Page 21 of Unwilling Bratva Bride

My heart slammed against my ribcage like it was trying to reach for the box itself, desperate to take the thing back and hide it away from Ivan’s critical glare. As I stood there, my throat constricting and frozen, Ivan held my fucking birth control pills in his hand.

“I…”

But what the hell was I supposed to say? Of course, I brought them. I mean, what if he wanted me to…okay, I didn’t want to go there just yet. But it wasn’t like I was an idiot. Ivan had been very clear about me living with him and his plans to make me his wife. I know what wives usually do with their husbands. I’m not a four-year-old.

So, I thought it better to be prepared. I mean, yeah, I wasn’t planning on letting that shit just happen, but I also wasn’t sure exactly what kind of choice I was going to have in the matter. Ivan didn’t necessarily seem like the type to…forceme, but again, better safe than fucking sorry.

Oh, and there’s that little thing you don’t want to admit, Adley. That you’d like him to—

I cut off the thought, trying and failing to meet Ivan’s eyes.

“Look,” I managed to squeak out, flicking my stare to Ivan before quickly ducking it down again, “it’s mine. Just…give it back.”

Silence hung as my mind continued to churn through possibility after possibility. I wasn’t sure how long before thiswhole “marriage” thing happened anyway, and maybe Ivan would be changing his mind after he spent a few annoying days with me. At least, that was my unspoken plan.

But as I forced myself to make eye contact with him, all I could see on Ivan’s face was a dark expression I hadn’t seen him wear before. It made a shiver run down my spine, and as I reached for the box, futilely hoping he’d give it to me, Ivan yanked his hand back while shooting out his other to grip me around the throat.

I gasped, tension ricocheting through my body to make every muscle lockdown. Ivan lowered his face closer to me again, boxing me in under the weight of his size and personality. Just like in the closet and my bedroom before that, my body betrayed me, a sinful core of my being enjoying the way Ivan manhandled me.

What the hell is wrong with you, Adley?

“You will not be getting these back,” he ground out through gritted teeth.

I could see his easy-going composure crack, pressure from within him making that cheery exterior crumble. I had only seen one side of him. This was the other half of the Ivan coin, the one that landed down on most occasions, the one he only pulled out when it was therightmoment.

Apparently, that moment was now.

“Ivan, I—”

His fist squeezed tighter, cutting off my words. “These will be going straight down the toilet, sweetheart.”

As if to nail home the point even more, Ivan pressed in, dragging his nose across my neck as he moved his lips over my ear. His breath skittered across my skin, causing goosebumpsand a tiny whimper that I wished to pull back as soon as it escaped.

He growled with his lips touching my ear, his words rumbling out in the deepest tone. “I will have every bit of you, and that includes your ability to carry my child.”

My body shook despite myself, and the feeling of his lips on medidsomething I wasn’t prepared for. I was reeling, my brain short-circuiting. There was something about him being close like that, of having him pressed to this vulnerable part of my neck that made my thighs clench together, my core weeping with arousal.

I’d clearly lost my damn mind, but that was the thing about doing so. I was powerless to fight it.

“Do you understand me, sweetheart?”

With nothing else to do, my voice gone, I nodded.

“That’s a good girl. And just in case you forgot,” his breath still wafted over my skin, his lips touching my throat as he moved his thumb from my neck to the pad of my bottom lip, “I gotyouout of this deal. That’s what I want. That’s what I’ll be owning.”

Ivan’s thumb pulled my lip down, then dipped into my mouth, hooking on my bottom teeth. I quivered where I stood, unsure if I wanted him to back the fuck up or keep going with his exquisite torture.

“Don’t pretend you don’t want it, either.” His head tipped down, his forehead touching my shoulder, and I heard him suck in a deep breath. “I can see those perky nipples of yours straining through your shirt, Adley. There’s no hiding how badly you want me to corrupt you.”

As Ivan lifted himself back, still holding my face, he met my eyes, which I knew were wide as saucers in my face.

“And I will be doing so. Soon. Right now,” he held up the birth control, flicking his eyes to it briefly, “it looks like I have some disposing to do.”

I didn’t even know who this guy really was or if what he did for a living was as illegal as I imagined. Still, my entire being thrummed with the need to let him take me, to open myself up to his assault and ride the incredible waves until I was too gone to stand.

Over your head. You’re in so over your head, Adley.

“And you’re going to help me.”

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