Page 39 of Darkest Craving

WOLFGANG

I wake up with Victoria's naked back against my chest. The mornings are getting colder now, and the small goosebumps on her arm say she’s cold. I pull the sheets around us, and she nuzzles deeper into me, seeking my warmth.

She’s so soft, so perfect. How the fuck did I end up with her?

I caress the skin on her abdomen in slow, lazy circles, eyes still closed. I don’t want to get out of this bed. Everything I need is here now, and the thought of doing anything else than this is obscene. Everyone else can go fuck themselves—today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives.

All I want is to fuck my wife into oblivion. Watch her radiate when she’s out, riding her horse. Watch her belly swell with life. Watch her be my wife and do whatever it is that makes her feel alive. Because that’s exactly what she’s doing to me just by being by my side.

She shifts in my arms, and I loosen my hold on her. When I open my eyes, I see hers—big, clear, and blue like the morning sky—staring up at me with what I can only describe as contentment. Love. She’s not incredulous, like I thought she’d be, given everything I did to her.

My wife knows I love her now. She believes it.

And it makes me the happiest fucking man in the world.

“Good morning, love,” I say, leaning down to kiss her pretty mouth.

She smiles, and her whole face lights up. So beautiful.

“You’re still here.”

“I’ll always be. I hope I made myself clear last night.”

“I don’t know… I feel like maybe I need to hear it a few more times. You know, for good measure.”

“For good measure…”

In a swift movement, I flip her on her back. She yelps, laughing, and I plant myself above her, between her naked legs.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” she says, squirming under me.

“Not convinced.” I press a kiss to her neck, pushing her leg up with my knee. I’m already hard for her. All I’d have to do is lean in a little more and—

“You love me. I’m your whole world,” her sweet voice rings in my ears. “Without me, you’d perish… your life would cease to exist. Am I convincing now?”

She says it jokingly, but she isn’t wrong. I’ve never cared much about my life. Being born into a family like this teaches you money trumps it. Money and power trump everything. So if I ever died in the pursuit of it, I wasn’t going to complain about it.

Now… that’s different. My life means something because she’s in it. And I don’t want to die or end up in a world where she’s not. So she’s right—my life would cease to exist without her. There would be no point for me anymore.

I slide my cock inside her, wrapping my hand around her neck.

“You don’t know the half of it, love. But that’s alright. What am I here for, if not to show you?”

I fuck her slow and deep, giving back her oxygen in increments. I need her to remember every time I’m inside her. Need her to know I meant every word I said to her last night.

When she comes, she does it peacefully, whimpering in my ear as she squeezes my cock with her pussy. I love it—love it when she takes me hard, love it when she mewls and submits instinctively. Love it when she fights me, when she leaves me laughing in a room after she just stabbed me.

Memories of the past few months fly through my head, and when I come, I come with her in front of my eyes, in my mind, wrapped around my cock. She’s everywhere I need her to be. And she’s here willingly.

“Wolf…” she says, breathless and warm beneath me.

“Hmm?” I kiss her jaw, still inside her.

“I love you too, you know. I never said it, but I…”

“I know, love. You didn’t have to. Not after what you did for me, which is more than anyone ever has, and more than I could’ve asked of you. Come here.”

I slide out of her and pull her into my arms, on top of me. Her breasts are pressed to my chest, and the addictive smell of her skin envelops me.

“What happens now?” she murmurs.

I’ve thought about it. “I want to be done with this shit with my father—get him to step down, then move us out of here. And then… I want us to go on our honeymoon. Enjoy it like normal people.”

She shifts her head up, showing me her eyes. “Normal people?”

“What, you think I can’t be normal?”

“Are you still going to stab people for looking at me the wrong way?”

“Yes.”

She laughs. “Then no, you’re not normal people . But I can’t say no to honeymooning with you. I guess I’ll just have to keep you in line.”

I smile, caressing her back, my heart full.

“I guess so.”

We lie together in silence for a bit, neither one of us ready to get up. I still have to settle some things, but fuck, I need this. We both do.

“I know my father is still not dealt with,” she says, as if she’s reading my mind. “You sent Anya and my mother away but… you never said anything about him.”

I pause but decide to tell her the truth. Maybe it’s better for her to know, even if it’s ugly.

“That asshole that shot at you in the fields… he was working with your father. They were trying to take us all out.” She gets up from my chest to look at me. “I’m sorry, love. I have him trapped somewhere, still haven’t decided what I should do with him.”

“It was… him?”

I nod.

“And the attack that almost got you killed?”

“That… was the Irish. They retaliated after…” I sigh. “It’s a long story.”

She looks away, and I can see the wheels turning in her mind.

“What will you do with my father? You say you haven’t decided, and I know it’s only because of me.”

It is. The only reason I haven’t killed the asshole is because I didn’t want her to suffer.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Honestly?” She shakes her head. “Whatever you see fit. I was willing to forgive him for tearing our family apart… but I can’t forgive him for what he attempted to do to us. To you… After everything, he’s still only trying to save himself. And I’m done, Wolfgang. I’m just… done.”

I hold her stare, seeing the decision etched there firmly.

Good. Then I know exactly what I need to do.

***

A few days later, Father organizes a party in the city with everyone in our inner circle.

He tells them he’s stepping down, that I’m his next successor, and that Mikhail will be given a different role. No one has anything to say to that.

Not even Ekaterina, who stands in a corner, drink in her hand, watching her son with what looks like resentment… or fuck knows what. He went against what she wanted, after all. I wonder if she knows what he did for Victoria and I.

Across the room, my wife smiles at me, wearing a crimson-colored dress and the ruby necklace I got her for her birthday. She’s fucking beautiful, a sight to behold. No wonder all these fuckers can’t take their eyes off her. Her brows rise, as if to ask me “what?” so I mouth the answer to her.

“You.”

Her pretty face lights up instantly. She’s so sweet, this girl.

I don’t know how the fuck she puts up with me.

I’m fixated on her face, on her figure, and it’s beckoning me closer.

We don’t have to sit through all this shit—the announcement is done, and I can do whatever the fuck I want.

Right now, that means taking my wife out of here and spending the day with her.

“Before you go,” my brother says, appearing in my peripheral vision. “I need to tell you something.” I can see Father watching us from his chair, probably wondering if we’ll cause a scene and shit. But I don’t intend to, and by the look on Mikhail’s face, neither does he.

“What is it?” I ask, turning my attention to him.

Whiskey swashes in his glass between the ice. “I’m going away.”

I frown. “I don’t want to hear it. Just because I’m in charge now, it doesn’t mean—”

“Nah, it’s not that.” He downs the rest of his drink, then places it on the tray of a passing server. “I got something to take care of.”

“Where?”

“Los Angeles.”

Fuck. “That’s Italian territory and you know it. They’ll kill you on the spot if they see you.”

“I won’t be there long enough for them to figure it out. And I’m not here to ask your permission. I just thought you should know.”

I sigh. “What the fuck has gotten into you?”

“Starts with Cecilia . Ends with Ferrara .” He grins.

“You’re going after the don’s daughter? Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

I know there’s no getting through to him. Once Mikhail makes up his mind, good luck changing it. And good luck reeling with his impatience. Cause if he’s telling me he’s going, he already has a flight.

“Relax,” he says, cracking his shoulders.

“I have a plan. Now, if I were you, I’d be careful with Cazimir over there.

” His eyes flick to my wife. “Is it me, or did he just make her laugh?” He pats my back, and I watch him walk backwards to the door leading outside.

“Enjoy your big day. I’ll see you when I see you. ”