Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Your wife looks ill,” Katya observes. “You must allow my maid to watch over her so you can come back and enjoy the party, Lyoshka.”
She is dangling the line, but Alexei does not bite.
He looks at Talia, and his eyes soften. “I am taking her home.”
“But you can’t,” Katya insists. “There is still so much more to come. I have worked so hard on the planning—”
“My wife is more important than your party,” he says. “She is the most important woman in my life.”
The car ride home with Nakya is about as pleasant as I expected it to be. She’s either tired or angry, but if I had to venture a guess, it isn’t difficult to decide where the dice fall.
It was not my finest moment, using her in the bathroom, only to abandon her for Ana moments later. There are probably many things I should say in this situation, but there is only one thing I can do.
I can’t afford to give her hope when none lives. I won’t do her the dishonor of lying about our doomed relationship. But it doesn’t change the fact that the thought of her with anyone else blinds me with jealous rage. She has every right to hate me. She has earned that right. But maybe just once, I would like to see honest affection in her eyes.
When we walk through the front door, she is prepared to go her own way. But I take her hand in mine, leading her up the stairs and down the hall.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
Her body is weary. I took her roughly today, and she is probably sore, but I suspect she’s more likely suffering from her indifference at this moment.
“You will stay in my room tonight,” I tell her.
“Why?”
I reach out to touch her face. The face of an enchantress with the eyes of an angel. I have never seen a beauty quite like hers before. Her eyes flutter closed as my fingers learn the line of her jaw, and when my thumb drags over her lips, her breath escapes her.
“If you were my wife, I would worship you every day.”
“But I’m not your wife,” she says. “And I never will be.”
“For tonight, let us forget that it’s true.” I enclose her in my arms, and she does not argue.
Her resistance fades as the minutes pass and I kiss her purely for the sake of kissing her. When my fingers move to the knot of silk at the nape of her neck, she shivers. We’ve been through this already tonight, but this time is different.
I release the straps, and then her zipper. The silk falls around her feet, and I couldn’t recreate this image with all the paint in the world. She looks beautiful in red. But she is a goddess divine when she’s naked.
Her breasts are small and firm, and her ballet practice has given her no use for bras, which I like very much. A woman should be available to her man, and my Nakya is always available to me. Her legs are long and lean, strong enough to squeeze the life out of me when I’m fucking her. She is a canvas unlike any I’ve ever seen, and it pains that she doesn’t know her value. Great pieces of art can be unappreciated, but such is not the case with her. I’ve stolen many priceless things in my life, but nothing as priceless as her.
“Come.” I thread her fingers through mine and lead her to the bed.
Pulling back the covers, I gesture for her to get in, but she hesitates, seeking out the meaning of this. I would tell her, if I knew it myself.
“Stay with me tonight,” I implore.
She does not give in easily. Her eyes are sharp, and her armor is still intact.
“How many women have you brought here?” she asks.
Her jealousy stirs my dick to life, even though I’m too spent to take her again. “You’ll be the first.”
She purses her lips, and I know she doesn’t believe me.
“I do not bring women into this room, Nakya. The only women who have been in this room now total two. You and Nonna. But I’m afraid I must divulge that she does not warm my bed, she only makes it.”
For a few long breaths, she is completely still. When she finally crawls into my bed, I’m tempted to tie her up and keep her here forever. But for now, tonight will have to do.
I undress while she watches, her face propped on her hand, the sheet pulled up just above her nipples. I remove everything but my briefs and lie down beside her.
For a moment, we don’t touch. We don’t move. I’m not even sure she’s breathing, but I know I’m not. It’s more intimate to bring a woman to my bed without the intention of having sex. I’m not even certain I know how to begin.