38. Victor

Chapter thirty-eight

Victor

Two Months Later

O livia and her friends will be at the pub tonight. It took a lot longer than I anticipated, but I’m hoping it will work to my advantage. Hopefully, Connor will take the bait.

Their table is already set up for them, and their servers are ready. I will welcome them in and take their drink orders before passing the table off. When we had our staff meeting this morning, I threatened everyone that tonight better go smoothly or they wouldn’t have jobs anymore. It scared the new hires, so Lee stepped in and assured them it was a joke, but I would bitch a lot, which would make them want to be fired. It was in everyone’s best interest to make sure they were on it tonight.

I glance at my phone and smile at the text that’s come in from Olivia.

Olivia: We’re all on the way. Even Ansley will be here.

Victor: I can’t wait to see you.

This will be my first opportunity to see her interact with her friends. She did come that one night with Ansley and Caroline, but we were so busy I didn’t get to watch them. A couple of minutes later, Olivia walks in and tells the hostess who she is. She already knows, but she hasn’t told her friends about this thing between us yet and I haven’t pushed it.

She’s a private person, so she doesn’t share things with just anyone. It’s an honor she trusts me as much as she does. Ansley teases Olivia about saying her full name.

“Shut it, Ansley!” Olivia responds.

Ansley’s eyes widen in surprise, and my heart expands with pride. She has come such a long way since becoming my submissive. Our relationship is an unusual one. We haven’t had sex yet, but the abuse Donovan inflicted upon her was severe and left wounds that are visible and invisible. The amount of times I have fucked my hand after she has left on Sunday afternoons is embarrassing, but I’m willing to suffer if it means she gets to the point where she will allow me to touch her without flinching.

Donovan used to force orgasms on her. It was his sick way of making it seem like she wanted him when it was just her body’s reaction to what he was doing to her. Because he did that to her, she hates the idea of coming. She’s finally comfortable voicing when she likes something. This weekend I plan on pushing her boundaries more. It could go very well or very badly.

Lindsey escorts the group to the table. Olivia is wearing what I laid out for her, jeans torn at the knees with a black T-shirt tied in a knot, exposing her stomach slightly and some black boots. She looks delicious. I have to fight the urge to grab her, take her into my office, and completely ravish her. She’s becoming more comfortable in her skin. Wearing anything that exposed her stomach a few months ago would have been a hard no for her.

Walking over and standing behind Olivia, I lean down to speak to her before taking everyone’s drink order. “You look fucking gorgeous tonight.” She sucks in a breath. “You’ll order one glass of wine and I’ll pick your food. You’ll eat everything on your plate. Nod if you understand, treasure.” She nods. “Good girl.” She blushes, and I find myself fighting the urge again to take her to my office, but I stand and pay attention to everyone else.

“What can I get you all to drink?” I ask.

Before anyone can answer, Lincoln stands and shakes my hand. “It’s good to see you, Victor.”

I shake his hand. “You too, Lincoln.”

Lincoln is involved heavily in the city council and his company recently received a contract to do some work for the city that Olivia is also involved in. He’s had a great impact on this city and has provided jobs for people. He’s currently in the works to take over the entire building he’s in. In my opinion, it should already be his considering it belonged to his father.

Everyone gives me their drink orders, but when I get to Connor, I’m curious about how he’ll react as he stares at me. Raising an eyebrow at him in return, I wait. Will he act like a man child or an adult?

“Corona,” he finally says.

“With or without a lime?” I ask, holding my smirk in, knowing it will probably piss him off.

“With.”

I nod and continue with the others. Once done, I rub my finger along Olivia’s neck before walking to the bar to place their order. Sometimes being around a lot of people makes her anxious, and having her back to the door is hard for her too. But she knows I’m here and I will protect her no matter what.

Waiting for the bartender to finish with his customer to put in the order, I glance back toward Olivia and her friends. Seeing that Connor is walking this way makes me smirk. He took the bait. When he stops in front of me, I nod at him.

“What can I do for you, Connor?” I ask.

He glares at me for a moment. “How do you know Liv?”

Tilting my head at him, not expecting that question from him, I wave down the bartender and put in their drink order before answering. It gives me enough time to come up with a reply. If Olivia hasn’t told him, I’m not.

“I’ve known Olivia since she was ten.” It’s best to not lie, but be elusive.

His eyebrows furrow. “Because you’re friends with her stepdad?” he asks. He doesn’t know who her stepdad is.

“Was. I was friends with her stepdad. Then I found out some things about him and ended that friendship.”

I am not going to talk about Olivia here. Especially without speaking to her first. She’s made it clear over the past several months she doesn’t talk about what happened to her. And she’s just now getting to know Bec and Connor. He opens his mouth to ask more questions, but I hold up my hand to stop him.

“I’m not discussing this here. If you want to talk, fine, but not here. Not now. We can schedule a meeting for another time.” I was hoping he’d want to talk more, and this was my plan, but wasn’t expecting it to be about Olivia. Why does he care?

“We need to talk soon,” he says.

“Of course. I did try to talk to you a few months ago,” I remind him.

He doesn’t comment on that. Instead, he hands me his business card. “Call me tomorrow.”

I narrow my eyes at him, not liking that he’s demanding it, but at the same time glad he’s finally willing to talk, so I agree.

Arden takes Olivia to my house. I was worried her friends would want to hang out longer after they all left the pub, but it seems they’re all in relationships or getting into relationships so they wanted to spend time with their significant other. Olivia already has everything she needs at my house, so there’s no need for her to go to her place. I walk back to my office to take a moment to call her.

She answers on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hello, treasure.”

“Hi. I saw that Connor came to talk to you. So, did everything go okay?”

“It did. He gave me his card, so I’ll call him to schedule a time for him and I to meet. Thank you for arranging tonight. It took longer than we expected, but hopefully I can get things rolling now.”

“Of course, I’m glad I can help.” She pauses. “Are you going to tell me what you’re planning?” She asks me this every couple of weeks, but I give her the same answer every time.

“I’ve told you, treasure. It’s time to end Donovan.”

She sighs. “I don’t know what that means,” she replies.

Should I tell her that Malachi and Leo have spotted him again? I’m trying so hard to protect her, but maybe it would be best if I were honest with her. But just as I think it, I decide against it. She’s finally feeling safe and I don’t want to take that away from her. I will worry about this for her so she doesn’t have to.

“Olivia, I will tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. Okay?” I’m not talking to her as her Dom. I’m talking to her as her boyfriend, even if she doesn’t realize that’s what I am.

“Yes, Sir,” she responds.

I hold in my sigh. I need to talk to her about our relationship. Does she realize what she means to me? Does she realize this isn’t just a temporary thing for me?

“When you get home, take a shower, then put on the outfit I laid out for you. I’ll be another hour or so. You can read until I get home. Understand, treasure?” I slide back into my Dom role, because that’s what is familiar to her.

“Yes, Sir,” she replies immediately.

As I drive home, I can’t get my mind off what Olivia will be wearing. This is the most revealing outfit I’ve ever had for her. I saved it for a night when she could partially hide under the blanket of our bed. My bed , I scold myself. I’m ready to move her in and it’s almost to the point I’m going to push her harder.

When I get home, I take my time before making my way upstairs. No longer able to find anything to do downstairs, I walk upstairs. Stopping in the doorway, I stare at Olivia. She’s sitting up, leaning against the headboard reading as she was instructed.

The blanket is wrapped around her waist, allowing me to get a glimpse of what I laid out for her. I wondered if she would fight it, but she didn’t. My heart beats heavy in my chest with anticipation. Does she sense my presence? Her gaze stays on the book in front of her. Either she’s so entranced by her book or she’s waiting for me to acknowledge her first. She is such an obedient submissive. There are times I wish she would be a brat, so I can punish her.

But the reason she’s so obedient is that she’s afraid of getting punished. Was this a good idea? The reason we entered into a Dominant/submissive relationship was to help her overcome what she went through with Donovan. Have I done that? Maybe I’ve been too easy on her. I walk into the room, unbuttoning my shirt.

“Put the book down, treasure.”

She closes the book and puts the book down on the nightstand. I grind my teeth, wishing she would rebel, to tell me no. Yanking my shirt off, I throw it over the chair next to the bed.

“Get out of bed. I want to see you.”

After unbuttoning my jeans, I push them down my legs. Olivia’s seen me multiple times in my boxers, but tonight she’s going to see me naked. She watches me, not reacting right away like she normally does. Will she disobey? A small part of me hopes she does. But she slowly pushes the blankets off and turns so her bare legs are dangling off the bed.

I want to snap at her and tell her to hurry, but I give her time. I’m being irrational. Especially when I’m normally patient with her. Taking a deep breath, I push my boxers down. She turns to look at me and gasps. Her eyes take in every inch of me, stopping at my hardening cock.

She slowly stands from the bed, turns to face me, and I take her in. Fuck, this was a mistake. She’s wearing a red lacy tank top that’s low cut, so it stops right above her belly button and lacy boy shorts that leaves little to the imagination.

“Fuck,” I mutter. Her eyes snap up to mine, and she folds her lips between her teeth. I’ve seen all of her scars. Hopefully she’s comfortable in front of me. My goal for tonight was to push her boundaries. Is it working? The next step is her wearing lingerie that’s see through. “You are so gorgeous, treasure.”

I walk toward her, my cock hard and aching. She would feel so good wrapped around me. Olivia swallows, but she’s not afraid. The ocean blue of her eyes is barely visible with how dilated they are. She wants me as much as I want her. I stop directly in front of her and groan when my cock rubs against her lacy shorts.

“You are so fucking sexy.”

Running my fingers through her hair, I tilt her head back. She looks up at me with a desperation that almost encourages me to take her here and now. Her breaths are coming hard and fast as she stares at me. Everything in me wants to beg her to touch me. When she brings her hand between us and brushes her hand against me, I almost come on the spot.

Olivia grips me, squeezing hard, and I groan, throwing my head back. Everything in me wants her to continue, but is she doing this because she wants to or because she thinks I want her to? Pushing her hand away, instant regret courses through my veins when she bites her lip and looks away.

“I want you, treasure. You have no idea.” Backing up so I don’t attack her like every cell in my being is yelling at me to. “But this isn’t going to happen until you’re ready.”

She stares at me for a long time, her eyes sparkle with tears she won’t shed. “But you never try, so how do you know I’m not ready?”