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jaxon
“You sure thisis what you want to do?” James asked me, Emmaline at his side.
I shrugged, glancing over at him. What I wanted never mattered. I’d been raised to know and understand that every action and every decision I would ever make was to be centered around this family.
Their protection was the most important. Nothing else mattered, and certainly not what I wanted.
“Too late to back out now,” I reminded him. “If I do, it’s immediate war, and whoever is pining us against each other will get exactly what they want. My feelings don’t matter anymore, James. I have to fulfill my promise, and that means getting hitched.”
James shook his head. “There’s putting family first, Jaxon, and then there’s selling your soul for this shit. I don’t want you selling your soul.”
I smirked at him. “Little too late for that, don’t you think?” I asked him.
He just rolled his eyes at me. He knew as well as I did that we all sold our souls to the devil long ago. There was no getting it back.
Emmaline gently gripped my suit jacket. I looked down at her. “We don’t want you to be stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of your life,” she said softly.
I sighed. This woman was too good for our world. Some days, I wondered how she managed to ever love a man like James, but then I saw the two of them together, and it made sense again.
“Emmaline, this family is all that matters to me. Everything else in my life will come second—always.”
With that, I stepped away from them. James cleared his throat, halting me. “If you’re serious about doing this, I’ll take you to meet your bride.”
I walked on Emmaline’s other side as James led me over to my future wife. She was standing with Adrik in a long, golden gown. I could tell she was wearing heels by the way she was standing, and she still only came up to my shoulder. Her dark hair fell in soft ringlets around her shoulders, her eyes enhanced by a golden shimmer, making the green in them stand out more from the brown.
She was gorgeous, I’d give her that. Her waist dipped in before flaring out to wider hips, and her chest was pushed up by her dress, the round globes the perfect size for my hands.
Maybe being married to her wouldn’t be a truly horrific event.
“Jaxon,” Adrik greeted, holding his hand out to me. I shook it, both of our grips tight, a statement in our handshake that neither of us would be deterred from whatever we happened to put our minds to.
“Adrik,” I rumbled, inclining my head to him in respect. I wondered why her parents weren’t introducing her to me, but it wasn’t any of my business. She was to be my wife; that was all I needed to know.
Adrik placed his hand on the beauty’s upper back, gently pushing her slightly towards me. “Inessa, meet your fiancé, Jaxon. Jaxon, Inessa.”
She held her hand up to me, and I grasped it in mine. Her skin was soft and cool, fitting perfectly inside mine. A slight hurt and anger simmered in her eyes when our gazes connected.
Ignoring her feelings, I pressed my lips to the back of her hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
She smiled sweetly, but I saw straight through it. Malice glittered behind that smile. “The pleasure is all mine.”
I arched a single eyebrow at her, not at all impressed as I dropped her hand. She flushed, suddenly looking reprimanded, though I hadn’t said a word. James and Adrik began to converse, and I held my hand out to Inessa this time. “Care for a dance?”
Without a word, she placed her soft hand in mine, and I swept her into my arms, leading her in a smooth dance across the floor. She was quiet, her gaze on my chest, not daring to look up at me.
“I know you are displeased with this arrangement,” I said softly so only she would hear me, “but you’ll learn to hide your bitterness.”
She bristled in my arms. “And who are you to tell me what to do?” she hissed.
I yanked her tighter against me, narrowing my eyes at her. Her cheeks flushed, and the redness spread all the way down to her chest, disappearing inside of her dress.
“Your future husband,” I reminded her. She clenched her jaw. “The moment I agreed to this and you became my fiancé, you became my property.” Anger and defiance glittered in her hazel eyes. “That’s how our world works and for you to try to pretend otherwise is simply childish.”
Tears shone in her pretty eyes, but she held them back. “You’re such an asshole,” she seethed, her Russian accent much more prominent now.
“Careful,” I admonished. “Revealing your distaste and your anger might make me think I affect you.”
She scoffed. “As if.”
I just smiled and continued moving her around the dance floor, our steps in sync, our bodies molded together. People congratulated us on our engagement as we passed them, and we both smiled. Eventually, her smile and her face lost its bitterness as she became better at masking it.
Her body was soft in my arms, that dip in her waist tantalizing. She was warm against me, her breasts pressed against my chest, her soft breath blowing across my chest and my lower neck as we moved.
Eventually, I led her back to her grandfather and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I look forward to seeing you on our wedding day, Inessa.”
With that, I shook her grandfather’s hand and strode away, thoughts of having her delectable body beneath mine, her back arching into my touch, clouding my thoughts.
* * *
