by Maura Rose
He couldn’t wait any longer. It wasn’t what he’d planned. He’d had a huge romantic evening all set up but fuck it. That wasn’t what mattered. His romance with Natalia hadn’t started on a conventionally romantic note. Who said this had to be conventional either?
Pavel stood up. “Ivan, I’m going to get some coffee with Natalia, we’ll be right back.”
Ivan looked a bit panicked, but then the nurse stepped out of the room—finally. “Mr. Sokolov?”
All three of them whipped around. Pavel’s heart raced. He knew it was fine, of course, but he still felt a sense of anticipation anyway.
The nurse smiled. “You’ll want to come inside and see your wife and son.”
Ivan looked like he might collapse and Natalia gave Pavel an alarmed look as Ivan followed the nurse inside. “I thought you might have to catch him as he fainted,” she whispered.
Pavel chuckled. “I was worried about that for a second too.”
“No wonder Kate kicked him out.”
Pavel looked over at her. Natalia was smiling, her dark hair falling around her face, her eyes lit up with amusement. She was happy. She was happy and loved and living her life on her own terms, the way that she wanted. And a part of that had been choosing him. She’d chosen him.
Hopefully she would choose him again.
He took Natalia’s hand. “Natasha?”
She looked at him, her brow furrowing. “Are you sure everything’s all right?”
Pavel knew that if he opened his mouth he’d just blurt it all out, so he just got down on one knee and pulled the ring box out of his pocket.
Natalia’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. She started to speak, but Pavel opened the box so that she could see the ring and he could practically see the words dying on her tongue.
“Natasha.” It felt like there was a gigantic weight in his chest, and yet at the same time, the words flowed freely, almost without thought. “You are the best thing about my life. I wouldn’t have thought it when I first heard about our marriage. Or even when we first met. I can’t say it was love at first sight. But it still managed to take me by surprise. It was overwhelming in the best kind of way and I wouldn’t trade or change anything that happened to me, or to us, because it led us into being together.
“Every day I fall in love with you more. I love your fighting spirit, how you jump in with both feet, how you stand up for yourself, your intelligence, your stubbornness, your fire, and your pride. You are everything I could have hoped to find in the person I chose to spend the rest of my life with. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can no longer imagine my life without you in it and I don’t want to.
“I’d do anything for you, anything you asked of me, and so it pains me to ask something of you but I hope that you’ll say yes. Natalia Mikhailova, will you marry me?”
Natalia’s eyes were shining bright with tears she was trying valiantly to keep inside. Pavel knew she didn’t really like crying in front of other people, even though the hallway was pretty much deserted aside from a few nurses, and they were all too busy to pay attention to anyone other than their patients. Her hand flew up to her mouth, as if she had to feel herself saying the words to make sure that this was all really happening.
“Yes,” she whispered. Then she said again, louder, “Yes, yes of course I will.”
He got to his feet as if in a dream, moving without realizing it, until she was practically leaping into his arms and he was catching her, spinning her around.
Natalia shrieked in laughter, holding onto him, dropping kisses all over his face. He set her down and she held her hand out. Pavel had almost forgotten that he actually had to put the ring on her.
His hand shook just a little as he got the ring out of the box and slid it on. He’d had to get Natalia’s ring size from Irena, and he’d even asked for her father’s blessing. Not that Mikhailov could stop his daughter from doing anything she wanted, but Pavel had thought it might be useful to avoid any anger. Or at least be prepared for anger. He would have fled with Natalia, if that was what it had come to.
But luckily Mikhailov had learned by now that it was no use keeping Natalia or any of his daughters on such a leash. And even if he had private issues with it, Irena was in full support of it and she could persuade her father of almost anything.
Natalia smiled down at the ring. “It’s beautiful,” she said, reverent.
“Only the best for you.”
She screwed her face up in laughter. “I’m sorry. It’s just—it’s hard to believe, sometimes.” She looked up at him, her eyes still lit up from within in that way that meant she was truly happy. “It’s hard to believe that this is actually happening. That you actually—that anyone could—love me this much.”
Pavel kissed her. “But I do.”
Natalia smiled into the kiss, wrapping her arms around him. “I love you.”
Ivan was going to burst out any minute demanding that they see the baby, and there was going to be someone from the family texting or calling Pavel to alert him of some shipment coming in or whatnot. And Natalia would want to tell her sisters the news.
But for now there was just Natalia in his arms, kissing him, smiling at him, and telling him she loved him.
And that was all he needed.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maura Rose is a long-time lover of the written word with a penchant for cooking (and eating) copious quantities of Eastern European food. When she isn’t busy wrangling her two adorable children or spending time with her patient and eternally supportive husband, she can be found cruising the back country roads of the California county she calls home with the music cranked up to full blast and singing along at the top of her lungs. It is during these moments of solitude that she dreams up most of the plots of her spicy romance novels.
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Want to send fan mail? Hate mail? Suggested recipes for pierogis? Email the author here: [email protected]
If you liked reading BLAZING FOR THE BRATVA, check out these other books by Maura Rose:
BEHOLDEN TO THE BRATVA (BOOK 1)
BURNING FOR THE BRATVA (BOOK 2)
CRAVING MY COSTAR
OFFSIDES LOVE
BILLIONAIRE'S BOND
Check out this sneak peek from another novel by Maura!
BILLIONAIRE'S BOND
By Maura Rose
Warning: This title contains graphic language, sex and steamy, star-crossed romance!
Excerpt from BILLIONAIRE'S BOND:
They pulled into a parking spot on the street outside of her apartment. Heather got her seatbelt off as quickly as possible but she still wasn’t as fast as Dan, who lit out of the car like it was on fire before walking around to the other side to get Heather’s door open. He reached a hand down and she took it, letting him haul her up and then close the door behind her a second before pushing her back into it, pinning her to the car with his hips. There was no hiding the erection she could feel pressing against her through the denim of Dan’s own jeans, nor was there any hiding the dark, thrilling look of lust in his eyes as he gazed down into her face.
“You are going to be the death of me,” he warned, his hands coming up on either side of her to brace himself on the car’s roof.
“Turnabout is fair play,” Heather replied, her breath catching in her throat and her voice coming out breathy and unsure.
Dan slowly put more of his weight on her, trapping her against the car so that he could brush his lips slowly up the column of her neck and the line of her jaw. “You better be ready to deliver on that promise.”
“I believe I was saying all the things that you were going to do to me,” Heather replied, “So if anyone has promises they need to fulfill…”
Dan
growled and kissed her as deeply as he could, his tongue sliding against hers in a filthy, sexual slide that had her moaning into his mouth. “Keys,” Dan muttered, one of his hands coming around to grip her ass and haul her up onto his thigh.
Heather was a little busy pressing up against Dan’s muscular leg, so she didn’t understand what he was saying at first. Then he groaned and said it again. “Keys. Heather, your keys, to get into the apartment.”
“Oh, right, right.” Heather pushed Dan off so that she could grab her purse and rifle through it for her keys. She’d brought a small purse, and it had only three things in it: her phone, her wallet, and her keys. And yet, somehow, it took her an inordinate amount of time to find said keys.
“Ah-ha!” She held them up triumphantly, wiggling them in the air.
“Perfect.” Dan grabbed her gently by the wrist and guided her up the steps to her apartment, as if he lived there and she didn’t.
Heather used her keys to let them into the door, giggling as Dan pressed up against her from behind and started kissing her neck. “We’re not even in yet, hold on!”
“You’re the one who said you were impatient,” Dan pointed out, obediently following her down the hallway to the elevator. Usually Heather took the stairs to try and get in some exercise but right now she wanted a convenient wall to press Dan up against.
The moment the elevator doors closed behind them he was on her and she was the one up against the wall, one of Dan’s hands coming up behind her head to cushion it and keep her from banging it on the hard marble. He kept kissing her and kissing her, until Heather’s entire world spiraled down into the narrowness of just the two of them. The feel of his body against hers, the sheer weight of him, and the hot, slick feeling of his lips and tongue were driving her insane. She couldn’t even remember if they’d pressed the button for her floor. Was the elevator even moving? She didn’t know and she kind of didn’t care.
Dan’s hands slid underneath her shirt at her back and her stomach, his fingers gliding over the skin as if seeking to map her out. “god, you’re so beautiful,” he admitted in a rush, as if it was a secret. “You’re gorgeous like this, you’re gorgeous always.”
Heather kissed him again to shut him up. Her heart was soaring at his words, wanting to drink them in, but her stomach was clenching in shame and she wanted to swallow his words down, muffle them until they were silenced and she didn’t have to think about it anymore. Instead she focused on the way his tongue felt stroking hers, his fingers digging roughly into her skin, and the feelsgoodalmosttoomuch sensation as she hooked a leg around his and ground up against him.
Dan pulled back to nose at the skin behind her ear, and that was when Heather saw that the elevator doors were open. They’d reached her floor.
“Dan,” she warned. Dan just made a humming sound and Heather pushed at him so that she’d have room, then grabbed two handfuls of his shirt and started dragging him out of the elevator. “The elevator stopped.”
“I mean, we don’t have to go to your place,” he pointed out. “I’m okay with the elevator, really. We can just hit the emergency stop button.”
“And then we get interrupted when the fire department arrives,” Heather replied dryly, yanking on his hand. “I don’t think so. C’mon.”
Dan grinned at her, letting her pull him down the hallway to her apartment. Heather tried to get the key into the lock, which was a little difficult when Dan kept crowding her up against the door, kissing the back of her neck and sliding his hands back underneath her shirt to slide up just shy of her breasts.
“Not helping,” Heather said, her hands shaking as she finally managed to shove the key into the lock.
“I’d say that I feel terrible, but I’d be lying.”
Heather turned around and let him pin her up against the door, kissing him slowly, then hooking her leg around his at an angle to neatly turn him so that he was the one against the door. Dan made a groan of appreciation, his hands sliding over her ass and squeezing gently, and then Heather found the door handle and promptly opened it, sending Dan reeling backwards and almost tumbling to the ground.
“Okay that,” he panted, pointing an accusing finger at her but smiling all the same, “Was a dirty trick.”
“Oh no, he’ll never sleep with me now,” Heather said in a completely flat, deadpan voice.
Dan laughed and grabbed her hands, reeling her back into him, and Heather kicked the door closed behind them. “What the hell am I going to do with you, you little spitfire?”
“Fuck me?” Heather said brightly, smiling.
The humor went out of Dan’s face and he growled, his hands coming up under her thighs to lift her up. Heather gave an involuntary shriek, completely startled, her arms and legs wrapping around him out of pure instinct because holy shit Dan could pick her up and carry her like she was made of nothing. Something. Something lightweight. She couldn’t really be expected to think up good metaphors at a time like this.
Heather had to give him directions to the bedroom, laughing as Dan tried to kiss her and carry her and stumble to the bedroom all at the same time. She peppered kisses all over his face, raking her fingers through his hair, laughing into his mouth until he finally dropped her onto her bed, so hard that she bounced a little.
“You’re an awful person,” Dan informed her, pulling his shirt up and off, “Laughing at me like that.”
“I’m an awful person in many ways,” Heather said, ignoring the pang in her chest at that. “That’s really the thing that tipped you off?”
“You’re lucky I like you,” Dan replied, crawling up the bed between her spread legs. He put his hands on her thighs and spread them wider, making fresh heat run through Heather’s body. She was so turned on from this, his hands on her legs, his dark eyes gleaming, a teasing smile on his face. “Let’s get this stuff off of you, hmm?”
Heather nodded, eager to comply, shucking off her shirt and letting Dan help her get her pants and the rest off. She ran her hands over his chest, feeling the skin jump and twitch underneath her, and then grabbed at his belt loops. “Off,” she chanted. “Off, off, off.”
“Bossy,” Dan teased, getting his pants off himself when Heather’s hands started shaking too much, and oh, god, Heather needed her mouth on his dick this very instant.
She considered the merits of grabbing Dan and flipping him over—growing up with a boy for her best friends and numerous cousins had meant she turned out to be a bit of a pro at wrestling—but then thought that might lead to accidental flailing and injury, so she licked her lips pointedly, then looked up at him through her lashes.
“Can I blow you?” she asked.
Heather had never seen someone have a heart attack, but she was pretty sure that Dan’s expression right now was the same expression that they’d have on their face if she did. “I, uh.” He flushed red. “Yeah, yes, I mean, please.”
Heather laughed, helping him flip so that she was straddling him. She liked that she could throw him off balance like this, reduce him to stuttering and pure want. She gave him a wink, and then slid her mouth over the head of his dick. He wasn’t the biggest she’d had but honestly, thank god for that, and he was nice and thick which was what she preferred. She hummed around him, dragging her tongue up the underside, then tonguing his slit. Dan swore, and she encouragingly put one of his hands in her hair so he could hold on. He tugged a little and she moaned around him, taking him in as deep as she could, encouraging him to tug at her hair again. Someday she’d take her time and figure out all the little ticks and quirks of him, the things that made him thrust up into her mouth and the things that made him shudder, but right now she was feeling a bit too impatient for that. So she just set a slow but deep pace, taking him in as far as possible and then pulling off until only the tip was inside her mouth and she could suck on it, swirl her tongue around, and then go back all the way down again. Dan kept swearing above her, tugging at her hair every time she did that thing with her tongue. Once she could f
eel his hips starting to twitch with more force, she pulled off completely, smiling up at him as she licked her lips to catch the last of the salty tang of his precum.
“You look like…” Dan’s voice seemed to catch in his throat, his pupils blown wide and his face flushed. “You look like sin, get up here.”
Heather obliged him, crawling up his body so that he could kiss her and lick the taste of him from her mouth, his hands sliding down her back to her ass so that he could guide her into grinding against him. She wanted him inside of her, rocking into her… she reached up, blind, trying to find the lube she kept in her bedside drawer. “Condoms?” Dan asked. “I brought a couple in my wallet, if you don’t have any.”
Heather helpfully held up the condom she also kept in her bedside drawer, one of several she’d bought that morning. Dan grinned at her wickedly, and then she was definitely flailing and almost hitting Dan with her elbow as she suppressed her instinct to fight back when he flipped her, ending up between her legs again. Dan nosed at the inside of her thigh, scraping her teeth along the sensitive skin there, and Heather moaned.
“I’m going to have fun with this,” Dan promised her, his voice low and making her shiver. He kissed his way up her thighs, then started to lick around and through her folds. Heather arched up, her body responding to the teasing touch of his tongue. He was purposefully avoiding her clit, swirling his tongue around and lapping into her but not putting it where she wanted it, needed it, most, driving her crazy until she was grabbing at his hair and shoulders, arching her hips to try and get him to go where she wanted.
“Something you need?” Dan asked, chuckling darkly.
Heather resisted the urge to kick him in the head. “You know what I need.”
Dan cocked his head, as if thinking. “Hmmm, do I?”
