Page 38 of The Pakhan’s Accidental Bride

My phone buzzes on the coffee table. I glance at the screen and see Jess's name lighting up.

"Come out with us tonight!" she says the moment I answer. "Sarah and I are hitting that new club downtown. You need to get out and have some fun."

"I really don't think…"

"Kiera, you've been holed up all week. Come on, it'll be good for you."

I sink deeper into my couch, already feeling the exhaustion in my bones. This week has been brutal. Work has been nonstop chaos with the new spring line launch, my brothers won't stop calling to check on me, and my brain won't shut up about a certain Russian Mafia boss who's decided I'm going to be his wife.

"I appreciate it, but I'm staying in tonight," I tell her. "I just want a long, hot bubble bath and my bed."

Jess sighs dramatically. "Fine, but you're coming out next weekend. No excuses."

"We'll see."

After we hang up, I head to the bathroom and start running the water, adding a generous amount of lavender bubble bath. The steam rises, fogging up the mirror, and I strip out of my work clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. My muscles already feel looser just thinking about sinking into that hot water.

I step into the tub carefully, hissing slightly at the heat before lowering myself down. The bubbles rise around me, and I lean back, closing my eyes. Perfect. This is exactly what I needed.

Except my mind won't cooperate.

Instead of relaxing, my thoughts drift immediately to Emil and the delicious way he took control of my body that night, wringing orgasm after orgasm from me. The memory sends heat pooling low in my belly that has nothing to do with the bath water.

I remember the way he looked at me when he stripped off my clothes, his dark eyes hungry and intense. The way his mouth felt on my breasts, sucking and biting until I was squirming beneath him. The thick length of him pushing inside me, stretching me, filling me so completely I couldn't think straight.

My hand drifts down my stomach, sliding beneath the bubbles. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be thinking about him like this. But my fingers find the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs anyway, and I gasp softly at the contact.

I remember his cock driving into me, hard and relentless. The way his muscles flexed under my hands, all that controlled power focused entirely on making me come apart. The filthy things he whispered in my ear, his accent thicker with arousal.

My fingers move in slow circles as I replay every moment. The way he gripped my hips hard enough to bruise. The angle that made me see stars. The feeling of him pulsing inside me when he finally let himself go.

My breathing quickens, and my other hand comes up to squeeze my breast the way he did. I'm so close, tension coiling tighter and tighter…

My phone rings, the shrill sound cutting through the steamy air like a knife.

I jerk upright, water sloshing over the side of the tub. My heart pounds as I try to catch my breath, arousal and irritation warring inside me. The phone keeps ringing. I grab a towel and carefully dry my hands before reaching for it on the bathroom counter, just barely within reach of the tub.

The number on the screen makes my blood run cold.

Arnie.

I consider not answering, but that never stops him. He'll just keep calling. I swipe to accept the call and bring the phone to my ear.

"What do you want, Arnie?"

"Kiera." His voice is too smooth, too concerned. The fake caring that used to fool me before I learned what he was really like. "I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine. Don't call me again."

"Baby, come on. I miss you. I miss us." There's an edge creeping into his tone now, the anger he can never quite hide. "Let me come over. We can talk about this like adults."

"No." I keep my voice firm even though my hand is shaking. "The answer is no, Arnie. We're done. We've been done for months."

"You don't mean that. You're just confused because of that Russian bastard. Once he's out of the picture⁠—"

"There is no picture!" I snap. "And even if there was, it's none of your business. I have a restraining order against you. If you show up anywhere near me, I'm calling the cops. Do you understand?"

"Kiera, you're being unreasonable⁠—"