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I hadn’t touched another woman since the home invasion. I hadn’t even wanted another woman. I thought I was put off going to bed with anyone because Zenya had nearly been raped and it hurt my heart to the point of desolation. Men can be such cruel fucking animals. I saw Chessa in the aftermath of what had happened to her, and it turned my stomach. God knows I never had any love for that woman, but her suffering was brutal.
And yet I hungered for…something. Or rather, someone.
The day in the pool, I realized what it was.
My niece.
My fuckingniece.
I thought growing up together as family meant you were immune to things like that. I’d held her as a baby, for fuck’s sake. But in my heart, there was Zenya as I’d always known her, and then there was Zenya the intriguing and powerful girl who’d killed a man and wanted to help me kill more. She had the same instincts that I did. To protect her family no matter what, and if murder was the way, then bring it on.
The past few years have been agony, but the agony hasn’t been denying myself other women. The agony has been denying myself Zenya. Before I was banished, I was always by her side, and she was so fucking delicious. Always smiling at me. Always touching me. I could have persuaded her into becoming my lover when she was fifteen or sixteen. I could have been downright Machiavellian about it and coerced her into my bed, but then what? Eventually, she would have hated her beloved uncle for being a predator and abusing her trust like that.
But she’s eighteen now.
Old enough for all kinds of trouble.
I reach out and hook a finger into the neckline of her dress and draw her closer to me. When she’s standing in front of me, gazing up at me with those big blue eyes of hers, I murmur, “You’re my favorite kind of trouble, princess.”
Her eyes widen in surprise, and I know she’s remembering being in the pool with me. It’s the only time I’ve ever said those words to her, and I’ve always wondered if she felt something shift between us that day. If she heard something different in my voice or felt the hungry way I was holding her against me.
“It’s been four years since I’ve touched another woman. I’ll wait four more if it means I can have you. I’ll wait forever.”
Her and me? We’re forever.
Zenya swallows, staring at my mouth. “Since the home invasion?”
I nod slowly. I only crave my niece. My heart is true.
But is it, Kristian?
How true can a heart be when it craves revenge?
“Seven,” she whispers, gazing up at me.
I frown. “Seven what?”
“There are seven men who want to marry me. Shall I add you to the waitlist?”
My hand slides into her hair, and I grip the silken strands in my fist. Not hard enough to hurt her, but enough to make her mouth fall open to take a panting breath.
“There’s no list. There’s only me. Now give me those lips.”
Without waiting for her reply, I slant my mouth over hers in a powerful kiss. She moans in surprise and clutches my shoulders with her small hands. I wrap my other arm around her slender waist, pulling her flush against my body. Her mouth opens, either in shock or invitation, and I don’t wait to find out which as I plunder her mouth with my tongue.
The craving to look at her face overwhelms me, and I pull away for half a second to get a glimpse of her. Then I fist her hair even tighter, tilting her chin up so I can meet her lips with another searing kiss.
When we finally break apart, I press my forehead against hers, panting with victory and desire. She wants me. I can taste it in her kiss. Her mouth was made to be mine, just like the rest of her. We were always meant for each other, and I don’t give a damn what the people out there think, what this city thinks, what my brother thinks.
Zenya Belyaev is my woman and no one else’s.
She drags her lower lip through her teeth as she gazes at my mouth, her pupils huge and liquid. “I’ve never been kissed like that before.”
I should fucking hope not.
“Kissed how?” I murmur, pressing my lips to the silky baby hairs by her ear. I’m holding Zenya and she’s tasting me on her lips. I can barely believe it.
“How I’ve always imagined a man kisses a woman.” She takes a shuddering breath, and I feel her quiver in my arms. “It’s terrifying.”
