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)
Her teeth crush her lip, and I watch the color bloom across her cheeks. Even after everything we've been through, I can still make her blush.
"You just got out of the hospital," she reminds me, but there's heat in her eyes.
"Exactly. I've been lying in that bed for three weeks, thinking about all the things I wanted to do to you once I got out." I lean in, my lips brushing her ear. "All the ways I wanted to make you come. All the sounds I wanted to hear you make."
She doesn't need to be asked twice.
The bedroom is bathed in afternoon light, soft and golden. Holly helps me out of my shirt, her fingers gentle as she navigates around the bandages, and I'm struck by how tender she is.
"I'm not going to break," I tell her.
"I know." She presses a kiss to my collarbone. "But I'm allowed to be careful with you."
I catch her chin, tilting her face up to mine. "Later, you can be as careful as you want. Right now, I just need you."
Understanding flashes in her eyes, and she nods.
We undress each other slowly and when we're finally skin to skin, I guide her back onto the bed.
I run my hand down her body, memorizing every curve, every dip, every place that makes her shiver. She does the same to me, her touch featherlight and worshipful, like she's relearning me.
"I thought I lost you," she whispers, her hand over my heart, feeling it beat strong and steady beneath her palm.
"Never." I cover her hand with mine. "You're stuck with me now."
"Good." She leans in and kisses me, soft and sweet and full of promise.
The kiss deepens and I roll onto her and settle between her thighs. I’m so fucking hard and desperate for her there is no way I’m going to last.
She's already ready for me, and when I push inside her, we both groan.
This is what I needed. Not just the physical sensation, but the connection. The intimacy. The proof that we're both here, together.
I move slowly, every stroke deep and controlled. This isn't about rushing toward release. It's about savoring every second of this with my wife.
Holly's hands roam my back, my shoulders, my arms, like she needs to touch all of me at once. Her lips find my jaw, my neck, and that spot behind my ear that makes me groan.
"I love you," she whispers against my skin. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, solnyshko." I capture her mouth in a deep kiss.
She arches beneath me, taking me deeper, and I have to close my eyes against the intensity of it all. Not just the physical pleasure but the emotional weight of this moment.
I almost lost this. Almost lost her.
The thought drives me to move faster, harder, despite the pull of healing muscle and the doctor's warnings about taking it easy. I need her to feel what I'm feeling. I need her to understand that she's mine and I'm hers and nothing will ever change that.
"Nikolai," she gasps, her nails digging into my shoulders. "I'm close… you feel so good…"
"Let go," I rasp.
Her body tightens around me, and then she's coming, and my name is falling from her lips.
The sensation pushes me over the edge and my orgasm hits me everywhere, and I come inside her with a groan that comes from somewhere deep in my soul.
We collapse together, both breathing hard, our bodies still joined. I roll carefully onto my back, bringing her with me so she's draped across my chest, with her head over my heart.
For a long moment, we just breathe together.
"Are you okay?" she asks, her fingers tracing idle patterns on my skin.
I press a kiss to her hair. "Better than okay."
And I am.
Because I’m with her.
My solnyshko. My little sun.
The woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with.
40
HOLLY
One year later.
Snow falls in soft, lazy spirals outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, blanketing the Alaskan landscape in a fresh layer of white.
Inside the lodge, a fire crackles in the stone fireplace, casting a warm amber glow across the room.
I curl deeper into the plush sofa and tuck my legs beneath me as I admire the towering Christmas tree in the corner. It's even more magnificent than last year's tree, dripping with silver and gold ornaments, and a thousand twinkling lights.
A year ago, I was a prisoner here.
Now, it’s my second home.
I glance down at my left hand, where my wedding ring catches the firelight, the platinum band gleaming beside the enormous diamond engagement ring my husband slid onto my finger when we moved home to New York.
My husband.
The word still sends a thrill through me every time I think it.
Despite me reassuring Nikolai that I didn’t need another wedding ceremony, he said he wanted to do it right this time. So we were remarried in a small ceremony at the lodge, this time with Nana and Katya present. I wore a simple ivory gown, and Nikolai wore a dark suit that made his ice-blue eyes smolder. When he said his vows, I will protect you with my life, I knew he meant every word.