“That I do,” he says, standing up straighter as if he’s suddenly remembering his role in life. “And I’m afraid I’m not here for long.”
I know I expected him to say that but there was a teensy-weensy part of me that hoped he’d counter what I said with “Actually I am here for good. I abdicated, screw the throne, I want to live in Tehachapi.”
Needless to say, there’s a cold pinch in my chest.
“I’ve been reading about you,” she says, “and I admit I’m surprised to see you here with no guards or anything. I thought you had to have secret police with you at all times.”
“I do,” he says.
“What?” I immediately start looking around the bar.
He nods at one gentleman at the bar, then another playing pool and one smoking a cigarette just outside the main doors. “They’re with me.”
I watch to see the guy at the bar glance over his shoulder at us.
I expect Viktor to wave at him and say “hey, we see you” or something but Viktor’s face remains impassive and he pretends not to notice him. No jokes. He’s already changed, already been trained.
What have I missed these past months?
So much.
“Wow,” Annette says. “So I guess I shouldn’t go hit on them and find my own Swedish hunk.”
“No,” Viktor says, giving her a small smile. “They’ve all been trained by the Swedish Security Service to be as boring and efficient as possible.”
“Efficient gets the job done though, doesn’t it?”
I reach out and smack Annette. “Hey, what about your Dude?”
“When you’re older, you’ll realize you should never pass up opportunities,” she says with a sigh. Then she looks between the two of us. “Well I think I’m going to head back to Bakersfield now that you two have found each other. Party is over. Are you going to be okay here or do you need a ride back to your house? Unless you’re staying at the La Quinta again, Viktor?”
“We have a ride,” Viktor answers for me. “There’s another efficient man in the town car waiting outside. Try not to terrorize him on your way out.”
Annette breaks out into laugher and slaps him on the shoulder. “I can see why Maggie is so head over heels in love with you. You have my blessings.” She waves at me before she leaves. “See you, kiddo.”
She obviously doesn’t see the look of absolute horror on my face.
The fact that I want the floor to open up and swallow me whole.
She just let the cat out of the fucking bag and that cat is running around us like crazy.
Viktor is staring at me intently and I know, I know he heard what she said.
Maggie is so head over heels in love with you.
I want to die.
I want to kill her.
I want to kill her and then die.
“She seems nice,” Viktor says with a smirk and oh my god is he just going to pretend like he didn’t hear it, like nothing happened?
I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
I clear my throat. “Yeah I want to kill her. I mean, she’s a good egg.”
“A good egg?” He looks adorably puzzled.
“She’s…fine.” I look around the bar because my cheeks are flaring up and ugh everything seems so awkward suddenly.
“Are you ready to go?” he asks. “I paid your bill as well, so we can just leave.”
“Viktor,” I tell him. “You—”
“Shouldn’t have? Yes, well I did. And yes, I tipped them well. That poor bartender, I’m assuming she’s the one who had to deal with me before? I can’t quite remember.”
I nod, and he grabs my hand.
“Where should we go to be alone?”
Chapter Nineteen
Maggie
The efficient Swedish secret service agent-turned-driver’s name is Nick.
I’m sure when I got into the back of the black car with Viktor, that he didn’t expect me to strike up a conversation with Nick but as the car weaved through the streets heading toward my house, I not only learned that he has twin daughters the same age as Rosemary and Thyme back home (for the life of me I couldn’t pronounce their names), but that this is his first time ever visiting America. I told him to at least go to Santa Monica and ditch Viktor for a day, but Viktor didn’t seem too happy about that.
In fact, on the ride back, Viktor’s demeanor grew tense and when I looked over at him, there were more shadows under his cheekbones, a grayness under his eyes. He looked worn out and I wondered if he had literally just landed–where, LA?–and come straight here.
All I do know is that he didn’t book a hotel room in town, which was fine since I wouldn’t have been able to stay overnight with him anyway. Some things may have changed for me and with selling his car, I’ve been able to have more of a safety net, but I’m still in charge of my brothers and sisters and still have responsibilities, even if I feel like I’ve grown into them a bit more.
And honestly, a few hours with Viktor in a hotel room would not be enough, I don’t care how wild the sex is (because it would be wild, right? Viktor doesn’t do tame).
I want him with me the entire night. I want him in my bed at home. I want him to wake up and look at the same walls I look at every morning, the walls I’ve always looked at. I want to be in his arms and feel safe where I live. I want him to become a part of this life.
But I’d settle for being a tiny fraction of his.
Nick pulls the car up on the street and cuts the engine.
“Thanks for the ride,” I tell him.
He gives me a stern look in the rearview mirror. That’s just his face though, stern, with a nose like vulture’s beak. Would be terrifying if I didn’t know that his daughters are obsessed with Harry Styles and so now he is too and can sing every lyric to his latest album.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Viktor says to me. “It’s his job to stay here and watch me all night.”
Nick nods in response.
I stare at Viktor with wide eyes. “He’s going to watch us all night?”
Nick clears his throat loudly and I swear he blushes. “I’ll be in the car, Miss McPherson. Don’t worry.”
“Oh.”
We get out of the car and head toward the house. I glance up at Viktor. “I can’t believe these people follow you everywhere. That must get annoying.”
“You get used to it,” he says in a rather grim voice.
“Must make you appreciate all that freedom you had the last time you were here, huh?”
His eyes take a sad slant. “Yes. It does.”
Being after eleven at night, everyone in the house should be asleep except for Pike but his light isn’t on and I’m not going to test whether he’s home or not. I carefully unlock and open the door and grab Viktor’s hand, quietly leading him through the house.
It’s funny, I have every right to bring a man home to my room, but Viktor will be the first one since I came back. Sometimes it feels like my siblings are parenting me instead of the other way around or maybe that’s just what being a parent is all about. You’re both trying not to screw up and get caught.
I open the door to my room and usher him inside. He’s seen it before in passing during the times he’s been over, but not like this.
His eyes immediately travel to my armchair in the corner where Viktor the moose sits underneath a framed photo of my orgasmic Splash Mountain ride.
I start to explain that it’s my shrine to him, but he quickly closes the door behind us and kisses me.
His lips and tongue strike a fire against mine.
His hands disappear into my hair, down my back, over my chest, down my sides.
My hands hook up onto his shoulders.
My body presses against his.
In moments we are engulfed in this flame that seems to take over the whole room and it singes my lungs and the only thing I need more than water is him. I thirst for him like nothing else.
We grope and fumble and lick and bite, standing right there by the door, clothes ripped off and discarded until we’re naked and I’m ready for him to take me right there on the floor.
Instead he takes me by the hand and leads me to my bed, acting so confident and self-assured. I feel all my nerves and hang-ups melt away. Though he may be dominant and rough sometimes in the bedroom, I always feel safe with him and even though the last few months have created some distance, I know this is the way we’ll come back together.
He pulls back the sheets and blankets that I had hastily made earlier that day and I crawl inside. I know I should probably take more care in making my bed, being a housekeeper for a living and all, but half the time here I’m just like fuck it.
“What are you thinking about?” he whispers as he crawls in the bed after me, his firm naked body sliding in against mine. “Your thinking sexy face is back and right now I don’t want you thinking about anything but me.” He pauses, reaches down and gives his cock a long stroke. “Or my cock. It’s so very fucking hard.”
Well, that’s definitely the fastest way to get out of my head.
I stare at it for a second, feeling the desire sweep through me, feeling like I’m both in my body and out of it, one moment everything is normal, the next Viktor is here and he’s naked with me in this bed and he’s whispering dirty things to me, stroking that big dick of his and…
“Think of me,” he murmurs, and I can’t find the words to tell him that I am. “Think of everything I’m going to do you tonight. It’s been so fucking long, mitt persika. My sweet little peach. I want to taste you again and again. I want to make up for all the lost time.”
He positions himself so he’s lying on top of me, his warm chest pressed against mine, his elbows planted on either side of my head. He peers down at me in such a way it unnerves me, hitting me to the meat of my bones. His eyes are kind, curious, and filled with a deep longing I can feel pull at me. But there’s something new to them I’ve never seen before. A flash of fear. The same fear I saw in the car on the ride over here, his tense demeanor outside of the house.