His head lifted when I appeared in the doorway and his shoulders rose as if he’d taken a deep breath. Luka didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. A smile spread slowly across his lips, widening until it enveloped his entire expression. It sucked the air from my lungs. He was devastating when he smiled, and it’d been so infrequent during the tense six weeks since we’d left Goran’s house.
The smile subsided as he stood from the desk. “I know what you’re doing.” His gaze fell to my fingers still tinkering with the cords. “Stop it. All the shit you went through this year—” He stiffened. “Graduating magna cum laude is impressive for anyone. I didn’t graduate magna cum laude.”
The way he’d begrudgingly admitted it, made me want to smile, but it was hard. I missed my family.
“Don’t worry,” Luka added. “I have a third string to hang around your neck.”
I froze. “What?”
He picked up his suit jacket from the back of the chair and slipped a hand inside the interior pocket. And then there was a long, blue velvet box in his hand. My throat closed up as he extended it to me.
I took it and opened the necklace box with a soft click. Dangling from the delicate silver chain were three shining circles, each with a number engraved inside. It took me a moment to recognize the meaning. Not pi, but dates.
My family’s birth dates.
“Congratulations,” Luka said, his voice hushed. “They were already, but I’m sure they would have been very proud of you today.”
I clasped a shaky hand over my mouth, overcome and unsure what to say. The necklace was elegant and beautiful, and tears sprang into my eyes. He took the box from me, freed the necklace, and motioned he’d put it on me if I wanted him to.
I nodded, making my tassel sway, still unable to speak.
He did the clasp and the necklace clinked quietly as it settled on my neck. I wasn’t overly emotional, but this . . . it got to me. Wearing these simple numbers around my neck made my family a part of the day.
“Thank you,” I said, breaking a little inside.
Concern streaked across his face. “Don’t cry.” He’d probably meant for it to sound like an order, but his voice faltered. “I asked Vasilije to take pictures.”
I drew in a cleansing breath, forcing the tears to drain back as his hands slipped behind my head, tilting me up to meet his gaze.
“Tomorrow,” he said on a low voice, his lips a breath away from mine, “we start new.”
Because we were leaving Chicago first thing in the morning and making the eleven-hour drive to Maryland. His mouth claimed mine, filling me with heat and love.
When the kiss ended, he pulled back. “Repeat it,” he whispered.
I gave a soft smile. “Tomorrow we start new.”
Luka looked pleased as he led me out into the living room where morning sunlight streamed through the windows, chasing away all the shadows.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“Addison.”
I lifted my head, snapping back into focus. “I’m awake.”
Morning light filtered through the blinds of our bedroom. Luka’s eyebrow climbed and he glared at me from between my legs. “I enjoy what I’m doing, but it’s better when you’re not asleep.” His lips grazed me, teasing my clit, and drew a sigh from me. Damn, what he could do with his mouth.
I smiled, bashful. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”
He blinked, and annoyance flared. It made me grin widely. Luka wasn’t a fan of me telling him what to do, especially when it came to the bedroom, but sometimes it was fun to get a rise out of him. In the blink of an eye, I was flipped over onto my stomach on the bed, and his hand crashed down against my ass. The warm sting washed over me, and I bit my lip to hold back the moan.
“Awake now?” he growled. “Or do you need more?”
My voice choked with excitement. “More.”
We didn’t get as much time to play once I’d started school. I was spending sixty hours a week studying, and he’d found a job at an accounting firm in Baltimore that was just as demanding, plus he had his obligations to Goran. But at least our cozy two-bedroom apartment was walking distance from the campus, and we had our weekends together.
His second spanking was right at the edge of what I could handle, and my skin burned and ached in the aftermath. This time the moan slipped from my lips and I lifted up on my knees and elbows, readying for more. For whatever he’d give me.
“So fucking perfect,” he whispered, shifting on the bed to kneel beside me. His praise was practically purred, and hearing him happy turned me on more than anything else.
He rained down the blows against me, leaving my skin inflamed, and then he moved behind and pressed himself deep inside. I arched my back, stretching into his hand that coursed up my spine, loving the feeling when he possessed me.