Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“You’re dragging me to your cave to be your Bride of Frankenstein.” She shifted closer, her bare leg sliding over his slacks until her thigh came into contact with his cock.
He should move her. Set her back and explain that no matter what she thought of the situation, she wasn’t in control. But the ring he’d put on her finger winked at him, a reminder that Keira wasn’t the sister of his enemy anymore. She was his.
Or she would be in a few short hours.
He bracketed her thigh with a hand, keeping her in place, but didn’t touch her anywhere else. There was no masking his reaction to her, not in their position. Dmitri didn’t bother trying. “Calling me Frankenstein is more than a bit dramatic.”
She looked up at him, her eyes holding a question he didn’t have a satisfying answer to. “I think it’s time to stop being in denial, don’t you?”
He recognized the direction she was headed. “You know I want you. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t.”
Just like that, the shutters slammed down on her expression. She sat back and he let her go, watching her pull herself together. Her spine went ramrod straight, and she stared at the back of the driver’s head rather than at Dmitri. She crossed her arms over her chest. “No lies between us. That’s what you said. You want me, sure, but don’t pretend any of this bullshit has to do with sex. You need to prove what an international badass you are by marrying the sister of your enemy. An eye for an eye—a wife and a sister. Remember?”
He knew exactly what she was quoting. The note he’d had delivered to Aiden O’Malley just over a year ago. By my count, you owe me both a wife and a sister. I’ll be content with one of yours. He hadn’t realized Keira had seen it.
Twin possibilities spun out between them. She was scared and vulnerable, and if he told her that it was her he wanted and not what she represented, she would believe him. It would even be the truth, at least in part. He hadn’t been able to get Keira out of his head from the moment he met her, and he’d manipulated events to ensure they reached this exact moment.
Telling her that wasn’t telling her the full truth, though. This wasn’t some great love story where he’d been pining for her while her family kept them apart. Dmitri wanted her, yes. He craved the feeling of her body beneath his hands, her taste on his tongue, and her smart mouth around his cock.
But his craving her had no real relevance in the grand scheme of things. He needed one of the O’Malley daughters to regain his status after the blows the family had dealt him over the last two years. Keira was the only option left.
Liar.
It didn’t matter what the truth was, full or otherwise. What mattered was ensuring Keira toed the line. He sat back, trying to ignore the throbbing of his cock, and studied her. “You knew what this was when you climbed out your window and stepped between me and your brother.”
She finally met his gaze, her hazel eyes fiery in their defiance. “Yes, I did.” Keira turned back to the window. “I’m tired. Wake me when we get to New York.” She slumped against the seat and, for all appearances, passed out cold.
Dmitri watched her for a long time. He waited for her breathing to even out in actual sleep and for the last of the tension to bleed from her body. It was the first of many battles to come. He had no illusions about that. Keira wouldn’t submit. She’d make him work for every single goddamn win, and she’d begin fighting again the second she recovered.
If he had any sense, he’d order Mikhail to turn the car around and dump her back on the O’Malleys’ front doorstep. There were other women who would be suitable wives. Docile, biddable women who would trip over themselves to give him whatever he desired.
None of them were this woman, though.
He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her. It would have been simpler to turn up the heat in the back-seat, but Dmitri liked the look of Keira wrapped in something of his. He might cultivate the gentleman-murderer mask, as she liked to call it, but he wasn’t above the baser things in life.
Keira O’Malley. My wife.
But not yet.
He glanced at his watch. They had several hours left until they reached the courthouse. He’d set up a private appointment with a judge who owed him a favor. They would be married with the paperwork filed before Aiden returned to Boston, and then there was nothing the O’Malleys could do. Everything was going according to plan.