Page 106 of Bratva's Vow
“But why?” I whispered. “You’re you. And I’m—I’m nobody. I’m not powerful. I’m not rich. I’m average in looks. I’m just… me.”
“First of all, you’re not average. You’re so fucking gorgeous, and your body’s perfection. I can’t keep my hands off you.” He touched my cheek, his thumb brushing under my eye. “But also because you see me, even when you’re afraid of me. You hold me without needing anything in return. You never wanted the empire, the money, the power. You justwanted me. And when everything else falls away… you’re the only thing that makes me feel like I’m still human. And if I get a little possessive?—”
“A little?”
“All right, then, a lot possessive and overprotective, it’s because I can’t afford to lose you. Everything else I can, but not you.”
I didn’t have words, so I touched his cheek, pulled him forward, and kissed him.
My Pakhan’s love was scary. Like jumping off a cliff. The leap might be terrifying, but the view? Breathtakingly beautiful. I knew that because I’d already jumped. And it was absolutely stunning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
WREN
Iwas running late.
Which, in my defense, was onlypartlymy fault. Maxim had worn me out the night before. That no sex after dinner because I was sore? I was wrong. It might have been slow, careful, and one hell of an orgasm, but my body clearly decided it deserved at least two alarms and one very stern voice mail before even considering vertical.
Now I was brushing my teeth with one hand, trying to tug on my jeans with the other, and shouting at my phone on speaker from across the room.
My life was good. Considering.
“I’m up!” I yelled so Maxim could hear me through the phone, nearly choking on toothpaste. “I’ve been up for a while.”
“You didn’t get up when I told you to, did you?” Maxim’s voice came through, smooth and amused. Too amused for someone who’d sent me into oblivion by eating my ass before leaving for work.
Hewas the reason for my tardiness. He knew what I was like after sex.
“I did.” I spat into the sink and wiped my mouth on a towel.
A pause. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“Only a little bit.”
I rushed into the bedroom and grabbed the designer shirt off the back of the chair. Because Maxim had insisted on taking me shopping yesterday to buy me a new wardrobe for college.
“Kroshka,” he drawled in that thick Russian accent of his. My heart skipped a beat like it did sometimes when I thought about my situation. I was dating a Russian mobster who spoiled me rotten.
How was this my life?
“I’m getting dressed.” I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on my socks. “It’s not like I’m still in bed.”
“I should’ve dragged you out myself this morning before I left.”
“You wish. You’re the reason I went back to sleep after all that tongue.” I groaned. “Maxim, you’re making me addicted to sex.”
“Addicted to only me, I hope. Don’t make me put a butt plug and cock cage on you before you leave the house.”
“Yes, to only you. You don’t have to do anything drastic.” I chuckled and reached for the navy jacket hanging from the back of the chair. “What’re you up to? Besides monitoring me.”
“Waiting for you to tell me your schedule for today. What classes do you have?”
“You already know.” I shrugged into the jacket, checking myself in the mirror. I looked… expensively casual. Like one of those rich assholes I usually avoided in high school. I didn’tnotlike it.
Every piece of clothing on me had a label, from the crisp white sneakers to the watch on my wrist.
I looked hot. And wealthy.
