Anika tried to look back at me, but I had her pinned. “Up my…?”
Pulling her close, I smiled as I inhaled against her hair. “Yep. You’re going to need to prepare to take this.” I thrust my hips into her ass. “Right there.”
She stared at it for a second, then closed her hand around it, making the tissue paper crinkle. I felt her cheeks pinch against mine in a smile. Against my shins, her toes curled.
And then she whispered, “Yes, sir.”
Fuck. Fuck.
CHAPTER 19
Maksim
I watched her sleep until the very first blue flame of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon. I wished I could have stayed there for the rest of my life, tangled up in the sheets with her. But the day was dawning on a new world. A changed world.
A world where I knew certain truths. Suspected others. There would be consequences. And I had to be fucking ready.
With a heavy heart, I slipped my arm out from under her, got out of bed, and dressed as quietly as possible. I laced up my heaviest boots and placed two extra daggers in my sword belt, making sure to fasten my sword to my thigh so that it made no noise as I walked. Then I gathered her up gently in my arms, making sure to keep her wrapped in the bloodstained sheet that proved we were now man and wife.
Keeping her head nestled against my arm, and her legs dangling over my forearm, I carried her, slowly but deliberately, out of the main entrance to my quarters and toward the main hall. The days of us being a secret were over and thank fuck for that.
As I carried her up the main curved staircase, I brushed her foot against the stone wall and she stirred with a sleepy whine, furrowing her brow, annoyed at the interruption to what must have been an exhausted, dreamless sleep. I stopped in my tracks, nestling my cheek against hers, assessing her breathing. Soon enough, it slowed into the rhythm that I had memorized while I watched her sleeping earlier, and I continued on my way.
I knew what came next would be fucking difficult, for both of us, but it had to be done.
Approaching one of the guards stationed nightly at her door, I signaled to him to unlock it for me so I could bring her inside. Once inside her chambers, I nestled her into her bed, so much smaller than mine, and so feminine with its lace and pale pink silks. I placed her on the mattress, then carefully and slowly removed the wedding sheet while I covered her with her own blanket.
Again, she stirred, but only briefly, before nestling into her familiar surroundings and drifting back off to sleep. I placed a kiss to her forehead, inhaling hard to get one final draw of her sweet scent. It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough, but it would have to fucking tide me over.
I stared down at her, memorizing her every curve, her every freckle. For just this moment, only the two of us knew what had happened between us and how things had changed. I savored that privacy, that secret; I cherished it, as I had for so long cherished the hours I’d spent watching her in secret. But soon, everything would change. The whole castle, the whole kingdom, would know she’d been taken and wedded in the old way.
Carrying our wedding sheet with me, I moved into her dressing room. Taking a hunting knife I’d given her, which she always kept on her dressing table, I sliced the sheet down the middle, being careful as I sliced through the bloodstained fabric to keep half the stain on each piece. Then, I went to the window, slowly unbolted the latch and carefully opened it, taking my time so as not to let the hinges squeak. Once the window was open wide, I unfurled one half of the sheet, straightening it out, and pinning the edge between window and frame.
I did the same out the door of her chambers, laying the sheet over the edge of the door frame, placing the bloodstain facing outward for passersby to see.
I made my way to her drawing table, finding there a parchment and quill. Quickly, I wrote her a note.
My love. I must go secure our future. Do not be afraid, for I will return for you and our lives will begin. Be good. Obey the guards, I have entrusted you to them. Believe in us as I do and all will be well.
I’ve left my heart with you. I will be back for it soon. Trust in me.
M.
I placed the message under a pitcher of water on the table by the door, then glanced at the bed, savoring one last glimpse of her—my wife—before closing the door behind me.