Page 22

I was thrilled with how the meeting turned out. Emerson was truly part of the family now, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she seemed to be warming up to the idea of a big wedding the more my sisters-in-law and Mila spoke to her.

What wasn’t so thrilling was that we had to go through with it because Arkadi doubted me. Hopefully, this stunt would shut him down for good. If not, I’d have to escalate the issue, no matter what my brothers had to say about it.

The wedding could have taken place or not, had a thousand guests or just our immediate family. I only wanted Emerson to be safe. It was icing on the cake that she was no longer giving me the cold shoulder. We stayed at Aleks’s house for several hours after the meeting, and she’d gone from being stressed out and shy to acting like she had been one of us for years.

Now we were on the way home, and when I glanced at her, she had a somewhat baffled smile on her face, as if she couldn’t quite believe what had happened. She was certainly expecting and fearing the worst before, but now she’d made a complete switch. My family could take a little getting used to, but once the initial fight was won, they were all in with their new sister-in-law and had shown just how overwhelmingly welcoming they could be.

“What changed?” I asked.

Her cheeks blazed red, and she refused to admit anything, least of all that she might actually like being a Fokin now, if only a little.

“Are we really going through with a big public wedding?” she asked instead. “Mila made it sound like what she had in mind was going to rival the British royal family’s weddings.”

“It probably won’t be televised or anything,” I said, teasing.

“But why?” she pressed. “It’s so much trouble and expense when you could just cut me loose or hide me away in one of those safehouses Aleks mentioned. The only people who know are the staff at Khoroshiy, and we could easily say it was a prank or something.”

“I’ve already told you it’s not a problem, and I don’t care if it costs as much as a small island nation.”

She sighed, her smile twisting down in frustration. “But everyone in LA will know. It won’t be so easy to…” she trailed off, looking away.

I slowed the car to pull through the first set of gates to my neighborhood. Tapping on her chin, I made her turn back to me.

“I not only have no problem with the whole world knowing, I can’t wait. Mila and Nat can work miracles, so we’ll be official in the public’s eyes in no time.”

“What does no time mean?” she asked. “Six or eight months?”

I laughed. “I think we’ll aim for next month. I have several cousins coming in from Moscow then, and they’ll be delighted to have an invitation.”

As we wound down the long street toward the compound, I filled her in on my passel of cousins who’d been working toward joining us here in the States. My father had come here before any of us siblings were born, but his two younger brothers had stayed behind in the old country to raise their families.

“They’ve been working on that side of the world but have been wanting to team up with us for a while now. Matvey, Daniil, and Rurik are my Uncle Vissarion’s kids, and they used to visit all the time when we were kids, just like our father used to ship us back to Moscow during the summers to keep up with our Russian roots. Now my Uncle Dimitri, whom my older brother is named after, has twin girls in their early twenties, and sadly, I hardly know Masha and Lilia at all.”

Emerson’s eyes were wide when I finished telling her a bit more about them. “You know I won’t be able to remember any of that in thirty seconds, right? I can barely keep your brothers and their wives straight.”

“Don’t worry about it. No one will be offended if you forget their names or call them by the wrong one for a little while. I think you’re going to love Matvey especially, he’s hilarious.” I smirked at her, pulling up to our front door. “Just don’t love him too much.”

Damn, was I preemptively getting jealous of my cousin?

Emerson started opening her car door, and I hurried around to scoop her into my arms when she got out. Cradling her like a baby, I marched toward the door.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to force down a laugh as she playfully swatted at me. This was so much better than the silent treatment.

“I’m carrying you over the threshold,” I said.

“Again?”

“Why not again? You tried to beat the hell out of me the first time.”

With a grumble, she relaxed in my arms, but continued to argue as I carried her up the steps. “You may as well wait until after the real wedding. You’re going to make it so it doesn’t mean anything.”

I let her go and slid her body down until her feet touched the ground, keeping a firm hold on her waist and tugging her close to me. “The first wedding was plenty real to me, Emerson.”

I ducked my head so our lips were only an inch apart. Her eyes fluttered close as I held her tight, and her body melted against mine.

“Seems like it was plenty real to you, too,” I said, letting my hands ease down her hips to cup her sweet ass cheeks.

Her lips parted, and she let out a sigh. “No comment.”

“I don’t actually need you to say a word,” I assured her.

Our mouths met, and she didn’t pull away. On the contrary, she moved even closer, so that a sheet of paper couldn’t have come between us. Her hands moved up my chest to rest on my shoulders as she stood on her toes to deepen our kiss.

She tasted like the cognac we’d sampled at my brother’s house and smelled sweeter than a summer rain. My tongue darted out to slide between her lips, and she curled her fingers into my hair.

Wild lust coursed through my veins, making me lose the tight grip on my control almost instantly. Damn it. I wanted her, and had been wanting her for so long. Having to sleep beside her and feel her warmth, all while being determined to give her space, had been torture.

I lifted her off her feet, and her arms tightened around my neck as I delved deeper into her mouth. I needed to run my tongue along every inch of her, and the fabric between my fingertips and her skin was too much.

Her legs slid up to wrap around me, her ankles locking behind my back to jam us together in a way that was almost painful. Her soft heat ground against my raging hard cock, and I groaned, tugging her top out of the waistband of her jeans just to feel her hot flesh.

With a gasp, her eyes flew open, and she tipped her head back, cheeks turning bright red. Her glance cut to the side, where one of my guards stood twenty feet away. He stared straight ahead as if nothing was happening. As if I wasn’t about to take my wife on the front porch within the next few seconds.

Keeping my hands firm on her sides, I marched through the front door and slammed it shut behind me. Another guard poked his head out from the end of the hall, and Emerson buried her face in my chest.

“Out,” I shouted to the guard. “Everyone out.”

Where to go? What was closest. Emerson wriggled out of my grasp and took my hand, tugging me toward the library next to the dining room. As soon as I was in with her, I grabbed her up again, kicking the door shut behind us.

“Good choice,” I said, grinning down at her.

“Just kiss me some more,” she demanded, grabbing my head and yanking me close.

She didn’t have to ask twice, and our tongues collided as I shoved her top up, splaying my hands on her smooth back. With a flick of my fingers, her bra sprang free, and I eased the top over her head, only breaking our searing kiss long enough to toss the thing across the room. A second later, I had her bra down her arms and heading toward the shirt.

In utter awe of her beauty, I stood in silence and just looked at her. Her smooth, pale skin practically glowed in the sparse moonlight coming through the windows. Reaching behind me, I flipped the switch so I could see her better, causing a blush to take over every creamy inch on display.

“You are so damn gorgeous,” I muttered, reaching to trace the line of her collarbone.

Her eyes were closed, her head tipped back, her throat begging for me to lick all the way down to the rounded swell of her breasts. I did just that, my cock straining against my pants at the sound of her sigh. When I reached her nipple, I traced my tongue in a slow circle, raising it to a tight bud that I drew into my mouth.

She arched against me, running her fingers through my hair. “Nik,” she moaned, pushing me back. Her eyes were glazed as she looked up at me. “Hold on. I want to…”

Blushing even harder, she shoved me back against the nearest leather couch. My ass hit the back, and she hurried forward with me, holding tight to my hips. With a look of determination, she began to unbutton my shirt, kissing her way down my chest.

“I want to do this, too,” she said.

“That’s more than fine with me,” I said, gritting my teeth as I watched her get bolder with every button she undid and every kiss she placed.

When she came to my belt, she leaned back, looking me in the eyes as she slid it through the belt loops and let it fall from her fingers. Dropping her gaze, she grinned and popped open my pants button. I gripped her hair and pulled her close to me to take her mouth, throbbing to be inside her.

“You’re making me crazy,” I warned against her lips.

Her smile was sending me over the edge, full and radiant, as she pulled away again and dropped to her knees in front of me.

“I’m going to make you more crazy,” she said. “I think I should get a turn, don’t you?”

“Ladies first.” I almost choked and gripped the edge of the couch, mesmerized by her full lips dragging along the outline of my cock through my boxer briefs.

I let my fingers roam through her silky red strands, my hands close to shaking from the restraint I was practicing. With a small giggle that had me pulsing, she gripped the sides of my pants and yanked them down to my ankles, the boxers going with them.

“Yum,” she said, nibbling at my dripping head.

“What the hell are you doing to me?” I groaned, digging my fingers deeper into her hair.

“I take it you like this?” she asked, the vixen mask she was putting on slipping as she looked up at me for confirmation.

“I’m in heaven,” I assured her. “But what about you? Do you like licking Daddy’s cock?”

Her eyes rolled back, and she brought her lips around me, taking me deep into her mouth as she held onto my hips. She nodded as she sucked hard and then dragged her teeth gently along my length.

I let her tease me with her tongue for as long as I could handle without coming down her throat. Pulling her up by her arms, I claimed her swollen lips as I tugged at her jeans. Her hands collided with mine as she helped get them down, her whole body vibrating.

“You’re way too fucking good at that,” I growled.

“It’s because I’ve been thinking about it,” she admitted, face flaming again. “I wanted to…”

“Drive me wild?” I finished for her. “Mission accomplished. Another second, and you’d have gotten a mouthful.”

Before she could answer, I slid my hand between her thighs, cupping the damp heat of her panties. “My little girl is soaking wet for me,” I said.

“I need you,” she whispered.

For a split second, I wanted to ask why she kept fighting me. Not now, not when our bodies took over like this. But when we weren’t grappling at each other like feral animals.

“You have me,” was all I said, picking her up and hauling her over the back of the couch.

She landed with her legs wide, and I yanked her white panties to the side to expose her slick pussy. As she writhed, I plunged two fingers into her tight channel, stretching her for my cock, my eyes darting everywhere because there was no part of her that wasn’t a work of art.

She shuddered as I teased her clit with my thumb, working my fingers in and out of her. Her back arched, her perfect tits bouncing as she flattened herself against the couch again. I could have watched her react to me fucking her with my fingers for hours, but my cock wanted a turn at that hot little hole.

“Look at me,” I said, climbing over to straddle her body. “Open your eyes so I can see them when I fuck you.”

She did as I told her, and barely blinked as I teased her opening with the slick tip of my cock. Back and forth until she was trembling, reaching for my arms to try to pull me down on top of her, her emerald eyes going dark with desire.

I tweaked her nipples as I continued to torture both of us, making her cry out as I rolled the tight peaks between my fingers.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked, voice raspy with desperation. “I- I need you, Nik. Please.”

“I’m going to make you come first,” I told her. “I want to feel your tight little pussy clamp down on me when I ram inside you. And then I’m going to keep fucking you until you come again. And again. Understand?”

“Yes,” she moaned, arching her hips as I continued to play with her body.

I pushed inside her an inch, moving my fingers down to her swollen clit, circling as I nudged deeper, never taking my eyes from hers. This was killing me, but I loved hearing my girl beg me to please her. That was exactly what I meant to do.

“I always keep my promises, Emerson,” I told her when she bit her lip and moved under my fingertips. “Now, do what I tell you and come for me.”

Her scream echoed around the room as her body spasmed. I sunk fully inside her deep and hard, shouting as her slick cunt strangled my cock with each pulse of her orgasm. I could have let loose within seconds; I was so turned on by my sexy bride, but I had made a promise.

As her first orgasm subsided, she grabbed onto my shoulders and held on as I continued to pound her pussy until she came again.

“Once more,” I whispered near her ear as I drove deeper. “Once more so I can come inside you, little girl.”

A low, growling moan tore from her throat as she let me take her over the edge another time. There was no more holding back for me. It was a miracle I was still alive with her body beneath me, taking everything I gave. My whole body shook as I shot my seed into her, plowing her head into the arm of the couch. Slowing down, I put my hand behind her head and tucked her face against my chest, raining kisses into her hair.

“You’re so damn perfect,” I gasped, collapsing against her at last. “So perfect in every way.”

Her breath was ragged and fast, and I rolled to the side, pulling her close so she didn’t tumble off the couch. Her head lolled onto my shoulder, and she made incomprehensible murmurs as I stroked her hair.

Once, I had run full out for over ten blocks while chasing an enemy down and I didn’t think my heart rate was as high as it was now. And I could feel her own heart racketing against her ribcage as she snuggled in close to me, both of us struggling to catch our breath.

“Yeah, I guess that was okay,” she finally said.

I leaned back to find her grinning at me with a mix of pride and shyness on her face. Lips swollen, cheeks rosy, green eyes bright. I grinned right back at her and burst out in laughter so loud it echoed around the room.

This was definitely okay.