“Go on,” he urged.
“I said I didn’t know, and that you were probably at a meeting. I offered to call you.” I paused, hesitating before I could say what had happened next. Because I knew that I should have kept my mouth shut. That talking back to my father-in-law, provoking him, had been a huge mistake. The consequences wouldn’t just fall on me, either—I’d dragged Stefan into it as well.
“And then what?” Stefan coaxed.
“He knows that I know about the models,” I said. “He accused me of distracting you. He said everything went to shit after we got married.” My chest got tight, my lip starting to quiver.
“That’s not true,” Stefan said. “He knows nothing.”
I shook my head, forcing back my tears. “He’s right, though. I am a distraction.”
“Tori, listen to me.” He tilted my chin up, staring into my eyes, and then dropped a soft kiss full on my lips. “The way you distract me…it has nothing to do with my performance at work. What I do at KZM, that’s completely separate from us. My father’s just looking for a scapegoat. You’re not to blame. You understand?”
I slowly nodded. “I tried to tell him that. And then I said…” I had to look away, feeling ashamed over how hotheaded I’d been. How I’d so obviously put us both in danger. “I said maybe you were realizing your life was better outside of the family. Where people obey the law. That’s when he…pushed me.”
I could see Stefan’s jaw tense.
“What else?” he asked.
“He put his hand on my throat and he—” I took a deep breath, trying to steady the tremble in my voice. “He choked me. He told me I wasn’t any different from the women at the agency.” My tears were falling now, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. “And that he could keep me in a cage as easily as I was kept in this penthouse.”
Stefan’s grip on me tightened as sobs wracked my body. The floodgates were open, my emotions hurtling through me as I relived all the fear and agony I’d experienced.
“You’re safe now,” he murmured, over and over again. “Shh. I’ve got you.”
When I was done crying, Stefan’s shirt soaked with my tears, he tilted my head back to examine my neck. I nearly flinched as his fingers brushed the soft skin at my throat, but his touch was gentle, so gentle as he caressed the place where his father had brutalized me.
“My beautiful girl,” he whispered, dipping his head down to place his lips softly against my throat, kissing away the pain that his father had left. “You’ve been through hell and back today. But you got through it. You’re so strong.”
I closed my eyes as he kissed me again, losing myself to the tender sensations his touch created. In his arms, I was safe.
“Where else are you hurting?” he asked.
“My arms,” I whispered. “My shoulders.” I could still feel Konstantin’s rough hands as he’d thrown me back against the wall, as if I’d been burned by a hot iron.
Stefan helped me tug my sweater over my head, easing down the straps of my camisole and my bra, his mouth moving to drop kisses along my biceps, my shoulders, my collarbone.
He was touching me everywhere his father had touched me, as if trying to erase him. He was a hero. My hero. I had never wanted to believe it, but it was true. I was beyond grateful he had come home right when he did. My husband had saved me.
“What else hurts?” he asked.
Locking eyes with him, I pushed my bra and camisole down to my waist, exposing my torso, my bare breasts. Then I placed his hand over my heart. “This,” I said. “This hurts.”
“I can make it better,” he said, his voice coming out husky.
I let out a sigh as he kissed the hollow between my breasts, his warm breath calming the rapid beating of my heart. My nipples were getting tight now, too, and I dug my fingers into Stefan’s hair and held his head against my chest, letting myself breathe him in.
“Take me to bed,” I whispered.
With one fluid movement, Stefan stood with me in his arms. I felt as light as feathers, nuzzling his neck as he carried me into the bedroom and lay me down on the bed. Onourbed.
Then he slowly, carefully finished undressing me. With every article of clothing he removed, he soothed my skin with more kisses. This was different from our usual lovemaking. Something completely new. And I wanted to give him everything. Give my entire self to him.
When I was fully naked, I leaned back, loving the sight of my husband stripping off his clothes before crawling onto the bed with me. His hands stroked my body, taking extra care every place I had been violated, lavishing my throat with kisses, overriding the hurt I’d suffered. By the time he knelt between my legs, kissing my thighs, my mound, my wet, swollen lips, I could barely remember what had happened less than an hour before. All I knew was the pleasure that Stefan was giving me.
He licked my clit, sliding a finger inside of me as he sucked at me with his firm lips and tongue. I was already so turned on that I was afraid I’d come too fast, so I gently eased him away from me and placed my hands on either side of his face.
“I want you inside me,” I said.
