ARIANA My heart slammed against my ribcage when a hand tapped my shoulder. “Sorry,” came Giselle’s voice from behind me. She sounded like she was fighting back a laugh. I brought my hand up to my chest, turning to face Giselle as my accelerating heart rate slowly came back to normal. She’d shaved ten years off my life with that scare. “I didn’t mean to scare you. So… interesting wedding, huh?” I groaned insufferably. I was more than ready for this miserable day to be over and done with. “Now, I’m glad Nicholas didn’t want a reception. What if it had turned out like this?” She looked so horrified, I couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t know how lucky she was. I’d rather be anywhere but here right now. Hell, I’d even pick staying in a room with Rocco over this. “Niko and Matteo approved of Aleksei’s handling of the situation.” She rolled her eyes. “Men.” I laughed. That one word held so much meaning behind it, and I could relate. “What even happened?” She handed m
ARIANA I LOATHED MY BROTHER-IN-LAW. I dug my nails into my palms as Mikhail helped lower me into a chair in the center of the dance floor. I wanted to bolt out of here. Fast. The last thing I wanted was Aleksei's head between my legs, but my devil-incarnate brother-in-law was having none of that. He'd successfully gathered all the bachelors in the room—my scowling brothers included—and forced the DJ to switch to a more sensual song. Now he was in his brother's ear, whispering things that made the latter's frown deepen every passing second. I didn't even want to know what they were talking about. He patted Aleksei on his shoulder before going to join the men with a huge grin on his face. Did I mention that I loathed my brother-in-law and I wanted to punch the ever-living shit out of him? Aleksei started toward me, his expression stoic, and I instinctively sat
ARIANA The air in the limousine was frigid, and no, it wasn't because of the air con. It was because of the man who—for some reason—was still angry even after the reception when he had no right to be. I was the one who got threatened by him before we had to go home. Not him. Me, but he didn't see me sulking about it. His eyes were glued to the laptop he was currently tapping away at, pretending the world around him didn't exist. Perhaps it didn't. Perhaps he was sucked into a world of his own where no one else but him mattered. Unable to bear the silence in the air, stupid me pulled my phone out of my clutch to type a quick message to him. Do you not have any other family members aside from Mikhail? A good conversation starter. I sent the text, and immediately, his phone buzzed on the leather seat next to him. He didn't bother reaching for it. He merely cast the lit screen a glance before going back to what he was doing.
ARIANA MY NERVES WERE STILL FRAZZLED from everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and to make matters worse, I woke up with a pounding headache. All that alcohol in my system proved to be a bad idea as I downed some Tylenol I found in the first aid kit in the bathroom. I still couldn't even believe I was now married. Surely, the day couldn't get any worse, or so I thought until I noticed the cup of coffee on the table even though I'd locked my door the night before. It freaked me out knowing someone else had access to my bedroom, and I immediately made a mental note to take it up with Aleksei the next time I saw him. I didn't appreciate my privacy being breached—wife or not. Surprisingly, my 'husband' hadn't sought me out last night to consummate the marriage. I was relieved, and, at the same time, worried. What if he chose to have sex with me when I least expected it? I'd prepared myself for d
ALEKSEI CHAOS UNFURLED AROUND ME as breakfast preparations were made, but all I could fixate on was the simple text Igor had sent me last night. Home. Now! That was all the text said, but I could feel the fury behind it all the way from Russia. I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face. I must have really pissed my old man off because he didn't do texts. He claimed it was too 'basic' and 'beneath him', whatever the fuck that meant. He preferred his email chains. I clicked the exit button on my phone, closing the text he sent me. I clicked on Ariana's text next, against my better judgment. This was my fifteenth time checking the text since she sent it last night. Yes, I was counting. It was an unhealthy fixation. One I was powerless to. I promised myself I'd delete the text chain and forget all about it, but I eventually found myself scrolling through our chain of texts. Oddly enough, I always wished people around me would st
ARIANA SHOWING UP TO WORK WITH A wedding band around my finger raised a lot of questions among my staff, especially because the last time they saw me, I bade them goodbye before heading for Papà's funeral. The girls and I were like friends instead of coworkers. We all clicked, and it wasn't like a normal boss-employee relationship. That wasn't to say they didn't respect my boundaries or weren't efficient with their work. It was quite the opposite, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. "Someone tell me I'm hallucinating," Drea, my closest friend of the bunch, said as she flung my door open, barging into my workspace. Only she would get a pass for intruding. My workspace was sacred, but she was also my best friend since my college days. In the end, bestie privileges, as she liked to call it, won. "There's been some buzz floating around. You're freaking married?" Her eyes zeroed in on my engagement ring and weddi
ARIANA I skidded to a halt when I saw a group of my workers gathered just around the corner, watching Aleksei, who stood in the reception area with his hands behind his back, staring down at Cheryl, who looked up at him with lovesick eyes as she spoke. What the hell was going on? Apparently, I was the only one who didn't know my new husband was popular amongst my staff. I cleared my throat to get their attention, and they all turned to face me with wide eyes, embarrassed that they'd been caught. "Sorry, ma'am," they chorused before quickly dispersing from the scene. Aleksei looked at me over Cheryl's shoulder the moment I stepped into the reception area. His lips curved up in a charming smile. As I watched him, I wondered how many people had fallen for that carefully laid mask he put on. "There you are," he said, walking around Cheryl to stand in front of me. "Did I interrupt any important work?" He asked, placing a large h
ALEKSEI DINNER WITH MY FATHER WAS a form of pure torture I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It started with cutlery clinking against fine China before Igor Tarasov decided he'd unnerved his guest enough with just silence. While some might think it's impossible, it worked wonders. Growing up, I had gotten a front-row seat to watch grown men piss themselves or drive themselves insane during those long stretches of silence. He always said human nature made those men desperately want to fill the silence with small talk to make things less uncomfortable. Of course, their efforts went unanswered by Igor, and it only unnerved them all the more. He'd once told me the best way to win a battle was by unnerving your opposition first. Once you break their minds, you'll have already won half of the war. Like him or not, my father was a smart man. I'd grown up beside him, so I knew all his tips and tricks in the book. They never worked on me, and I could tell he hated that I knew him so we
ARIANAI tossed and turned in bed long after the skies had turned black, and everyone in the house had retired to their various quarters.Sleep evaded me, and my pride and stubbornness wouldn't let me seek out what I truly wanted - him.I didn't want it to seem like I was the one making the first move, like I was desperate for him. Who knows? He might have been teasing me when he hinted at something happening tonight, and I'd just make a fool of myself if I approached him.Frustrated and agitated with myself, I climbed off my bed, stepping out onto the balcony to ease my racing mind.Maybe some fresh air would do me good and help calm me down. It was either that or drowning myself under the hot stream of my shower for the third time tonight.I groaned, tugging at my hair. God, I wasn't good with things like this.I looked down at myself.I even wore one of my more provocative silk nightgowns. The dress might as well be nonexistent the way it melted over my body. I bought it impulsivel
ALEKSEI Bravery and stupidity are the same things; the outcome determines your label. My father had drilled that saying into my head when I was eleven. It all started when I went up against a bigger kid at school for bullying Mikhail, and I got my ass handed to me. I was still just a skinny kid, and he had a group of friends just as beefed up as him. When I told my father, he'd just shaken his head at me and called me a fool. Eleven-year-old me had been furious, and I'd mouthed off to him. Of course, I got my ass handed to me again by Viktor, who my father trained alongside me at the time before Igor finally explained what he meant. "What you did wasn't wrong, Alyosha. It was brave of you to stand up for Misha against a boy like him, but it's foolish to go into wars you know you have no chance of winning. The boy was bigger and he had friends with him. You co
ARIANA I was glued to my chair, unable to move a limb long after Reina excused herself to use the bathroom. My head pounded, and it threatened to burst from all the new information it had just gotten. "Get them to talk to their father," Reina had pleaded after she explained her side of the story. For once, I didn't see her as the heartless robot that pranced around with a chip on her shoulder. I'd seen the softer side of her, and it was all directed toward that asshole husband of hers. She cared about Igor and was a ride-or-die for him. With the way she spoke about him, I wouldn't be surprised if she actively put herself in harm's way to protect his life. That thought was further cemented when I asked her why she hated me when we'd only just met at the party. "I don't hate you." My mouth hung open. "And what do you call how you treated me at your house? That was unkind, and not how to treat people you cl
ARIANA I COULDN'T GET PAST the appetizer round from how tightly wound my gut was. I wouldn't be able to keep anything down even if I tried. Reina sat across from me, savoring every bite of her lamb ribs while I stared at her. Never in a million years did I think she would seek me out after the hostile welcome I got from her when we visited, and my instincts told me to prepare for the worst. She couldn't have come for a good reason. I reached for my glass of water to busy myself with anything, so I didn't appear unnerved in front of her. I cleared my throat to get her attention. "So, are you going to say what you came here for, or are you going to make me watch you eat before we begin?" "The latter," she answered easily, going for another bite of food. I glared at her over the rim of my glass. "I have better things to do than to sit here and watch you eat. You know, a real job." "And you assume I'm not fa
ARIANA I DID IT. I let him touch me and make me come, and I. . . liked it. I liked it. Not only did I like it, I begged for it, too, relinquishing all the control in that bedroom to him. Who are you? I stared at my reflection on my blank phone screen. The woman on the screen looked different. I felt different, too. The last decade wasn't the kindest part of my life, and I'd woven through it not trusting men. And it wasn't for a lack of trying. I did. I went on dates, sometimes I initiated the flirting, and very few times, I'd gone in for a peck. It never went past that, though, because I always withdrew first. My therapist said it was a trauma response --- pulling back before they had the chance to hurt me --- and I couldn't deny that she was right. A person very close to me had hurt me irreparably after putting all my trust in him. What was stopping those men from doing the same? It was probab
ALEKSEI I LIED. I remembered every word I said. But, I wasn't lying when I said the Russian had slipped out unconsciously. It was a habit I'd tamed a long time ago - switching between the three languages I spoke whenever I was in a heated conversation with someone or slightly irritated. It wasn't a good look for me because it was tantamount to outwardly losing my cool, and growing up in an environment like mine, it was seen as a sign of weakness, an opening for the predators to prey on you and your emotions. Now, I barely batted an eye when I was heated or irritated, and that was because I'd spent the past decade curbing this bad habit - I succeeded, too - and in just one night, she'd undone all that work. I should've taken it as my sign to disengage and get myself out of the situation before I spiraled, but hours after she'd fallen asleep, I still laid awake next to Ariana, staring down at the soft contours of he
ARIANA His cock sprang free from its confinement, slapping against his stomach, hot and erect. My lips parted at the sight, and I swallowed. Tiny, purple veins ran up his long, thick length to the pink, bulbous tip that dripped with pearly white liquid. I'd never gone down on a man, but I now understood the appeal some got from it. My skin itched with the same need, a mix of curiosity and desire. And he wasn't lying when he implied his cock was more than a fistful. At least, now I knew where the cockiness came from. It wasn't just small talk - pun intended. "It doesn't bite." He didn't bother to hide how amused he was. "Who knew my cock could render you speechless?" He curled his fist around his girth, stroking up and down, coating his length with his precum until it glistened under his soft bedroom lights. With his other hand, he wrapped my leg around his waist, propping my ass up on his thighs. "I thought you sa
ARIANA Aleksei hummed in satisfaction at my desperate plea. "Good girl." I could feel his proud smirk against my skin as he went lower, getting dangerously close to my pussy. My core thrummed with anticipation. My body buzzed like a livewire, itching to be set off by him. He knew how much he affected me, and he was having fun milking it. I gritted my teeth, fisting the sheets beside me. "I already begged you, didn't I? Stop teasing," I hissed. And what did the bastard do? He laughed. Laughed. "Retract those claws, tiger." He splayed his hand on my lower stomach, effortlessly pinning my lower half to the mattress. "If it gets too much, tap my shoulders." I stared down at the top of his dark head. "What happened to me using my words?" My tone was slightly mocking. I could practically hear his smirk. "You wouldn't be able to." And then he pressed his tongue flat against my slit, dragging
ALEKSEI "TRUST ME?" I asked again as she arched her neck back to give me more room to feast on her neck. She absentmindedly hummed her agreement, sinking her fingers into my hair at my nape. I nipped on her jaw, pulling a shaky breath out of her. "Are you sure?" "Y-Yes." I kissed my way down her chest to her stomach. "Anything else you want me to know beforehand? Or do you want me to stop?" I teased. Her chest rose and fell with how fast her breath came out in puffs. "No!" I teased the waistband of her tiny shorts with my teeth, grazing her skin in the process. "Feisty." She jerked, sinking her fingers deeper into my hair. "And sensitive," I whispered against her skin as I slowly inched her shorts down her legs, tossing them behind me carelessly, which was out of character for me. I gently parted her thighs, staring down at her bare, pink pussy coated with her slick arousal.