Page 58 of Savage Truce

The embarrassment drains from her face when she realizes I’m in awe of her, and her voice is sweet and soft as she admits, “I wanted to look as good as I could for our wedding night.”

Unable to filter my words, I growl, “You are so fucking sexy, I’m going to walk around with a hard-on until I get to be inside you.”

My right hand moves on its own up her side, and when I palm her breast, her fullness spilling beyond my grip, I swear I come a little in my pants while letting out a groan.

“Rodian!” Andrei calls from the doorway. “Are you almost done?”

“Yes.” I clear my throat. “Just grabbing the last couple of things.” It takes more willpower than I thought I possessed to let go of her so we can finish packing, but I order, “Don’t take off the lace.”

Anastasia shakes her head lightly as if she’s coming out of a trance, then remembering she has to get dressed, she puts on the sweater.

I grab two of the dresses she’s just finished making and a very warm coat. When I notice she has more lace underwear, I grin like an idiot as I throw a few matching sets into the bag.

Instead of wearing one of her skirts, she pulls a pair of jeans off a shelve and when she shimmies into them, my cock jerks and I let out a self-pitying grumble. “Seeing your sexy ass jiggle is killing me.”

“Pack!” she chastises me while trying to hide a smile.

Loving the tight jeans on her, I grab another one and a warm top before rushing to the bathroom to get our toiletries.

When we’re finally done and join Andrei by the door, he mutters, “You took your sweet fucking time.”

“The risk was worth it,” I say, linking my fingers with Anastasia’s.

As soon as we’re safe, I’m going to feast on every inch of my wife’s body and consummate this marriage.

CHAPTER 18

Anastasia

To say my emotions are giving me whiplash would be the understatement of the century.

They went from overwhelmed during the ceremony, to shocked and scared shitless when the bombs detonated, to horrified because a man I’ve never even heard of suddenly wants me, to turned on like never before as my husband practically drooled from seeing me in the lace underwear.

Needless to say, it’s been one hell of a day.

Sitting beside Rodian in the back of the Rolls-Royce, his arm is slung across my upper body, and he’s gripping the side of my thigh tightly. I’m clinging to his bicep, my cheek pressed to his shoulder.

The tension is thick in the cab, and even though a convoy of guards surrounds us, it feels as if we’re targets sitting out in the open, and it’s only a matter of seconds before everything goes up in flames.

Rodian presses a kiss to my hair, then says, “No matter what happens, just stay at my side.”

I nod, and when I glance up, our faces are less than an inch apart. He closes the small distance and presses his mouth tenderly to mine.

Since the amazing date he took me on, I’ve been wrapped in a bubble of infatuation, falling in love with him all over again. It really started to feel like all the bad was behind me, and I could find happiness again.

And now this. A glaring reminder that I married the pakhan, and the brutal world he commands will always be a dangerous minefield, littered with enemies.

When we enter an airfield, I ask, “Is this where the safe house is?”

Rodian shakes his head, then points at the runway where a private jet is standing. “The safest place for us right now is up in the air. We’re flying to Novosibirsk. That’s where Sokolov lives.”

My eyes go wide as saucers, and I gasp, “Why are we going to him? Shouldn’t we stay away, or flee in the opposite direction?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t run from someone who’s coming after me, Anastasia. He wants a war, so I’m taking it to his turf.”

“But what about the other heads? Will they meet us there?”

“No.” Rodian’s face sets into grim lines. “This is between Sokolov and me. He challenged me for my wife and my seat as pakhan. The old code demands I answer him myself. No other heads. No army between us. I will defend what’s mine, and Sokolov will learn why I’m the pakhan when I kill him with my bare hands.”