Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Matvey
"I've been with you for over a decade." Anton shot me a sidelong glance, amusement tugging at his mouth. "I've seen guns pressed to your head at the negotiating table. You didn't even blink."
"But now—" He dragged the word out, jerking his chin at my hand hanging loose at my side. "You're shaking."
I glanced down at my hand. Shit. He was right.
The same hand that had pulled a trigger countless times, steady enough to drop a target from a hundred meters out, was trembling.
"Shut up." I ground the words between my teeth, fingering the cufflink I'd already fastened perfectly.
Anton laughed but had the sense not to push it.
I drew a deep breath. This was too good. So good it felt like a dream I'd wake from any second. I was terrified that if I closed my eyes and opened them again, my love and our two children would all vanish into smoke.
The church was packed. Every seat was filled with the most powerful people in New York. But I couldn't spare them a single thought.
I'd never been this nervous in my life.
I'd witnessed countless deaths, controlled too many fates. I'd thought nothing in this world could stir a ripple in my heart anymore.
Until those heavy carved wooden doors swung open and the organ music swelled.
Then I saw her. Riley.
She wore white, her arm linked through Evelyn's, walking toward me step by step.
Everything else blurred into the background. All I could hear was my own heartbeat hammering faster. With each step she took closer, my heart pounded harder.
Her cheeks flushed pink. Her eyes shone bright enough to hold stars. The wedding dress cleverly disguised her swollen belly, but couldn't hide that soft radiance of impending motherhood. When she looked at me, that shy, blissful smile nearly melted me where I stood.
Evelyn led her to me.
"Mr. Bykov." She met my eyes with gravity and resolve. "I'm giving you my sister."
"Remember what you promised me. For the rest of your life."
"I remember." I gripped Riley's hand tight, holding Evelyn's gaze. "I'll take care of her."
Evelyn smiled and stepped aside, eyes glistening.
I took Riley's hand and turned toward the altar.
The priest began reciting those ancient, solemn vows. I didn't hear a word. My head was full of nothing but the woman beside me.
When it came time for my vows, I turned to face her.
I held both her hands and spoke with every ounce of certainty I possessed. "I, Matvey Bykov, take Riley Quinn as my wife. From this day forward, through prosperity and hardship, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, I will love you, cherish you, protect you, until death parts us."
Silence fell, then soft applause rippled through the church.
I bent down and, before everyone watching, slid the wedding band onto her finger, right against the ruby.
She looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears. "I, Riley Quinn, take Matvey Bykov as my husband. From this day forward, through prosperity and hardship, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, I will love you, honor you, stand by you, until death parts us."
She slipped my ring onto my finger.
Then she leaned close to my ear and complained. "You made me cry again. Didn't you promise Evelyn?"
I smiled and gently wiped the tears from her face.
"These tears don't count." I kissed the corner of her eye. "Because these are happy tears."
When I bent to kiss her lips, the entire church erupted in thunderous applause.
The day after the wedding, I temporarily handed the pakhan position to Anton, then took Riley on our honeymoon.
Our first stop was the Maldives.
I rented her an entire private island and an overwater villa perched above crystalline blue water. The world shrank down to just the two of us.
During the day, I walked with her along beaches where the sand was fine and white as powdered sugar. Pregnancy made her tire quickly. After a few steps, she'd complain. So eventually I just carried her.
"Put me down." She laughed and pounded my chest.
I let her wrap her arms around my neck and giggle in my ear, but I wouldn't set her down.
I had to admit—only with her would I do things I'd never have even considered before.
I helped her apply sunscreen carefully. She lay stomach-down on a beach lounger, sweeping her long hair aside, facing away from me.
Her entire bare back stretched before me.
She'd untied the straps of that pale sundress herself. They hung loose off the sides of the lounger. Afternoon sunlight spilled generously over her, gilding her fair, delicate skin with warm gold.
In that moment, what flashed through my mind was anything but decent.
I squeezed sunscreen into my palm, warmed it between my hands, then covered her shoulders. The white cream spread under my fingers, leaving a gleaming sheen across her back. In the sunlight, her entire spine looked dangerously appetizing.
This was testing my restraint.
I deliberately lightened my touch, trailing from the nape of her neck downward. When my fingertips grazed the sensitive line of her spine, her breathing visibly faltered.
"Matvey..." Her voice trembled slightly. "Are you... done?"
"Not yet." I leaned down, letting my warm breath fall against the already flushed skin behind her ear. "I need to cover here too."
My palm slid down the soft curve of her waist and settled on that sensitive spot at her side.
Her waist went soft instantly.
But I didn't stop there. Using the slick cream as an excuse, my hand curved around from her waist to her front, cupping her breast.
Pregnancy had made them fuller, bigger than before. It took both hands to hold them properly.
Her sensitive nipples had already hardened into tight peaks, pressing into my palm. I rolled them between my fingers, and she let out a soft moan.
"Matvey," she turned her head, breathless. "This isn't... you're not putting on sunscreen."
"Mrs. Bykov, I'm just making sure I don't miss any spot that might get burned." I squeezed firmly, kneading her breast again.
"You're doing this on purpose." Her face flushed crimson.
"Yes," I admitted it without shame, voice low against her ear. "So what?"
The air between us burned hot enough to ignite.
I wrapped my arms around her from behind, feeling her overheated body. Her cheeks blazed, her chest heaving. This look—soaked in desire—nearly made me lose control right there.
I kissed down her body, listening to her gasps grow more broken. My hand, slick with lotion, traveled down past her swollen belly and slipped between her thighs.
"Don't, Matvey." She whispered. "We're on the beach."
No one else was here—I wouldn't have touched her like this otherwise. But she clearly wasn't comfortable outdoors.
"You're wet already." I caught her earlobe between my teeth, voice rough. "And you're still saying no?"
Finally, she couldn't form complete sentences anymore, just moaned for me to give it to her.
Based on timing, the baby was stable enough now. Sex was safe. But I still didn't want to risk hurting her. I used my fingers expertly, working her clit until she came, until she was wet enough to take me without any strain.
When she finally trembled in my arms, even her toes curling helplessly, my restraint had nearly vanished.
"But I'm pregnant," she breathed out, still sensitive from her orgasm.
"I checked." I kissed along her jaw. "You're in the safe period now. As long as we're careful."
She let out a shaky laugh. "You're always so rough."
"You're going to see my gentle side." I turned her carefully in my arms, cradling her against me. "I promise."
I cupped her heavy breasts in both hands and took one nipple into my mouth, sucking gently.
"Fuck, these keep getting bigger," I murmured against her skin. "Probably already full of milk for the babies."
She whimpered, arching into my mouth.
"You're so goddamn gorgeous, even pregnant." I released her nipple with a soft pop and reached down to unfasten my pants. My cock was already rock-hard, straining painfully against my underwear.
Her eyes widened when she saw the obvious bulge. "Matvey... we're outside. What if someone comes by?"
"I rented the entire island." I stroked myself through the fabric, watching her watch me. "No one can get in here."
Relief flickered across her face. Then something shifted in her expression—something bold.
She sat up slowly, her hands reaching for my waistband. "Then let me..."
Before I could process what she meant, she'd pulled my cock free and wrapped her lips around the head.
"Jesus, Riley!" The words punched out of me.
Her mouth was hot and soft and perfect. She took me deeper, hollowing her cheeks, and my hands instinctively moved to her head. I wanted to grip her hair, push her down further, fuck into that sweet mouth.
But she was pregnant. Carrying our children.
I forced my hands to be gentle, just stroking through her hair instead as she worked me. Every nerve in my body screamed for more, for harder, for deeper. But I held back, letting her set the pace.
"That's it, baby," I groaned. "Just like that. You don't have to take more."
She hummed around me, and the vibration nearly did me in. Her tongue swirled around the sensitive underside, and I had to grit my teeth against the urge to come right then.
"Stop." I finally managed, pulling her off carefully. "I want to be inside you."
I lay back on the lounger and guided her to straddle me. "Sit on me. Take control."
She positioned herself above me, lowering slowly. I gripped her hips, steadying her as she sank down inch by inch. She was tight and wet and perfect.
"Slowly," I reminded us both. "We have all the time in the world."
She settled fully onto me with a breathy moan. For a moment, we just stayed like that, connected, her hands braced on my chest.
Then I rolled my hips up, gentle, careful, and watched her face transform with pleasure.
"Matvey..." She rocked against me experimentally. "This feels... different. Good different."
"That's because I'm being careful with you." I thrust up again, just as gentle. "Because you're carrying our babies."
Tears suddenly gleamed in her eyes. "You're being so gentle."