He smiles and it almost reaches his eyes this time. “It’s a surprise.”
Threading his hands through my hair, he gently lowers my head to his chest. “Get some sleep, baby.”
“Like this?” I laugh because he’s still buried inside me.
“Like this.” He gives my ass a soft squeeze. “I need you close tonight.”
I kiss his chest and snuggle in against him, loving that Vitaly feels comfortable enough around me to show his vulnerable side. My eyes drift closed as he strokes my head, playing with my hair until I can’t fight sleep any longer.
The sound of Vitaly walking around our room wakes me up the next morning. As soon as he sees my eyes open, he comes over and gives me a kiss. The smile he’s wearing definitely reaches his eyes this time, and I easily return it.
“You going to tell me what the thing is?” I ask, reaching my arms up for a long stretch.
His eyes run over my naked body, and he lets out a soft groan of appreciation before meeting my eyes and kneeling by the side of the bed. He kisses my stomach and nibbles on my skin before lifting his head and taking my hand.
“I want you to put your wedding dress back on for me.”
“What?” It’s so out of the blue that it takes me a second to process it. “Why?”
“Because the first time you wore it, it was because you were forced to, and our wedding photos are the stuff of sad, sad nightmares. You look like you’re going to burst into tears, and the one photo we have where you’re looking at me, well, let’s just say I’m surprised you didn’t slit my throat while I was sleeping that first night.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I’m sorry. I was so scared of you.”
“I know, baby.” He cups my face, and I lean into the rough touch of his palm that I’ve come to crave. “But I want happy photos of us so we can hang them on the wall. I’m tired of getting off that elevator and seeing everyone else’s smiling wedding photos but not ours.”
“If I had known you were such a softie, Vitaly, I wouldn’t have looked so scared in those photos.”
He laughs and gives my hip a soft bite. “I blame you for that. I was never soft before.” He gives me a wicked glint. “And I’m never soft where it counts.”
“Very true,” I agree. “It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
He smiles and hands me my T-shirt and panties from last night and my robe. “Put these on, baby. First breakfast and then we’ll get dressed for pictures. The photographer will be here in two hours.”
“Photographer?”
“Well, yeah, I’m not about to just have my brothers snap photos on their damn phones. Lev is always cutting off heads, and Roman’s are never in focus.”
“Danil’s a computer genius. I’m pretty sure he could take a decent photo.”
“Oh my god, don’t you dare get him started. We’ll be stuck in a pose for hours while he tries to get everything perfect and then he’ll want to add effects. We’ll be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary by the time he’s done and satisfied with it.”
I’m still laughing when we leave our room. The others aren’t around, so we have the kitchen to ourselves. Vitaly microwaves us some pancakes while I fix his coffee. He gives me a wink when he puts a glass of orange juice and some fresh berries in front of me. He’s suddenly become very worried about my folic acid intake, and if he thinks he’s being sly about it, he’s in for a shocker. He may as well be shoving pregnancy tests under my nose. I don’t tell him that Jolene had an extra one that she gave me the other day. I haven’t taken it yet, though. It’s hidden in our bathroom, just waiting for me to work up the nerve to pee on it.
After breakfast, Vitaly grabs the tux he wore on our wedding day and gives me a big kiss. “Come downstairs when you’re ready.”
“You’re leaving?”
His laugh comes easy when he smacks my ass and kisses the tip of my nose. “As much as I would love pictures with yourI just got fucked good and hardhair and that sweet, loopy grin you give me after you come, I want photos that you’re not embarrassed to show our kids.”
Without waiting for a response, he gives my ass another smack and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. I shake my head and laugh as I walk to the bathroom. My life has changed so drastically that it still shocks the hell out of me sometimes. Turning on the shower, I step under the hot stream of water, realizing how different this is from the day of our actual wedding. I’d gotten ready with a sense of dread that morning. I’d been terrified of the man I was about to marry and scared to death of what my brothers would do to me if I somehow fucked it up. I’d been expecting a monster, but Vitaly’s been my savior in every way that I needed him to be. He’s shown me what real love feels like. I had no idea how much I needed it until he freely gave his heart to me and ripped my world apart. My husband talks a big game, but he’s a giant softie when it comes to me, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I’ve been around enough assholes to last me a lifetime. I could use some sweet in my life.
I take my time getting ready, and this time when I step into my wedding dress, there’s a huge smile on my face. Since we’re already married, I keep the thick veil pulled back, and when I put on my heels and step out of the bathroom, Vitaly is waiting for me. His face lights up in one of his huge smiles when he runs his eyes over me.
“I thought you were going to wait downstairs.”
The tux he’s wearing looks just as good on him as I remember, and when he shrugs his broad shoulders, my desire to rip the buttons off his shirt and ride him hard is very, very strong.
“You certainly weren’t eyeing me like that the day we got married,ptichka.” He steps closer and cups my face in his hands. “You looked so goddamn scared when I found you in the bathroom.”
