9. Yelena
Chapter 9
Yelena
“ I can’t believe we managed to put this all together so quickly.” I meet my mom’s eyes in the mirror, noticing that they’re threatening to spill over again, just like mine are. She wipes a tear away and then runs her eyes over the wedding dress that she’d bought, knowing it was the perfect one when I was too busy second-guessing it. I usually wear jeans and hoodies. I don’t mind dressing up, but unlike my cousin Natalya, dresses and heels aren’t my go-to outfit. I look down at the delicate beadwork and feminine lace that covers my chest and arms. It’s gorgeous, and it makes me feel beautiful to wear it.
“Val’s going to lose his mind when he sees you,” she teases while adjusting the crystal combs in my hair that the long veil is attached to. “I bet he’s been imagining this moment since you were kids.”
I smile and hold her hand in both of mine. The tips of my fingers land on the rough scarred skin of her wrist, and I’m reminded yet again of how strong my mom is and of how grateful I am to have her here with me.
“He has, and I’m so glad that you and Dad are here to see it happen.”
She smiles and squeezes my hand. “We are too, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Before we can both start crying again, there’s a soft knock at the door. When I holler that it’s okay to come in, my dad steps into my bedroom and then immediately freezes when he sees me and my mom standing together. I swear his dark eyes turn glassy as he slowly walks closer.
“You two are so beautiful,” he says. He kisses my mom and then turns to look at me. “I know you’ve probably been dreaming about this day, honey, but I always dreaded it.”
“Dad,” I start to say, but he just smiles and holds a hand up.
“I was going to add that I don’t dread it as much since you’re marrying Val. Letting someone else take care of you is going to be hard enough for me, but I trust Val with your life. I’d never be able to walk you down the aisle if I didn’t.”
He steps closer and pulls me in for a hug, being careful to not mess up my hair or makeup. “I love you so much, honey,” he whispers against my head before kissing it.
When he steps back to wrap an arm around my mom, we all look like we’re about to start crying.
“We can’t walk out there like this,” I say with a soft laugh. “I want photos we can frame, not ones where all my makeup is running and my nose is red.”
My dad smiles and reaches into his pocket to pull out a small box. “We thought you might like to wear these. Isn’t that how Americans do it? Something borrowed?” He shrugs and opens the box, revealing the diamond and ruby earrings—my mom’s favorite pair.
I look between the two of them, too touched to say anything.
My mom smiles and takes one of the earrings out to hand it to me. “Your dad got these for me while he was still searching for me, and then he gave them to me after he’d found me. We’d love it if you wore them today.” She gives me a wink. “A little bit of luck, even though we already know you and Val are going to be happy.”
I take the earrings and turn back to the mirror, using it to help me see as I slip them in. The delicate rubies and diamonds dangle from my ears, swinging every time I move my head. They’re gorgeous, exactly what I’d been missing and giving me a little splash of color on an otherwise perfectly white ensemble.
“I love them.” I turn back around to face them and wrap them both in a hug. My dad cups the back of my head and my mom kisses my forehead as they both return my hug. It’s how my brother finds us when he walks in a few seconds later.
“Everybody’s already crying, I see,” he teases, walking over and joining in when my parents quickly open their arms to him. “You look beautiful, sis,” he says, kissing me on the head while my mom softly cries and I try very hard to not join her.
“No more tears,” my dad says when he can’t bear to hear my mom sounding so sad.
“I’m sorry,” she says with a soft laugh. “I’m just going to miss having you around here so much.”
“I’ll visit all the time,” I promise them.
My dad gives me a big grin. “I know you will, honey.”
His chipper response has me lifting a brow, but he just gives a soft laugh and kisses my forehead. When my brother pulls me in for another hug, it hits me full force how much I’m going to miss him, how much I’m going to miss all of them.
“I love you, Ev,” I tell him before pulling back to take a good look at him in his tux. He looks handsome and not at all like the baby brother I always think of him as in my head.
“Love you too, sis,” he says, giving me one of his big smiles. “I’m going to let your bridesmaids in because they’re dying to see you.” He gives a soft laugh. “Mia might’ve also threatened bodily harm if I didn’t let them in soon.”
I laugh as he walks over and shouts for them to come in. Within seconds, all four of them come barreling in with Isabella leading the way. She’d been ecstatic to learn she’d be our flower girl. I’m not sure she really has any idea what’s going on, but she knows it’s a big party that her whole family is here for and that she gets to wear a sparkly dress for the day. That’s good enough for her. She stops in front of me, eyes wide as she takes in my dress. I squat down and meet her face to face.
“You look like a princess, Isabella.”
She smiles and reaches out to touch my dress. “So pretty,” she whispers.
I laugh and kiss her cheek before standing to see my cousins. Natalya’s carrying Isabella’s basket of flower petals and resting her other hand on her pregnant belly, Sveta is already looking like she wants to prop her feet up and take a rest, and Lara is beaming at me. I’d made sure the dresses were loose enough around the middle so it would be comfortable for all three stages of their pregnancies, but that it would also look cute on Mia, who’s seventeen and most definitely not pregnant. The dress is just as flattering on her, and the forest green color even looks cute with the pink highlights she has in her hair.
“You guys look amazing,” I tell them.
“You’re the one who looks amazing,” Natalya says.
“My brother’s going to have a heart attack when he sees you,” Sveta adds. “He’s already standing out there, looking like he’s seconds away from storming in here and throwing you over his shoulder.” She lets out a soft laugh. “He’s the impatient twin.”
The rest of us share a look that has Sveta rolling her eyes while a smile plays at her lips. “I can be patient when I need to be,” she reminds us. “Need I remind you all that I waited two years for Vitya to notice me.”
“Oh, he noticed you from day one,” I tell her, “and you know it. He just didn’t act on it for two years.”
“Which shows way more patience on his part,” Natalya says with a laugh. “Because we all know you didn’t make it easy on him.”
Sveta laughs and nods in agreement. “He’s stubborn, but Sam definitely helped speed things along.” She reaches out and squeezes my hand. “You should see how cute she looks in her little dress. I got a few photos of Val holding her. I’ll send them to you later.”
I smile at the thought and look over at Lara when she says, “She does look so cute, and Roma’s in a tiny tux, so the two of them together are adorable.”
“No more matchmaking,” my dad quickly says with a laugh. “We can’t keep marrying within the family. People will talk.”
I laugh, and he shoots me a smile, because a bit of cousin-love gossip is the least damning thing that could be said about us.
“Don’t worry,” Lara tells him, “we’re not trying to spice up this family any more than it already is. Although,” she adds with a grin, “she is adopted, so they wouldn’t be breaking any laws.”
My dad laughs and shakes his head at her and then picks up Isabella when she walks over to him, reaching her arms out to be held. Isabella has everyone in this family wrapped around her cute little finger. She smiles at my dad and wraps an arm around his neck before kissing his cheek and turning him into a giant puddle. I walk over and wrap my arm around him, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“It’s almost time, honey,” he tells me.
I nod and look over at my bridesmaids. “You guys ready?”
“I was born ready,” Sveta says. “Let’s go get you married to my twin.”
“I feel like we have a wedding in this family every couple of months,” Mia says.
“And soon it’ll be your turn,” I tell her, but she just gives me a playful eye roll and shakes her head at me.
“I’d rather learn how to fight.” She gives my dad a big smile. “That way I’ll be ready when they finally let me join the family business.”
My dad laughs. “You were supposed to outgrow that by now.”
Mia shrugs. “I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon. Dario is training me three times a week now, and I know I’ll be able to take him one day.”
“If that day comes, be sure and take a picture,” my dad says, “because I would love to see it.”
Mia just grins and says, “I will, Uncle Matvey, don’t worry, and I’ll put it in the group chat so everyone else can see it too.”
While we laugh, my brother checks his phone and then looks over at me. “Your fiancé is wondering what’s going on, and I’m guessing he’ll be kicking down the door in a few minutes if we don’t get moving.” Holding out his arm to our mom, he asks, “You ready for me to escort you to your seat?”
My mom lets out a shaky breath, her smile huge, even if it is a bit wobbly. “Yeah, we should go out. I know Val is eager and impatient to see his beautiful bride, and we’ve made him wait long enough.”
My dad puts Isabella down and kisses our mom before watching her walk off with Evgeny. My cousins each give me a quick hug on their way out, and when it’s just me and my dad, he pulls me in for another hug and kisses my temple. With a heavy sigh, he pulls back and fixes my veil before holding his arm out for me to take.
“You look so beautiful, Yel. I knew that one day I’d have to do this, but, sweetheart, I’d be lying if I said I were ready for it.” He squeezes my hand while I fight back tears. “You and Val are always welcome here, and I need you to promise me that you’ll visit every chance you get.”
I squeeze his hand back. “I promise, Dad, and after our baby’s born, we’ll be over here even more. You and mom are going to be amazing grandparents.”
My dad smiles down at me. “We can’t wait to met our first grandbaby. Your mom’s already making plans to turn one of the spare rooms into a nursery so you and Val can have some nights off.”
I’m touched, but I’m not surprised. Turning a room into a nursery is exactly the kind of thing my mom and dad would do.
“You and mom are the best parents in the world, and I’m so lucky to be your daughter,” I tell him.
He shakes his head and kisses my temple. “We’re the lucky ones. Let’s go get you married, honey, before I start crying like a little girl. My brothers will never let me live it down if I walk you down the aisle while sobbing.”
I smile up at him and nod, letting him lead me out of the bedroom I’ve been using since I was a baby. Stepping into the hall, I feel like I’m shutting one door and opening another. It’s not bittersweet, though. I’m not leaving my family behind. We’ll always be close. It’s just that Val and I are adding onto it. We’re creating a new branch on our family tree, and that will always be a beautiful thing.
My cousins all smile at me when we turn the corner and step into the hall. The only one missing is Max, but the reason for his absence is obvious when I hear the soft notes of a piano. I look at my dad in surprise, but he just squeezes my hand and grins at me.
“He and Val wanted to surprise you. They brought a digital piano over so Max could play.”
Listening to the beautiful music, I watch my cousins slowly disappear in groups of two as they walk into the living room and the makeshift wedding chapel my family put together. When we’re close enough, I turn my head and sneak a quick peek around the corner. Val isn’t in view, but I can see a few of my aunts and uncles and several of the bodyguards who have watched over us since we were kids. Aside from Tony and Dr. Bianchi and his wife Lucia, they’re the only other people we invited since we needed to keep things small.
When it’s just my dad and me and everyone else has gone and taken their spots at the front, we finally step into the room. As soon as I see Val waiting for me on the other side of the room and hear the familiar notes of Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years,” I lose it. I squeeze my dad’s arm, never breaking eye contact with the man I’ve been in love with for as long as I can remember and sob my way down the aisle. I try to keep it together, I really do, but by the time we’re standing in front of my groom, my lips are trembling, and my face is covered in tears.
“I love you, honey,” my dad whispers before kissing my cheek. He gives my hand one last squeeze before letting out a heavy breath and placing my hand in Val’s waiting one.
He gives Val a hug and then goes to sit down by my mom, but I barely notice anything except the man in front of me. Val pulls me closer, and before he takes both my hands in his, he reaches up to trail a finger along my cheek, wiping away the tears that continue to fall. Ignoring everyone else, he rests his forehead against mine, so it feels like it’s just the two of us.
“I knew you’d make a beautiful bride, myshka, but I had no idea the sight of you would steal the breath right from my lungs.”
When he takes both my hands in his, all I can do is squeeze them back and whisper, “I love you, Val. Marrying you is all I’ve ever wanted.”
His lips curl in a smile, the sight of it so familiar it makes my chest ache. “I love you, Yel, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted, too.”
When I hear someone sniffling, I look around the room and let out a soft laugh. My bridesmaids and mom and aunts are all openly crying while they watch us. The only one who’s keeping herself together is Mia, but even though she’ll deny it until the day she dies, I swear her eyes are a little glassy.
Val squeezes my hands and gives me a wink when I meet his eyes again. The man who marries us probably says some really beautiful things, but I barely hear any of it. All my focus is on Val—the way he keeps grazing his thumb along my skin as he holds my hands, the sweet look in his blue eyes, the soft smile playing at his lips, and the love for me that’s emanating from him so strongly that I can’t help but feel wrapped up in it.
Time seems to freeze but it also feels like only seconds have passed before he’s sliding the beautiful wedding band onto my finger and I’m saying “I do” to him. When I slide the platinum band around his ring finger and hear him say the same words to me, I let out a shaky breath and smile so big it makes my cheeks hurt. We’re pronounced man and wife, but before the words are even out of the officiant’s mouth, Val is cupping my face and kissing me like he’s never going to let me go.
Our family cheers and claps while Max starts playing another beautiful melody. It takes me a few seconds to realize it’s “At Last” by Etta James, and when I recognize the song, I smile against Val’s lips and let out a soft laugh because it’s perfect. He pulls back from our kiss and lets out a whoop of pure joy before he scoops me into his arms, picking me up bridal style to face our cheering, smiling family.
When they start to swarm in, he kisses me again before gently setting me down so I can return all the hugs. First it’s my parents, kissing my cheeks and telling me they love me, and then it’s my aunts and uncles and cousins, until finally it’s Dominic’s cousins, Dario and Alessandro, and Dr. Bianchi and Lucia. Tony gives me a quick hug and shakes Val’s hand, and then the last ones to come forward are the men who have watched over me since I was born and their wives. Mila and Timofey are first, followed closely by Grigori, Feliks, Sergei, and Aleksandr.
I feel like my face is going to be stuck in a permanent smile, but before I join Val for our first dance, I walk over to where Max is still playing in the corner of the room. He gives me a big smile and then laughs when I wrap my arms around him from behind, giving him a hug while he continues to effortlessly play.
“Thanks, Max. The music is perfect and you make it sound so beautiful.”
He turns his head to kiss my cheek, never missing a note as his long fingers move along the keys, graceful and effortless like his hands were designed for this exact purpose.
“My pleasure, Yelena. I’ve waited a long time to play at your wedding.” He switches to Lana del Ray’s “Love Song,” making me hug him even tighter.
“You’re going to make me cry again,” I tell him.
He laughs and nods towards Val, who’s walking over to us with a sexy grin on his face. “Go dance with your husband.”
I smile and kiss Max’s cheek again before standing and turning to the man I’ve just married. I still can’t believe it. Not even the slight weight of my wedding ring and the sight of the matching one on his finger is enough to make me believe this is actually happening. It still feels like too much of a dream.
With a wink, he grabs my hand and pulls me into the center of the room. The furniture’s been moved out of the way, and everyone watches as Val leads me into the circle they’ve created and pulls me close. Our first dance as a married couple begins with a few shaky movements on my part and a soft laugh from him. My hand rests in his and the other lands on his broad shoulder. The feel of his palm squeezing my hip is a much-needed reassurance that he won’t let me fall.
“Just relax, myshka ,” he whispers. “Don’t think about all the eyes that are on us.”
“Easier said than done,” I whisper back, “especially while wearing heels.”
His blue eyes meet mine. “I would never let you fall, wife.”
I couldn’t stop the huge smile that spreads across my face even if I wanted to. “Thanks, husband.”
He returns my big grin and pulls me closer. Leaning down, he kisses my temple and then keeps his face pressed to mine, and just like that, everything else disappears and it’s just the two of us dancing in my parents’ living room.
“Remember when we danced on New Year’s Eve?”
I smile at the memory. “I was five, and you spun me around the living room until I was dizzy and laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Remember when I was seventeen and you pulled me into the closet and kissed me when the clock struck twelve?”
He gives a soft laugh, the heat of his breath hits my skin, sending a small shiver down my back.
“Vividly. I also remember almost getting caught by Uncle Danil. I’m not sure how I would’ve explained what we were doing in there, but that kiss was worth it.”
“It was,” I agree, remembering the way we couldn’t keep our hands of one another. Val hadn’t had his birthday yet, and we were both seventeen. Hearing the fireworks while he kissed me in the dark like he’d never be able to let me go is one of my favorite memories. “We won’t have to hide in the closet this year.”
“No,” he says with a laugh. “We won’t ever have to hide again.”
When the song changes, I hear movement around us.
“We have company,” Val whispers.
Turning my head, I watch as all the other couples join in. We’re surrounded by swaying bodies and happy smiles every time we catch each other’s eyes, and when Max switches to an upbeat song with a fast tempo, I laugh when Alessandro pulls Mia out onto the floor with all of us. She resists for a few seconds, but then she laughs and starts dancing like she doesn’t have a care in the world. Alessandro spins her around, and when I glance around the room, I see Dario leaning against the wall, scotch in hand and eyes on Mia’s twirling body. His mouth is in a hard line, but his eyes are guarded. Whatever he’s thinking, he’s keeping it to himself.
My focus turns to my dad when he asks Val if he can cut in. With a quick kiss, Val spins me into my dad’s arms and then steals his mom from his dad. Uncle Vitaly just laughs and grabs my mom before disappearing into the crowd.
“Your father-in-law is crazy,” my dad tells me with a grin.
“Don’t worry. I knew that before I married his son.”
My dad laughs and spins me around like he used to do when I was little. We keep dancing until the toasts start, and once they start, they don’t stop. My uncles and dad toast our future and the baby that’s already growing inside me, and then they move on to all the other kids we’ll evidently be having. Eventually, they just start toasting everyone. When we raise our glasses to Sveta and Vitya’s twins, Uncle Roman laughs and says, “Remember when Vitaly bragged about making two babies at once?”
“Yeah, and the super powerful penis that allowed him to do that,” Uncle Danil says with a laugh while my dad and uncles grin at the memory we’d just been laughing about the other day.
“I mean, I wasn’t wrong,” my Uncle Vitaly says with a shrug.
“Ah, yes, the powerful penis story we endured for months,” my dad says.
Uncle Vitaly holds up a hand and looks around at all of our smiling faces. “For the record, I did not call it that.”
“Dad, you just asked me if I wanted to have twins and join the Powerful Penis Club,” Val says with a grin.
His dad raises a brow at him. “I can’t believe my own son would throw me under the bus like that.”
Val gives his easygoing laugh while my dad looks at his brothers and says, “Yeah, but Vitya made twins, too. In fact, you could argue that he should be president of your Penis Club because his penis made two more penises, whereas yours just made one.”
I swear my Uncle Vitaly’s shoulders drop. “Well, that’s just hurtful, Matvey.”
My dad laughs while Vitya shakes his head at the crazy family he’s married into and Sveta looks up at him with a big smile on her face.
Mia groans and says, “Can everyone please stop saying the word penis ? There’s enough macho man talk in this family as is.”
Sasha laughs at his little sister. “There’s nothing macho about the word penis .”
“Well, don’t replace it with anything else,” Dominic warns. He points to the sleeping toddler in his arms. “Don’t let her fool you. She may be asleep, but she’s taking it all in, and I really don’t want to have to explain this conversation to her.”
They all laugh and call a truce on the Penis Club talk while my mom and aunts distract them with more champagne and cake. The next couple of hours pass by in an excited blur. We dance and eat, and I’m convinced that nothing can make this night better, but then Val whistles for everyone’s attention.
When all eyes are on us, he grabs my hand and says, “There’s one more present I need to give my wife.”
His dad laughs and says, “Son, we don’t need to actually see you consummate the marriage.”
Val groans, but I can tell he’s fighting a laugh while Lev elbows his brother and says, “Ignore him, Val. We raised him the best we could, but there’s only so much you can do with a wild animal.”
Uncle Vitaly tries to look offended, but there’s no hiding his grin when he says, “I’m a wild animal? Want me to go get a metal detector? I can swipe it over your body, and we can all see where it beeps.”
Uncle Lev elbows him harder and laughs while he mutters a “Fucker” under his breath. They start snickering like a couple of kids while Val just shakes his head in mock disappointment, and I decide very quickly that I’d rather not know what they’re laughing about.
“As I was saying,” he starts again before giving me a wink, “I have one more present for my beautiful wife.”
“You didn’t need to get me anything,” I start to say, but he just grabs my hand and pulls me out the front door. Everyone follows, and when Val presses the button for the elevator, he shouts back at Niki. “Everything clear?”
Niki’s already looking at his phone. “It’s clear,” he shouts back.
Knowing there aren’t any threats lurking in the building, I follow Val into the elevator when the doors open, and then laugh when as much of my family squeezes in as possible. I’m crushed against Val’s body, and then I start laughing even harder when I realize Uncle Lev and Uncle Vitaly are still giggling like a couple of schoolgirls, the champagne clearly having gone straight to their heads.
“Jesus,” my dad mutters with a laugh. “No more champagne for you two.”
“No one likes a party pooper, Matvey,” Val’s dad says before letting out another unmanly giggle.
Before my dad can say anything, the doors open and we all pile out. While we wait for the others to join us, I look up at Val. “Why did we only go down one floor?”
Instead of answering me, he smiles and takes both my hands in his, walking backwards as he leads me down the hallway. There’s a soft ding behind us before more members of our family crowd in with the others until everyone is here and smiling at us, eyes lit with excitement and a tad too much booze. My mom starts clapping right before Val pulls a set of keys from his pocket and jingles them in front of me.
With a grin, he leads me to the closest apartment and says, “I hope you were serious about wanting to live close to your family.”
Speechless, I watch as he unlocks the door and pushes it open. I finally find my voice and ask, “Is this really ours?”
“It is if you want it to be.” He lets out a soft laugh. “I mean, I did buy it, but we can find somewhere else if you’d rather not live here.”
Before the words are fully out of his mouth, I’m throwing my arms around him and kissing him. “I love it. I can’t believe you bought us a home.”
His lips are near my ear when he whispers, “It wasn’t for completely selfless reasons, Yel. I love your parents, but I need to be able to slide into my wife anytime I want.”
I laugh and hug him tighter, because he’s right. We need this. For the first time in our lives, we’re going to be able to do whatever we want, and if that means having a quickie while bent over the kitchen counter, well, so be it.
When Val scoops me up, I wrap my arms around his neck, laughing at the loud cheers our family gives. If I wasn’t so happy, I’d feel a little guilty about any neighbors who might be trying to sleep.
Turning so we’re both facing our smiling family, Val says, “I’m taking my wife inside now. Thank you all for everything and we love you, but it’s time to say goodnight.”
His dad lets out a catcall of a whistle that makes everyone laugh, and then they’re cheering again as Val carries me over the threshold of our apartment.
“I love you!” I shout to my parents and give them a quick wave before the door is shut and my husband’s mouth finds mine. Keeping me in his arms, he kisses me until we’re both breathless. With my hand on his cheek, he smiles down at me, resting his forehead against mine.
“We finally did it, Yel.”
I smile at how happy he sounds, the perfect mix of awe and relief, and when he lets out a soft laugh, I pull back so I can see him better.
“I’m so happy,” he says, giving me another radiant smile. “I have my wife and my baby in my arms, and I couldn’t be happier.”
“Me too, Val. I can’t believe you’re finally my husband.” I look around at the large apartment, still stunned that he bought it for us, but when I see that he’s already filled it with a few things, my throat feels tight and my eyes start to fill. “Did you really buy this for us?”
“I did.” He kisses me again before setting me down. “Your dad and I found out this apartment was empty, so I talked to Uncle Danil, and he helped me buy it under a fake name. My mom and Sveta helped me pick out a few things, but we can change anything you don’t like.”
I walk into the large living room, eyeing the plush couch that looks comfortable enough to sleep on and the soft rug that’s in my favorite shade of blue. It looks amazing against the dark hardwood floors, and when I look back at Val, he’s watching me closely, gauging my reaction to the place.
“I love it,” I whisper, and when I see the framed photos on the bookcase in the corner, I walk over and feel my heart grow a few sizes when I see our young, smiling faces looking back at me. There are several photos, each of them perfect, and my eyes dance from one to the other, taking in the pictures of us. Some are of just Val and me when we were little, birthday parties and Fourth of July celebrations where we’re both beaming at the camera, and there are others with the two of us and all of our cousins. We’re all laughing and smiling, but in every photo, Val and I are right next to each other. Even in a group, he always found me, making sure we were close together.
I pick up my favorite, the one from my fifteenth birthday, the night he gave me my first kiss. In the photo I’m wearing a birthday tiara that Natalya had surprised me with and Val is looking down at me with a big smile on his face while I beam right back up at him. The two of us oblivious to everyone except each other.
Coming up behind me, he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my head before leaning closer. “My favorite one,” he says, tapping the frame. “The night of our first real kiss.” He lets out a soft laugh. “You have no idea how nervous I was.”
I turn my head and kiss his cheek. “It was an amazing first kiss,” I tell him. “And second and third and fourth,” I add with a laugh, because we’d kissed a lot that night.
He grins and lets out a soft laugh. “Once I got my first taste of you, I couldn’t stop.” His sigh hits the sensitive skin of my neck. “Cherry lip balm,” he practically purrs before giving a masculine groan and pulling me harder against him so I can feel what the memory does to him. “Have I ever told you how much I love that you’re the only person I’ve ever kissed?”
I smile and nod. “Maybe once or twice.” Reaching back, I run my hand through his hair. “I love it, too, Val, and I love this apartment and everything you did to make it ready for us.”
“I didn’t do much, just enough to make sure you’re comfortable, but I wanted to wait so we could do everything else together. I knew you’d want to help decorate the nursery and pick out the rest of the furniture.”
I want to see everything. I want to run around and explore every nook and cranny of this place, but all that can wait. I step back and run my eyes over Val, taking in the handsome tux and how he looks so effortlessly sexy in it. There are far more important things I need to be doing right now instead of exploring the apartment.
He’d ditched the tux jacket a couple of hours ago, and he’s rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, exposing the tattooed forearms that I can never seem to get enough of. When I finally drag my eyes back to his face, there’s a sexy smirk playing at his lips.
“My wife is looking very hungry,” he muses while taking a step closer. He runs the back of one finger along my throat, a slow, seductive touch that makes my breath hitch and my core clench tight with need. “You always look so innocent, Yel, but you and I both know you’re soaked under that dress.”
When I don’t say anything, he raises a brow at me. “Hmm? Cat got your tongue, myshka ?”
He trails his finger along my jaw, leaving a line of goosebumps on my skin before lightly dragging the pad of his thumb to my ear and along my earring, making it give a soft swing.
“Very pretty,” he murmurs.
“They’re my mom’s,” I whisper. “Something borrowed.”
The corner of his mouth lifts up. “I’ll try very hard to forget that while I’m fucking you in them.”
“Val,” I start to say, but he doesn’t let me finish. He cups my face and presses his lips to mine, claiming my mouth in a kiss that reminds me that I’ve always belonged to him. I’ve always been his, and he’s always been mine. Nothing on earth will ever change that. He’s my other half in every way possible. If we were ever torn apart, it would carve a hole inside me so deep that nothing could ever fill it. It’s scary to love someone that much, but I can’t love him any less. It would be like asking me to go through life with my lungs only half filled, a slow suffocation that never ends, always denying myself the one thing I need most.
The fear of losing him has me gripping onto him all the tighter, and when he lifts me up, I circle my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. My fingers thread through his hair, cupping the back of his head and demanding his mouth stay locked to mine. He gives a deep masculine groan and starts walking. I have no idea what our new home looks like, but I already love it because it’s ours. It’s where we’re about to spend our wedding night, it’s where I’ll be pregnant, and it’s where we’ll be bringing our baby after they’re born. We’re going to fill this place with so many happy memories, and it all starts with this one.
Still kissing me, he turns sideways so he can carry me through the doorway, and I can’t resist breaking our kiss so I can have a quick look around. The bedroom is huge, and it feels even bigger because the only thing filling it right now is a king-size bed. Blue and grey bedding and a ton of pillows make it look inviting and comfy, and I can’t wait to try it out.
“Do you like it?” Val asks, and when I turn my head back to face him, he’s studying my reaction, nervous and hopeful and so utterly sexy.
I smile and play with the back of his hair, letting the soft strands slip through my fingers. “I love it. Everything is perfect. You’re perfect, Valentin Melnikov.”
“You’re the perfect one, Yelena Melnikov,” he says, and we both laugh because my name hasn’t changed at all with this marriage, but it still feels different. I’m no longer a Melnikov because it’s my dad’s last name. I’m one because it’s my husband’s. Val brushes his nose against mine. “I’ve always known that, though. You’ve always been perfect to me, and you always will be.”
Setting me down, he gives a soft laugh when I immediately start unbuttoning his shirt. He lets me undress him, never moving unless it’s to help. He’s content to watch me, enjoying the way my hands shake in my excitement and the way my breathing picks up when he’s in nothing but his boxer briefs and I see the way he’s straining against the fabric. As stunning as Val is, it’s the band around his finger that makes me weak in the knees. It’s a very obvious sign to the world that he’s taken.
He’s mine .
No more hiding. No more fear. It’s the two of us together for everyone to see.
“My turn,” he says, stepping closer and reaching for the zipper on my dress.
“Not so fast.” I smile and hook a finger into the waistband of his boxers. “You’re not naked yet.”
“By all means, wife.” He gives me a wink and watches as I relieve him of that last piece of clothing. His cock has always stolen the breath from my lungs, whether it’s just from the sight of how magnificent it is, or the way it always spreads me a tad to wide, or the way it takes up all the space in my mouth so no air is allowed through—no matter the reason, it always leaves me breathless and now is no exception. Unable to resist, I run a finger down the narrow strip of hair below his navel until it reaches the base of his cock. He sighs when I trail my fingers along the hard, swollen length of him, and by the time I get to the tip, pre-cum is beading at his slit and I’m desperate to taste him.
“Fuck,” he groans when I bend down and run my tongue over him, licking and sucking and filling my mouth with the salty taste of him. His hand goes to my hair, cupping the back of my head as I lower myself onto him. I can never take him all the way in. I’m convinced it’s impossible, but that never stops me from trying. I lower down until he blocks my air and I feel like I’m choking. His fingers soften, stroking my hair as I rise back up and then slowly lower down again. I learned how to do everything with Val. We learned together, experimenting and testing and figuring out what we both like and memorizing everything that drove the other crazy. I may not be able to take him all the way in, but I know what brings Val to his knees, and when I cup his balls and let my nails lightly drag over his sensitive skin while I give him a hard suck, he growls my name and lightly thrusts his hips, unable to hold still.
“God, your mouth drives me crazy, Yel.” He groans, and when I flick my tongue along the sensitive ridge of skin beneath the head of his cock, he growls my name and pulls me off him. As soon as I’m standing, his hands are roaming up my back, finding the hidden zipper and then slowly pulling it down. My back is exposed one slow inch at a time, and when he hits the dip in my lower back, he sighs and lets my dress slide down my thighs. It puddles at my feet, a pool of white satin and lace that leaves me in nothing but the lingerie I’d picked out just for him.
“Fuck,” he whispers as his blue eyes trail up my body, taking in the lacy thigh highs and garter belt. His fingers lightly graze along my skin, trailing a line over my stomach. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I still can’t believe you’re really mine.”
“I’ve always been yours.”
He smiles and drags his finger up as his eyes meet mine. “And I’ve always been yours, myshka .” He gives a soft laugh. “Sometimes I think you were mine the moment I took my first breath.”
I smile up at him. “I wasn’t born yet.”
“Doesn’t matter. I knew you’d be coming along eventually, and that when you did, you’d be mine.”
His thumb runs over the curve of my breast, and that one touch has me instinctively moving closer, narrowing the gap between us even more. My body will always search for his. Like a sun-starved flower when the clouds finally part, I will always turn towards him and crave him in the deepest parts of myself.
Gripping my hips in his large hands, he tugs on the thin fabric, slowly lowering my thong. Kneeling, he brings his face between my legs, nuzzling the soft skin he shaved last night. With a sigh, he kisses me with a tenderness that breaks and fills my heart in equal measure. When he needs more, he picks me up and lays me on the bed before lowering his head between my thighs again.
“You have no idea how badly I want to be inside you, wife, but I promised myself that I’d take it slow tonight, that I’d savor every single second of our wedding night. This is the only one either of us will ever have.” He kisses my inner thigh. “I don’t want to rush it.”
With a sigh, I lie back, watching as he kisses and sucks on my skin. I recognize the determined look on his face. Valentin Melnikov is a lot of things, but a lazy lover isn’t one of them. He’s going to worship me tonight, devour and savor every inch of my body, and he won’t stop until I’m too exhausted to even open my eyes.
I smile at the thought and open my legs wider.