KristoI wasn’t sure she would want me to lay so much as a finger on her now that we weren’t married. Perhaps she would cut that all off and leave. But we were so entangled in one another now, emotionally, physically, financially, and familially. Both our families had met and promptly formed bonds with each other, and to cut them off from that now seemed unnecessarily cruel. Or maybe I was just looking for reasons to keep her around. I glanced down at the ring on her finger, the glowing gem I’d purchased for her just a week before reminding me of how sure I’d felt of her and of us, and my stomach churned. I tossed the covers back and climbed out of bed. I was doing no good sitting around here and brooding. I needed to get myself a coffee, and then perhaps I could work out what it was I needed to say to her.Because I wanted her to stay. That was what all of this had been about, really. The ring, the contract, the money—whether or not I would have admitted it to myself, I wanted nothin
AmayaI drove to work and tried to remember the last time I had been so relieved to be getting to my job.Since the lawyer had dropped the news, Kristo and I had been going through the motions. Polite, sure, but that was it. Neither of us seemed to be able to muster up the energy to talk about what had happened, and frankly, I was more than all right with that. The thought of admitting this was real, that this was happening after everything we’d been through together … no. I couldn’t handle it.The only time either of us seemed to be honest with one another was when he hugged me in the kitchen the morning after. But as I held him, I couldn’t tell whether he was holding me to let me know he needed me here, that he wanted me to stay, or if it was, in fact, just a hug goodbye. The thought of that made me choke up all over again, and I pushed it through the back of my head. No. I couldn’t let myself get stuck on that, not today. I had so much to do, so much to distract me, and I didn’t wa
AmayaI watched as Darla made her way out of my office, and I leaned back in my seat and let out a long sigh. I knew I shouldn’t have let it bother me, but I couldn’t stop looking at the clock, wondering if Kristo was finished with that meeting yet. I had been checking my phone constantly since I’d arrived at work, on the off-chance he might somehow have decided what was going to happen to the two of us without my knowing. This state of uncertainty was driving me crazy, and I needed to lock something down before I lost my mind entirely.I went back to the papers I had been filing and tried to focus my attention on them, but my head was restless and wouldn’t let me. What was going to happen with Kristo and me? Would we get married now? Would we just keep up with the charade? Either of us could walk away at any moment, and that made the ground feel like it was slipping out from beneath me. I hated this feeling, hated how uncertain I was, hated how my brain seemed to be sloshing full of
Kristo“So none of it’s real?”“None of it’s real.” Michael Masser, one of my lawyers, shook his head at me. We were sitting at either end of a table strewn with papers, each of them detailing exactly how Amaya and I had been screwed over by the shady chapel that had allegedly married us.“Fucking hell,” I snarled, and I got to my feet and turned on him, but it wasn’t his fault. I stopped myself before I launched into a tirade, knowing he wasn’t the focus of my anger or that he shouldn’t be.“What do we do now?” I asked. He stared back up at me for a long moment, a seriously? expression on his face. I ignored it. I just needed someone, anyone, to give me some guidance here.“If you want to stay married to her, you have to get a license in this state.” He shrugged. “Make sure it’s all above-board and legal. Then, you can start with the contract from scratch and take it from there.”“Right.” I got to my feet. I felt as though my body had been crumpled up the last few hours, and practica
KristoAs soon as I heard that voice, my stomach dropped, a learned reaction from all those times that very same voice had cursed me out for having my hand in the cookie jar when I was a kid. I spun around and found myself face-to-face with my nonna.“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded, and I shifted so that I was standing in front of Amaya. It wasn’t that I thought my grandmother would actually try to physically hurt her, but the brunt of whatever she was dealing with was going to hit me and not her. Nonna stormed toward me and jabbed her finger into my chest, a motion that would have been funny if it hadn’t been so deadly serious.“A contract?” she yelled, her voice cracking. “You married this woman, and she took money from you for it?”Fucking Cleo and her big mouth. My stomach dropped. Well, the secret was out now.“It’s not like that.” I brushed her away from me, not liking the way she was coming at me like I owed her something. Hadn’t enough happened in the last few d
AmayaI lay in bed, the flat champagne in my hands, straining my ears so hard, I thought they might burst as I tried to make out the conversation happening in the courtyard below me. I knew it was useless, that I couldn’t hear a thing, but I wanted to know what his nonna was saying to him. It would have been comical that the tiny little woman was coming to tell off her fully-grown grandson if it hadn’t meant that everyone in that family would know about our fake wedding. The thought of them knowing the truth at last made my stomach hurt. But maybe it was for the best? The truth had come out in all sorts of ways these last few days, and perhaps peeling it open like this was the only way any of us could move forward.I placed the champagne on the bedside table and stared at the ceiling. The last thing I had expected when I came home from work was to find Kristo with flowers and champagne, suggesting we spend the evening together on the balcony. He could be romantic, sure, but he usuall
AmayaIt felt as though he had punched the breath out of my body. There was no other way to describe the feeling as I waited for him to throw his hands in the air and announce the whole thing a joke and me a gullible idiot for falling for it. But he didn’t blink. He didn’t look away. Somehow, this was real.“You mean it?” I asked, my voice comically tiny as I looked at him. He nodded.“I want to marry you,” he told me bluntly, and all the feelings I had been doing my best to clamp down on these last few months came flooding up and over me in an instant. It was ridiculous, but I couldn’t keep them in any longer. Maybe it was the intensity of the last few days or maybe it was something else, but I needed to blow off some steam. And, the champagne mellowing my inhibitions, I knew exactly how to do that.“Kiss me.” I moved into him and breathed the words into his ear, and he didn’t need telling twice. He guided me on top of him, spreading my legs as though it came easy to him, and kissed
AmayaI’d never had anyone do anything like this to me before. I had never wanted to. In fact, before I met Kristo, I had never really been with a man who seemed to appreciate my body the way he did. With my previous lovers, it had always felt as though they were kind of going through the motions like they knew they had to bring some pleasure to me before they fucked me but were only doing it because they knew I might think badly of them if I didn’t. But the way Kristo touched me, the way he kissed me and pleasured me and pushed me to come, I knew this wasn’t just a show for him. He groaned as he pushed his tongue deeper into me, moving in long, slow strokes that made my entire body tense up as he fucked me with his fingers.“Fuck,” I groaned. It felt incredible. He was moving his other hand all over my body – my breasts, my back, tugging lightly on my hair, sinking his fingers into my thighs like he was reminding himself what I felt like. He wanted me, needed me, down to his very cor
KristoI went to the window and stretched, running my hand through my hair and grinning. I couldn’t believe we were actually in Greece. We were supposed to be arriving right about now, but I couldn’t wait that long to get her alone and was glad I’d incurred the extra expense to fly us out here at the last minute. It was worth it, so we could just be together after the hectic chaos of the wedding.I had called Cleo when we’d arrived, and she’d told me everyone had an amazing time. Nonna had a little too much to drink that night and had held court with stories about her young adulthood in Greece. Everyone had found it hilarious. And it seemed like Cleo and Darla were officially together, judging by the fact that I could hear Amaya’s friend in the background of the call long after they’d gone to bed.Amaya wasn’t awake yet, and I was glad for that. I still needed a little time to come to terms with the fact that I was actually married to the woman fast asleep in the bed behind me. My rin
AmayaOnce I had changed into something more party-worthy, the reception began, and at last, I could really relax and enjoy myself. Jolene and I spent a good hour dancing together before Kristo cut in to get his hands on me, holding me close and swaying with me as the band played a slow song. He kissed my neck softly, and I felt that burning desire for my husband pick up intensity. I couldn’t wait to get him alone, but we weren’t leaving for our honeymoon to Greece until the next day, so I had a while to wait yet.The food was amazing. There was even baklava, which Nonna had insisted on making herself. It wasn’t quite as good as Kristo’s, but I didn’t say a word of that to her. She would never let me hear the end of it. I ate and drank nonalcoholic cocktails, danced, and watched my guests do the same. I couldn’t believe how perfect this was. Darla and Cleo spent the night basically glued to each other’s sides, and I couldn’t help but coo internally over how cute they were.When I fina
AmayaI couldn’t even put into words how nervous I’d been that entire morning. My mind was taken up with questions about whether everything was going to go right. In my head, I was certain something was going to happen, that Kristo’s dad was going to squirm out of it at the last second and let us down, that the flowers weren’t going to arrive, that the dress wasn’t going to fit, that something was going to throw off this whole perfect day we had put so much time and effort into putting together.Then, I was sitting there in the room they had set up for me to get ready in, and I was staring at myself in the mirror, wearing the dress I had fallen in love with from the moment I’d laid eyes on it the week before. Jolene had picked well. She knew blue was my favorite color, and when I had slipped into the dress, even though it barely fit, I’d known this was the one for me. Sitting in front of the mirror, it was hard to believe this was really me, and this was really happening. How long had
KristoDarla, who had stepped in last-minute as a bridesmaid, followed her a minute later. She was wearing a dress in a delicate mint shade, and I could feel Cleo shift next to me when she emerged from the house.“Easy, tiger,” I murmured to her, and she nudged me playfully and straightened up again. I had a smile on my face, and I was beginning to relax. Then, I saw my bride walking toward me down the aisle, and I could hardly keep the tension out of my body.She looked incredible. No doubt about that. She’d told me she had only really looked at one dress, and I could see why. She looked unbelievable in it. It was cut to just below her knees, a flowing skirt that faded from cream to a pale blue color. The bodice hugged her body perfectly, and she was wearing the sweetest veil that covered her face as she made her way toward me. Even through the fabric, I could see the huge smile on her face, as though she couldn’t believe this was really happening. I knew exactly how she felt.It see
KristoI stared at myself in the mirror, wearing the tuxedo Amaya had picked out for me. I had seen myself in it before, of course, in the hurried fitting earlier in the week, but I felt as though I was looking at myself in it for the very first time. I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment and pressed my lips together. Why the fuck was I even nervous? I had done this all before with Amaya. And yet, here I was on my wedding day, scared a little bit shitless.There was a knock at the door, and I spun around at once. In my head, I was sure that somehow this was all going to go wrong, that Amaya was going to back out of it before I got her up the aisle, that the speed this had all happened was going to scare her off in the end. Instead, my lawyer entered, and I rolled my eyes.“What is it?” I demanded. He stood there in the door wringing his hands with a panicked look on his face and wearing a slightly rumpled suit.“I just wanted to let you know there’s still time to get a pr
AmayaBefore he could say a word more to me, I leaned forward and took him into my mouth. He tasted so good, even better than normal, the sweetness of the gel lingering on his body. I could taste that hint of vanilla, just a touch, making him taste like the pastry he had spent all day baking. Guiding him as far into my mouth as I could manage, I wrapped my hand around his base and began to stroke him, taking him deep into my mouth and listening to those appreciative little noises he kept on coming out with. I slipped a hand around his thigh, gripping him tightly, letting him know I would have made him come right here and now if he wanted to. I sank my nails into his skin, wanting to leave marks on his body, to remind him who he belonged to and who belonged to him.I wasn’t sure how long I was there on my knees in front of him, the water running over my body and down my back. I could have stayed there all day, but after a while, it became clear he didn’t want to come like that. He want
AmayaWhen I arrived back at the house, I caught the scent of heaven floating through the room at once. I closed my eyes as I stepped through the door, inhaling deeply—cinnamon, sweetness, a little sharpness. Whatever it was, even if it made me sick, I had to have it right there and then.“Hey, where are you guys?” I called into the house, looking around for Jolene or her nurse. She had arrived today, and Kristo had offered to help her settle in, which I was glad for, as I wanted to get as far ahead on my work at the library as I possibly could before the baby came along.“In the kitchen,” Jolene called back, and I crossed the room to the kitchen. All three of them were there, and Kristo was carefully cutting up some pastries that were still in a steaming-hot pan.“We made baklava!” Jolene exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the pan Kristo was maneuvering his knife around.“I can see that.” I inhaled deeply again and smiled my greeting at Pamela. “And what exactly is that?”“It’s a Greek
KristoI took a deep breath, planted my hands on the desk, and tried to center myself. There was no point getting upset about this. At the end of the day, either he was going to make the effort and come to my wedding or he wasn’t, and there was very little I could do to change his mind if he didn’t want to. Short of flying out to Greece and dragging him by his collar back to Nonna’s house to be there for the ceremony, if he wanted to skip it, he would. And I had a feeling he was going to. Amaya wouldn’t want this to be a stressful time for me. She wanted our wedding to be full of joy, peace, happiness, not me yelling into a phone to my father from half a globe away.I focused on the voices outside the room. Well, they weren’t saying anything, but they were laughing, and that was enough to get me feeling a little better. After a slight delay, Jolene’s nurse Pamela had arrived this morning, and the two of them were getting to know each other. I had offered to stay at home that day to wo
Kristo“Malaka,” I muttered to myself, forgetting for a moment that my dad was the one on the other end of the line, and he could well understand I had just called him an—“Did you just call me an asshole?” he snapped at me. I rolled my eyes, tempted to point out that the word didn’t have a specific English translation, but playing the smart-ass was only going to land me in a heap more trouble. As if it wasn’t bad enough as it was.“No,” I lied swiftly. “Look, are you sure you can’t get back sooner than that? You need to be here, Dad. It’s my wedding.”“I know,” he replied tersely. “You think I don’t know that? I’m as annoyed about it as you are.”“Then why won’t you just make the effort and actually come back home?” I pointed out. “This is ridiculous, Dad. Even you must be able to see that.”“I didn’t plan it this way,” he snapped back, but I didn’t believe him. I knew my dad well enough to know he had everything in his life carefully planned out. If he was stuck in Greece right now,