Page 108 of Born in Depravity

“I promised to take you outside. Can’t do that with you naked, princess. I would gouge the eyeballs of any men who looked at you. And as much as I like you in Damien’s clothes, I think you will look really pretty in this dress.”

The word “pretty” coming out of his mouth sounded strange. Though I wasn’t too focused on that, and more on what he had gotten me.

A sundress.

A beautiful, soft, and—from the feel of it—expensive sundress. It would probably fall past my knees, and though the top part was a bit revealing, with a V neckline and two thick straps about the size of my two fingers, it wasn’t tacky or cheap.

The dress had a red and pink floral print on top of white fabric, and it was probably one of the nicest dresses I’d ever owned, and that was counting all the expensive outfits Father had his shopper get me. I loved it at first sight.

In my excitement, I almost missed another package at the bottom.

I blushed about ten shades of red when I realized it was underwear. Lots of it, judging by the plastic bag it came in.

I took one item out, surprised it wasn’t a thong or lacy or even revealing.

It actually looked comfortable.

My wide eyes moved up to meet his eyes.

He cupped his hand at the back of his neck. He looked almost sheepish.

“You’ll probably be more comfortable in those than you would in anything I wanted to pick.” His smile turned arrogant, bringing him back to the man I was familiar with. “Actually, what I wanted was no panties. But we can play with that idea later, yeah?”

My mouth gaped. If he thought, given the choice between underwear and no underwear, I would ever pick the no-underwear option—

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

I climbed off the bed, but before I could get to the bathroom to change, Nikolay snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me up against his hard body.

I looked at him questioningly.

“Don’t I get something for the effort I put into your gifts?”

My brows furrowed.

He tapped my lips.

My eyes widened in understanding.

He wanted a kiss.

How … innocent.

Shyly, I rose on my tiptoes. His green eyes were focused intently on me, and I planted a small kiss on his cheek.

He seemed surprised by the contact, and I took advantage of it and moved away from him, walking to the bathroom and closing the door behind me.

I leaned against it, letting out a small sigh. And when I turned to the mirror, I caught sight of something that surprised me deeply.

I was …

Smiling.

* * *

When I came backout of the bathroom, Nikolay was leaning against the wall by the door, his phone in hand.

He looked up and paused.

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