SWNOVELS Chapter 40
The next hour flies by as I take laps in the pool until my muscles burn. The stretch feeling utterly divine. Why go to the gym when you could float like this? Swimming to the edge, I flick my hair back which has come close.
Just then, my phone rings, followed by the house bell ringing.
Must be Bianca.
I pad barefoot inside the house, after rubbing myself with the towel. Swinging open the double doors, a grinning Bianca awaits. She’s dressed in a crop top with a knot and denim cutoffs. Unlike me, she has a sexy hourglass figure.
Looking me up and down, she teases, “This isn’t the picture of a person in an emergency.”
“Iris wasn’t kidding, huh?” I mumble, inviting her in.
“Wipe that look off your face,” scolds Bianca. “I’m not that bad of an option.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Wow, being married hasn’t made you humble at all.”
“I thought being a mom did that.”
Ignoring my jab, she surveys the mansion with a slack jaw. “Is this Nova’s place?”
“It’s a gift from his parents.”
“Ahh, makes sense.” She chuckles. “Got worried for a second there. Can’t imagine Nova buying such a beautiful family home.”
“Oh, he is planning on a family,” I reveal. “On my first night, he told he wants me to have his babies. Not a baby. Babies!! Plural, Bee. Can you believe him?”
“Here I thought Dash was moving too fast.” Her hand flies to her chest. “Are all men the same?”
“No. We’re the unlucky ones who got saddled with them.”
“I have no complaints.” She grins.
I make a face and stroll to the kitchen. “So, when are you two tying the official and the hopefully the final knot?”
“In three months,” she answers, placing her purse on the island. Intertwining her hands, she props her chin on them and softly asks, “How are you settling in?”
“He wants to make our marriage work.”
Her eyebrows shoot to her hairline. She contemplates before saying, “Is he being genuine? I thought he abhorred your family.”
“He’s plotting something. If I can find what, maybe I’ll get rid of him.”
“Do you know why he hates your father?”
“Not yet.” The mystery is gnawing at me. More so than ever now. It could be the perfect leverage against him, if I play my cards right. The faster I learn his motives, the harder I sabotage him before he ruins me.
“Is divorce truly not an option?”
“I wish, but my dad had me sign another contract when I turned eighteen. While unconventional and downright disgusting, it is legal and binding.”
Squeezing my hand, Bianca murmurs, “I’m sorry, Ro.”
“I’ll be fine.” I wink. “Now, for why you’re here…”
“Yep. Let’s get to it.” She claps her hands. “Who are we cooking for?”
“Your confidence is actually concerning me, Bee.” Having witnessed her lack of skills, several times now. “Are you using my kitchen as a guinea pig? Because Dash won’t allow you at home?”
“Like he could ever say no to me.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ve been taking lessons from Dash.”
Discreetly, I open my phone to text Iris, close to begging. But it’s yanked from my hand. “Hey!!”
“We don’t need Iris.”
“What if we burn this place down?”
“We won’t and I can chop really good.”
“Again, I can’t serve them raw food, Bee.”
She flips me off and cockily replies, “How hard can it be? We’ll search online. Ever heard of YouTube?”
“Fine,” I reluctantly agree. Both of us surf the internet until we find a simple yellow rice recipe with veggies. I’m sure it’s healthy enough for Nova’s mom. “This looks easy.”
“Do we have the ingredients?”
“Let me check.” I turn and stride to the fridge. Inside, there are all sorts of vegetables, fruits, drinks, and some leftovers as well. I take out the ones we need.
“Wash them. I’ll get the rice going till then.”
“What else do you need?”
“A cooker.”
“Okay.” I tap my chin and sigh looking at the cabinets, realizing I will need to check every one. I start and luckily find it at the first try. “Here.”
Bianca stares at me expectantly. At my confused frown, she says, “Where’s the rest of it, Ro?”
“I gave you the lid.”
“Have you never seen a cooker work?” she mocks. “I need the pressure regulator.”
“A what?”
“The little cap that whistles.”
“Oh!”
“Next to you, I look like a pro.”
“Don’t get cocky until you’ve cooked the dish,” I challenge and grab the little whistle. After that, I hop on the island and watch Bianca flutter around the kitchen. She works with a concentrated frown and she does chop fast and good. I grab the basket of grapes and continue eating.
“How’s the wedding prep going?” I ask after a while.
Bianca shrugs. “We hired a wedding planner. We only want to invite our close friends, so it’ll be a pretty cozy affair.”
“Shopping?”
“Done.”
“Venue?”
“Booked.”
“How’s the business going?” Bianca had to uproot her entire company after moving back here. On top of that, her conniving mother didn’t make it easy by spreading false rumors to her clients. Downright telling a few to not hire her. It was worrisome because her mother has a lot of sway among the rich housewives. “Your mom still causing trouble?”
“Thankfully, no.” Pausing the recipe playing in the background, Bianca meets my gaze with a small smirk. “Dash kept messing with her kitty parties and luncheons by blacklisting her from all the restaurants until she backed down.”
“Atta lover boy.”
Laughing, she turns to the stove and sets the pressure cooker on medium flame. “So, we need to leave it for three to four whistles.”
“That was quick.”
“Let’s hope it turns out okay.”
“Wanna swim until then?”
“I can’t swim in this.” She points at her shorts.
“You can borrow my bikini bottoms while keeping the shirt on,” I suggest since my top will obviously not fit her ample breasts.
Bianca thinks over and shrugs. “Cool.”
The prospect of lounging in the pool gets us so excited we forget about the dish left on the stove or that we wouldn’t be able hear the sound from outside. Maggie decides to wake up and trots over to greet Bianca.
She picks her up and swims with her in the pool. “I hate that she’s growing older. It’s like we got her only yesterday.”
“Don’t remind me,” I reply with a sad pout. “I’ll cry.”
“Is Bunny giving hell to Nova?”
“Yes. He kicked Nova out of the bedroom on our wedding night.” We both burst out laughing. “It’s pissing Nova off. He’s always scowling at Bunny. Pretty sure he’s low-key scared of him.”
She brushes a wayward tear away from chortling too hard. It turns into a scream when both of us hear a loud ear-piercing beeping noise coming from inside. Our heads snap toward the kitchen window just as the fire sprinkler goes off.
Our gazes meet and we gasp. “The cooker.”
We dart inside. My dogs right behind us to see what the fuss is about. Bianca dives for the stove while I switch the fire alarm off. But we’re already drenched. So is all the furniture. I stare in horror at the mess we swore we wouldn’t make.
“Well, shit,” curses Bianca. “It’s all burnt.”
“Oh, you think?” I taunt.
“Guess I need more lessons.”
“Lessons?” I huff. “You need to be banned from kitchens everywhere.”
Throwing the burnt pot into the sink, she mumbles confidently, “Don’t worry. I have a backup plan.”
I’m about to ask if Iris has changed her mind when from behind us, a loud and enraged voice booms, “What the hell is going on here?”
Bee and I let loose twin scared yelps and whip around to face the new arrivals. We find two pairs of baffled eyes boring into us.
Nova and Dash.
Man, if they both aren’t so stealthy. I didn’t even hear their footsteps approaching.
Dressed in sharp suits and equally tall and imposing, they make an intimidating pair. They must’ve come straight from the office and look none too pleased. And who the hell invited Dash?
Nova appears pissed while a stoic Dash has his impassive gaze locked on his fiancée. His jaw grinds the longer he stares at her. I chance a glance at Bianca and she’s looking anywhere but at him.
Fuck. What must we look like?
Bianca and I look like we’ve been through the wringer as the men run their hot gazes down our bodies. It dawns on me that we’re clad in only wet bikinis, which cling to every curve of us. Bianca must realize it, too, because she shifts closer to me.
It’s so embarrassing.
“I’ll ask again,” calmly states Nova, his jaw grinding as his eyes flare the longer he stares at me. I fight the urge to cross my arms and hide my hardening nipples. “What is happening?”
“Nothing,” I say, at the same time Bianca blurts out, “Experimenting.”
“Explain.”
From my peripheral, I catch Dash taking off his suit jacket and striding to Bianca to wrap it around her shoulders. She blushes when it dwarfs her small frame, hiding her wet clothes underneath. Only then does Dash marginally relax.
“We were just checking if the smoke detectors were working or not,” Bianca smoothly lies. But the men don’t look convinced. At all.
Dash tilts Bianca’s face to his with a finger under her chin and demands, “Was this the life-or-death emergency you texted me?”
“What could be more life-threatening than fire.”
His gaze narrows with mirth. “So, out of the blue you two decided to do this… experiment?”
My gaze flies to Nova, who stalks to our little circle while cursing when his shoes get wet from the water on the floor. His proximity when he invades my personal space makes me dizzy. Suddenly our little circle feels a little too dominated by testosterone.
“This experiment by chance have anything to do with me asking you to cook?” asks Nova suspiciously.
“I think I’ve told you aren’t allowed in the kitchen, kitten,” scorns Dash.
“See, I told you that you, you can’t cook, Bee,” I complain.
“Apparently neither can you, little hellion,” chides Nova.
I open my mouth but Bianca cuts in, “The gig is up, Ro.”
“Because you burnt the food.”
“It was your idea to swim, instead of keeping an eye on it.”
“I think you’ve gotten her in enough trouble, kitten,” says Dash. “And so are you.”
“Why? I was trying to help.”
“Why text me?”
“I… um.”
“Was he your backup?” I question.
“I thought he could cook. He makes a mean biryani.” She innocently shrugs. “And who doesn’t love biryani?”
“Kitten,” sighs Dash, holding back his laughter.
Lo and behold, the man smiles. A once in a blue moon sighting. So us mere mortals know he’s human like the rest of us.
“I need to teach you the definition of an emergency.”
Nova, who was quiet, pulls me against him and says to Dash over my shoulder, “Mine needs to be taught not to lie to me.”
“We’ll leave you to it.”
I want to gag at their shocking camaraderie. Men form friendships over stupid things, I swear. Nova doesn’t let me say goodbye to Bianca. Instead, he cages me against the island with his hands on my sides.
Behind me, I hear Bianca mumble, “My shorts.”
“Don’t need a reminder I found you half naked in another man’s home.”
“But—”
“You won’t need it for…” Dash’s deep voice trails off.
In the sudden quietness of the room except for my rapidly beating heart, the tension builds. I can feel the intensity radiating from Nova’s bunched shoulders without even looking. Biting my lip—a nervous habit—I stare at Nova’s chest. “Step back, please.”
Instead, he brings his hand to my hip and hooks his finger under the string holding my bottoms together. The brush of his knuckle so very close to my pussy has me swallowing hard. Resting my palm on his chest, I push.
He doesn’t budge, not a fraction.
The knot loosens slightly, causing my breath to hitch in panic and erotic thrill.
“We need to have a talk about you wearing next to nothing in front of other men, Rose. That thought alone makes me berserk.”
My eyes snap to his. “Like Dash has eyes for anyone else.”
“I’m not talking about him.” His breathing turns harsh as if he’s trying to possess control. “I’m talking about the guards I’ve put around the house.”
“Then fire them.”
“Don’t test me on this, Rose.”
“What do you expect me to do then, genius?” I snap. “Go swimming fully clothed?”
“I don’t care as long as you obey me,” he growls before running his sizzling gaze all over my trembling body. Over my nipples, the flat of my stomach, especially my piercing he’s obsessed with, and between my thighs. “Or at least wear something that doesn’t show every man the shape of your pussy.”
“You’re crazy!”
“I don’t share what belongs to me. What I made mine in front of the whole world. And that’s you, my wife. I won’t share a single part of you with another human, let alone another man. Not your body, your thoughts, or your heart. Get that into your mind.”
“Do you even hear yourself?” I gasp in outrage.
“My actions and words have always been saying the same, from the moment I laid eyes on you in your father’s study.” Grabbing the front of my throat, he all but growls, “It’s you who has a problem listening.”
“I’ll never be yours, Nova.”
“You already are.” With a feral twist of his lips, he savagely tugs and rips my bikini off. Another cruel twist and my top is torn away. Every square inch of me bare and vulnerable for his hungry gaze. His erotic torment. Curving his hand over the underside of my breast, he circles my nipple until it hardens even more.
“These tits.” A sharp pinch, meant to draw a whimper. “Are mine. So is,” trailing his exploring hands lower, he boldly cups my pussy, “this tight cunt.” Feeling my unmistakable arousal, he pushes one finger between my folds. “Feel this?” he emphasizes by spreading the wetness so I hear the shameful wet sounds. “Your body knows who owns it, Rose. It won’t be long before your mind is on the same page.”
His hand disappears.
Only to come back down in a harsh smack.
“Nova!” I shriek. In pain. In madness. In pleasure.
He spanked me.
And not even on my ass.
“That’s for lying to me.”
His hold on my neck is the only anchor before he raises his arm to deliver a second spank on my vulnerable pussy. “Stop spanking me!”
“That one was for putting yourself in danger.” He doesn’t even lose a breath as I squirm, then subdues me with three more equally hard spanks. The burn intensifying and setting my body ablaze.
Past the low throb and the strong need to orgasm that comes alive under the effect of his domineering punishment, I glare at him. “The rest?”
“They were for me,” he says lasciviously. Yanking me closer by my hips, his head swoops down to claim my lips, my voice hoarse from screaming, in a possessive kiss.
I helplessly fight against him, refusing to kiss him back.
A fact he arrogantly boasts about.
Jerking me even harder against his unbending body, I become painfully aware that I’m completely naked while he’s fully clothed. My nipples scrape against the buttons on his silk shirt. The abrasion a stimulating friction.
“There are more spanks where they came from if you don’t fucking kiss me back,” he threatens and bites my bottom lip, drawing blood. Sucking the abused spot into his mouth, his fingers tighten in my hair and pull. “Damn it, Rose. Kiss. Me. Back.”
The raw starvation swirling with dark longing with a hint of a plea in his guttural command calls to every feminine part of my soul.
And I submit.
I don’t know why but I forget every sane reason for the mistake I’m making as I cup his face with my palms. Tilting my head, I lick the seam of his lips and brush mine once. twice. With a low grunt, he opens his mouth and our tongues mate. Tasting and teasing. Locking and swirling.
His hands slide down to my ass and lift until I have my legs wrapped around his trim waist. Lifting me higher until I have to bend my head to keep our lips joined, his arms wind around my hips to hold me up.
“Don’t stop,” he commands when I lean back because it becomes difficult to breathe.
I seize his inviting mouth once more and kiss him back harder. I let him feel the sting of my teeth as he did to me. My feral payback has him smiling and whispering, “How can you say you’re not mine when you behave like you were perfectly made just for me?”
Grinding my hips against him, I rasp, “I’m not.”
“Shut up and keep kissing me,” he playfully growls and slaps my ass.
As if on cue, Bunny appears on our side and barks.
The connection breaks.
Reality crashing in.
“I’ve never hated him more,” grumbles Nova, setting me down.
Avoiding his assessing gaze, I berate myself for letting things go so far with him. Why the fuck did I kiss him like he’s the only air I need? Why does my common sense evaporate into a cloud of dust the moment he touches me?
Grabbing my torn bikini from the counter, I manage to cover myself and dash upstairs. “Bunny, come.”
Apparently, he’s the only one behaving sane around here.