Page 40 of Craving Dahlia

It made me feel like an animal. I hadn’t been able to let myself touch her while we stood there, saying our vows. Just that kiss made me want to grab her and pull her close, feel every warm inch of her body pressing against mine, made me want to devour her mouth in front of every single one of those guests and God himself.

And I hated her for it. I still do. As far as I can tell, there’s a not insignificant chance that she’s trapped me into marriage with a baby that might not even be mine. Once again, a woman is trying to bring me to my knees, to use my desire against me, and I want no fucking part of it.

It was meant to be one fucking night.I let out a growl of frustration, ignoring my now-hard cock as I roll out of bed and go to get dressed.

The idea of going down for breakfast, of sitting and making small talk that will undoubtedly either involve the wedding or a pointed silence regarding it, feels impossible. I head away from the dining room instead as I go downstairs, going out the front door and into the sunshine just beyond.

It’s a beautiful day—a good day for a walk. I head down one of the walking paths that leads towards the back of the estate, hands shoved in my jeans’ pockets, taking in the rolling greenery and the gardens. Anything to get Dahlia out of my head, to stop thinking about her.

Eventually, I see the stables rising in the distance, getting closer as I head further back on the property. Something tightens in my chest as I look at them. I was never any good at riding, but Dimitri enjoyed it, and from time to time, he dragged me out here. A flicker of curiosity prickles over my skin as I wonder if they’re still the way I remember, and I turn down the path that leads me that way, pausing before I walk into the cool, dim light of the barn’s aisle.

It smells the way I remember—dirt, hay, the warm scent of animal fur. I wait for the heavy hand of nostalgia to settle over me, tofeelsomething about this place, but nothing comes. I stand there, listening to the whickering of the horses and the stamping of hooves, and start to head down the aisle, planning to walk through and take the roundabout path back to the mansion.

I’m not one to be easily caught off guard. But I’m lost in thought, frustrated and irritable, and I don’t see Dahlia until I nearly run into her as I walk out of the other side of the barn.

“Alek!” She gasps my name, throwing her hands up to stop me, and they momentarily brush against my chest. Even thatsmall touch, combined with the sound of her gasping my name, sends a jolt of near-painful desire through me, my cock instantly hardening. In the space of a second, I go from soft to straining against the front of my jeans, and I let out a sharp hiss, stepping back abruptly.

“What the fuck are you doing out here?”

Dahlia’s eyes widen. “Evelyn and Dimitri told me I should come out here and check the stables out—” She trails off, her lips flattening. “Not that it’s any of your fucking business.”

“Isn’t it?” I raise my eyebrow, and her expression turns murderous.

“If you say a single word about it being your business because you’re my fucking husband now…”

Some dark, devilish part of me wants to taunt her. To push her. I want her to explode, so I can find out all the ways she’s undoubtedly lying to me. So I can find out what her angle is, what she stands to gain from all of this.

“Aren’t I?” I look pointedly down at her left hand. The gold band is still there—she didn’t take hers off. Something clenches oddly in my chest as I see it, and I shove the feeling away forcefully.

Dahlia’s gaze flicks to my ring finger. “You’re not even wearing your ring,” she scoffs. “This means nothing to you, clearly.”

“And it means something to you?” A tight, sharp sound barks from my chest, something almost adjacent to a laugh. “This entire thing is an arrangement foryourbenefit. To make sure you don’t end up on the street with a child thatmightbe mine…”

Dahlia’s eyes flash fire. “I swear to god, Alek, if you say that again?—”

She reaches up, shoving at my chest as she starts to push past me, and I feel something snap. Something that I hadn’t even realized was strung so tightly until it’s too late.

I move without thinking. Before I even know what I’m doing, I grab both her wrists in mine, swinging her to one side and pushing her back so that her back hits the barn’s outer wall, hard.

Almost instinctively, I move closer, caging her in as I pin her wrists over her head. Dahlia sucks in a sharp, sudden breath, her eyes going wide as she stares up at me, and I see all the blood drain out of her face—except at the height of her cheekbones, where the skin is flushed red.

Her throat moves convulsively as she swallows, and I nearly groan as my cock throbs, pushing against my zipper with a force that threatens to break it. I remember the feeling of her mouth in the back of that cab all too well, the heat of her lips around me, the way her throat closed around it as she swallowed my cum. My hips rock forward of my own accord, pressing my thick, straining erection against her thigh, and Dahlia gasps again.

“Don’t touch me,” she whispers, her eyes narrowing, and I raise an eyebrow,

“I’m already touching you,zhena.”

The word startles me.Wife. But that’s what she is. My wife—and my body is rioting, demanding to know why I didn’t take her to bed last night, why I didn’t fuck her the way I should have.

I could fucking come inside of her now, and it wouldn’t matter. She’s already pregnant.My eyes close briefly at the thought, my cock throbbing at the imagined pleasure of driving myself into her as deeply as I can, raw. Of letting myself come inside of her, filling her up, of feeling that exquisite pleasure again for the first time in so long that I can’t even remember any longer just how good it was.

I could fuck her right up against this wall. I feel her back arch slightly, her soft, perfect body wanting to welcome me, even if she’s resisting it. I can feel the pulse of the desire between us,like a tangible thing, something I could reach out and touch the way I’m touching her right now.

This is what she wants. To entice you. Entrap you. To make you want her, and then destroy you.Bitter pain writhes in my gut, tangling with the lust that’s fogging all my senses, and Dahlia squirms against me, trying to wrench her hands free. She manages to get one loose, planting her palm against my chest in another effort to shove me away from her, but she might as well shove a brick wall. I’m not going anywhere unless I want to.

And the longer I stand here, breathing in her sweet scent, feeling the heat of her body so close to mine, the less I want to.

My gaze flicks down to her soft, full lips, and I’m so close to leaning in and kissing her. The only thing that stops me is how intimate it seems. I’ve been inside of her, and yet the thought of leaning forward and pinning her to this wall, my mouth devouring hers, seems so painfully intimate that I recoil from it instantly.

---