The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride - Page 59

Chapter 34 – Aleksandr

The news that Katie was pregnant hit me like a ton of bricks. If only I could have enjoyed the pure, unadulterated happiness that welled up in my heart. It seemed like she was truly over the moon about it, even when her shock that it had happened so soon was clear.

How could I erase that content look in her eyes, or steal that moment of joy? Not after what she’d been through. I was able to get her released, assuring the overzealous doctor that I had a skilled personal physician who would take good care of her at our home. While our driver took us there, I stayed in the back with her as she slept, nestled against my shoulder.

Pulling into my long drive was both a relief and a new burden. Hadn’t I told myself I’d come clean with her? She had to know the true extent of what our life entailed in order for her to be truly safe.

I carried her upstairs even though she insisted she felt much better and could walk fine. I wanted to keep her as close as possible, as if feeling the warmth of her skin was a shield against the moment she’d turn against me. As I tucked her into our bed, the look in her eyes was full of trust and love, two things I didn’t deserve.

It would have been the right thing to do. Just get it over with, like ripping off a bandaid. At this point, my excuses were merely cowardice. Yes, I was afraid to lose her. It wasn’t a matter of going after her, bringing her home. She was more than the object of my obsession. More than someone I had to possess.

Everything was dust if she didn’t want to be with me as much as I wanted her. I only wanted her heart and freely given. I was petrified that once she knew the truth, her heart would close against me forever.

“Is everything really okay?” she asked, reaching to smooth her fingers down the side of my face.

No. Guilt was eating me alive. “Yes,” I said, leaning to kiss her before leaving so she could get more rest.

When her lips opened to me, and she wrapped her arms around my neck to lock me in place, I couldn’t pull away. My tongue swept against hers and her soft moan filled my mouth.

“Your bruises,” I said.

“I don’t feel them when you touch me,” she murmured, tangling her fingers in my hair. The edges of the bandage around her wrist brushed against my face.

“Be careful of your arm,” I admonished, but still didn’t pull away.

Hunger rose in me, fueled by relief that she was safe, egged on by the knowledge that every kiss could be the last. The last where she still believed in me.

“It doesn’t hurt at all,” she said, tugging me closer.

My hand slid down the side of her throat, stopping at her shoulder. She wriggled and arched her back so that her lush breasts rubbed against my chest.

“You should rest,” I said, eliciting a naughty giggle that had me swelling against the front of my pants.

“I spent half the day unconscious,” she reminded me.

“That’s not funny,” I told her, but we were both becoming ravenous with every brush of our lips.

My hand moved lower, and I smiled to hear the familiar purr as my fingers found her sensitive nipple beneath her top.

“Why am I still wearing these clothes?” she said, shoving me away. “Burn them. I don’t want to ever see them again.”

I moved her desperate hands from the buttons on her blouse, ignoring the dirt from the shack, trying not to frown at the bruise on her shoulder when I slid the sleeves down her arms. I gently kissed the edge of the nasty purple mark that marred her delicate skin.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, continuing to kiss down her chest, along the edges of her bra.

That was the next to go, and then she lay back with a sigh, her hands idly moving in my hair as I worked my way down her belly.

With a short gasp, I lay my cheek against her smooth flesh, just below her belly button.

“Hear anything?” she asked.

“Your stomach rumbling,” I told her, pleased to make her laugh. “We should stop this nonsense and get you something to eat.”

“If you stop, I’ll never forgive you.”

I’ll never forgive you.

The words echoed in my mind, but her teasing smile and the feel of her skin beneath my cheek kept me from stopping. Her fingers gripped tighter in my hair as I undid the button of her pants with my teeth. I licked along the edges of her panties, and she groaned.