Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
SAVANNAH
O f all the things I thought Nathan would say or do when he found me, this didn’t even make it on the list. Marrying me? I didn’t know who was more insane, him for forcing me to do this or me for going along with it. Part of me wanted this. Part of me longed for it, but in reality…I didn’t want to end up some pretend wife that he kept hidden in one of his many homes just so that he could claim legitimacy over Cutter.
I wanted more out of life than to sit around a fancy mansion while Nathan pulled me out like a doll when he needed me to show off for people or worse because he was bored with whatever girl he was fucking. Maybe one of his mafia princesses of the month and I would have that in common. How sweet and romantic would that be? How was this even possible? Would his father allow it? Was he going to call off his other engagement? Could he marry two women? Was she going to become the other woman? Would I? Or…was he only going to stay married to me until he could find a way to steal Cutter or kill me?
It didn’t matter. This was for Cutter and his safety. I sucked in a deep breath and looked down as Nathan held out his hand for me. As I slipped mine into his warm one, my heart jumped with his touch. I forced myself to think about when we’d walked just like this across the parking lot of his resort and tried to hold onto that feeling, but the tears still welled in my eyes.
The priest began to speak in Italian, and even though I had no idea what he was saying, it didn’t matter. I’d been to enough weddings to know what was going on. Could I watch Nathan with someone else on his arm while I sat in some house like a pet? No. No, I couldn’t. Even though I’d never said I loved him, that didn’t mean I hadn’t fallen hopelessly down a hole that I’d never been able to claw my way out of.
A tear spilled free, and I quickly wiped it away. I was a freaking FBI agent, for God’s sake. If I could go through interrogation training, then I could spend the rest of my life in a gilded cage for my son’s sake.
“I’ll get you a ring when we get back to California,” Nathan said. I was going to say something sarcastic but swallowed it down and just nodded instead.
The priest gestured for us to face one another and hold hands. My eyes were glued to his fingers and the tattoos that screamed who he was and the position he held. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize that Nathan was talking to me until he tipped my chin up, and my gaze locked with his. The onyx of his eyes was as mysterious and sexy as the first night I’d met him. Maybe my alcohol-soaked brain was onto something when I thought he was a vampire. He might not be sucking blood from me, but my life as I knew it was over.
He shocked me as he suddenly dropped his lips to mine, and every warning button, butterfly, and firework went off at the same time. I moaned into his mouth, unable to help myself, but he jerked away and left me reeling.
“Sign it, Savannah,” Nathan ordered, and I followed his arm all the way down to the marriage certificate. My heart pounded hard in my chest, my blood pressure spiking as I stared at the legal document with his name and the place for my new one. “Sign it.”
“I will. Just give me a second.”
“What is there to think about?”
I glared at him and shook my head. “You couldn’t even begin to understand.”
Snatching the pen, I signed my new name.
Savannah Mikhailov
The priest flipped the page, and we signed again and again, and with each one, another little piece of my soul was stripped away. By the time my name was scribbled across the last page, I wanted to tear the papers up into confetti and toss them in the air.
I’d been a strong, independent woman my whole life. Marrying Nathan meant a life of chains and servitude. Minding my mouth and my manners while turning a blind eye to debauchery that I couldn’t stomach. That was all before I would be forced to watch him with other women. I knew it, and yet it didn’t stop me from doing what I had to. When I chose to keep my son, I always knew that one day I might have to pay the price, and today, the piper came calling.
I quickly slammed walls around my heart and threw it out the window. Nathan could have my body, but I’d never let him crush the rest of me.
The priest signed off on the paperwork, and then we were left alone with only the sound of our breathing.
Nathan’s hand went to his belt, and my throat went dry. “Take your heels and pants off,” he said, and I folded my arms over my chest.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing now?”
“I’m going to fuck my wife, that’s what.”
“But….”
“No fucking buts,” he growled, and of course, the sound had to travel down my back to between my legs, just like no time had passed. “I’m consummating this marriage right now so that when we land in Cali, you don’t scamper off to your FBI friends and try to hide with my son. I told you I wouldn’t miss anything else. So, let’s just say I don’t exactly trust you at the moment. Now take your fucking pants off, or I’ll rip them from your body.”
I squared my shoulders and scowled at him with my head held high, but fuck, that was hot. I’d forgotten just how demanding he could be and how much I loved it, but I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of knowing that.
“Do it then. I’m not lifting a finger to help you,” I said, and there was not a single moment of hesitation as Nathan grabbed the front of my blouse and tore it open, sending all of the buttons flying along with my dignity. I wanted him. My body ached for his touch, but hell would freeze over before I let him think that I would beg at his feet so easily.
Nathan’s heated gaze on my chest felt like I was being singed, but I didn’t flinch, not even when he pulled down the cups of my bra and dropped his lips to my breasts. He was rough as he sucked, nipped, and tweaked my nipples. Every tiny bite of pain stirred my desire, pushing it higher until I could feel that my panties were soaking wet, and still, I remained quiet. I fought off the urge to close my eyes and lean into his touch as his lips traveled up my chest to my neck, but as his teeth bit down on the sensitive skin, my body shuddered uncontrollably.
I was jerked toward him as he gripped the front of my pants and undid the belt, the two pieces falling apart, and my heart thundered in my chest.
“Undo my pants,” he commanded. I didn’t move.
Nathan growled in frustration. I knew he despised not being listened to, especially in the bedroom. Was I being petty? Maybe, but I would take whatever bit of power I could. God help me. The angrier he got, the more turned on I was. I wanted to stand naked in a walk-in freezer. I was so hot with a need that had been building inside of me for far too long.
“I said, undo my pants.”
“Do it yourself,” I bit back.
“You’re really starting to piss me off, wife,” he said, his eyes growing darker as he wrapped his hand around my throat. I lifted my chin to give him better access and dared him with my eyes to kill me if he wanted to.
“You better get used to it, husband. I don’t intend to be your doll who you take out and play with and then stuff back into the closet when done.”
He yanked me forward until our noses touched, his black eyes scorching and branding my soul as his forever. No matter what happened from this moment on, my heart would be his, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was a fruitless battle that I’d already lost.
“I don’t fucking know what that means, but you drive me crazy.”
With a hard shove, he turned me around and pressed me face first on the desk, ironically, my cheek pressing into our marriage certificate. “Don’t move.”
That was one command I would obey. My knees were practically shaking with need as Nathan yanked my pants down and forced me to step out of them. I yelped when his hand cracked down hard on my ass. “Such a fucking bad girl, aren’t you, Savannah?” He slapped my ass again, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out as the pleasure shot through my body. His hand smacked against my ass once more, and my eyes fluttered closed, the tingling heat taking over all other sensations. “Fuck, this ass.”
It didn’t matter how hard I fought it. There was no denying that I wanted this, and with the jingle of his belt, there was a part of me that didn’t believe this was real. Even as his fingers slipped between my legs, a part of me remained in denial.
“So wet,” he groaned, slipping a finger into me. “Fuck,” he said, the sound coming from him setting my blood on fire.
Pushing myself up off the desk, Nathan grabbed my hair and bowed my back until he was devouring my mouth. Everything about him was demanding. Commanding. Overwhelming to my senses.
“I told you not to move. Bad girl, Savannah.” His breath fanned my ear as he rubbed his cock against me. “I’m going to punish this pussy and claim you as mine once and for all.”
Before I could draw my next breath, he thrust all the way into me in a single move, and I cried out. I’d forgotten how intense the rings in his cock felt, and I trembled, trying to breathe through the sensations. It felt like he would rip me in two and make me come at the same time.
“Fuck…me…I’ve missed this pussy,” Nathan groaned in my ear, his hand tightening in my hair. “I remember how I made you scream and come all night long. Do you remember that, Savannah? Do you remember how my cock felt?” My mouth hung open, but no words came out. “Answer me,” he ordered harshly in my ear, making all my insides melt. He thrust hard. “Say the words. Say you remember my cock making you scream.”
“Yes,” I yelled, unable to hold it back anymore.
“Good girl,” he whispered, then used my hair to push me down onto the desk, and a scream of pleasure and pain was ripped from my chest as he pistoned in and out of me with abandon. Each stroke rubbed that delicious, perfect spot inside of me, and it didn’t take long for the orgasm to soar to the top of the precipice. Releasing my hair, he grabbed my hips and fucked me like a feral animal. The sound of his groans and my whimpers of pleasure filled the room as he pushed me over that edge.
“Yes, oh god.” I bit my fist to keep from screaming the consulate down as I came in a rush. If I hadn’t been half on the desk, I would’ve collapsed to the ground as my knees gave out. My body tightened with each wave, my pussy squeezing Nathan’s cock so hard that he groaned and swore as he said my name. I’d been obsessed with hearing him lose himself with me, and the time and separation had done nothing to dull my body’s response. Like he pushed a button, my back arched as I was hit with a second climax that stole all the air from my lungs as easily as his hand had.
Nathan lost total control, and I didn’t need to see him to know how dark and dangerous his face looked or how the muscles strained along his arms and shoulders. Or how I craved for him to do what he used to and leave a hickey somewhere on my body, claiming me as his.
“Fuck,” Nathan roared, slamming into me. I could feel him coming as he groaned.
The half of me that had been wanting him, and this moment, since our last touch, felt at peace, like I was finally whole. The other half knew that I’d just officially signed my freedom away. A part of me died as the other soared. There was no way to process the opposite emotions at the same time.
I was no longer Savannah Freeborn, independent, single mom and FBI agent. She was dead. Pushed aside to become Savannah Mikhailov and what that meant…I didn’t know.
Nathan slowly pulled out, and the feel of him leaving my body was as conflicting as him fucking me.
“Get dressed and cleaned up,” he said, the sound of his zipper and belt feeling like a slap to the face.
I could hardly move but lifted my head and watched as Nathan grabbed the marriage certificate off the desk. He folded it and put it inside his suit jacket before shrugging it back on like what we just shared was nothing more than a one-night stand. No, that wasn’t true. He’d given me more care and consideration that night. “I’ve made arrangements for safe passage. We leave in an hour.” Nathan walked to the office door and paused with his hand on the handle. He looked at me, and his eyes were still as hard as steel. “Before we leave, you tell Cutter who I really am, or I will.”
He marched out of the office, leaving me alone, and the earlier tears poured down my cheeks. The self-loathing was strangling me even as I knew I would sell off a piece of my soul to have him do that to me all over again. Just like that, I was officially lost to a man and in a world where I would never belong.