Page 45 of Wicked Vow

His mouth comes down on mine, hard, unrelenting, his hands pulling me flush against his rigid body, every inch of him straining against me as he clutches me in his grasp. I can feel his desperation in the kiss as he urges my mouth open, his tongue sliding over my lower lip, teeth nipping as he groans against my mouth, everything about his touch screaming that he’d thought that he might never hold me again.

“Natalia–” He breathes my name against my mouth. When I arch into him, he deepens the kiss, his tongue plunging into my mouth and tangling with mine as I forget everything except how he makes me feel, how he makes meneed, and I melt into him as if I never had reason to fear him, as if he never hurt me.

I know that it makes no sense. I know that it seems insane. But at that moment, as his arms close around me and his mouth claims mine as his again, I want nothing more than for him to never stop touching me, to never stop making me feel what it is that he makes come alive inside of me.

“How did you know I was here?” I whisper when we finally break apart, the barest space between us, both breathing hard.

“How do you think?” Mikhail asks, the ghost of a smile on his lips, as if it’s a joke that we both share. “I was following you. I’vebeenfollowing you, Natalia. Did you think I could just let you go?”

“Viktor will kill you if he finds you here. He’ll kill you if he finds out you’ve been following me at all.” I back up suddenly, pulling out of his grasp as the reality of it hits me. “Mikhail, you shouldn’t be here–”

“I had to be. I’ve been trying to find a time to talk to you, a way to tell you–” There’s a look of naked desperation, ofpleadingon his face that I’ve never seen before. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable before without it being instantly covered up by anger.

“I hadn’t planned for it to be tonight. But when I saw you come in here with him, I couldn’t stop myself. Natalia,please, I need you to listen to me–”

I stare at him, not entirely sure if I understand what I’m hearing. Mikhail has never begged me for anything. I wasn’t sure if he was a man whocouldbeg–if there was anything in the world that he’d find worth it to beg for instead of taking or murdering it instead.

“I’m listening,” I whisper, hardly able to hear my own voice over the pounding beat of my heart. “Mikhail–Erik is going to get someone, and you–”

“I don’t give a fuck about him.” He moves closer to me again, his hands on my waist as he pulls me in, his gaze fixed on mine. “I made mistakes, Natalia. What I did–I was wrong to do it. I was wrong to blame you, to hurt you, for something I could never have been sure that you were really responsible for. I don’t want to lose you like this–”

“What are you talking about?” I feel like I can’t breathe. “Mikhail–”

“I can change. For you, for our family–Natalia, I can be different. I can find a way to show you–”

“Mikhail–”

“I feel like I’m going insane without you. Not being able to see you, speak to you–”

He breaks off, his jaw tightening as he crushes his mouth to mine again, his hands gripping my waist hard. I can’t entirely make sense of what he’s trying to say, but at that moment, I’m not sure I care. I feelaliveagain at his touch, at the hard press of his body against me, the entire room narrowing down to the two of us.

He backs me toward the stage, and I don’t stop him. I can feel his hands sliding upwards, brushing against the curves of my breasts, his kiss deepening as the backs of my legs hit the stage. I know in a second I’ll beonit, that he’ll be on me,insideof me, and I won’t stop him. I don’t want to stop him.

I want him to do exactly what I know he’s thinking of right now. I want him to pin me down on that stage, to push my dress up and himself inside of me, to feel him filling me again, soothing that ache that only he can.

“Mikhail–” I breathe his name against his mouth, my hands reaching up to clutch at the back of his head, his neck, arching into him. I feel him pressing me backward, my ass on the edge of the stage, his weight pushing me back as he reaches between us, fumbling–

“I need you,” he groans. “It’s been so fucking long, Natalia. I have to be inside of you. I fuckingneed–”’

The door crashes open to my right, but I barely even notice at first. I’m too lost in him, in the heat of his hands and the weight of his body, the desire coursing through me that’s almost too much to bear, almost painful with how much I need him too.

“Get thefuckoff of her! Back thefuckup!”

None of the voices are ones I recognize, but it doesn’t matter. It’s Viktor’s security, and they reach us in a matter of moments, three, four, five men hauling Mikhail backward and away from me, his fly half down as I scramble to rearrange my skirt, my face flushing at the reality of how I’ve–we’ve–been caught.

They don’t even look at me. They’re marching Mikhail towards the door as he struggles, and before I think better of it, I scream out after them.

“Where are you taking him?” I already know the answer, but I want to hear them say it. I have to be sure.

One of the guards looks back at me, his face impassive.

“To Mr. Andreyev, of course.”

Mikhail

I’m very aware, as the guards drag me out, that there’s a chance I’m going to die tonight.

Even so, I can’t say I regret any of it.

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