Page 46 of Savage Reign

Need coils low in my belly. I know I have to stop this before I lose myself. Before I let myself fall under his spell again. Every time I do, it ends with me feeling weak and ashamed.

I step back, breaking free from his hold, the water rippling around us as I put space between us. “I’m going to bed,” I say, brushing past him.

“Good night, Sofiya,” he calls after me, but I don’t bother looking back. “Make sure to clean the tattoo and put some cream on it. I guess you forgot when I warned you not to get it wet?”

As I climb out of the water, I grab a towel and wrap it tightly around myself, flipping both middle fingers behind my back. I don’t stop until I’m in my room.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

SOFIYA

The next morning,I step into the kitchen to find Yelena alone, her hands dusted with flour as she works a lump of dough on a big wooden cutting board.

She smiles when she sees me. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

“Not bad,” I lie. The truth is, I spent the night tossing and turning, my body aching with need. I refused to touch myself, determined not to give in to thoughts of my captor, but by the early hours of the morning, I broke. My fingers slid between my thighs, and I came harder than I ever have, Nikolai’s name silently on my lips.

She moves to get me a cup of coffee, but I wave her away. “I can get my own,” I assure her. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve settled into a routine, and that, too, is dangerous.

As soon as I sit down with a steaming cup of coffee, she pulls out a platter of food meant for a small army. There are baked goods, fruit, a selection of cheeses and jams, hard-boiled eggs, and yogurt.

“Yelena, you fuss too much over me. I am happy with fruit and yogurt most mornings.”

“Please.” She dismisses me with a wave of her hand. “I haven’t had anyone to spoil for so long. And you’re Nikolai’s wife. You need to eat a good meal to start your day, especially when you get pregnant.”

I nearly choke on my coffee. “Pregnant? No. I’m not getting pregnant.”

Yelena gives me a patient smile. “Of course, you will have a baby. When the time is right.”

My misguided Cupid hasn’t given up yet. If she only knew. “Do you see this?” I point to the stupid tattoo on my finger. “This is my so-called wedding ring. Do you think I want to have anything to do with the man who forced this on me?” Forced is relative, but I’d like to scrub my brain of the pact I made with him. “And this.” I point to the gold cuff around my angle. “That is actually a tracking device, so he knows where I am at all times.”

“He is… unconventional,” she concedes, unbothered.

I can see I’m not getting through to her, so I smile and pop a grape into my mouth. “Let’s agree to disagree on this one.”

Yelena hums to herself, content as she kneads the dough, her movements practiced. I sip my coffee, watching her out of the corner of my eye. She seems harmless, though a little too eager to see me settled into Nikolai’s life, but she might also be a good source of information.

I decide to test the waters. “Do you live here, too?” I ask, keeping my tone casual as I pick at a piece of toast.

She nods with pride. “Oh, yes. I have my own cottage in the back that Nikolai had renovated for me when he bought the estate. I even have my own little garden. They say Catherine the Great’s niece used to tend to the roses there.”

I blink, taken aback. “Catherine the Great? As in the former empress?”

Yelena waves a flour-dusted hand through the air. “Yes. It’s said the empress gifted her niece this estate. A piece of history, yes?” She looks around the kitchen with a small smile. “Nikolai has done a fine job modernizing it while keeping its original charm.”

I nod as if this is nothing more than an interesting tidbit, but inside, I’m filing away every word. Knowing its history might help me figure out where this estate is located.

I take another sip of coffee. “That’s… impressive. I wouldn’t have guessed.”

Yelena gives me a pointed look. “This house is too big to leave empty, don’t you think? Did I mention there’s a nursery on the third floor?”

“No chance in hell of me getting pregnant,” I reiterate.

“Pregnant? Who’s pregnant?” Eva walks through the entrance and settles beside me.

“No one,” I’m quick to say. This is how rumors get started.

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