Chapter 10

Ten

Complete defences against criminal defences. It seemed like a safe topic—there really aren’t that many. Anders and I used this reasoning for our plan. Most of our study group sessions have been an hour and a half in length. Two hours at most for a really in-depth subject. Complete defences is not that. We were so confident the workshop could be done in an hour, tops.

Enter, Todd.

Now, dear Todd is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he gets an A+ for effort. His daddy is a famous barrister, and his mummy is a judge. One would be forgiven for thinking this would mean Todd would have half a clue about the law generally. But I’m sure as shit glad I didn’t put any money on it. Tonight, of all nights, Todd is in the finest form yet.

Within the first thirty minutes, I want to strangle him.

At the hour mark, I’m not the only person around the dining table getting frustrated with his inability to grasp even the simplest of concepts.

By the time two hours rolls around, I’m just about ready to flip the table into stupid Todd’s stupid face. Fucking Todd.

I cannot fathom how Anders manages to keep his cool the whole time. Not a single eye twitch or clenched jaw in sight! The man has the patience of a damn saint. Thankfully, by the two-and-a-half-hour mark, Todd starts to catch on, and we breeze through from there.

It’s nearing the time I would usually head home, having normally had a good hour of alone time with Anders first, so I get the gang to join me in a video call to my mother. May as well milk the extra-long session and buy me the time I need. With that many chaperones, it isn’t a hard sell.

Twenty minutes later, we all pack our bags, thank Anders for giving so much of his time to us, and leave. Including me.

This is the routine: I leave with the others, never the last out the door, and drive away when they all do. I will then sit around the corner in my car for ten minutes, just enough time to make sure they are all gone. I have been leaving the car there and walking down the alley behind the houses on Anders’s street, then re-entering his property through the rear garage that has been unlocked for me.

Tonight, I use the whole of that ten-minute wait, re-applying my deodorant, another swipe of mascara, and a light spritz of perfume. Nothing too overpowering or obvious, but a girl really does need to look and smell her best if she is giving up her V-card.

Anders, to his credit, has not pressured me at all since he found out I’m still a virgin. He told me how much of an honour it was when I said I wanted him to be my first, but that we didn’t need to rush. Of course, that just made me want to jump his bones then and there.

I quickly send Mum the picture I took of us all around the dining table with pizza earlier in the night, saying we’ll still be at it for a couple more hours, but I’ll be home by midnight. That should give me enough time, right? I have no idea how long this sort of thing takes.

If I’m to go by the girls I knew in high school, it could be over in five minutes. If I go by the books I have hidden in the back of my wardrobe—in a plain box marked memories under a stack of old school uniforms and framed pictures—then it could be hours, plural. I’m kind of hoping for something in between, but either way, tonight is going to be one I remember for the rest of my life.

Anders is waiting for me at the back door with a soft smile.

“Are you sure this is still what you want, Aria? There is no shame in waiting a little longer if tonight’s events have put you off. You know I won’t think less of you or get mad.”

I look up into his eyes, searching for any sign he doesn’t mean what he’s saying, but I only see honesty and non-judgement. He really would just let me call it off. We could probably just watch a movie and snuggle on the couch a little, share some heated kisses, and I could go back home to masturbate like every other night. He must sense my hesitation because he pulls me into his body, wrapping his arms around my back and rubbing soothing circles.

“I mean it, Aria. There is no judgement here. Let’s just relax on the lounge for a little while, and I will walk you back to your car in plenty of time to get home before your mum gets suspicious.”

I’ve confessed everything to Anders over the past couple of months. He was the first person not to look at me differently when he heard about my unusual upbringing and my excessively overprotective mother. Hell, he defended her position more than once regarding my safety.

I lean back a little to get his grip on me to loosen enough so I can get up on my tippy toes and look him in the eyes.

“I want you. Now. No more waiting.”

I think I must have stunned him with my words, because he just stares at me for a moment. I’m just about to die of mortification at his reaction, but the next second he blinks, and when his eyes open, there is nothing but pure, molten heat there. His gaze has practically turned predatory as he bends down a little, grabbing the backs of my knees in his hands and hoisting me up.

My legs wrap around his waist on autopilot, his lips crashing into mine a second later. Putting one hand under my ass to hold me up, he uses the other to close the back door, walking us slowly into the house.

Anders passes by the dining table and is heading to the lounge, or maybe the stairs to his bedroom on the next level, when I pull back from his mouth suddenly.

“There,” I say, using my head to gesture back towards the dining table. “I haven’t been able to think of anything but you bending me over that table for weeks.”

His pupils dilate further so his eyes look practically pitch black, and I know I have him, but he doesn’t move. I wriggle a little to get him to put me down, but his arms don’t budge.

“I will not have your first time being bent over a dining table and fucked like an animal, princess.” His use of my mum’s childhood nickname for me causes my eyebrows to furrow, but he must take it as displeasure at his refusal. “But I am willing to compromise,” he coos gently.

Walking us back to the table, he lets my legs drop to the floor. Bending down, he frames my face in his hands and looks me dead in the eye.

“You’re right to be offended. You are no princess. You are a queen who deserves to be worshipped. So, get up on that table, Your Majesty, because I am going to devour you.”

I’m pretty sure I just came a little at his demand.