Page 62 of Savage Bratva King

I feel him inside me, his body jerking with his own orgasm, and I never want to let him go.

We collapse into a sweaty heap on the bed, and he pulls me to him, his arms wrapped around me almost tenderly. He smooths my hair away from my face and smothers me with kisses.

“You’re so beautiful, Gianna. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise, do you hear me?”

Tears prickle my eyes, and I try to blink them away.

“Hey, what are these for?” he murmurs, catching them with his fingertip.

“I don’t know.” The lie is spontaneous.

Of course, I know. It sounded so final,don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise, do you hear me? A reminder that this thing between us has an end date. That one day soon, I’ll go back to my family and be expected to return to a way of life that no longer exists now that Leonid Ivanov is a part of it.

I’m not the same person I was when I arrived. Whether it was intentional or not, I will never be the same person again, but I don’t know what the new me is supposed to do now. Perhaps Leonid did intend to corrupt me, but there isn’t a chance in hell that he considered his actions might have such a devastating effect on me.

“No one ever told me that I’m beautiful before.”

His eyes darken momentarily. Then, he grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger and kisses my lips. “They must be blind. But perhaps I should be grateful to them.”

“Why?”

“Because this beauty is all mine.” He kisses me harder, his lips crushing mine, his tongue forcing my mouth open. “You’re all mine, printzessa, and I guard what’s mine with my life.”

“But—”

“No buts.” His face is so close to mine I can see the brown and gold flecks in his amber eyes. “Do you trust me?”

Do I? I know what Tamara said, but his actions say something entirely different. He took my virginity already, he didn’t have to come back for more, and although he knows that Tamara and I lied about my botched escape attempt, there have been no repercussions. For me at least.

And when he says that he will protect me with his life, I believe him.

“Yes.”

He pulls away just enough for me to see his smile. “Good. Because I promise that I will always look after you, Gianna. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

More tears spill over my bottom lashes. “You shouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep.”

“I don’t.”

He settles my head on his shoulder, pulls the comforter over our naked bodies, and closes his eyes. He falls asleep almost instantly.

I watch him sleeping. Supporting my upper body on one elbow, I study his face, the lines fanning out from the corners of his eyes, the dark stubble on his jaw, the narrow scar that slices his left eyebrow in two, the tattoos covering his torso, neck and arms. Even in slumber, he is like a coiled spring waiting to be released, and I wonder if he ever truly relaxes.

I eventually fall asleep in his arms to the tune of his steady heartbeat.

* * *

He is gone when I wake up. I sit up and stretch, the comforter sliding off my naked body revealing swollen nipples and faint marks across my pale flesh from the stubble on his chin. I trace the marks with my fingertip down to my sex and the raised marks on my inner thighs.

This beauty is all mine.

Maybe it shouldn’t make me smile, it’s possessive after all, but it does. It fills me with a sense of contentment that I don’t think I’ve ever felt before. Is this how Mel felt when she met Xander? Mel changed too when they first met; it was as if a light had been ignited inside her, and she glowed whenever Xander’s name was mentioned.

I wish I could talk to Mel. I know now that I’m not ready to leave Leonid, but I just want one conversation with my sister so that she can tell me she felt the same way about Xander. So that I can start to figure out what this is.

I shower and towel-dry my hair. When I hear voices outside the room, I barely have time to pull on the clothes that have been left in the closet for me before the door opens and Leonid appears with a wide grin on his face.

“You didn’t lock the door.” I didn’t even think of checking when I woke up, but from the voices I heard outside, it’s obvious that Leonid didn’t leave me unguarded.

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