Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ryker
The dress gives way, Sasha’s back coming into view; her skin is perfectly pale, the smooth tones of it like silk under my fingers.
But even more interesting, I instantly scent her arousal.
She liked it.
My cock twitches in response.
Since the first moment I laid eyes on Sasha, I’ve wanted her. She’s got this delicate, dark beauty that I find irresistible.
But there’s not been a hint of interest on her part until this moment.
Which is opportune timing considering it’s our wedding night and our bed is only a foot away.
Her hands clasp in front of her again, one hand beginning to tap on the side of her palm.
That’s when I know, she’s nervous, despite her reaction.
I now have a vested interest in her happiness, thanks to Dimitri, but even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t push her in this moment.
I can feel Sasha’s vulnerability, and I’ve done enough to put her in a compromising situation for one day.
Which is why I slide my hands over the sleeves, finding the bare skin of her shoulders and start tapping the same rhythm.
“Sorry,” she gasps, stopping her tapping.
“Don’t be sorry, sooth yourself anytime you need,” I answer back, shifting a bit closer.
She smells delicious and I draw in her scent.
“It’s just…” I hear her swallow. “I wasn’t expecting tonight and I…”
“Sasha,” I lean down, my nose just a fraction of an inch from where the blood pulses through her neck.
I have this urge to drag my teeth over her skin, taste her with my tongue.
“Yes?”
“We can move at your pace. I know this was all a shock.”
She looks back at me then, her eyes even greener in this light as her lips part in surprise.
I’ve got a clear view over her shoulder down to her cleavage, visible in a lace push-up bra.
She isn’t chesty, her breasts on the smaller side, but her nipples have peaked and I resist the urge to run my hands over them, test their weight, tease those nipples to full attention. “Really? You…you’d do that for me?”
I want to snort in derision. Maybe because waiting is the last thing I want to do. But maybe because…it’s such a low fucking bar. “Yes. I’d do that for you.”
“Thank you,” she gushes, the rush of her breath fanning over my face. “I’m just…” She shakes her head. “Do you have anything I can to wear to bed?”
Her change of topic takes me a second to process.
She was about to reveal information about herself, and I’d been holding my breath as I waited to hear it.
I should be interested because every bit of information helps my cause. But I don’t think that’s it.
Sasha is some combination of strength and vulnerability that has my interest piqued.
I step away from her and cross to the closet with built-in drawers. “Tomorrow, we’ll collect up your clothes.”
Stepping back into the room, carrying a T-shirt, she stands just where I left her, holding the dress to her chest. “Sounds good. It won’t take long.”
“It won’t?”
She shrugs one slender shoulder, looking to the side. “I packed a week’s worth of clothes when I left Russia, but it’s been one surprise after another.”
I stop then, looking down at her. Of course, she hadn’t planned to stay in the US before Dimitri intervened.
Her life has been turned upside down over and over.
“Drop the dress.”
“What?” her large eyes bulge out, looking up at me.
“I won’t look,” I lie. “But let’s get that thing off you.”
Color rises in her cheeks, the kind of pink that makes me think of more…intimate places on her body. My already-hard cock gets stiff enough to cut glass.
Hesitation colors her eyes and pulls her brows together. “Why are you being like this?”
“Like what?” I ask, reaching her hand and pulling it into mine, as I grab the lace cuff of the dress, starting to pull it over her hand.
“Nice. Why are you being nice?”