Eternally Seduced(105)

Chapter Eleven




What's the Swedish term for asshole?

Twitter: Starry_eyed4SA



"What do you think about ‘Vidunder'?" Saffi teased as they strolled hand  in hand into the next boutique for infants. "That sounds very manly,  don't you think?"

Staffan simply looked at her.

It was enough to have her giggling. Vidunder was basically the Swedish  translation for ‘monster', and she had loads of fun teasing Staffan  about the many nice-sounding Swedish terms they could use to name their  baby. Or at least it sounded nice, never mind if the translation wasn't  as good.

"If you're going to continue with this, koukla mou, I'll be forced to retaliate."

Having paused to inspect a mobile toy that was supposed to make fifty  different sounds to entertain infants, she lowered the toy to look at  Staffan in confusion. "Is there something wrong with my name?"

"With yours, none  –  but how about I use other kinds of minerals for the  baby's name?" Staffan asked silkily. "Let's start  with … mmm … allabogdanite?"

Saffi choked. "Is that even real?"

"Or since we both have names starting with the letter S, what about Sinkankasite?"

"There's no such thing---" She stopped giggling at Staffan's smirk. "No, really, there's isn't such a thing … right?"

"Just remember, baby, when you give birth, there will be a time you'd be  too tired to stay awake and then I'll make my move and have the baby's  name changed on its birth certificate."

"You wouldn't!"

"I will if you don't stop with all the Swedish names!"

"But I'm just being very nationalistic---"

Her all-innocent look had Staffan groaning. "You do that so fucking well."

Saffi went for broke, channeling her inner Legally Blonde and Clueless  blonde goddesses as she gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

With a growl, Staffan sank his fingers into her hair and pulled Saffi  towards him for a kiss. Her lips opened under his eagerly, welcoming the  possessive sweep of his tongue. Her arms rose to curl around his neck  at the same time he pulled her closer by the hips, his aroused dick  knocking against her sex. The hot contact of his dick against her belly  was enough to have Saffi gasp and accidentally squeeze the cushy  attachment hanging from the mobile toy she was still holding.

It released a loud growling sound that had them breaking apart in shock.

Staffan was white-faced. "What the fuck was that?" He looked like he had seen a ghost.

Saffi lifted the toy in her hands. "This?"

He grabbed the toy and practically threw it back on the shelf before  hurriedly urging her out, his arm wrapped around her waist, his hand  protectively settled against her tummy. It made her look down, and her  heart ached at the sight of his still-bare finger.

It did not mean he did not feel married. She told herself that over and  over. It could be a rock star thing, or maybe it could even be a way of  deflecting the fury of other fangirls from her.

Right now, she needed to concentrate on being happy and thankful that  she and Staffan were doing so well. As long as she kept doing what she  was doing and shutting up about anything that had to do with the past  –   they were good.

"How about Lace?" Staffan murmured as they walked out of the boutique.

When she looked up at him in askance, he was smiling but his voice was  gruff when he explained, "It's somewhat similar to how you and your  mother  –  Pearl  –  are named. But I think our baby's going to be extra  soft and sweet because she has you as a mother."

Bittersweet tears pricked her eyes. At least … at least he was thinking  about the baby as theirs. It was a step in the right direction, and she  had to be thankful for that. Swallowing, she whispered, "I think it's  just perfect."

Back at their hotel room, she and Staffan immediately went their  separate ways, having accepted the invitation to join her father and the  rest of her family for a fundraising dinner held by one of his  wealthiest supporters. His friends, Rathe, Constantijin, and Yanna were  coming too, and she felt incredibly nervous about meeting them. She  didn't know how she would take it if they also believed the lies about  her.

Staffan knocked on her dressing room, so she asked him to come in. "What is it?"

He was holding two boxes, one immensely larger than the other. The first  one contained a beautiful gold collar-styled necklace with a beautiful  star-shaped sapphire pendant. She blinked back tears at its  exquisiteness. "Oh my God, it's gorgeous." She tried to think of  something better to say  –  something that would be befitting of someone  who graduated years too early from high school. But nothing came to  mind. All she could do was shake her head and gaze at it.

"W-where did you find it?"

Staffan was already lifting her hair up. "I had it customized," he told  her absently as he grabbed one of her elastic bands and used it to twist  her hair up. He did it expertly now, after a few hours of practice when  she had her nails freshly painted and she wanted to take a bath without  getting her newly curled hair wet.

The memory made her smile, and when her gaze met his reflection on the  mirror, Staffan had a look of exasperation on his face. "I'm beginning  to think all of this is an elaborate plan to turn me into the adult  version of Justin Bieber."

She grinned, but her eyes started to water again when, after her hair  was secured on top of her head, Staffan was slowly putting the  collared-necklace around her neck. She touched it gingerly, unable to  take her gaze off it.

Snap.

Saffi gasped. "Staffan!"

"It's my turn to tweet like fucking crazy about my wife."

Her phone buzzed the moment he finished typing on his screen. Staffan  had taken a side-view photo of her, with a caption that made her sigh.



My one-week anniversary gift for MY fangirl



"Hormones," was all she could say before bawling like crazy.

Used to her mood swings by now, Staffan only chuckled and lifted her up  so he could take the seat and place her on his lap. She immediately  snuggled up to him. Both their phones buzzed, indicating messages and  responses to the tweet. Staffan and Saffi ignored it. Both of them had  also decided without ever speaking about it not to listen, see, or even  know what the rest of the world had to say about them.

Listening to Staffan's heartbeat, she dimly heard the continuous buzzing  of her phone. A glass bubble, Saffi thought and her fingers curled  around his chest reflexively. Fear kicked in even though she did her  best not to show it, her other hand moving down to act as a shield for  her baby.

Their life would remain perfectly blissful as long as they stayed within  their glass bubble. But she knew from experience that glass bubbles  couldn't last forever … and that they were never meant to.

"I have another gift I need you to wear," Staffan murmured against Saffi's hair.

She stirred, raising herself up to look at him with a mixture of curiosity and childish excitement. "What is it?"

"I'll show you later, when you're fully dressed."

She frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"Those are my rules, baby." He lifted her from his lap and gently lowered Saffi to her feet. "Now, go."

He laughed when Saffi got dressed in record time. He was in the process  of buttoning his silk shirt when Saffi appeared at the doorway, dressed  in a tight-fitting white dress that made a wonderful contrast with his  necklace.

He studied her slowly, looking at her from head to toe.

She was breathless by the time his gaze returned to her face, the look  in his eyes too hot to handle. "Well? What's my other gift?"

He crooked a finger and she nearly danced towards him, making Staffan  smile. He took the box from the bedside table and opened it.

Saffi's jaw dropped open.

By the time she recovered, he had already crouched down and was making sure it was a perfect fit.



****



Saffi was the shyest girl in the world by the time she arrived at her  father's fundraising dinner while Staffan looked like he was the king in  his. The contrast in their expressions and actions created an uproar on  the web, with millions of users tweeting about what in the world could  have made Staffan Aehrenthal look like he had won all the awards in the  VMAs.

Seeing question after question about it, Saffi wanted to run away and  hide. She so desperately hoped they would never ever guess why Staffan  was strolling around like he wasn't just Sweden's #1 Sex God. Oh no, the  way he was practically smoldering with such earthy appeal  –  his fuck-me  hazel eyes so bright, the arrogant tilt of his head as he gazed  challengingly at other people, and the way his black-and-white suit  showed off his superbly muscular form to perfection---

He was the sex god.

And even his friends noticed it.

"Hello, Saffi," Constantijin murmured gently as he kissed her cheek.  There was nothing but amusement in his silver eyes as he stepped back  and looked at her gravely, saying, "You've done something bad."