Page 103 of Tarnished Queen

“Sending you away is never what I wanted, Belle. Never. But it might be what is best.”

I wanted Nikolai to agree with my plan, but now that he is, I want him to argue. I want him to fight for me to stay. Because we just found each other again. We can’t be separated already.

Whatever is left of my makeup is streaming down my cheeks. I don’t even bother dabbing at the tears. “You could come with us. It isn’t safe for you here, either. Your men could handle the fight while you call the shots from offsite. It could work.”

Nikolai doesn’t answer, but his hold on my arms tightens. We both know it’s an impossible ask. He pulls me against his broad chest and pats my back while I sob.

“I want you to come with me,” I cry. “I don’t want to be away from you.”

“I know. But I can’t leave. The Bratva is fractured enough as it is. If I leave, it will fall apart. We have to present a united front right now. I need to regain their trust.”

I know he’s right, but that doesn’t make the truth any easier to swallow. “You’ll bring us back the moment she’s dead?”

“You’ll be the first call I make once her pulse stops.” He kisses my forehead and draws back. “It could be nice bonding time.”

“Elise and I are pretty bonded.”

“Not for her and you,” he says. “For the two of you… and Howard.”

I do a double-take. “You want to send Howard with us?”

“It would be easier to stay anonymous if everything is done under his name. The plane tickets, the bills, all of that. But I also like the idea of there being someone else there with the two of you.”

“A man, you mean?” I ask, ready to hit him with a feminist rant about how I’ve taken care of myself my entire life without a man’s help.

“No. Just someone who wants to take care of you both almost as badly as I do,” he says softly.

And just like that, the tenuous hold I have on my self-control snaps.

My makeup is smudged and blotchy and my face is damp with tears, but I loop my arms around Nikolai’s neck and kiss him.

He responds immediately, dragging me against his body with a groan. Already, I can feel how ready he is. His erection is obvious even through the layers of my dress. But he still stops.

“We don’t have to do this, Belle. Not tonight.” His forehead is pressed to mine, his eyes closed. I can tell he’s speaking from an extraordinarily deep reserve of restraint that I don’t possess. “It’s been a crazy day. We can just go to sleep.”

I reach up and gently begin unbuttoning his shirt. “Yeah, we could. But Xena would love that, don’t you think?”

Nikolai freezes at the mention of her name.

“She’d love knowing that she got in our heads and ruined our night. Plus,” I say, swallowing down a fresh wave of tears, “we don’t have as much time as I thought we would. Turns out, we need to fit a lot of sex in before I have to leave for… I don’t know how long.”

“Not long, if I have anything to say about it.”

“You have something to say about everything.”

He nods. “Exactly. You’ll be back in no time.”

“Okay, well, until then…” I stretch onto my toes, my lips against his ear, “I’d like you to make me scream so loud Xena can hear. Until everyone in this city knows I’m your wife.”

“Ask and you shall receive,kiska,” Nikolai growls. Then he takes two fistfuls of my dress and tears it apart. The buttons along the back of my dress pop like firecrackers and skitter across the floor.

“That was so hot, I don’t even care that my dress is ruined.” I push the lace material off and stand in front of him completely naked.

He sucks in a sharp breath. “And you are… you are so fucking beautiful,moya zhena. My wife. My brave, perfect wife.”

Before I can say anything, Nikolai’s mouth is moving over mine. We kiss until my lips feel swollen and I’m not sure how to exist without this. Until I can’t remember what it means to live without his breath on my skin and his hands in my hair.

And then he slides his knee between my legs, and I’m awakened to an entirely new level of feeling.

---