Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
"Fine," she bites out, turning to face me fully. "Let's get this over with."
I step closer and I can see her pulse hammering at her throat. Her hands clench into fists at her sides.
"Just make it quick," she mutters.
I smile. "As my wife commands."
She expects a brief touch to satisfy tradition and nothing more.
But I’m going to take advantage of the moment to enjoy Holly’s lips on mine.
I cup her face in my hands and lower my mouth to hers. The first brush of lips sends a shockwave through my entire body, because she is softer, warmer, and sweeter than I expected.
For half a heartbeat she's frozen, still clinging to that beautiful defiance, but then something breaks in her, and her sweet lips part against my mouth.
It’s all the invitation I need. I deepen the kiss, angling her head back, and when my tongue sweeps against hers, she makes a sound that goes straight to my cock.
I want to devour her.
I want to spend the night making her moan louder.
Her body melts into mine, her soft curves molding against hard muscle, her mouth opening wider and meeting every stroke of my tongue with increasing desperation.
Then she wrenches herself away and stumbles backward, glaring across at me.
Her lips are swollen and red, her pupils blown wide, and she's looking at me like I've just committed another crime.
"You..." Her voice is wrecked and breathless but she stops short of calling me another name.
She glares at me with blazing eyes, trying desperately to summon back her anger even as her fingers touch her own mouth like she can't believe what just happened.
"It's good to be king," I say.
I wink at her. Because I like the way she looks at me like she hates me. When I know her body is throbbing from our kiss.
She looks away. Her cheeks are pink and it’s not from the wine. It’s because the kiss warmed her blood as much as it warmed mine.
She clears her throat, clearly rattled. “Let’s move this along, shall we?”
A scribble of signatures later and we’re official.
Holly is my wife. Much to her disgust.
Father Dominic accepts the envelope of cash Dmitri hands him with a slight nod. "May God bless you both," he says.
And when he leaves, escorted out by Alexei and Dmitri, the room falls silent and we are alone.
"Mrs. Morozov," I say to Holly, testing the name.
Her eyes blaze. "Don't."
"It's your name now. You should get used to hearing it."
"I will never get used to this." She yanks at the ring, but it doesn't budge. "This isn't real. This doesn't mean anything. I'm not yours."
"The paperwork says differently." I smile. "You should get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll discuss the terms of our arrangement."
"What terms? You've made it clear I have no say in anything."
"You always have a say." I move toward her slowly, watching her tense. "You just might not like your options."
We stand there, husband and wife, staring at each other across a chasm wider than any blizzard. She hates me. I can see it written in every line of her body and hear it in every breath she takes.
Frustrated and angry, she turns and walks toward the stairs.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Morozov," I say.
But she doesn't respond and disappears down the hallway to her room.
13
HOLLY
I’m married.
To a dangerous Bratva boss.
Fuck my life.
The sooner I can get an annulment the better.
And don’t even get me started on that kiss.
I pull the comforter over my head and bury my head in my pillow.
And hope I’ll wake up tomorrow to find this was all a dream.
14
NIKOLAI
“If I find out you’re lying to me, I will take you apart piece by piece and make sure you understand exactly why honesty matters to me.” I keep my voice calm, conversational even, as the threat rolls off my tongue. "And when you're begging me to end it, when you're praying for death, I'll keep you alive just long enough to see me burn everything you've ever loved to ash."
I end the call and toss my phone onto the seat beside me.
Dmitri shifts in the passenger seat, a smirk playing at his lips. "Subtle as always."
"Subtlety is overrated. Especially when that shipment was due two weeks ago."
“I don’t imagine you’ll have any more delays after that.”
“That supplier isn’t stupid enough to let me down again.”
“You know, for someone who just got married, you’re very tense,” he says.
“Because someone is trying to kill my wife.”
My wife.
I’ve been married for eighteen hours. But I haven’t seen Holly since she walked off after the ceremony last night because I had to fly out early this morning for a meeting in Seattle.
Now we're heading back to the lodge from the airport, and I am expecting fireworks when I arrive.
I watch the landscape roll past the car. The snow has stopped for now, leaving the world crystalline and perfect under the afternoon sun. Mountains rise on either side of us, their peaks disappearing into clouds that promise more snow to come.