Page 57 of The Russian Pakhan's Forced Bride

My eyes narrow at her, still trying to work out her angle. “Do you think this is a joke?”

“No, I don’t,” she murmurs, almost too sweetly, while her fingers lightly brush against my jaw, then down along my neck. I’m forced to suppress a shudder from moving through me. “…I think this dance of ours is dangerous.”

Right again…

Holding her gaze, I find myself almost struggling to come up with things to say.

Even if she’d likely claim otherwise, she looks far too relaxed and in her element. She seems practiced in this art of making me flustered despite myself.

I’ve never been stunned into silence before, yet she’s throwing me completely off-kilter, and I have no one to blame but myself.

“It is…and you’re doing it right in front of the entire place.”

Grinning, Victoria leans closer, leaning her cheek against my chest. “I am just as you asked. You should be thanking me.”

The gesture, regardless of how performative it might be, makes me soften slightly, and I loosely wrap my arms around her, holding her near. We sway carefully, and I can see the lines beginning to blur.

She looks so at ease…so smitten.

I can’t tell what’s fake anymore.

“Maybe I should be,” I murmur back, resting my cheek against the side of her head, able to speak directly in her ear.

The soft, classical music surrounds us, and I can’t help but get lost in it.

Instinctively, I expect her to try and push me off…to recoil in disgust. But she doesn’t.

Instead, she stays right where she is, moving slowly with perfect complacency. She’s almost pliable in my arms, and for the first time in a while, it feels like I’m receiving genuine affection from her.

While we dance, I feel the others watching us. They do it shamelessly, telling me exactly what they’re thinking.

When they look at us, they see nothing but power…a collected force of two influential individuals.

Even if Victoria doesn’t have experience in my world, she at least makes it seem that way.

It looks like she belongs there…belongs with me.

“I think you’ve convinced everyone here now,” I murmur to her, soaking in her warmth and the feeling of her curves beneath the dress.

“You think so?”

I hum without needing to consider it. “Absolutely…you’re acting like you can’t get enough of me.”

Even if I can’t see it, I can feel her faint smile.

“And to think, I had another trick ready to go. It’s a shame they won’t be able to see it.”

At her words, immediate curiosity consumes me. “What trick?”

Victoria pulls back slightly before meeting my gaze. Those brown eyes gleam back at me, ripe with a convincing tangle of knowing and need. “The one where I kiss you in front of everyone.”

The words make me pause, sending a thrill down my spine. I feel myself falter before schooling my emotions.

“You’re enjoying this.”

Looking up at me through those dark lashes, another vaguely teasing grin pulls at her lips. She leans in slightly closer, letting our noses brush together. “Maybe I am…”

It takes everything in my power not to pull her even closer or to let my hand drop lower. My stomach clenches, and I can’t fight the tension in me that’s begging to be soothed.