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She nodded and waved back, wandering out of my vision again, all her attention on her nanny and sick baby. I closed myself into the bedroom and pulled down the sheets to make it look like I had gotten in, then headed back to the plush velvet loveseat in the bathroom. The bath I’d run actually looked inviting but I didn’t dare risk it. If I dropped Yuri’s laptop there’d be no explaining it. For the next couple hours, while I was supposed to be in dreamland, I managed to catch up on my reading and take a few notes for the paper that was due. I sent a message to the teacher promising to have it handed in within the next few days. The fact I might just be able to continue the class was a beacon in an otherwise very dark sky. It was something I worked hard for, something I didn’t want to give up. And if push came to shove and I really needed a lifeline, I could always ask the professor for help.
I snuck back out with the laptop behind my back and slid it onto Yuri’s desk, then got into bed and stared at the ceiling, too excited about the small ray of hope I had to actually fall asleep. Next time I got a hold of the computer, I’d try to find out anything that might be useful to my revenge plot.
There was a short knock on the door and I jumped, trying to make it seem like I was just waking up. Yuri came in instead of Theresa and he didn’t look happy. His smile was tight and forced and when I got out of bed to offer to make him a sandwich or some other wifely duty to keep the peace, I noticed he had bloody knuckles.
I grabbed his hand and stared at him. “Kerfuffle over someone’s deductions?” I asked.
As pissed off at him as I was for lying to me about where he was going and coming home bloody, the cuts made me wince, bringing forth an odd desire to rinse his hands off and apply salve to them. I gently touched the edge of his bruised and battered knuckles.
He snatched his hand away. “Damn it, Kira, I’m not in the mood for this.”
For what? Trying to help?His rebuff stung my feelings and resentment rushed back. God, I hated these ebbs and flows of nasty feelings. There never seemed to be a break.
“Why were you fighting?” I persisted. “You’re really going to tell me this was another day at the office?”
He raised an eyebrow at me, slowly shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe my audacity. “Yes, that’s what I’m going to tell you. Because that’s all you need to know.”
The ups, the downs, the relief, the anxiety. It was all too much. “I hate secrets,” I hissed, my voice rising. “I hate this life, and I hate you.”
I ran from the room before he could respond. Down the stairs, I looked wildly from left to right, spying the doors that led to the big courtyard that separated the two halves of the mansion. I barreled toward them, only wanting to be away from the stifling weight of all the deception.
Chapter 9 - Yuri
I hated everything then, too. Maybe more than Kira did. Her words tore through me all the same, and the way she looked at my hands made me feel even worse about what I had to do that day than I already did. Did she despise me? Was she disgusted? I didn’t like having to rough anyone up. It was why I had chosen the straight and narrow path, unlike my brothers. But my path still had detours down dark alleys and when my police contacts didn’t have any information for me about the stolen artwork, I had to seek out others who might. The kind of people who couldn’t be bribed or cajoled or had no use for favors. The kind of people who only reacted to a fist in their face, multiple times. Even after beating the shit out of someone, I still wasn’t any closer to finding out where the shipment ended up. If we didn’t track it down soon, it might end up sold and we’d lose it, or have to go to the trouble of stealing it all over again. Such was the life of a career criminal.
I didn’t know if I expected Kira to be waiting for me with a martini, but I didn’t expect to get shouted at like I was her worst enemy. Which I probably was, at least in her eyes. I watched her storm out of the bedroom, her hair waving behind her in the wake of her anger. No way, she didn’t get to shout that she hated me and not stick around for the aftermath.
I stormed after her, finding her crashing out into the courtyard. Catching up to her, I grabbed her shoulders and whirled her to face me, matching her wrath with my own.
“The only secrets I keep from you are to keep you safe,” I snarled.
To my surprise my wily wife shimmied out of my grasp and whipped my arm behind my back, shoving it upwards and momentarily immobilizing me.
“I can take care of myself,” she said, pushing harder and making me suck in a pained breath.
I easily broke out of her hold, and backed her up against the nearest palm tree, pinning her between the trunk and my body. She wriggled to free herself, and I grinned down at her, nearly feral with frustration and quickly growing desire the more her soft curves rubbed against me. I held her by her shoulders and told her to stop in a tone that brooked no argument.
She went still, probably more from realizing how turned on I was getting than from feeling the need to obey me.
“Do you want to live like strangers for the rest of our lives?” I asked. “Because this house is big enough that we never have to cross paths if that’s what you want.”
She stuck out her lip, making me want to lean down and nibble on it. Fire flashed in the green depths of her eyes. “What’s with this talk about the rest of our lives? What about getting out of the marriage? What happened to that?”
I shook my head, pressing hard against her. “That’s not happening.” This was as much news to me as it was to her but as the words left my mouth, they were as good as true. My hands ran down her arms and settled on her sides, my fingers curling into her soft flesh. “You’re my wife, and you’re going to stay my wife.” I slid my hands lower, wrapping each one around her taut ass cheeks. “Now tell me again what you want. How much you hate me.”
Her breathing came in short bursts, each pant pressing her breasts against my chest. “I don’t want to live like strangers,” she admitted, stopping short of telling me she didn’t hate me. Her eyes narrowed and she moved her arms from where she held them stiffly at her sides to my chest, running her fingers up and down. “It’s still our honeymoon,” she reminded me.
I gripped a handful of her thick hair and tugged her head back, swallowing the sound of her gasp with my kiss. Her legs wrapped around me, and I pushed her harder against the tree, grinding my shaft between her thighs.
“I need you right now,” I said. “God, I need to fuck you so bad, Kira.”
She locked her ankles behind my back and I steadied her against the tree, holding her up with one hand while I yanked up her sundress and tore her panties half off, pushing them aside. With one arm wrapped tight around my neck, she pressed her forehead to mine, reaching between us to free my cock from my jeans. I pushed two fingers deep inside her wet heat as she slid her thumb over the tip of my cock, poking from the top of my boxers.
She shook as she took my lower lip in her mouth, breaking away to gasp, “Hurry, please. Can’t you feel how much I want you?”
Finally we were on the same page and it only drove me onward with more fury. A good fury for once. “I can tell,” I told her, sliding my fingers out of her soaking wet pussy. “Get ready and hang on.”
Her answer was a low moan as I lowered her onto my cock, sinking into her tight opening. We both made otherworldly noises when I was sheathed inside her. I tore the front of her dress open, desperate to see all of her while I took her.
