Page 70 of His Darkest Obsession

"Congratulations on your marriage," he says. “To both of you.”

Then, he follows after his family, and leaves me alone with Anatoly.

24

INDIGO

I stand frozen,clutching Anatoly's jacket around my shoulders while the echoes of his mother’s disgust still hang in the air.

"I..." My voice catches. I clear my throat and try again. "I'm sorry."

Anatoly turns to me with an unreadable expression. The coldness that radiated from him moments ago while confronting his family hasn't fully dissipated.

"For what?"

"For embarrassing you." I gesture down at myself, at the scandalous dress barely covered by his jacket. "I shouldn’t have. I was just trying to..." I trail off, realizing how petty my rebellion seems now.

Anatoly's eyes soften slightly as he steps closer. "You didn't embarrass me."

"I did. Look at me." I pull his jacket open slightly, revealing the torn edges of the once-elegant dress. "I look like?—"

"My wife," he interrupts firmly. His hand reaches out to adjust the jacket back around my shoulders. "You look like my wife. And my wife apologizes to no one."

I blink up at him, thrown by his calm response. "But your mother?—"

"My mother has always had opinions about everything I do." His jaw tightens slightly. "That's nothing new."

"I should’ve made a better first impression."

Anatoly shakes his head, a dangerous edge returning to his voice. "No,printsessa, I should’ve told you about today. If there’s one person to blame, it’s me."

His left hand comes up, fingers gently touching my lips to silence me.

"Not you."

I stare at Anatoly, startled by his declaration and admission. His fingers linger near my lips and the indentations that are now starting to fade from my cheeks before dropping away, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake on my skin.

Slowly, warmth returns to my body as our breaths mix in the air between us.

“And for what it’s worth, I liked what you did to this dress.”

My heartbeat races to my throat, and an unexpected shiver surges through my blood. I turn to look in his eyes, and find neither malice nor lie. I reach out and slip my fingers into his, and feel the warmth travel over my skin.

He lets out a slow measured breath as he steps closer into my space, until I can feel the air between us growing thicker and flaring with heat from every breath we draw together.

“Really?”

“Yes,printsessa,” he replies as he moves his hand to slowly push aside the lapel of his jacket to reveal the mutilated dress. “It tells me that there’s a part of you that wants to stop hiding.”

His eyes lock with mine as his finger push back his jacket to reveal a shoulder. His touch inches down the side, and sets my body on fire. A sigh escapes my throat as his hand moves lower until it starts stroking the small of my back.

“A reminder,” he continues. “That you never have to hide when you’re with me.”

I bite my lip and all it does is draw him closer. His touch moves further down my back until it rounds at the curve of my ass. My stomach flips as he kneads the soft flesh, sending another burst of warm wet heat surging through me.

The space between us continues to shrink with each beat of our heart, and the gentle feel of his hand on my body as his hand leaves my ass and moves along the outside of my thigh.

I gasp from his touch, and my free hand reaches up until it finds the nape of his neck to pull him closer to me. He keeps his eyes fixed on me as he continues to draw that path up my outer thigh, over my knees, and starts moving back down along my inner thigh.