Page 44 of Kidnapped Bride

"Oh I loved to read books back then," I told him, though the habit died hard. I still loved reading, just not quite as much.

"What kind of books?"

"Whatever she had on the shelves. I was reading Dostoevsky by fourteen, which was way too young, but I wanted to read what the adults were reading. I thought it made me sophisticated." I rolled my eyes at my younger self. "Mostly, it just gave me nightmares and made me afraid of basements."

"Dostoevsky at fourteen?" He looked at me with admiration. "That explains a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him as I smiled.

"It means you're not afraid of things that are dark or complicated. Most people go out of their way to avoid that. You went looking for it with a flashlight." If I wasn't mistaken, Nikolai was impressed, and perhaps turned on, by that. His eyes darkened as he relaxed forward, resting an elbow on the table.

His compliment unnerved me, so I deflected, changing the subject. "Can I ask you something?" I said.

"Go ahead."

"The age thing. Did it ever bother you?"

He tilted his head like the question caught him off guard. "No…" Then his eyes narrowed in concern. "Should it?"

"I mean," I said, tracing the rim of my wineglass, "you're twenty years older than me, Niko. When you were my age, I was learning how to walk. That's a pretty significant gap." I felt nervous asking this because this was about as honest as either of us had been with each other to my knowledge. I felt like I was finally seeing the real Nikolai Dragonov, without his muscle or firepower, and without his anger or intimidation tactics.

"It's a number, Kira. I've never made decisions based on numbers unless they had dollar signs by them.." He turned his glass slowly. "What matters to me is whether someone makes me think, or whether I find myself looking forward to hearing from them. You've done both." He held my gaze and my face went warm.

He had this way of saying things that shocked me, and I could never get my defenses up fast enough to know how to respond. "When we were texting," I said carefully, "the things you said about wanting someone who actually saw you, who didn't just want what you could provide. Was that real?"

"Every word." He seemed to get a bit antsy, rearranging the silverware on his plate, then he stood and held out his hand. "Come to my study," he said. "I've got a bottle I've been saving and I don't want to drink it by myself."

I looked at his extended hand for a second and knew how foolish I'd be to let my heart fall for this man, but I let the wine andchemistry speak for me. "Okay," I mumbled, sliding my hand into his.

Nikolai led me down the hall to his study where he shut the door behind us. He paced across the room to the sideboard and uncorked a fresh bottle of wine. By the time I joined him, he'd poured two glasses, lifting one to hand to me.

"A Bourdeaux?" I sniffed it and swirled it in the cup. It was an expensive label too. He really had saved this for something special, so why waste it on me?

"Nineteen forty-five…" he said, sipping slowly. He moaned, and it made my skin prick with goosebumps. It was the same sound he made when he came. When his eyes opened and I was staring at him with hooded eyes, he asked, "Are you cold?"

Realizing my mistake, I set the glass down and tucked my arms against my chest, hoping he didn't see my hands shaking. "Uh, no… just…"

I itched to touch him. My body was on fire, loosened by wine and good conversation and remembering how incredible Niko had been to me. And he must've seen it in my expression because he set his wineglass down too, then whispered, "Dance with me?"

I slid my hand into his as he pulled out his phone, turning on a soft song to sway to. Then his arms were around my waist, pinning me to his body, and I lost myself. I looked up at him, dropping my gaze to his lips, which were too tempting to avoid, and Nikolai bent to kiss me.

"Can you fuck me?" I asked him, realizing how slurred my words were.

"I think you're drunk," he growled, kissing me harder.

"So? You fucked me the first night when I was drunk…" I bit his lower lip, sucking it into my mouth. "And besides, if you're making me be your wife, I think you have to perform your duties as a husband." I grabbed his dick outside his pants and he growled again, hips jerking against my touch.

"Careful," he cautioned, but I had no desire to be slow or careful right now.

"Or what?" I asked him when he gave me a second to breathe.

"Or you're gonna regret telling me I'm your husband."

My fingers worked at his tie, loosening the knot until the silk slid free, but his hand caught mine, offering a teasing expression. It made me shudder as I read his thoughts and just knew what he was thinking.

"You are a sadist, you know that?" I grinned so he'd know I was playing.

Nikolai’s eyes darkened as he gripped my wrist, the silk tie still dangling from my fingers. "You keep talking like that, sweetheart,” he murmured, “and I’m going to take my time reminding you exactly what it feels like to be owned." He leaned in, lips grazing my ear. “Starting with getting you out of these clothes.”