And claiming aPakhan’s wife would be a display of power that could earn Valentin—or any man who takes Anika—a command they don’t yet possess.
Moving calmly, I watch my little mouse creeping toward her freedom.
A possessive desire to catch her—to keep her safe—surges through me.
She looks so delicate, so innocent in her efforts to run away, her blue eyes wide as her fingertips brush across the bark of trees as she whispers past them.
She doesn’t understand the ugly world that waits for her beyond the gates.
If she did, she wouldn’t be running.
“Where do you think you’re going,topolina?” I ask as I cut off her path of escape mere yards from the gate.
A gasp rushes past her full lips as Anika freezes.
She whips around to face me, her body tensing as her shoulders climb toward her ears.
Her eyes flick toward the way out—then the gap between me and the wall containing her.
I can see the calculation in her eyes, the way she measures her odds of making a successful break for it.
I read the exact moment she decides it’s worth the risk, and as she breaks into a run, I move to intercept her.
Closing the distance in three long strides, I snake my arm around her waist.
“Let me go!” she screams, squirming against me in her effort to break free once again.
I pull Anika back against my chest, and she whirls, her hands flying toward my face as she lashes out to claw at my eyes.
Grunting, I grab for her wrists as I back her firmly against the wall along the property line. Pinning her there with my hips, I try to get her under control.
“You can’t keep me here!” she cries, her fists pummeling my chest before I can trap her arms between us.
The scent of warm cinnamon and roses fills my nose, and the soft curves of her supple body rub against me, awakening a dark desire to claim her that I’d thought I had in check.
My cock swells in response, stiffening instinctively against her abdomen as her breasts heave into my chest, forming an enticing display of cleavage above the low neckline of her dress.
I want to show Anika the respect she deserves.
To wait until we’re married before I act upon my attraction to her—but she’s making that painfully hard as she thrashes against me, her struggles triggering my animal instinct to bend her to my will.
“Anika, stop,” I command, my arms tightening like a vise to restrict her movements as I press her more firmly against the wall.
To my surprise, she obeys—a reaction that only intensifies my attraction to her as she awakens my inner Dom.
Her breaths come in pants, washing across my chest as she glares up at me with such fire, I’m struck by a sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss her.
I want to feel the searing heat beneath her skin.
And the longer I hold her here, the more electric the air grows between us.
She can feel it too. I see it in the way her eyes dilate. Her tongue dances out to lick her lips, and suddenly, that ferocity inside her shifts into something else entirely.
“Why won’t you let me go?” she breathes, her sky-blue eyes soft and wide with exasperation.
The underlying fear there tears at my heart, even as my body throbs with need from her proximity.
“It’s not safe for you out there,” I repeat, willing her to believe me this time. “You might think asking your husband’s men for protection is the right choice, but that could be just as risky as going out on your own,” I insist. “They’re fighting amongst themselves, Anika, and you’re a sure symbol of a man’s right to power. Those men would tear you apart to lay claim to their formerPakhan’s wife—and the authority that would earn them.”
