Page 34 of Bratva Wolf

SCARLET

The light streams through the penthouse, lighting up the darkened bedroom, with Thane gently snoring next to me. My mother’s quilt lies over the chair in the corner of the room. I’ve slowly moved into his place. My heart thumps in my ears. It’s Christmas morning, and my heart is bursting with happiness. Last night, Thane took me to a Christmas Eve fundraiser. I dressed up like Cinderella going to the royal ball. The hotel banquet room was full of important people with more money than I could ever imagine. Thane spent five thousand dollars in raffle tickets because I liked the painting being raffled. Looking back, I didn’t really have any place to put it, but Thane assured me he’d hang it in his living room if it would make me happy. I chuckle. We actually lost the raffle, but Thane bought it from theguy for twenty thousand dollars as a pre-Christmas gift to make me happy. I glance at Thane. The blanket fell off his torso, and his tats captivate my attention. It must have hurt like a bitch to get those. I move the bedding and drop my feet off the bed.

“No.” Thane’s long arm wraps around me. “Come back to bed.”

I shimmy away. “I have to pee.” I grin like a loon. “And it’s Christmas morning. Get up. I’ll make breakfast.”

“Go pee, come back, and I’ll take you to breakfast after I fuck that pussy.”

I cock my head as I jut out my hip with my hand on it. “No one’s open, silly. It’s Christmas.”

He raises his head. “They’ll open for me.”

Yeah. They would. I didn’t realize along with his intimidating personality, he’s rich. I walk toward the bathroom, humming “Jingle Bells.”

“Hello?” Thane answers from the bedroom.

Who’s calling at eight in the morning on Christmas? I finish up in the bathroom and stroll to the kitchen to make my man a feast. It’s the least I can do considering how much pleasure he gave us the night before. My body shudders remembering his touch.

Thane steps into the kitchen bare-assed, naked, with a hard-on that could hoist a flag. “Jeez, baby. I’m surprised he’s got the energy to stand up like that.”

He presses his big dick against my naked stomach and pulls me into his body. “I was serious about coming back to bed.”

I look up. It’s a stretch for me because he’s so damn tall. Keeping my hands away from his glorious erection, my hands reach up to his pecs. “I’m happy to go back to bed after I feed you, and you open your presents.”

His eyes twinkle. “You got me a present.”

I nod. “I did. I made you one, too.” God, please be happy withmy surprise.

He wraps both arms around me and kisses the top of my head. “I love you, Red.”

My heart explodes in my chest as the rushing sound of surprise engulfs my brain. “What?”

He slips his finger under my chin and raises it. “I love you. I should have told you before now.” Joy radiates off the tatted man. “You don’t have to say anyth…”

I blurt before he can finish. “I love you, too. I have for a while. I just didn’t want to push you away.”

His arms lift me, pulling me up and cradling me in his arms as he walks us back down the hall. My head turns toward the kitchen. “Breakfast?”

“It can wait. We can’t.”

THANE

Red snuggles into the dark blue, fluffy comforter on our bed. My penthouse has become ours. I made her quit at the club because I didn’t want other men seeing her naked, but if I’m honest, I just wanted her to be mine all the time. She’s going to be pissed when she finds out I paid her tuition for the rest of the year and bought her a new car to replace that piece of shit she drove. I pause. Her hair cascades across the stark white pillow, reminding me of the scarlet cloak she wore while stripping. My cock jerks to attention as I get off the bed. Breakfast seems like a spectacular idea. I walk down the hall into the kitchen and pull out the ingredients to make pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Yes, I know how to cook. Mom made sure we all knew how to cook, clean, and do laundry. She said a man without household skills was a failure. I chuckleat the face my mother made the first time Cynric and I made breakfast for her birthday.

In the kitchen, I stack the last blueberry pancake onto the pile and shift my attention to the pan of bacon I have cooking in the oven. I turn off the oven and crack the door to keep it warm but make sure it doesn’t burn. This is the third Christmas in a row I’ve been away from my family. This time it’s not because I’m gone. Papa is out of the country again and my younger brothers are busy with Bratva business. Cynric and Isabella chose to do a private Christmas alone in a chalet in Switzerland. The last one they’ll get alone for eighteen years.

A noise startles me. “I was going to make you breakfast.”

I turn and smile at Red. Her hair is tousled and her smile lights up the entire penthouse. She’s thrown on the henley I was wearing the night before. It covers her to mid-thigh, and I wish she’d walked out naked. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

She grabs a seat on the other side of the counter.

“How do you want your eggs?”

I’ve never seen someone actually turn green before. Red throws her hand over her mouth as the color drains from her face, leaving a dusky greenish-gray color. She stumbles off the chair and runs for the hall bathroom.

I stand there, stunned for a second, before I bolt after her. She’s gagging and retching in the toilet when I run in. “Babe?”

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