Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mikhail
I knew Volkov would try to sabotage my wedding.
Of course he would. He was, of course, unsuccessful. So when I get my bride in the back of our limo, driven by one of my men, I open the small bottle of champagne left on ice.
My bride.
We did it. We circumvented Volkov’s attempt to destroy my family.
His first, anyway.
"Champagne? It's traditional in Russian weddings to celebrate with champagne.”
"I would've thought vodka," she says lightly, belying the fear in her eyes. Good. If she fears me, she’ll obey.
“You want vodka?”
Shaking her head, she looks away. “Where are we going? Where are we?"
I hand her the half-filled flute. “Do you know anything about The Cove?”
She shakes her head. "Not much. I know that there's a beach, and…well, your family.” She takes a sip and sighs appreciatively. Kolya knows how to buy the good stuff.
"Yes. We’re in The Cove, where I run our operations. My father died just over a month ago, so I’ve taken over. As we're driving, we have begun a controlled leak of our wedding photos. A strategy to allow information to leak to the right channels, so that everyone knows we married. We won't reveal where, or who you are.”
"So you have an informant." She misses nothing, her mind as sharp as a steel trap.
"We have many."
“Media coverage?”
I shake my head.
"Do you have counterintelligence in place?"
“Of course. Right now, secrecy and security are paramount. We need word to spread to our rivals and enemies. They knew it was happening, which is why they tried to attack. So the leak will spread that word.”
"I see."
She doesn’t.
"We have our traditions," I say, intentionally leaving her hanging. I don't want her to forget that our marriage is also punishment. She's surrendered all control to me. "You'll see when we get back to my house, Mrs. Romanov.”
Light filters in from the window and highlights her widened eyes. I stare at my bride. She's so beautiful. My heart thumps with the knowledge that I own her. That she’s mine, irrevocably.
I’ll enjoy every goddamn minute of despoiling her.
I crook a finger at her.
"Come here."
Aria gives me a wary look but only hesitates a few seconds. She’s learning. When she nears me, I bring her onto my lap and lean her against my chest, my mouth to her ear.
“Do you know what it means now that we’re married?”
I imagine her tied to my bed, taking my cock, over and over and over again. I imagine her on her knees, subservient to me. I can already hear her screams of pleasure and pain. She’ll learn to love them both.
“I’d guess…sex, but I don’t want to assume,” she says in a whisper before she swallows. The blush on her cheeks tells me she’s curious.
I tuck her closer to me on my lap, not an easy feat with miles of fabric. “You and I will get along very well, little hacker, if you can remember a few things.”
"What's that?" she asks, in a throaty whisper. I rest my hands on her flat belly, my thumb pressed against the other side of her breast.
"As my wife I’ll expect complete obedience. Everyone in this family obeys, especially you.”
She nods. “I figured as much.”
But she didn’t say she would…
“We have old-fashioned principles. You will have an allowance, and limited freedom. You'll have to earn my trust. You came here asking for protection, and I granted you that, but everything comes at a price.”
She nods. “I know.”
“No one will hurt you. No one will threaten you.” I put my fingers on her chin and push her gaze to mine. "Except for me."
Aria holds my gaze unblinking. Brave, foolish little hacker.
I glide her dress up the length of her legs and slide my hand beneath it. I palm her pussy, the silk fabric of her panties already damp against my palm. Christ.
"Remember what I told you in the shower,” I whisper into her ear. I slide my fingers past the silk panties and push the strip of fabric to the side, stroking her pussy as we pull to a stop. I withdraw my fingers and lick them while holding her gaze.
“Jesus, I can't wait to taste you tonight. When we are with family, you will be respectful and obedient. Anything less than that, and there’ll be punishment. And don't forget that when I have you naked in my bed tonight, it will begin with you over my lap. Am I clear?"
She swallows. “Crystal."
Of course she won’t obey me. That would be so boring and damn near vanilla.
I realize at the same time as my phone buzzes with a text that we aren’t where we’re supposed to be.
We had been ten minutes from my home where my staff waits for us. I should see the Manhattan skyline or the depths of the Atlantic Ocean outside these windows. I see nothing but high-rises.