glued shut and my body aches in a satisfying way I haven’t felt in a long time.

“Open your door. I brought those croissants you like from that filthy bakery by your house.” My mother’s voice jolts me fully awake, and my eyes fly open.

Shit.

“I know you’re home; I saw your car in the parking lot. You should be awake by now. Don’t you have to get to work?” Over the phone, I hear my mother knocking on my front door, impatient even as she’s talking to me on the phone.

The trouble is… I’m not at home.

The vaulted ceilings of Stefan’s bedroom soar over me. I didn’t notice them when he carried me into his room last night.Probably because my attention was focused elsewhere. On his hands and his mouth and?—

“These things are pure sugar.” My mother huffs like I’m the one who forced her to buy me pastries and show up at my house unannounced. “You should really be more careful about what you put in your body.”

A crazed laugh almost bubbles out of me.If only she knew what I put in my body last night.

Stefan Safonov iswaymore dangerous than sugar.

Like my vagina is in on the joke, a distinct jolt between my legs sends me upright. I look around for the first time.

Huge space, ornate furniture, insane view of the harbor. But the space beside me is empty. The sheets are still warm from his body and his scent lingers on the pillow, but Stefan himself is nowhere to be found.

There’s another loud knocking through the phone as my mother sighs. “Come on, Olivia.”

Like she might be able to see me, I pull the sheets over my naked body. “I… can’t.”

There’s an annoyed beat of hesitation. “Why not?”

“Because…” I run through a list of useless possible excuses, ranging from being in the shower to having the bubonic plague. I settle on a version of the truth instead. “I’m not home. Right now. I’m… away.”

“Away this early? Without your car?” I can see her arched brow in my mind.

“You were just telling me I should be at work already. And I am. I’m at the office. Camille picked me up because I had… car trouble. And an early patient consultation.”

“Your first appointment is never before nine.”

I grind my teeth. How this woman has full control over her own lifeandmine will never not be impressive. Infuriating, but impressive. “Well, it’s a special case and?—”

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Olivia. Where are you? Where did you sleep last night?”

“I didn’t— That’s not—” I straighten my spine, gathering what little dignity I have left. “I’m allowed to have a personal life, Mother.”

There’s another pause, then her voice changes completely, taking on a tone of barely contained glee that I haven’t heard since I won the state science fair. “You’re with him, aren’t you?”

“No!” I snap. “I mean, with who? I don’t know who you’re?—”

“You’re with Safonov.”