Page 36 of Stolen Vows
Stella blinks, hard, when Genevieve yanks back. She lifts her hand to my wife’s chin, dabbing at some saliva pooling on her bottom lip, and then flips her hair over one shoulder and saunters to the door.
“What was the point of that?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Pausing at the exit, Genevieve lifts a shoulder. “She wanted it. I figured she should have a little fun before you go and ruin everything.”
The door swings shut as she exits, leaving just Stella and me.
She watches as I cross the room in several slow, purposeful strides. I stop just before the orchid’s case, pinning my hands behind my back, and stare down at the abomination, trying to understand its appeal. It’s not a particularly attractive thing, yet it’s rumored to have medicinal properties that could advance science for decades.
My wife wants itbadly, the little humanitarian.
The question is,howbadly?
How much will she break for me in order to get it?
“What are you…?” She trails off, then tries again. “Why are youhere, Leo?”
“What, disappointed that I ruined your rendezvous?”
“I came here to see?—”
“Is it true?”
Stella frowns, pausing. “What?”
“Did you want it?” I turn and step closer to her, my blood thrumming at our proximity after so long of only watching from afar. “Genevieve’s kiss, I mean.”
She doesn’t reply.
As I inhale, I note that she still smells like blueberries and mint, though with a hint of something new and citrusy. “It’s okay if you did.”
It isn’t. Not really. But theprincipleof the matter—if she thinks I care that she kissed a woman—that part makes no difference. She’s mine regardless of who she desires.
“Are you asking because you think I’m here to cheat on you?” she mutters.
“Areyou?”
“What difference does it make? You didn’t come after me anyway. After all this time, shouldn’t I be allowed to kiss whoever I want and explore my options? Maybe I’m here tonight to embrace the fact that I’m bisexual, and you’re ruining everything like you always do.”
Her words are defensive, like she thinks I’m going to use that information against her. And like she thinks I was abandoning her. It makes my chest ache. “I’m not here to crucify you for liking more than just men. I couldn’t care less about that, and you shouldn’t either. This was just my poor attempt at gauging what all we have in common,stellina. Pardon me for trying to get to know my wife a little better after our time apart.”
She goes quiet again, leaving me to wonder where her head’s at. If she thinks I’ve been with anyone since or if she’s considering her own missed opportunities.
“You’re bisexual,” she says softly. It isn’t a question, but she still seems unsure. Like she needs verbal confirmation to prove something.
I wonder if this is the first time she’s admitted her own sexuality out loud to another. If that’s why she hesitates.
“You don’t have to whisper. It isn’t a secret, not that anyone’s listening now anyway.”
“Have you—” She cuts herself off this time, those elegant brows knitting together in a frown above her nose.
Sighing, I stop just shy of half a foot away, reveling in the sensation of being in her orbit again. Back then, I failed to see how much I had grown to crave her in such a short time, until it was already too late.
Finally, she refocuses, shaking her head. “Why. Are. You. Here?” Frustration laces her tone, and my dick pulses madly.
“I’ve thought about this moment for years. How you might react to seeing me again. Though I always imagined your hair would be down so I could run my fingers through it, like I did the night we married.”
Stella just stares up at me, her expression hard and guarded.
