Page 11 of Cruel Longing

I took a second step and then a third until my hand was in his.

“You look gorgeous.” He leaned to kiss me on the cheek.

“Thank you.”

I looked into his eyes.

“You must have changed your eyes about tonight, kotyonok.”

I swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“Your dress. It’s black.”

I was afraid to breathe. Afraid he would see the way my legs wobbled slightly. “Yes?” I lifted my chin toward him with defiance.

“Go change.” His voice filled my ear and coasted down my body.

I blinked. Every part of me was charged. Tingling. Coursing with want and need.

I shook my head. “No.” Despite my words, my nipples hardened as if they were calling to him.

He tilted his head to the side. “I’ll wait. Go.”

My chest heaved with faster breaths. “This dress is designer, Luka. I chose it for tonight.” My voice cracked.

“And I told you to choose the red if you wanted me to take it off. I meant every fucking word.”

If I hesitated now I would lose all the nerve I had. I turned and climbed the sprawling staircase to the second floor. The red dress was hanging on the outside of my closet door. I knew I would wear it tonight. However, I let myself believe I was strong enough to deny the Pakhan.

I stepped out of the black silk and studied my reflection in the mirror. My body was waking up again. It had been asleep to pleasure for five years. I reached for the red dress on the hanger and carefully stepped into it, before zipping it to the lowest point on my back.

I almost gasped when I saw myself in the red. There she was. The woman I had been with Luka. I pulled my shoulders back and walked through the bedroom door.

He met my gaze at the top of the stairs. It was a collision of hunger, devotion, and instinct. The moment he saw me standing there in the red dress he knew everything about the night ahead of us.

He extended his hand as I trembled through each carefully placed foothold on the steps. The silk of the dress caught along my thighs. Every sense was heightened. I could smell his cologne from a few steps away. My palm slid against his and the touch sparked and electrified a deep craving still awakening inside me. The need to be touched only the way Luka could touch me. I wanted the friction of his body rubbing against mine. Heating me. Burning me.

“You decided to change?” he teased. He brought my knuckles to his lips, grazing over the top of my fist.

“Yes.” I wanted my voice to be stronger, but he was slowly unraveling all the walls and fortresses I had spent five years constructing. The longing for him had been cruel and ruthless.

“You made the right decision. You’re breathtaking, Amara.”

“You approve?” I whispered, feeling the heat of his gaze rake over my exposed skin. He twirled me slowly in the foyer taking in every dip of fabric, every curve of my body. All I could think about was his promise if I wore the dress.

“Red suits you,” he admired.

I straightened the lapel of his suit jacket and flattened his tie. There were no wrinkles and nothing out of place, but I felt as if it tipped the scales slightly if I could adjust a part of his clothing. To distract myself from how he had laid claim to my body by ordering me into the red dress. I brushed the edges of the jacket covering his broad shoulders.

“Am I presentable?” he taunted. The corners of his gorgeous mouth turned upward in a smirk.

I nodded. “You are quite handsome, Luka.”

He offered his arm. “Are you ready?”

“I am.” My phone was tucked in my small purse. I had silenced it.

He escorted us past Bella, who waited for us to exit while she held the heavy front door open. We stepped outside and I was reminded there was a world outside of the bubble Luka and I created whenever we were near each other.

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