[ANASTASIA] OK. I’ll be honest with you. Ivan losing his shit was fun to watch. The Ivan I knew during our happy married life didn’t care about my dressing, makeup, or anything related to my appearance. Of course, I wasn’t dirty or lazy by any means. I kept myself clean, took care of myself, and wore whatever I thought would look good on me. But I wasn’t a fashion icon, for sure. I chose comfortable clothes, especially during both of my pregnancies. Sure, there were all kinds of birthday parties, engagements, and weddings to attend, but let’s just say I kept it as simple as possible. I used to think simplicity suited me better. Or maybe I just didn’t want anyone else to look at me, other than the man I had fallen head over heels for. The fun part is, I still think the same. I believe simplicity is better and more practical. But once in a while these days, I’d be lying if I said I don’t crave a bit of change. If anyone forgot to notice, I got married pretty quickly. I hadn’t even
[IVAN]“I hope this clears up everything,” Zarubina Stepanova says—the headmistress of Moscow’s Imperial Boys’ School—bringing my attention back to hers.Let’s just say, it’s been impossible to focus on anything other than my wife looking like a walking death sentence to my sanity. It’s been more than an hour since she walked into the hotel’s bar. Despite my efforts to not fall for her snare to fuck me up, I couldn’t help but follow her to the bar like some lovesick puppy who can’t find his way around.I’ll have to agree, Ana is definitely not the same old Ana anymore. She’s bolder now, doesn’t back away from taking risks, and doesn’t mind messing with me, despite being aware of the atrocities I’m very much capable of. I can’t deny that such changes in her are almost sexy. They make me even hotter for her. And I can’t help but imagine her reaction if she learns of all the new wild things I want to do to her.Today or tomorrow—this way or that—she’ll have to give in to me. That’s one t
[ANASTASIA]My bluntness catches me off guard, and if I didn’t hear it wrong, one of his men in our proximity starts coughing.I haven’t got a single clue why I’m saying what I’m saying. It’s all coming out without a filter, and I seem to have no control over it. Not that I have regretted anything so far. According to my drunk brain, everything that I’m saying makes complete sense, and I have nothing to feel ashamed of.And why should I? I am only stating the obvious, aren’t I? He should be the one embarrassed for ignoring her blatant attempt to seduce him. But despite my claims, he simply rolls his eyes, as if I’m seeing too much into nothing. As if I’m crazy to think of the possibility.“You’re overthinking it, malysh. I assure you that’s not the case.” He says that slowly as if I’m too stupid to understand what he’s talking about.Little does he know that I can’t shake off what I saw. I just can’t. She was leaning in so close to him earlier, flaunting that short skirt. Damn this wa
[ANASTASIA]It all boils down to the fact that I can’t deny that this man—this man that I call my husband, the father of my kids—still has a piece of my broken heart. No matter how little or more, he still holds some power over me and that can’t be turned a blind eye to.He can twist it as he pleases. He can play all kinds of games with it that only he enjoys. And all I can do is watch him destroy me because what else could a woman do at the hands of a man she’s crazy about?The funny thing is, I don’t want to have all these feelings about him. I don’t want to care.But I do have those feelings and I do care. And I can claim all I want. I can blame him all I want. But the truth remains the same you can’t fight with your own heart. Especially the one that’s broken. Because a broken heart has as many voices as its shattered pieces. And they all hurt differently. And when the pain becomes unbearable, the only choice is to surrender, because who in the world wants constant pain, right?Do
[ANASTASIA]His words stun me for a moment, but I can’t ignore the way they turn me hornier.My breath comes out fast and fast and fast, and there’s nothing I can do but bite my lip so hard that blood threatens to ooze. I just want this tug in my stomach to rest, for him to fill me until I don’t know what fucking air is anymore.Ivan pulls away, eyes blazing, body hard as stone.His expression changes once more, softening as he studies my face, dark brows pulled together as if he wants to say something but doesn’t know how to begin. I tilt my head and try to free my hands.“I want to touch you, Ivan. Let me touch you.”But he doesn’t relent. Doesn’t listen. “All in due time, malysh. All in due time.”
[ANASTASIA]“And you’re sure about that?”I swear to God, he’s testing my patience. “Yes! Just fuck me, Ivan! Please!”I hear him laugh, followed by a hard slap across my butt. “Did I tell you to scream yet?”I shake my head, biting my lip, and though my face heats up, I love the warm sensation on my butt.He looks pleased with my response before he helps me sit up and unties my hands.Thank Goodness. I would have died if he had continued to torture me like that.Before I know my palms are planted against his hard, chiseled chest. A thrill runs down my spine at the way his muscles tighten under my touch.“And this is all mine?” I ask as if in a daze, my voice barely above a whisper.He grabs my hand and moves it lower, his eyes holding me captive until he curls my fingers around his thick, veiny cock.“It has always been yours, baby
[ANASTASIA] “So wet,” he whispers, watching my reaction with narrowed eyes. “Look at how wet you are for me.” I nod, unable to speak from all the stimulation coursing through my body. I bite my lip and roll my eyes to the back of my skull when he starts to pound harder, so hard there’s a slapping sound that arrives whenever his thighs make contact with my ass. His hands move down my waist and cup my ass cheeks. I gasp as he squeezes and kneads them, my muscles tensing as his dick continues its thrusts. “That’s it, baby. Take. This. Fuck!” I’m about to climax when he changes the angle of our positions and grinds his cock in slow circles. The sensation is almost too much for me to bear. “Harder, baby. Fuck me harder.” He increases the speed and intensity of his thrusts again, grinding me against his hard dick. My nails dig into his back, pulling him closer to me. He hisses when my nails cut through his skin, but
[IVAN]Ana storms into the washroom and I’m left to glare at the door.I can’t believe it. Even after what happened just now, she refused to forgive me.Frustrated, I run a hand through my hair.I can’t. I can’t believe she denied me once again. She denied me even after I emptied my heart for her. I thought she understood, but apparently, I was wrong.Forgiveness is not supposed to be easy. I know that. If it was, everyone would be doing it, and it would lose its meaning. But haven’t I suffered enough?Five long years. That’s how much time I have spent without my family. Without Ana and my kids. Their absence in my life was like a hole in my heart. Always there. Always gaping and wondering what it would be like to be complete again.I lost sleep. I lost my sanity. I lost everything when I lost them.Every waking hour their absence haunted me like a neverending nightmare. Ever
After our fourth round of pure, wild sex, I have nothing left in me. Every ounce of energy drained, I barely manage to pull the sheets over myself before sleep claims me.When I wake hours later, the room is dim, the soft glow of my bedside lamp casting long shadows on the walls. My body feels heavy, sore in the best way possible.And then I see him.Dimitri—freshly showered, fully dressed—sitting at my study desk, casually flipping through my books like he owns the place. Like he hasn’t just spent hours wrecking me.I prop myself up on one elbow, my voice hoarse from sleep. “Seriously? You had time to shower and invade my personal space?”He doesn’t even look up. Just smirks as he turns another page. “You were dead to the world, milaya.” His fingers trace the edge of a textbook. “Figured I’d entertain myself.”I groan, burying my face in the pillow. “You’re insufferable.”He chuckles, low and rich. “And yet, you keep letting me in.”That’s actually true.I shake my head and pull myse
[NADIA]“You’re here?” I say into the phone, clutching my books tightly to my chest as I glance around. “Where?”“Outside. Meet me when you’re done with your classes.”A wide grin spreads across my face, excitement bubbling inside me. “Oh, I’m done. And even if I wasn’t, I’d still run to you.”Dimitri chuckles—that deep, rich sound that always makes my skin ripple with want. “Can’t wait to see you. Come soon.”The call ends, and I quickly excuse myself from two classmates who wanted to discuss something about today’s lecture. Rushing down the corridor, I nearly bump into a few students, barely dodging them in my hurry. Thank God no one gets hurt as I half-run, half-speed-walk through the massive glass doors.And then I see him.Dimitri stands outside, leaning casually against his car, dressed in a dark suit that only makes him look more devastatingly handsome. His brown hair is styled just right, accentuating the sharp planes of his face, and those piercing dark eyes are locked onto m
The Ivan I know is strong. Unshakable. Even in the worst situations, he carries himself with a quiet, effortless confidence that makes you believe nothing could ever touch him.But the man lying in this hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines and the sterile scent of antiseptic, looks nothing like that.His skin is pale, almost sickly under the fluorescent lights. His face, usually so sharp and alive, is slack, lips slightly parted as if he’s lost in a sleep too deep to wake from. Bandages wrap around his head, a stark contrast against his dark hair, and an IV snakes into his arm, keeping him tethered to life.A terrible, suffocating weight presses down on my chest.This is wrong.Ivan doesn’t belong here. He belongs anywhere but here.For a moment, I just stand there, with my back pressed tightly against the door, like it’s the only thing keeping me upright. My pulse thunders in my ears, and I force myself to take a step forward. One. Then another.I don’t know what I expect whe
[ANASTASIA]Ever since I woke up after the incident, I have been dying to see Ivan.But now that I’m standing outside his room—where supposedly he had been admitted—, I can’t muster up the courage to push open the damn door.I’m nervous. Terrified. And most of all, unsure.I don’t know if I’m ready to see what lies behind this door.I don’t know if I’m ready to bear the truth either.What if Lena wasn’t exaggerating?What if Ivan is….No! No no no no no. I can’t think of the worst now. I can’t break myself just by imagining what might not be waiting on the other side.I sigh. Swallow. And lick my lips.“What’s wrong?” Lena asks, whom I conveniently forgot for some reason.She stands behind me, probably waiting for me to just rush in.But how am I supposed to explain this hesitation now that I’m actually close to the truth? How am I supposed to explain that I have second thoughts for unknown yet obvious reasons?“I don’t know,” I sigh, wiping the sweat off my forehead, even though it’s
[ANASTASIA]The next time I open my eyes, I’m not alone.Lena sits next to my bed, her hand in mine, her eyes closed, as if she fell asleep while watching over me.For the first time since waking up from my so-called long slumber, I look at her carefully. She looks more tired than I’ve ever seen her. The wrinkles on her face are more prominent, the skin around her neck slightly sagging, and her hair whiter than I remember. It’s as though she stopped taking care of herself, as if in the past two months, she aged by decades.My heart clenches painfully in my chest, so much so that I can’t stop the warm tears rolling down my cheeks.I turn away, wishing more than anything to wake up from what has started to feel like my worst nightmare—the kind of nightmare I never imagined could exist.“Ana…?” Lena’s gentle voice pulls me from my thoughts. I turn back to her and notice how she straightens up, her eyes alight with genuine concern. “You’re awake. Do you need something? Water, maybe?”I nod
[NIKOLAI]Once we finally get to his office, Konstantin takes his seat behind the desk and raises an eyebrow. He looks kind of pissed, but not enough to end me right here and now.He might have the power to do that and carry on with his day as if nothing happened, but I know in my gut he won’t. He made a promise to our parents that no harm would come to me. And if there’s anyone I know who keeps their word, no matter the circumstances, it’s him. My very own, very infuriating brother.“So,” he drawls, leaning back in his chair and propping his legs up on the desk, crossing them at the ankles. “What do you want to talk about?”I don’t sit in the chair in front of me; instead, I start pacing the room. I glance around and find it exactly how our father designed it. Not a single thing has been changed or moved. It’s like walking into a museum of old memories.“I want to challenge Madam Volkova,” I say, almost expecting him to scoff.But he doesn’t. Instead, he tips his head to the side. “Wh
[NIKOLAI]I hang up the phone and stare hard at the ground.“Fuck you, Dimitri!” I growl, clenching the phone tighter and huffing out a heavy breath.The bastard has the audacity to make me responsible for everything that happened to Ana and Ivan. But is it? Am I really the one to blame?I look away, peeling my back off the car and slipping inside.I put my hand on the steering wheel, unable to shake his words from my mind.Shit. If only I had known the consequences of my actions, maybe this day would have never come. Maybe Ana would still be safe, and Ivan would still be breathing on his own, not with the help of some fucking machine.“Fuck!” I punch the steering wheel, growling louder.I turn the key in the ignition and drive away from the motel. I’m not sure if what I’m about to do next is the right choice, but it seems like the only option I have left. I can’t go back to Madam Volkova after my fallout with her, and Dimitri doesn’t seem interested in having me by his side either.I
[DIMITRI]I storm out of the building and light a cigarette, unable to think of anything else.I breathe in the smoke and then blow it out, hoping it will take away the stress pressing on my chest, making my lungs incapable of doing their job.I don’t know what to do anymore. Ana is finally awake, which is good news, of course.But what the hell do I tell her when she wakes up next time and asks the same questions all over again? How do I give her the answers that are sure to crush her?Maybe I’ve developed a new weakness these days—maybe falling in love makes you a fucking weak asshole—but I can’t seem to bear seeing that woman cry. I just can’t.It fucking stabs me right in the throat to see those tears streaming down her face, to see that fear in her eyes that seems to linger around her whenever she asks about Ivan.I take another big breath of smoke and then drop it, crushing it under the tip of my boot.“Fuck!”My phone rings just then. I thank God for the fucking distraction and
[ANASTASIA]“Mommy!”One word, and my heart shatters into a million pieces.Before I even turn my gaze to the door, warmth floods through me, and tears well up in my eyes.My little girl comes running into the room, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail bouncing with every step. Her eyes are sharp, excited, and filled with so much love. Her face is a canvas of every emotion I’ve ever seen her wear in my entire life.I don’t even realize it, but my arms open on their own, my chest aching to feel her little heart against mine.But just when I think she’s about to jump onto the bed and throw herself into my arms, she stops and stands there with her hands behind her back, her little legs fidgeting as she looks up at the doctor, her small eyes seeking some kind of permission.I suppose the last two months have changed a lot. My daughter, who used to storm in and out of any place she wanted, now suddenly looks afraid of hurting me.Tears race down my face. I wipe them as quickly as I can,