Page 27 of Devil's Bride

She holds up her middle finger. “Fuck that. I hate you.” She turns around and storms off.

Chapter Nine

Irina

Alexei is a pig, and I’m throbbing all over like a sex-starved idiot. I fucking hate myself right now for agreeing and submitting to him. I despise how weak and stupid I looked coming on his hand and moaning his name.

That man is my enemy.

I need to remind myself of that every minute. I shouldn’t forget it. But I keep losing my self-control around him. He has me in the palm of his hand and plays me however he wishes.

Even though I just had a spectacular orgasm, there’s a deep ache in my core. My entire body is ablaze, begging, yearning, and crying for him. Still, I can’t let myself fall any more than I already have.

It takes a lot of effort not to kick the dining table as I pull out a chair for myself and sit.

Two maids enter the dining room with dishes of food they set on the table. The aroma of grilled chicken wings fills the room, and my stomach grumbles. I take an empty plate and start filling it with everything they’ve brought.

The hairs at the back of my neck rise when Mikhail joins me. He takes the chair at the head of the table, placing in a healthy mixture of carbs, vegetables and protein on his plate.

I grimace. No wonder he has all of those muscles.

I chew my food glaring at him. I’m angry, and he should know I am. “Asshole,” I mutter.

He looks at me, his eyes narrowing. “What?”

“For someone in his thirties, you look at least fifty.” I’m such a liar. Alexei looks good for a man in his early thirties. I didn’t even know I had a thing for older men until I met him.

He laughs sardonically, his deep voice resounding in the room. “So, you have a thing for older men?”

“By older men, do you mean you?” I snort and roll my eyes. “You think too highly of yourself.”

“Considering you came on my fingers minutes ago, I have the right to think highly of myself.”

My stomach flips. A wave of electricity zaps through my veins and simmers in my stomach. Alexei Vadim will be the death of me. How is it possible to hate someone yet be so attracted to them?

I’d shoot him if I had a gun, but I would definitely let him eat me out first. I’m crazy, I swear.

Since I can’t bring him to his knees and make him beg for me, I need to think of other ways to do that. “I need to go shopping,” I say. “I didn’t bring any clothes with me, and I can’t keep wearing yours.”

His gaze skims me slowly, his pupils dilating with desire. “I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do mind.” I lift the glass of water sitting next to my plate. “I’m going shopping. You don’t have to worry, I have my own card.”

“You’re mine now, and I have enough money to spend on you.” He props an elbow on the table. “One of my brothers, Mikhail, will go with you.”

I purse my lips. “I don’t need your brother to babysit me.”

“He’ll protect you, not babysit you, Irina.” His tone is a little more serious now. “You’re my wife now, which means my enemies will stop at nothing to try and get to you. You must be protected at all times, and you’re not to go anywhere without bodyguards, do you understand?”

A retort bubbles on the tip of my tongue, but the emotion in his eyes doesn’t let me voice it. I can feel his fear, his desperation to keep me safe for whatever reason. Instead of arguing, I say, “Fine.”

He lifts a carrot in his mouth. “I heard you met my stepmother today.”

My body goes rigid, anger flaring in my veins as I remember the arrogant woman from earlier today. I’d spent the two hours after she left wondering if that is the way women are in the mafia. The men are killers, so it’s not unreasonable to expect the women to be something similar.

“I did,” is all I manage to say. I don’t launch into an hour-long rant on how pissed I was, neither do I want to ask him anything. He’ll tell me if he wants me to know. If he doesn’t, then fine.

“What did she say to you?” His face is a blank mask, but I detect something in his voice. He’s afraid Sasha told me something she shouldn’t.

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