Page 91 of Devil's Vows

I’ve been staying away, wanting to do right by her, and it’s a novel feeling. Somewhere between getting married to Darya and having girls of my own, watching my first wife derail, my mindset has shifted. The coup has changed me. I want a freshstart with Gabriella, a relationship with her that grows out of trust.

The first step is to honor her religious convictions. Religion’s one thing that never stood in my way, but I will respect hers, and therefore the need to rush the wedding. My bride will be the virgin she’s promised God to be on our wedding night.

I could have given her more time to get used to me and the idea, but why bother. Not when we both have desires that can be satiated in the marriage bed, hopefully making the sons I need to sire along the way. I’m no idiot; sons aren’t guaranteed, but for her sake, I hope we’d be done in two rounds. The idea makes my stomach fist. What if I can’t let her go?

“I thought you wouldn’t be here tonight.”

“Change of plans. I got enough work done the past few days so I can take some time off once we’re married.” I walk back to the bed and hold my hand out to her. We shouldn’t wake the girls, and now is as good a time as any. “Come with me.”

“Where to?” she asks but slips her hand into mine as she stands.

Trust. The foundation is already there.

“To meet my Papa, the old Pakhan.”

“He might be sleeping? It’s really late,” she whispers.

“Or early, whichever way you look at it.” I rake my gaze down her body.

Fuck.

That silk set is new, cream-colored with lace details and thin straps that makes a man want to bite and peel it off his wife’s body. Little shorts so revealing, I won’t need to rip them off to get to her. I could just widen her legs and push the crotch aside to lick that sweet pussy. I suppress a grunt. “Did that set come with a robe?”

“Yes.”

In the dark, I can’t be sure, but I bet she’s blushing. What little light falls into the room from the corridor is enough tofuel my imagination, and now she’s pouring fuel on the fire as she slips a fingertip under the rogue strap and guides it back on her shoulder.

“Where is it? There’re guards everywhere, and they aren’t seeing you in that, understand?”

I bite down on my jaw, letting go of her hand to shove my hands into my pants’ pockets. Already, I’m standing here with a hardened cock, and now all I want is to show her how easily I could have her, right here, against the wall, if it weren’t for Irisha and Katya.

“It’s here,” she whispers with a nod. “I wasn’t planning to walk around…I wasn’t planning for you to be here.”

There’s a huskiness to her voice that makes me fucking harder. “Did Milana shop for you?”

“Yes. She doesn’t approve of my regular…you know…” She trails off, shy, and turns to lean over for the matching robe that’s draped over the sofa in the room. In the little light, I see her panty lines etched against her sweet ass. Probably still period stuff. “I just wanted to try it out, feel how it feels...”

I bet it feels sensual and borderline erotic on her skin. The camisole perfectly accentuates the swell of her breasts, her nipples pressing invitingly against the thin fabric. Those shorts only draw my eyes to her legs that I want to spread open.

“You look very tempting,moya ptichka,” I murmur.Too fucking tempting.

She shoots me a bashful glance as she licks her bottom lip. If I didn’t know better, it would read like an invitation to undress her, but I can’t. Even if all I want is to make her come, like I did the other night, just have her wet in my hand, fucking her with my fingers until her release squirts and drenches my palm, I’ve made a vow the younger me would have laughed at.

Fuck my life. Tonight. I can count the hours.

I hiss in a breath. “Let’s go.”

“Are you okay?” she says as she ties the robe.

“Fine.” Perfectly fucking fine. I have my hand on her back, her skin’s heat radiating through the soft fabric to my fingertips. “Do you understand, Gabriella, you don’t ever walk around this house in only skimpy silk pajamas?”

She glances up at me, and in the light of the corridor, I see her properly for the first time. Above her blush-stained cheeks, dark circles weigh heavy under her eyes. She’s exhausted.

“What’s wrong,moya ptichka?” I ask as I stop her with a hand on her arm. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

She looks up at me and there’s a flicker of panic in her eyes, but then she shrugs it away. “It’s just the wedding rush, and the girls, trying to balance both. And all this security—” She shoots a glance at the guard who is sitting at the top of the stairs. “Hopefully, there won’t be a need for so much security once Milana is with Luca. It makes me nervous, having guns around the girls.”

Of course it would make her nervous. Her adopted parents were executed in front of her. “We’ll see.”