Page 9 of Captured Solace

“We’re going to be married tomorrow. I’d like my wife to sleep in my bed,” he said, his tone firm.

I stared ahead, watching the security guard at the corner of the yard pace back and forth. It occurred to me that if I wanted to leave the grounds and attempt to make friends with the only neighbor in miles, I was going to have to ask Viktor’s permission. Unless, of course, I could negotiate with him. I spun around, fixing my gaze on my husband.

“I’ll make you a deal.”

He cocked his head. “Alright. What is it?”

“I’ll sleep in your bed if you let me visit Magnolia Lightfoot,” I said. “I want to make a pie or something and meet her. Brenda says she’s the only neighbor around here.”

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He flicked the lighter again and finally lit his cigarette, stepping away to keep the smoke from me. I sat on the edge of my chair, arms wrapped around my knees, and waited.

“Why do you want to visit Magnolia?” he asked.

“You’ll be gone most of the time, right?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

“I’m going to go crazy out here if you are gone all the time. So unless you want me to buy a bunch of pets, you should let me be friends with the neighbors.”

“You can have a pet,” he said. “I don’t mind.”

“I like the small dogs,” I said, even though I didn’t. “The loud, annoying kind. Ones that bite.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’re not getting an obnoxious rat-dog. You may visit Magnolia as long as you sleep in my bed. Our bed.”

A rush of triumph rose in my chest and I couldn’t conceal my grin. Yes, it might not have been the perfect victory, but I hadn’t just caved to him. I stood, gathering my blanket around my waist and picking up my wine glass. The world swayed slightly—I’d definitely had a little more to drink than I’d thought.

“Well, goodnight then,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster.

I thought I heard his soft laughter as I swept into the house. In the bedroom, I dug through the suitcase for pajamas or a slip, but there was nothing to wear to bed. Opening the closet, my eyes fell on his stack of t-shirts. It felt a little bit too intimate to wear his clothes, but I definitely wasn’t going to sleep naked with him.

As I stood there, a little flutter turned in my stomach. Warmth blossomed between my thighs and I found myself reaching for the t-shirt. It was soft against my fingers and when I slipped it over my head, it smelled clean with a hint of something I couldn’t name. Something that went right to my brain like a drug.

I padded barefoot to the window seat and looked down at the back porch. Viktor was still there, a lean figure against the darkening sky. The cigarette glowed in his fingers as he lifted it to his mouth. I wanted to hate him like I had yesterday, but I was beginning to realize my initial impression of him might not have been correct.

At first he’d seemed cruel and frightening, but now…now he was a mystery.

I didn’t wait for him to come up to bed because I didn’t want to be awake when he slid in beside me. That would have been far too intimate. Instead, I curled beneath the covers and watched the moon rise over the marsh through the window until I fell asleep.

Chapter Two

Viktor

I finished my cigarette and went up to the bedroom to find Sienna already fast asleep. Her head was thrown back and the shape of her small breasts rose and fell beneath her t-shirt. My t-shirt, I realized. Warmth blossomed in my chest and I stood there like an idiot, staring down at her in my clothes. So this was a taste of what it felt like to have a wife, to have a woman who was wholly mine waiting for me at night.

As I stripped down to my boxers, I attempted to sort through the feelings warring in my chest. From the moment Lucien had proposed this marriage and showed me the pictures of her, I’d felt a strange attraction towards this unknown girl. There was something in her dark eyes, a fighting spirit, that drew me in. And, although I hated to admit it, gave me a new weakness.

As I lay beside her, our bodies a foot apart, I convinced myself it was nothing more than raw attraction. But even that didn’t make sense. She wasn’t the type I went for, I’d normally stuck to curvy blondes. She was petite, a little over five feet, with a lean frame and small breasts. But somehow I found my eyes lingering on her body whenever she was around.

There was something wild about her that teased at me, drawing me in. Perhaps it was somewhere in the darting stare of her dark eyes and the quick movements of her body. She reminded me of the birds that made their nests in the trellis outside—bright and wary. I had a feeling she was more at home in the marshlands than in that fancy dress she’d worn when I met her at Lucien’s house.

I flipped on my side and fell asleep watching her breathe.

Morning came faster than I wanted and suddenly I was blinking in the sunlight streaming through the window. The bed beside me was empty and Sienna stood by the window, still wearing only my shirt. Her slender legs caught my attention and I dragged my eyes up them to where her thighs disappeared beneath the hem. Fuck, she was so unexpectedly lovely.

My cock twitched and I sat up quickly to hide the growing erection in my boxers and bunched the covers in my lap. She’d barely agreed to share my bed, I didn’t need to scare her off our first morning together.

She hadn’t heard me sit up so I sat in silence and watched her peer out the window. After a moment, she climbed onto the window seat and began struggling with the lever, trying to open the lower pane. It burst open and a rush of cool air flooded the room. She stepped back, wrapping her arms around her body, and took a deep breath. I saw the shiver of excitement go through her and I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.

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