by Lucy Leroux
“I love you,” he whispered.
Elynn leaned down to kiss his lips. “Good,” she said, making him laugh.
The moment of levity passed, and she arched her back and closed her eyes. His hands moved to her waist, and he sat up to bring them closer. Her hands moved to the back his head, and she tugged on his hair. Unable to hold off, he climaxed inside her, wishing that his seed could take root.
He wanted to put his baby inside her. The idea of it made him shout when he came, shattering him into a million pieces of light. He took her with him, her body tightening around him as she held on to him for dear life as he thrust back at her, his cock jerking as he spent himself inside of her.
Afterwards, Elynn didn’t speak until their bodies had cooled and they were lying quietly spooning in bed.
“Exactly how long have you been planning this?” she asked turning her head to look at up at him.
Alex raised a brow. “This? I’m constantly planning this,” he said grinning wickedly while running a hand over her bottom.
Elynn punched him in the arm. “Not this. A future together.”
“Our future. We’ll that’s been my master plan for a long time. Since before it was okay for me to want you. It’s still a little wrong now. But I don’t care anymore. I love you and you love me. That is how things should be,” he whispered into her hair, holding her close.
“It’s not wrong,” she said. “We belong together. But it’s still crazy to think that you felt this way since I was seventeen. And even back then, you knew?”
“Not right away, but soon enough. Too soon, maybe. It made for a long wait. Although it was probably for the best that you were still underage. It meant we had to be friends first. But after a while, I started to worry that you would only see me that way. I told myself if that was the case, I could change your mind. I just had to wait for you to be ready,” he said before changing the subject. “I told my dad that we would come to see him and Mary earlier than planned. We will meet them in Venice in a few days.”
Elynn gasped. “What are we going to tell them?”
“The truth. But honestly, they already know.”
“What?” She twisted around to face him. He turned away.
“Alex.”
“All right. So…news about us has leaked to the press.”
“What!”
“I’m sorry. I did my best to keep your name out of the papers. Me and Costas have been paying them off for years to keep your name and privacy protected. But we’ve been seen in public too many times in romantic settings. The story was too juicy to keep under wraps.”
“Oh, god,” she moaned in embarrassment. “What do they say? I want to see them.”
“There’s no need. They don’t really say anything except that we’re together,” he said, leaving out the fact that the lurid titles always referred their status as stepsiblings with a decade of age difference between them.
Seeing the headlines would only upset her. Especially since a lot of them left off the ‘step’.
“What are our parents going to say? They know we’re sleeping together, even if the articles don’t say so explicitly. And I know they probably go into all the gory details, you big liar.”
“We were going to tell them soon anyway,” he pointed out. “Don’t worry. They will be fine with us as a couple once they know how happy you are. How happy I make you.”
“Are you kidding? Do you have any idea of what your father must think of me right now? He’s going to go ballistic. He’s always hated all your girlfriends.”
He scoffed. “He’s not going to turn on you now just because we’re together. He loves you. And don’t worry. Costas knows whom to hold responsible for this relationship. He’s been aware of my feelings for you. He was furious when he first found out, but he’s had a lot of time to get used to the idea. It might be a little awkward at first, but it will get better once they get used to seeing us together.”
“What do you mean when he first found out? It wasn’t when he saw the tabloids?”
Alex stroked her cheek. “No. My father knew I was in love with you before I did.”
Elynn frowned at him until he sighed and sat up so he could take her in his arms. He looked down into her face, kissing her puckered brow. “I didn’t realize what was happening right away. Costas is the one who pointed it out. I’d been denying my feelings for a while, but when I flew twenty hours straight to make sure I didn’t miss your eighteenth birthday party, he felt like he had to intervene.”
“My party?” she said surprise. “Wait—you two had an argument that night!”
“Argument is a mild word for it. It was a huge fight. He’d seen the way I was looking at you. He demanded I stay and speak to him after we served the cake. You were finally legal, and he didn’t trust me. He should have known better. I wouldn’t have done anything you weren’t ready for,” he said, kissing her forehead again.
Elynn shook her head, her eyes wide. “You really flew twenty hours to make it to that party?”
“I flew twenty in, stayed four, and then had to fly twenty back because the meetings weren’t actually over yet,” he confided.
“I remember the argument, but I had no idea you were fighting about me. You were so angry when you left. I thought maybe you were still upset about my mom or something had gone wrong at work. But things got better right away. You were so kind, and Costas was much calmer.”
Alex gave her a sheepish smile. “Costas raged a bit, but we came to an understanding of sorts. You would get a chance to grow up a bit more and choose me. And you did,” he added smugly.
Elynn smirked. “I’m not sure I see it that way. I don’t think you ever intended on giving me a choice.”
She knew him so well. “You would have fallen in love with me eventually. Even if I had stayed away.”
“Arrogant ass,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him in the most adorable scowl.
“Guilty as charged. But I have my good points. You’ve always trusted me, and that’s the most important thing in the world to me. So trust that everything’s going to be great now that we’re together. We’ll live in the Oxford house full-time once you start graduate school. The commute will be a little longer for you, but on the days you work late, I’ll have a driver come get you or pick you up myself so you won’t have to drive tired. I have it all worked out.”
“Of course you do,” Elynn said in a wry tone before her lips tightened.
She grabbed a pillow and swung it at him as hard as she could.
“Hey!” he said, taken by surprise by her sudden attack.
“That’s for sleeping with other women when you were supposed to be in love with me!”
She hit him again and again until he grabbed the pillow from her. He pulled her close to him, forcing her head under his chin.
“I know you’re angry. I would be, too. But I didn’t know how long it would take for you to be ready for a physical relationship. If it makes you feel any better, there haven’t been that many since I met you. About one a year since you turned eighteen. And each one lasted only a few weeks, at most. I tried to be celibate, but it was too…frustrating,” he said before letting his head hit the pillow with a thump.
Elynn sat on her heels on the bed facing him. She stared, assessing him in silence. He hoped she wasn’t too mad. At this point, she knew better than anyone what kind of sexual appetite he had. For him, one woman a year was a remarkable feat. He made love to her at least two or three times a night, every night. More than that if he could get away with it, but he was making up for lost time.
With a frustrated little grunt of her own, Elynn hit the bed next to him. “You should have waited for me,” she said, striking him in the chest with her small fist.
He covered it with one hand and drew her closer. “I know. I should have. But I wasn’t sure you would ever be ready. For a while there, it looked like you weren’t ever going to want anyone. So I waited. I kept telling myself it was for the best if yo
u got a chance to have other relationships first. That it would be healthier for you. But as soon as I saw you with Eric in the street, I lost it. I couldn’t let anyone else have you,” he said, stroking her hair.
To his relief, her fist relaxed and she splayed her fingers over his heart.
“When did you see me with Eric?” she asked.
“In London before brunch, just after you gave me the car. He swept you up and kissed you. I was going to punch his lights out. If I had been on the right side of the street, I might have.”
“He did not kiss me. Not on the lips anyway. He was hoping you would show up so he could meet you, for crying out loud,” she said heatedly, despite a big yawn.
Alex laughed, mostly at himself. “Then it’s a good thing for him that I couldn’t cross the street in time.”
Elynn smacked him in the chest again, and he grabbed her hand.
“Tell me again that you love me,” he said, “and I’ll let you go to sleep.”
She looked as if she was contemplating hitting him again. “God only knows why, but I love you, you frustrating autocrat.”
It wasn’t quite what he had in mind, but he took it anyway.
Chapter 19
Costas and Mary had rented a huge Palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. Elynn had never been so nervous to see her mother and stepfather before. She was wearing a russet red silk dress that Alex had laid out for her in the morning. She hadn’t even gotten angry—she’d already tried on and discarded three other outfits in her anxiety, so letting him decide had been easier in the end.
Alex did have damn good taste, she silently conceded while adjusting the strappy sandals that he had chosen to go with the dress. Exhaling hard, she straightened up and stared at the house in dread. Smiling commiseratingly, he took her hand.
“It’s going to be fine,” he assured her as they made their way up the stairs to the beautiful house.
Mary rushed to meet them as soon as they stepped through the door. She embraced Elynn and then held her at arm’s length to look at her closely. Elynn knew she was blushing red, but she gamely tried to smile as if everything was normal. Mary gave Alex a nervous appraisal until he leaned over to kiss her cheek. Her mother seemed to relax after that, and she finally let Elynn go.
Alex put an arm around Elynn and led her to the stairs where Costas was waiting. Her stepfather looked grim. It was quite a change from the warm and friendly father figure she was used to. Her smile faltered and fell away.
“Stop looking at her like that or she’s going to think you’re angry with her, too,” Alex drawled.
Costas frowned at his son. “You should have waited until she finished graduate school,” he said suddenly.
Alex smiled and shrugged slightly. “I’m not a saint. Come and congratulate us properly,” he insisted, making Costas frown harder.
He rolled his eyes at his son but moved forward to hug Elynn tightly. “Are you sure you’re okay, sweetheart?” he asked with fatherly concern.
“I’m fine. So is Alex. We’re great, actually,” she said, taking his hand.
Costas was still angry, but she kept smiling at him determinedly until he broke and smiled back. He swept her up in a big bear hug before setting her back on her feet. Tugging her close to his side, they walked to the dining room.
“He should have waited,” he couldn’t stop from saying again.
Despite their parents’ relatively warm welcome, lunch was an ordeal. And the blame could be laid squarely at Alex’s feet.
Mary and Costas danced around the fact that their children were now lovers with determined skill. But Alex was as blunt as a sledgehammer. He alluded to nights spent in different exotic locales in a way that left their parents with no doubt as to their nocturnal activities. Elynn kicked him under the table, but Alex just smiled at her as if he wasn’t being an idiot.
“You should come visit us at the Oxford estate before Elynn’s school starts,” he said, casually dropping the bomb on their already tense parents.
She hadn’t known he was going to tell him they were moving in together. He should have warned her.
“What did you say?” Costas asked, completely red in the face.
“Shit,” Elynn murmured, grimacing.
Costas stood up and shouted in Greek too fast for Elynn to follow. At the other end of the table, Mary sighed, pouring herself a second, much fuller, glass of wine.
What followed was an excruciating few hours filled with shouting and a lot of arm waving. The argument between father and son started at the table, but soon it raged all over the palazzo as the two men went at each other in a battle that was apparently long in the making.
Resigned to the fact that they were both involved with two volatile men, Elynn and her mother followed the argument at first to make sure the men didn’t to come to physical blows. At one point Elynn gasped when Costas used a Greek word she recognized.
“Don’t worry, love. He’s not calling you a whore. He’s calling me one,” Alex stopped to reassure her, kissing her forehead before he dived back into the argument.
Eventually, Elynn threw up her hands and suggested they leave them to it. The men were paying them no attention in any case. They liked arguing with each other. Instead, she and her mother sat down to coffee in a lovely salon with a view of the Grand Canal, waiting for their men to tire themselves out.
“Are you happy, sweetheart?” Mary asked.
She smiled reassuringly at her mother. “Don’t worry about me. I know Alex and I are an odd match, but we’re very happy. He makes me happy.”
“I’m glad, sweetheart. And it’s not as if we didn’t know this was coming. Costas warned me about Alex’s feelings for you a long time ago. I’ll be honest—it used to worry me. But nothing happened for so long that I almost forgot about it. I confess, I still have some misgivings, but if you’re happy, I’m happy. Besides, I did get involved with an older Greek tycoon myself. I know you’ll make him take good care of you,” her mother said, patting her hand.
“Thanks, mom. Although, I’m having a difficult time with the idea that Alex felt this way about me, and I was the only one who didn’t know.”
Mary fiddled with her necklace and shrugged. “Well, I thought telling you might not be wise. It might have scared you…or hastened events. You might have ended up together much sooner. Maybe before you were ready.”
Elynn frowned at her.
Mary shrugged. “I am your mother. You can’t blame me for wanting you to stay my little girl a while longer.”
“I will always be your little girl,” Elynn said before hugging her.
Further conversation was drowned out when Costas and Alex burst into the room, still arguing.
“Of course we will be married first. Calm down. Your blood pressure is high enough as it is,” Alex eventually shouted in English.
Elynn’s head whipped around. Married?
“Don’t you think she’s a little young for marriage?” Mary asked in a strained voice, but it was Costas that answered.
“No! This is wonderful news. Elynn is more mature than most people twice her age,” he said, rubbing his hands. “We will start making wedding plans immediately. We’ll keep it small and intimate,” he said with satisfaction. Once he heard the word marriage, his attitude changed completely. “You can have your grandmother’s ring,” he added as he sat next to Mary.
“I have a ring, but thank you for the offer,” Alex said calmly, using a hand to nudge Elynn under the chin. She finally registered that her mouth was open. He took her hand with a gentle squeeze. “You’re making your mother nervous, baby. Try to act happy, or she’ll think you don’t want to marry me,” he whispered in her ear.
When she continued to glare at him, he leaned over to kiss her softly. He sat down next to her, and she couldn’t resist giving him a firm pinch.
“You forgot to ask me,” she hissed in his ear.
“Later,” he whispered back and he turned his attention back to their parents.
****
The rest of the afternoon passed with Costas gleefully making wedding plans until Mary also got into the spirit of things and joined him. Elynn sat there, offering the occasional yes or no.
Somewhere, things had gotten away from her.
Alex also listened without offering much. Instead, he simply put a lazy arm around her, making the occasional suggestion and kissing the top of her head periodically. They lingered for a tour of the palazzo, but when Mary started browsing wedding gowns online, Elynn pinched Alex again, and he made an excuse to leave.
The luxury speedboat that dropped them off was waiting for them outside when they finished saying their goodbyes, but the driver was nowhere in sight. Alex stepped inside and gestured for her to join him.
“Can you even drive this?” she asked him behind gritted teeth, biding her time so she could yell at him once they were alone.
“Of course I can. Get in already so you can scream at me properly in private.”
Annoyed at how easily he could read her, she got in the boat. He drove them away from the city, so that Venice was in the distance and there were no other boats nearby to witness them.
“Are you going to ask me to marry you?” Elynn asked sarcastically.
“No. I decided asking wasn’t a good idea.”
“What?”
“I decided not to ask you. After months of deliberation, I decided just telling you was a better way to go.”
Eyes wide she stared at him. “Why?”
“Because you might say no,” Alex said with a shrug, as if he was talking to a simpleton.
“Do you know how crazy you sound? You’re not asking—you’re telling. It’s crazy. You’re crazy. I’m only twenty-one!”
Alex wrapped his arms around her. “You know perfectly well that I would never ask you to move in with me unless we were married. I know you don’t pay much attention to gossip, but people will say nasty things if we live together without getting married, especially given our age difference. And you would end up marrying me eventually. You know you would. Plus with my ring on your finger, no other man would dare get near you.”