Page 51 of Conquer
I match his silence with my own nonverbal answer. Arching toward him, I let our lips meet. He stiffens in response, his lips parting. The second they do, I loop my hand around his neck, extending the kiss as much as I dare. When he finally pulls back, I’m panting, both thrilled and wary.
“I heard everything,” I confess, my stomach heavy as those dark revelations loom overhead.
He sighs, averting his gaze from me. “And?”
“I want you to explain it to me,” I say, surprised by how calm I sound, all things considered.
That muscle in his jaw twitches as he sets me down onto the edge of the bed. Then he starts to pace, his hands sinking into his hair. “Explain. The supposed mother of my child trades in women the same waywewere traded. She wanted to sell her own daughter. And I didn’t know a damn thing until someone literally dropped the news of her existence into my lap. At every turn, I seem to keep failing her—”
“You haven’t,” I insist, my voice breaking. He’s distant again, glowering into his past, swaying with the weight of it all. “You’re angry,” I add, stating the obvious. In some ways, it helps to say as much out loud. To acknowledge his obvious disgust at these dark, twisted things. Even though, from his scattered conversations with Milton, I sense that he’s more familiar with these horrific aspects of the world than I can even imagine.
Irina all but taunted as much.
“You should follow-up on the information Milton offered you,” I say softly, skirting the larger question of his real identity. For now. “For your sake.”
Because he needs this, I realize. Answers—even if they’re offered on a fragile bit of thread. If anything, he needs them for Magda. Her peace of mind. Her sanity.
But as stubborn as he is, I don’t think he can admit it out loud just yet. So he sinks onto the bed, reaching for me. Again, our lips collide, his tongue stealing deep. I grasp at him, surrendering myself to every searching kiss. Every groan he utters into my open mouth. Soon enough, we wind up tangled together, though he makes sure that I’m on top of him, lying on my stomach so as to not risk my stitches.
Groaning, he nuzzles the nape of my neck, smoothing his hands down my hips. “I will think about your suggestion,” he finally says. “It would require traveling upstate. Arrangements would have to be made, appointments organized.” He frowns at the prospect, and I can’t tell what he’s decided upon when he sighs in defeat. “Give me a few days to decide.”
“Okay.” I seal the promise with a kiss and rest my face against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I’m sorry for spying. But,” I add in my own defense, “I was just being a good fake wife, after all.”
“Don’t be,” he says, deceptively soft. “Because when you heal, I fully intend to punish you.”
I flinch, utterly thrilled by the threat. “Then add another crime to the tally, good Sir, because…” I suck in a breath and sneak a peek at his face. He looks so beautiful, so calm. I savor the expression selfishly before I confess, “I spoke to Maxim.”
He hisses out a breath, his nostrils flaring. Anger, yes—but nowhere near the extent I might have expected.
“Did he scare her purposefully?” he asks in a tone so murderous my toes curl.
“No,” I say quickly. “He didn’t. But… I think I know why she might have reacted to seeing him the way she did.”
The same way she’s reacted to him since their very first—albeit traumatic for Magda—meeting.
“Because of Irina?” Vadim questions coldly, his eyes fixated on something in the distance. Years away, I suspect, far in the past. “I’m sure she kept goons around who frightened her. She kept begging me not to let her be taken from me—” He breaks off, scowling, and I almost regret breaching the topic at all.
“But you won’t,” I say confidently. “You won’t let anyone frighten her ever again.”
“You’re right,” he agrees, pressing his lips against my forehead. “Because I aim to cut off the source of her fears. Right at the fucking head.”
I cringe at the ferocity in his voice—not that I can blame him for the violent imagery.
Such a fate would be a fitting end for Irina’s figurative role as Magda’s mad queen.
