Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I had been thinking along those lines a lot recently. I wanted forever with her. I wanted to make things official.
She would be my wife. I had no doubt about it. I could not allow any other outcome but total success.
Total domination.
Pure possession.
I was one of the best strategists alive. My brothers acknowledged it. Even my father sought my counsel on complicated issues.
I had an uncanny knack for seeing any given situation from multiple angles, all at once.
I could handle one little maid. One little, beautiful, innocent, maddeningly illusive, challenging, intelligent, sweet, and vulnerable maid. She was so much more than a maid, though calling her that helped maintain the illusion that I wasn’t helpless. That I wasn’t completely and totally in love with her.
Even though I was. I knew that I was. In the words of the surly American biker who had married our cousin, I was fucked.
Vice had been in a similar predicament, I recalled. Completely whipped, though that was not entirely evident to our runaway cousin. They had come from completely opposite worlds, not unlike myself and my little maid. Against all odds, he had won Anastasia over.
I should call him for advice, I thought suddenly. Or visit. I texted my business manager that the next stop on this journey was California. I had already been planning to take her to my place in Sonoma. We would visit my little cousin afterward, or invite them to the estate. She was newly pregnant, again.
A moment later Mishka walked towards me, her maids uniform slightly rumpled, bearing two steaming cups of coffee. She was nothing if not obedient. I watched her take a careful sip after she handed me my cup, trying to hide my smile.
“Is something the matter? Sir?” She added belatedly. That moment of hesitation before calling me sir was good. I wanted the lines between us blurred.
Permanently.
Though I would always keep the upper hand with my sweet little minx. Nature had intended it that way. The man protected and provided for his woman. He led her. She submitted to him. She gave him her heart.
I had never thought of such things before Mishka. But now I thought of them constantly. The sweet domesticity of drinking coffee with her struck me suddenly. Warmth spread through my chest at the idea of doing this with her every morning. Perhaps in our own home, something cozier than the massive estate.
A cottage by the sea…
“This is nice. Drinking coffee with you, instead of just drinking it near you,” I joked.
Her pretty little mouth popped open, showing her surprise in an oh-so-adorable way. I resisted the urge to chuck her chin. It was maddening. Half the time I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and carry her to the bedroom, the other half I wanted to treat her like a child with a gentle kiss, or a firm spanking.
Down tiger, I told myself. Do not imagine that scenario too carefully. It would be harder to hide any… evidence of arousal standing here in the early morning light without a jacket.
“Are you ready to go shopping now?” I asked a moment later. Her expression changed to one of uncertainty. I nearly laughed out loud. Imagine a woman being reluctant to go shopping. A woman resistant to a man wanting to spoil and pamper her. It was hard to imagine. But there it was.
But I was going to spoil her, whether she wanted me to or not.
“Yes, sir,” she said dutifully, if a touch reluctantly. I took her coffee cup with mine and carried both into the kitchen. I could hear the little click clack of her shoes on the marble floor as she followed me. I was smiling as I put the cups in the sink.
I turned to find her staring at me like I was an alien.
“What?”
Her mouth snapped shut. She said nothing. She looked stunned that I was able to carry a mug. I bristled a bit about that, deciding that I would have to impress her with my manly abilities. And soon.
“I do know how to take care of myself, Mishka. I like to relax my routine a bit when I travel.”
“Oh. I see.”
I held out my arm for her.
“Shall we?”
She hesitated for a moment, then took my arm. My security team was waiting outside. Four of them fell into step around us as two others moved to take their places protecting the suite while we were gone.
We moved swiftly through the hotel lobby and outside, where additional security was waiting for us by the vehicles. I could tell Mishka was taken aback by the amount of security, but she would get used to it. My brothers and I had several private islands around the world that allowed for complete privacy with security off site, as well as some mountain homes with security that allowed for the appearance of total privacy, even though it wasn’t truly the case.