Page 9 of The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride

Instant color rose from her supple cleavage to her hairline, the bright red making her vibrant auburn hair appear almost brown in comparison. We moved further into the apartment, and I snapped on the lights, wanting to be able to catch every captivating expression on her face as she took in the lux high-rise I barely spent any time in.

“Do you live here now?” she asked. At my frown, she blinked rapidly. “I mean, now, like, do you mostly travel, or is this home base?”

“I keep this place for when I have early or late meetings in the city. It’s much closer to most of my points of business. Usually, I live in a house in the Hollywood Hills where I can have a sense of seclusion, even in this crowded city.”

“Don’t like being too close to your neighbors?” she asked, strolling around the large, open living area.

“I also have a beach house in Malibu for weekends and parties and such,” I said. Was I trying to impress her?

As she wandered and her eyes darted over all the fine things my decorator insisted on packing in the place, she did seem impressed, but also like she’d seen this kind of thing before. I supposed if she’d been a caterer, she’d seen the inside of some nice places in town.

My breath hitched when she paused at one of the silver-framed pictures on the mantle. It was of my daughter Nataliya at her high school graduation, wearing the maroon and gold of St. Ambrose and a triumphant smile. Katie’s face turned wistful as she stared at the photo, her fingers tracing the frame.

I took her hand and pulled her away, not wanting her to think of the age gap between us, or begin to wonder how close in age to Nataliya she was. I only wanted her to think about me and the electricity between us.

She melted into my arms, resting her cheek against my chest before looking up at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Oh good,” she said. “I thought you were going to offer me snacks or something.”

A laugh burst out of me. When had I ever felt so alive? “I could,” I said. “The fridge is always kept stocked. Are you hungry?”

Her fists tightened in the fabric of my shirt. “Yes,” she said, cheeks growing pinker by the second. “But not for food.”

I lowered my head so that our mouths were only an inch apart. I could feel her warm breath against my lips.

“I feel exactly the same,” I told her.

Chapter 5 - Katie

I let my head fall back, grateful I was supported by Aleks’s strong hands wrapped around my waist, his palms splayed flat against my lower back. Every inch of our bodies was pressed close together, and I ached with something deep in my core that I’d never experienced before. The strength of his arms and the muscular hardness of his chest as I dug my fingers into his shirt, helped erase what I’d just seen.

But not completely. Not even the promise in his eyes as he lowered his head to kiss me again could get Nataliye’s happy graduation picture out of my mind. I should have graduated alongside her, and been wearing the St. Ambrose colors. If my father hadn’t left us completely ruined and disgraced,, I might have even been in that expensive photo frame with Nat.

But then, would I have been in her father’s arms like this? Being kissed and teased with his tongue until my knees were weak?

Oh, stop thinking of him as Nat’s father!

He was Aleks now, just Aleks. A man who wanted me. The man I’d tried to get out of my mind but never could. He was everything I’d ever dreamed of, down to somehow noticing how apprehensive I was about coming home with him. I had never done something like this before, and even though I was so ready, was I going to stack up to the kind of woman he was used to having one-night stands with?

The fact this could be nothing more than that hurt my heart, but I wanted this experience. Needed it like I needed water and air.

His hard bulge pulsed against my belly, and I gasped but grabbed at his head when it seemed like he might break our kiss. I loved that he was willing to be patient, but I loved his kisses more at that moment. My fingers tangled in his hair, and I moaned against his mouth. Goosebumps chased up and down my arms, and he found them and smoothed them away. His tender caresses soon turned wilder, and his hands cupped my backside, grinding me closer to his heat and hardness.

When his fingers found their way under the hemline of my dress and teased the edges of my thong, I gasped again, going completely still as he slipped them deeper between my thighs. I had to tell him. And just pray he didn’t stop.

“Aleks,” I said breathlessly, pulling back. His hands slid back to my ass cheeks, and I tried to get my mind to form words. I finally just spit it out. “I’ve never—I’m a virgin.”

Yes, he had to know that much. The way he made me feel, there was no power in heaven or on earth that could have made me confess to knowing Nataliye. She was the furthest thing from my mind at that point.

He smiled slowly, his eyes almost wild with a barely controlled hunger. “Do you think I care about that?”

“I just…”

I did sort of think he might care. He was so handsome, rugged, and radiated such power that it was impossible he wasn’t a magnet for much more worldly women than me. Suddenly, everything seemed wrong about me. My dress was cheap, I’d been trimming my own hair at home for the last year, I was sure my face was redder than a fire engine, and worst of all, I was practically trembling in his arms.

Aleks pulled me close again, his lips trailing down my throat as his hands began to wander south once more. “You’re beautiful and perfect, Katie. You’re like a prize. My prize. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

And just like that, I didn’t anymore. I fully believed him, and the feel of his fingers and mouth on me made me forget everything but getting more.

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