Page 95 of Bratva's Vow
“My sweet boy,” I murmured again, voice thick.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MAXIM
Ikissed the hollow beneath Wren’s ear, soft and slow, letting the reverence I felt bleed into every brush of my lips. Carefully, I undid the knots binding his wrists. The silk was damp with sweat, his skin red where he’d pulled against it, desperate for more, even while his body was being used. I untied each length with the tenderness of a man undoing something sacred.
When his arms were free, I slid my hands beneath him and pulled him gently against my chest.
He came willingly. Instinctively. Like his place had always been there.
We kissed again, this time without hunger. Long. Warm. Unhurried. His lips were soft, pliant under mine, tasting of surrender and salt and everything I’d thought I might lose.
I pulled away, but Wren clung to me, fingers tightening around my wrist. “Where are you going?” he asked, breath brushing my mouth.
I looked down at the cage still locked around his cock. “To take this off you.”
His cheeks flushed. “Can it stay… for a little while longer?” His voice was soft. Shy. But resolute.
I stared at him, stunned. “You… want it to stay?”
He nodded, looking up at me through those dark lashes. “Just for a while. I like how it feels. How it reminds me I’m yours, and I’m not allowed to come until you say so.”
The shock in me melted into something possessive all over again. I slammed my mouth to his and kissed him deeper this time, my hands framing his face like it was the most precious thing I’d ever held.
“What do you want, Wren?” I asked, my voice hushed and hoarse and absolutely serious. “Anything—I’ll give it. Houses. Planes. Every cent I’ve ever bled for. It all belongs to you if it means you don’t ever walk out that door again. Just keep giving yourself to me like this. Keep being mine, and I swear you can have anything you want.”
My words were overwhelming. I knew they were. Still, I meant every one of them. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t roll his eyes or tease or deflect.
He simply took my hand and laced our fingers together, anchoring us. “Have you been wearing it all this time?”
I swallowed hard, throat thick. My gaze dropped to the medical bracelet on my wrist, the one he never got to give me properly because I’d been so mad about Bradley. I’d practically accused him of cheating on me that day. Fuck. It was a miracle he’d forgiven me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Haven’t taken it off. I’m sorry I ruined my birthday for you.”
He brushed his thumb over the etched metal like it meant something sacred. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re wearing it. And to answer your question, I don’t need any of those expensivethings. I just need you to promise that you’ll never lie to me again.”
That stopped me. Not because I hadn’t expected it. But because I felt the full weight of what he was asking.
I looked down at our hands, at the way his fingers curled around mine, and then into his eyes.
“I can’t promise I’ll tell you everything,” I said, voice low. Honest. “There are things about the Bratva I don’t want you to ever know. Things that would… change you. Spoil you. I can’t risk that. I love you too much to ever change you.”
“Then…”
“But Icanpromise this.” I leaned in, pressing our foreheads together. “I will love you.” Kissed his nose. “I will take care of you.” Kissed his cheek. “I’ll protect you until my dying breath.” Kissed his other cheek. “And I will never look at another man again, Wren. Not when I have you.”
He smiled. Soft. Lopsided. That same smile that had undone me the very first time I saw it.
He lifted his pinky.
“Pinky promise?”
I let out a soft laugh—barely a breath—but it broke something in my chest.
I wrapped my pinky around his.
We lay in silence for a while, tangled in each other, sweat drying on our skin, the room warm and safe in the dim lighting. The steady thud of Wren’s heartbeat pulsed against my chest, and his soft breath ghosted over my collarbone. He curled against me like he belonged there. Like he was finally done running.
