Chapter Ten #2
“If you ever get sick of him,” he said lightly, “you can always come to me. I know how to treat a lady.”
Lena snorted softly. “That’s definitely not happening.”
“A tragedy for us both,” Alexei informed her.
“Maybe I should help find you a bride instead,” she countered sweetly.
Alexei looked horrified.“Cruel woman.”
She laughed for real then. To her surprise, Alexei laughed too before finally releasing her hand as the music ended.
Immediately afterward, Maksim reclaimed her, frown on his face. It was as if he disliked her being out of reach even briefly. The thought gave her an unexpected thrill. He slid his hand firmly against her lower back as he pulled her close.
“You okay?” he asked quietly. “Did Alexei say something to upset you?”
Lena smiled softly. “You don’t need to worry,” she assured him.
Maksim searched her face carefully anyway before apparently deciding she was telling the truth. Then he kissed her again, deeply enough that applause erupted somewhere nearby.
Lena laughed against his mouth. Her husband. The word still felt surreal in her head.
However, when Maksim looked at her like this, like she was the center of his entire world despite all the darkness surrounding them, she thought perhaps impossible things really could exist after all.
Unfortunately for everyone else at the reception, Maksim’s patience finally snapped about twenty minutes later.
It happened somewhere between another champagne toast and a distant cousin of Dimitri’s attempting to pull Lena into conversation about honeymoon destinations in Greece.
Maksim appeared at her side abruptly, and slid one hand possessively around her waist.
“We’re leaving,” he told her.
Lena blinked. “Right now?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“You do realize this is still our wedding reception?”
“I’m aware.” His gaze dipped meaningfully toward the neckline of her dress before returning to her face. “I can’t wait any longer.”
Heat climbed instantly into her cheeks.
“Maksim,” she hissed softly while trying not to laugh. “People are staring.”
“Let them.”
Before she could protest further, he bent and simply lifted her into his arms. Lena gasped, bouquet nearly slipping from her hand.
“Maksim!”
He ignored both her scandalized whisper and the laughter erupting around them as he carried her through the ballroom like some over-possessive king claiming his prize. Wolf whistles followed immediately. Alexei looked delighted. Dimitri looked deeply unsurprised.
“You are unbelievable,” Lena muttered while wrapping one arm around Maksim’s neck anyway.
“And yet you married me,” he reminded her.
His mouth brushed briefly against her temple as he carried her through the grand entrance doors and out into the cool night air.
A sleek black car already waited at the curb with the driver standing nearby pretending not to notice the fact the Bratva groom looked one step away from dragging his bride into the nearest dark corner.
Maksim slid into the backseat with Lena still firmly in his lap. The second the door shut, his possessive and restless hands were on her again. He slid one large palm against the bare skin of her thigh where the slit of her gown had fallen open. Lena shuddered in anticipation.
“You’ve been tormenting me all day,” he murmured against her throat.
Lena laughed breathlessly as his mouth moved lower. “By existing?”
“Yes,” he told her.
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
“It is.” His teeth grazed lightly against her pulse. “One I plan to solve soon.”
Her stomach flipped hard. God, the low roughness in his voice did dangerous things to her now.
The city blurred past outside the tinted windows while Maksim continued kissing her slowly like he genuinely could not stop touching her for longer than a few seconds.
Every brush of his mouth felt heavier now. More intimate somehow after the vows. They were now husband and wife. The words wrapped around her heartbeat strangely.
By the time the car finally slowed, Lena’s lipstick was ruined again and Maksim looked seconds away from losing what remained of his self-control entirely. She blinked toward the massive private terminal ahead of them.
“Maksim, are we at the airport?” Lena asked him.
Maksim smirked faintly.
“You thought I’d let my wife fly commercial?” Maksim asked.
Warm excitement rushed through her chest instantly.
The private jet waiting on the tarmac gleamed beneath runway lights like something from a movie Lena absolutely could not believe belonged to them tonight. Or rather, belonged to him.
That realization still startled her sometimes. Maksim guided her up the stairs with one hand pressed firmly against her lower back. The second they stepped inside, Lena nearly stopped walking altogether.
The interior looked less like a plane and more like a luxury penthouse carved into the sky. The seats were covered in cream leather, the walls in dark polished wood. The plane was lit by low amber lighting. There was even expensive whiskey already waiting nearby.
“This is insane,” she whispered.
Maksim’s eyes stayed fixed on her instead of the jet. “You haven’t seen the bedroom yet.”
Heat swept instantly across her skin again. The cabin door shut behind them with a soft hiss. Lena barely had time to inhale before Maksim caught her wrist and pulled her firmly against him.
The kiss that followed felt different from every night. It was hungrier, rougher around the edges. Months of tension finally unraveling completely now that nobody else could interrupt them.
“Maksim,” she breathed against his mouth, tangling her fingers immediately into his hair.
Maksim slid his hands along her back possessively before gripping the fabric of her wedding dress.
“You have any idea,” he murmured darkly, “how difficult it’s been sitting through hours of people touching you, talking to you, looking at you?”
Lena laughed softly. “You sound jealous.”
“I am jealous.” His gaze burned into hers. “You’re mine.”
The possessiveness in his voice should not have thrilled her as much as it did, but it absolutely did. The jet began moving slowly beneath them, taxiing toward the runway. Neither of them paid attention anymore.
Maksim kissed her again, deeper this time, until Lena felt dizzy from him. From champagne and adrenaline and the sheer overwhelming force of being wanted this intensely. He moved his hands to the fastening along the back of her gown impatiently.
“Maksim,” she laughed breathlessly, “that dress cost more than my old car.”
“I’ll buy you another one,” he assured her.
“That is not the point,” she said.
His dark eyes lifted toward hers with dangerous warmth. “It’s in my way.”
And then, with the final thread of his restraint apparently snapping entirely, he tore the delicate fabric anyway. Lena gasped loudly before dissolving into startled laughter as cool air kissed suddenly exposed skin.
“You absolute beast,” she told her husband.
Maksim looked entirely unrepentant. “You can punish me later,” he informed her.
The image of ordering Maksim to press his lips against her thighs and pussy nearly ruined her. Still laughing breathlessly, Lena let him pull her backward toward the private suite hidden at the rear of the jet.
The bedroom was dimly lit and luxurious, soft gold light spilling across dark sheets already turned down for the night. The low distant roar of engines vibrated gently beneath the floor as the plane finally lifted into the sky.
Maksim shut the suite door behind them without ever taking his eyes off her. Then he looked slowly at the ruined remains of her wedding gown hanging from her body. His expression darkened with unmistakable satisfaction.
“There,” he murmured, stepping toward her again. “Much better.”
“Is it?” she teased back.
“I fucking love you, Lena,” he told her in quiet voice.
“I love you too,” she told her husband.
The End