Page 16 of The Bratva's Forced Bride
“Twenty minutes.”
With my eyebrows furrowed, I readjusted the laptop again. I minimized the email tab, pulled up another tab, and reloaded the page. The surveillance videos from the indoor and outdoor cameras installed in the house appeared on the screen and I zoomed in on the field with the person I was looking for. A smile spread across my lips as I saw her slim figure moving through the kitchen with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other.
As if on cue, the rage calmed as I watched her. Long, dark hair that cascaded to her waist, long, shapely legs, and bare feet. Even in her simplicity, she looked simply divine. The more she pranced around, the more my heart swelled. I couldn’t put my finger on it; I didn’t know what it was that made me content as I watched her walk from the stove to the pantry and back again.
I enjoyed watching her as she worked in the room as if she owned it. I had made a conscious decision not to send a tray of food to her room. That was what I wanted; to see her everywhere, in every corner of the house, like a timid little kitten.
“Boss?”
My head lifted and at that moment I realized that we were parked in front of my house. Yuri looked at me quizzically. He’d seen the screen, but I didn’t give a fuck. I’d spent twenty minutes watching her in action and that wasn’t enough. I craved more.
Without a word to him, I shut the laptop and got out of the car.
The house was quiet when I entered. The sound of clinking dishes and rushing water grew louder as I approached the kitchen. My footsteps were quiet, and when I got to the threshold, she was standing at the sink with her back to me.
I tilted my neck to the side to get a better view. She was doing the dishes.
Couldn’t she find the dishwasher?
The sight made me chuckle. If Addison Mae wasn’t naïve, she was amusing. An heiress to a billion-dollar business empire, standing barefoot at the sink with soapy water up to her forearms, washing plates and pans like my maid.
Cautiously, I crept closer and dropped my laptop bag on the center island.
I stole a few more minutes to follow her every move with my eyes: the subtle way she scratched her right ankle with her left toe, the gentle way she flicked back her hair with a roll of her shoulders, and her sweet voice. She sang and hummed to a tune coming from the speakers, small and shrill, like a fucking nightingale.
Every fucking thing about her turned me on.
I wanted to go closer, but a thought halted my first step.
Why?
Why did she bother with the dishes? She owed me nothing but her hate. If she’d opted to go on a rampage and break all the fucking ceramic, I wouldn’t even blink. But there she was, humming, and swaying her hips to the tune, so slowly, it made my cock twitch.
I kidnapped her—even if I denied it to her face. She was here without her consent, so why did she do it? Was it kindness or an act borne out of fear? I wanted to unwrap her like a complex puzzle and put all the pieces together until I had her figured out.
But I couldn’t wait to find out.
With a few long strides, I stood behind her, close enough to feel her heat, but I did not touch her. Her hands froze over the rim of a pot, and for a second, I didn’t hear her breathe.
We waited together in silence mingled with rushing water from the faucet. Neither of us moved or said a word. The top of her head was just under my chin, I closed my eyes and simply breathed her in. I basked in the overwhelming feeling of her back against my chest. Her ass was snug against me, right where I ached the most.
My fingers trailed feather-light down her arms, and I placed my hands at either side, caging her. Then, I pressed further. She emitted a soft mewling sound, and her hands began to tremble. I let my forehead sink into the back of her neck and hid my smile in her hair. My face nestled into the spot between her neck and collarbone, and I kissed her delicate skin. I had been thinking about how she would smell, and now I knew.
“It’s okay,” I murmured with closed eyes, intoxicated by her sweet and citrusy scent. “You can continue.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and nodded curtly, and her hands began to move. My lips curled into an amused smile. She was proving to be a good and obedient girl. I liked this Addison. The one who submitted to me, no questions asked.
I kissed and lightly grazed every inch of her neck as I’d dreamed of doing, the second I saw her appear in the footage. Every flick of my tongue on her skin set me on fire. I didn’t—fucking couldn’t stop. Not when I desired more of her. And when I thought I heard her sigh, I reached for her waist and ...
Nothing.
She turned off the tap and spun in the circle of my arms before I had a chance to go any further.
She arched her back, our eyes met, and she held me with her gaze like a sunset, captivating, and mesmerizing. I felt like warm chocolate was dripping over my skin. The tension between us was so palpable you could almost taste it. This girl ... She was an enigma. When I thought I could penetrate and see behind her solid wall, she reinforced the security and threw me out.
No other woman fascinated me like her. She could be feisty and snarky, but at that moment, she had a vulnerability to her that made my brain disconnect and my body take over.
I gently tucked her soft, silky hair behind her ears, and she opened her mouth.