Page 70 of Deception

It’s been a beautiful day, even if it’s flown by with the quick ceremony taking barely an hour. The drive to and from the quaint chapel in the nearby fishing village seemed to take longer than the service itself, but then Tomasz made it very clear to the priest that he didn’t want the pomp.

“You don’t like it?” he asks, taking my hand in his and admiring the errand he ran while he left me to say goodbye to my mother and my old life.

The touch makes my pulse race while I look up to find his narrowed gaze on my finger.

“It’s perfect,” I tell him as he tugs me to my feet.

The rose gold stands out against my milky skin. Much like us, the surface is rough. There’s no apparent shine, but it makes the brilliance of the hard stones even more alluring in its contrast.

“You look,” he murmurs with a slow smile tugging at his lips as his eyes trace the jewelled bodice of my dress, “really fucking beautiful.” When I sigh at his compliment, he adds, “Breathtaking.”

This man is one big contradiction. His love is deadly, and his protection is dangerous. I know I shouldn’t care for him, but it’s impossible to fight it anymore. It’s become abundantly clear to me that today is the start of the rest of my life. And while he leads me down the small path, through the rose garden, towards the private patio where I met his mother for the first time, I can’t help but stare at the way our hands look twined together.

When we reach the walled space, Tomasz spins me to face him, causing the long veil still pinned to my half-up and half-down hair to tangle around me and the tulle skirt of my wedding gown.

Brusquely, he picks the offending fabric from my hair, releasing it into the breeze that carries it into one of the rose bushes nearby.

“It’s safe to say that you are not a virgin,” he says in a low grumble that makes me giggle with the swoop of my belly and the heat that rushes through me at his devious smirk.

“Safe enough,” I tell him as he threads his fingers with mine, holding me steady while I find my footing in my high heels.

It surprises me when he wraps an arm around my waist and holds me flush to him, swaying me from side to side as the music from the wedding dinner murmurs around us. He’s an excellent dancer, far better than I am even after years of finishing school. But then, Tomasz is brilliant at most things he does. I’ve noticed that once he sets his mind on something, there’s nothing that can stop him from getting it.

Much like my submission. He’s the only man that I could ever vow to obey, and it’s only because it seems like such a natural thing to do where he is concerned.

“Can I ask you a question?” I whisper up at him, unable to stop myself from admiring the way his dark hair has lightened from the dark brown at the roots to a burnt caramel at the tips from our time in the sun and sea.

Oh Jesus.I’ve seen nothing like it before. Every line of his body is sharp as I trail my hand from his, all the way to his chest. The impeccable tailoring does nothing to disguise the hard muscle beneath the rich fabric, and my body instinctively nuzzles into his.

When Tomasz finally nods, both of his hands anchored around my waist, I ask him, “What happens now?”

“Now,” he scoffs lightly, “you’re my wife.”

“I need a purpose… I can’t simply sit around, waiting for my life to unfold. It’ll send me crazy…”

“You swore to serve and obey me, yes?”

“Yes, and you promised to care and protect, so?—”

“That is what I’m doing, malyshka.” He smiles softly, leaning down to kiss my lips as though he vowed to love me too.

My chest tightens at the thought because he didn’t. Love doesn’t factor into any of this for him, which baffles me why he brought it up at all the other night. Why would he ask me if I love him when it’s such a mundane thing to him?

“Trust me.” As soft as they are, his words vibrate through me when he licks over my lips.

With his tongue pushing into my mouth, all I can do is nod and let him take what he wants while I hold on to him as tight as I can—for dear life, because my legs can barely hold me up when he deepens the kiss, humming into it as though it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted.

Before I know it, he has me in his arms and is carrying me up the stairs to our room.

“I’m pretty certain that we’re not meant to be the first people to leave tonight.”

“Technically, we’re not leaving. Besides, it’s our wedding…we can do whatever we like, and right now, I want to get my wife naked, and I want to put her vows to good use. I hear she needs purpose, and I need an heir.” He must sense the sudden panic that has my heart punching into my ribs because he pauses at the top of the stairs and frowns at me. “Your only duty is to keep the Vassily name alive.”

I don’t tell him that the thought terrifies me as it fills me with excitement. The last few days I’ve watched him with his cousin’s children, and I’ve imagined what our future might look like. What kind of father he might be because he’s playful and soft with the kids. Still, I didn’t expect him to broach the subject so soon. I thought maybe it would take some time, especially since he left the morning-after pill for me that first time we?—

“There’s no need for you to think so hard about it,” he says matter-of-factly, interrupting my thoughts. “It will happen eventually.”

We reach the room, and while he sets me on my feet and then goes about stripping me of my dress, Tomasz twists my hair to one side, brushing it over one shoulder as he trails open-mouthed kisses over the other.

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