Page 5 of Jewel of the Assassin

Up till now, all I’ve seen is her wearing the sexy slip at bedtime. In the gold dress, she was exquisite. Now, she is a masterpiece, breathtaking as she binds the choker of black pearls around her delicate throat. All my muscles bulge when she lets her hair down, sensual curls ravishing her chest and shoulders.

The wind picks up, whipping across my body and shaking the trees all around me. But all I see is her.

“That’s my good girl,” I say, low and reverent, as I watch my future bride.

Not just a bride. Valentina Volkov is a queen,mykoroleva.

Ya mogu smotret’, no poka ne mogu vzyat’. Tak blizko, i vsyozhe tak daleko.I can watch but not yet take. So near, yet so far.

The desire to cup her flushed breasts and sweep my thumbs over her nipples, tipped with her arousal, is overwhelming. Her curves are a sculptor’s wicked fantasy—shapely hips that beg to be bruised and marked with my teeth, flawless waist, and breasts so lush and full, they’d tempt a monk. With her decadent golden curls, she is sin and temptation.

If Eve in Eden could be captured but with the spirit and witchery of Lilith…

The faintest, softest curls of dark gold clothe the heavenly apex of a triangle between her legs. I smirk at what else my lens captures—wetness glistening on her thighs.

She doesn’t mimic a provocative striptease. No, Valentina is sharp, shrewd, and dauntless. My cock jerks when she sweeps her gaze along the landscape, her eyes hunting for her stalker. I am too well-canvassed, but at one point, I’d swear her eyes lock with mine…for the barest ghost of a moment.

At first, her hand glides along her chest, wandering across her lovely breast before sliding down her smooth stomach, then poised upon her mons. I lower my brows, eyes narrowing, cock jerking until she forms a fist, but she wags her index finger. My blood burns at the silent taunt. So sexy. My dirty girl.

And then, she turns. A predatory fire erupts through me, an unchecked possessiveness when I make out the pink striations across her back and a few red welts. Fuck, I was the only reason she didn’t have morem????sniffing around her. One live blogger slipped through my fingers.

She paid the price for her rebelliousness.

Soon, I will be the only one who will administer punishment.

Unfortunately, I was delayed due to my father’s little errand.

A subtle turning of Valentina’s chin grants me her pouty lips parting. A sigh lowers her shoulders. And then, her hands fold behind her back and…oh, that naughty, little vixen forms the middle finger, draping it right over her ass crack. The bulge in my pants is so painful, I must adjust.

Valentina doesn’t close the drapes, but she does approach the bed. I smile in approval as she removes the choker and proceeds to tuck it away in a small hole in her mattress. She is careful, Moya Koroleva.My Queen.

She slowly climbs into bed, her eyes showing their fatigue, but I don’t leave until she is fast asleep. However tempting it is to tamper with the alarm system and enter through her window, I restrain myself.

On her wedding day, I will steal what belongs to me, slipping her from my brother’s grasp like a shadow in the night—never to return. I will carry my rightful bride far away, to a place where no vows but mine will ever bind her.

3

If I was a stalker, where would I be?

VALENTINA

THREE DAYS LATER

“Ilook like a damn cupcake covered in too much fondant and a vat of glitter sprinkles,” I spit out to Sasha, who’s arrived in the dressing room.

After fluffing out the exorbitant train, the attendants leave me alone.

He shrugs. “Our father’s choice naturally.”

I wrinkle my nose. “If he wants me to be seen from space in this godforsaken travesty of confectionery, I’m sure he’s accomplished it.”

He spews laughter through his cheeks.

I roll my eyes, glad I can always amuse him. One of my missions in life.

“Of course I didn’t even get to choose my own wedding dress,” I huff, more than annoyed. My scalp is practically screaming from the updo with a thousand bobby pins taming my wild curls.

“You know I don’t like this anymore than you do.”