Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
She scoffs. “If sarcasm burned calories, I’d be skinny as a rail.”
“Thank fuck it doesn’t.”
She casts a sidelong glance at me as I take a left and head home. We’re not far.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I like my wife with curves.”
Anya makes a sound of disgust, crosses her arms, and sinks into her seat. “Do you even know how to lie?”
“I could learn anything if it was useful. Lying is a waste of time and energy.” She doesn’t respond as I park the car. “Welcome home.”
“This will never be my home, Semyon.”
I turn to face her. “Patience isn’t something I’ve cared to cultivate, Anya. But keep pushing, and you might see exactly how little I have left.”
Her breath stutters, her defiance flickering as she leans toward me before she catches herself and pulls away.
I’m not finished.
“I won’t demand much, but your respect is nonnegotiable.”
“Respect!” she fumes. “Respect? You don’t scare me, Semyon. And respect isn’t demanded but earned.”
“Cute thought. Also, inaccurate.”
I open my car door and pause, looking over to make sure she doesn’t disobey me and open her own damn door. I watch as her fingers grasp the handle, and she turns to look at me.
“Are you that immature and petty?” I shake my head but won’t warn her again. “If you behave like a child, I’ll treat you like one, Anya.”
Color floods her cheeks. She opens her mouth to protest, then slams it shut as if second-guessing her response. And when I exit the car, taking my time walking to her side, she sits obediently, waiting for me.
Good girl.
I open her door, watching the way her narrowed eyes are fixed on me. She doesn’t like submitting to me. Makes me fucking hard knowing that, knowing I’ll be forced to punish her.
Fire courses through my veins like molten lava. I’m not a man who could ever love, so a thought like that isn’t even on the table. It isn’t in my chemistry. I know that.
But lust? I’ve been lusting after Anya since before it was right, when we were still too young for anything even close to a relationship. I blinked one day, and my best friend’s baby sister wasn’t a child anymore but a woman with full, curvy hips, a soft belly, and tits that begged to be weighed in my palm, her nipples lonely for my mouth and teeth.
I watch her delicate hand grasp the outside of the door as she moves to exit the car, but I clear my throat with a tsk and sharp shake of my head. Her beautiful eyes are narrowed on me.
“I didn’t open my door,” she says in a tight voice as she ignores my warning and gets out of the car.
I close the small space between us. Her back hits the side of the car. In one swift move, I lace my fingers around the edge of her throat, my palm so much bigger than the slender column of her neck, engulfing her easily. I hold her there, braced against my palm, her back pressed against the door.
“We’ve only been married for a short time, Anya,” I whisper in her ear. “But we’ve known each other much longer, haven’t we?”
Her gaze sweeps over my hand, my arm, and up to my eyes. She’s doing her best to hold onto her anger, but she can’t hide the fear that flashes in her eyes.
“No,” she whispers. Her answer takes me by surprise.
No?
“I knew who I thought you were, Semyon. But the boy I knew is long gone. I don’t know you at all.”
Clever. She’s wrong though. Men like me don’t change.
I shake my head slowly. “The only thing that’s changed between us is how you see me. I’ve always been exactly who I am. The difference now is the balance of power between us.”
“Always the master manipulator of words, aren’t you?” she snaps, her tone cutting.
“Not at all. I don’t manipulate anything. There’s no need. I speak the truth and don’t bother to sugarcoat.” I lean in, my voice in her ear. “So listen well, little Anya.”
She shifts uncomfortably. Good. I want her uncomfortable. Questioning. Off-kilter.
I need control.
“You took your vows to me in the presence of my family to save yours. That took courage, but you didn’t have much of a choice. I’ve allowed you to push back. I haven’t punished your disrespect. Yet.”
Her pulse flutters beneath my hand, and my dick springs to life.
“But we’re at my home now. I have people who work for me. Staff. Men under my control who’ve sworn their lives to me. Here, little Anya, you do not disrespect me. I promise you, if you do, I will punish you. I know you haven’t been well-schooled in the expectations of my world, so consider this your first lesson.”
I flex my palm and lean on my forearm, caging her in as I hold her gaze.