Page 40 of Sinful Lies

“Of course not.” I reach out to place my hands on her hips and pull her toward me. She gasps, pressing her hands against my chest to steady herself. “And I definitely don’t regret kissing you in front of all those people.”

Zara bites her lip, her cheeks flushing as she looks up at me with those big, green eyes.

The kiss we shared after we saidI dowas gentler than the one we shared before. There was no urgency or desperation in the way I slowly took her lower lip between my teeth or how I pushed my tongue into her mouth and tangled it with hers.

For a moment, I let myself imagine that it was all real before we broke apart and were officially declared as husband and wife and reality came crashing back down around me.

“Let’s go and enjoy the rest of the party.” I drop my hands from her waist.

“Where are we going?”I ask.

“The honeymoon suite.” Zara holds out her hand for me to take.

I glance down at her hand, and a smile tugs at my lips.

The reception is slowly coming to an end, with the last few stragglers still on the dancefloor, including Danil and Emily.

Bianca and Alexei left for the penthouse hours ago to put Leo to bed. I have no clue where Mikhail is, no doubt sulking somewhere in a hotel room nursing a glass of vodka.

“You want to make this marriage official?” I tease as I tangle my fingers with Zara’s.

“This ispurely part of the act, Dimitri,” she mutters. “It would look a little odd if we went our separate ways on our wedding night.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Don’t go getting any ideas.” She scoffs. “I mean it.”

“You’re the one who’s dragging me away to bed.”

Zara rolls her eyes, but a soft blush creeps up her neck.

“Let’s just go to our room.”

We take the elevator in silence up to the honeymoon suite.

The alcohol seems to have finally kicked in, and being in such close quarters to Zara has my blood heating. Her sweet vanilla scent still lingers in my nose, making me almost feral with need.

Spending the night together in the honeymoon suite is going to be the sweetest form of torture.

I scan the keycard and push open the door, immediately eyeing the king-sized bed in the center.

Zara shuffles inside, carrying the train of her dress over her arm, but she immediately freezes once the door clicks shut behind us, and we’re officially alone.

“Is everything okay?” I frown at the way her shoulders have hunched over.

Zara nods, her eyes falling to the enormous bed in the middle of the room.

“I’m fine. It’s been a long day.”

It’s clear that she’s in her head from the way that she’s fiddling with her fingers, and I can think of the perfect way to get her out of it.

I reach out and wrap my arms around her waist, spinning us around so that I can slowly back us both toward the wall.

“What are you doing?” Her chest is heaving as she gazesup at me, and those pouty lips are begging for me to kiss them.

“There are ways to relieve the tension… This marriage might be for show, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun,wife.”

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