Her breath caught. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t want you here because you’re afraid or grateful or trapped,” I continued. “I want you here because I want to see if this could be something real. Our marriage, I mean. I don’t want you to think that you will not be able to escape from here if that is what you wish to do. I married you for protection, Ilana, and I will always protect you. No matter what.”
Her voice was barely audible. “And if it can’t turn into something real? Our marriage.”
“Then we’ll figure it out without hurting each other.”
She stepped closer. “You’re asking for a lot.”
“I know,” I sighed, “but I need to understand if you are somehow tired of our arrangement and want to get out of it? Because if that is the case, I don’t want to be someone who is keeping you unhappy.”
Her hand brushed my wrist. Accidentally. Deliberately.
“Avgust, I don’t hate being here, and I’m not tired of our marriage. In fact, no matter how it might have started out, it is the one thing that has made me happy in this city since the moment I set foot in here. It might have started out terribly, but I could not have asked for something better. You are the highlight of my life, Avgust.”
I swallowed.
“Is that so?”
She looked up at me. “I promise.”
I pulled her closer, and her fingers curled into my shirt. I didn’t pull away, letting her body melt in my embrace as we held onto each other. When our mouths met, it was slow. Careful. Questioning. And when she leaned into me, really leaned,something inside my chest gave way. I wanted to hold her close and never ever let her go. When it came to Ilana, my emotions were all-consuming.
“Avgust,” she whispered my name like a prayer, and I pulled her on top of me, her thighs straddling my waist.
I took her face in my hands and kissed her hungrily, knowing she was completely mine to consume, and I wasn’t going to let her go. Now or ever.
Chapter 19 - Ilana
His hands were everywhere. I remember the way his breath stuttered against my skin, like even he hadn’t expected this. He continued kissing me with wild abandon as if nothing in the world mattered except for his hands on my skin, and that was all I needed.
Avgust.
“I wish I could tell you how much I need you,” I whispered against his mouth, and he stopped moving, suddenly looking into my green eyes.
“Tell me.”
“What?” I was stunned for a few seconds.
“Tell me how much you need me.”
“Avgust Chernykh, I have never known what needing a man meant before I met you. When I am in the house, knowing you are not in here with me, my chest aches with the need to touch you and hold you and be in your presence. Since the day you started sleeping beside me, I have started sleeping better. When you trail kisses on my neck, I come alive. When you talk to me, I feel like myself again. When you touch me, I feel like life is worth living.”
“Is that so?”
“I promise.”
My words ignited something primal inside Avgust because he held me in the grasp of his arms and turned around to push me onto the bed. Coming on top of me, he continued to kiss me until he had taken off my dress, leaving me in nothing but my panties. I took off his suit blazer and unbuttoned his shirt with hungry fingers. My eyes craved to see him.
They always did. He was so beautiful.
“Take it off,” I said once all buttons were open, and he immediately complied. In one swift motion, he took off my panties, followed quickly by his pants and underwear, until both of us were fully naked, skin against skin. He was glorious, and everything about him made me feel the same way.
He covered me entirely with his length, careful not to crush me with his weight on top of me. I held his face so he could kiss me again, but instead, he began trailing kisses down my neck, all over my chest, and finally took my nipples in his mouth. They were already swollen and waiting for him. His fingers trailed downwards until he found my slick opening, and without wasting another second, he thrust himself inside me in one go.
Our bodies immediately connected, and Avgust rubbed my clitoris with his thumb while I neared my climax.
“Avgust, I will come if you… keep doing that.”
