Sanctum: A Dark Bratva Arranged Marriage Romance (Wicked Vows)

I ANSWER the phone on the first ring. Mikhail.

“We’re at the hospital.”

I sit up in bed and swing my legs over the side, tugging on a pair of pants. “What happened?” There’s only one hospital in The Cove, and Mikhail would only go there if our family doctor couldn’t handle whatever happened. I remember that night we got the call that Lev was found —

“She’s having regular contractions and we’re heading in.”

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose.

No one’s hurt.

Yet. With Mikhail at the hospital with Aria, there’s no telling what he’s capable of.

“Everything alright?” Harper rolls to her side next to me, her eyes still bleary from lack of sleep. She was up a lot last night, likely from nerves.

I cover the phone with my hand. “Aria’s maybe in labor.”

“Ooooh.” She sits up and yawns. “Do they need us?”

“Do you need us?”

“Not yet,” Mikhail says tightly. “Stand by.” And then hangs up the phone.

“He’s so fucking uptight.”

Harper squeezes her lips together.

“What?”

“It sort of runs in the family, don’t you think?”

I toss the phone onto the bedside table as she scoots out of bed.

“I would not say it runs in the family.”

“You and I have a very different definition of uptight then,” she says, quickly evading my palm swinging toward her ass, which is barely covered by a white lace thong.

“Don’t think for a minute you got away with that!” I’m yelling at an empty room.

She mumbles something unintelligible back to me through the closed door of the adjacent bathroom. Sassy as fuck.

God, I love it.

I scroll through the messages on my phone, alert the others that Aria’s in labor, and assign guards to head to the hospital to be with them. This isn’t the first time Mikhail’s been at the hospital, and I know how he is. In his absence, I step in as lead.

“My mother wants to meet you,” I tell Harper when she comes back into the room. “Like, visit. You know how things were pretty crazy at the wedding.”

She nods. “Okay. So… when do you want to go see Ivy?”

“See her?” I ask, tossing the covers down and standing up. “We’re not going to see her, Harper. We’re bringing her home. Today, of course.”

It’s still dark outside these windows, a blue tinge revealing how early it still is.

Her eyes widen. “Today? You want to go today?” I can’t quite read her expression.

“Of course I do.” That’s her daughter. I won’t leave her with strangers for another second. “She should be here, with you, under your protection and mine.”

“We don’t even have a bed for her!”

“Seriously, that’s what you’re worried about? We’ll get what we need. I’ll get Auntie Polina on it.”

She blinks and looks around the room, as if trying to figure out where to put the bed.

“I…I wasn’t really ready for this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to have her here with us, it’s just⁠—”

Her voice seizes and her lower lip trembles. I walk over to her, concerned. “What is it? Are you alright?”

Her nose wrinkles and she bursts into tears. I reach for her, a bit stunned by the sudden torrent of tears. “I cried like my heart was breaking when I had to leave her. When I couldn’t take her home. And every time I ran away to go see her and was caught, my parents would be so furious with me. But I had to. I had to, Aleks.”

Khristos, I will kill her parents.

“Of course you did. She’s your child. I’d level heaven and earth for my child if I needed to.”This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

“I know,” she sobs. “Which is why I’m excited about her coming here with us. I’ll figure out the mother thing. And the bed thing.”

“And I’ll help you. We can do this, alright? We’ve got this.”

She swipes at her eyes and sniffles into a tissue I hand her. “You just might win me over if you keep being so nice.”

“Nice?” I blow out a breath and kiss the top of her head before I head for the closet. “It’s my job to protect you and her. That’s what I do, and I don’t care if you like my methods or not. But I hardly think that’s nice.”

“True. You’re still a heartless, cold man bound by duty. Apologies for assuming any less.”

“First, you slap my face. And then you⁠—”

“It was earned, and you admitted it!” she says, quickly pulling out clothes.

I tuck my morning wood into my pants with a groan. No time. “Second, you interrupted me. Third, you mouthed off to me.”

“What? When!”

“You’re doing it now and I never forget.”

I tug on a tee and watch as her eyes grow hazy. “And what are you going to do about it?” she asks, standing in front of me in only a bra and jeans, which she ought to know is like lighting a match and letting it hover over the wick of a bomb.

“Punish you, obviously.”

Fuck needing time.

I snap my fingers and point to the floor. “Knees.”

The way she captures her lower lip between her teeth and sinks to her knees is sexy as hell. I unfasten the belt I just clipped and draw it through the loops, unfasten my jeans, and tug my erection out. “Lose the bra then show me why I shouldn’t spank your ass.”

With a seductive turn of her lips, she slowly slides her bra off before pouting and drawing me into her mouth. I groan, loop the belt, and snap it across her jean-covered ass.

She moans and takes me deeper, further. My cock hits the back of her throat and her eyes water. “Take it slow,” I tell her. “Fuuccck.”

My head lolls to the side at the feel of her sultry mouth on me. I grip her hair in my fist and fuck her mouth until I’m on the cusp of coming. She moans when I slide out, fist my cock, and come across her sweet, pretty tits.

I groan and take in the picture she makes. “Look what you made me do,” I say, shaking my head. “Come here.”

I ball up my tee and swipe it across her chest, cleaning her off. “Touch yourself while I finish getting dressed. Just like that. On your knees. Rub your clit and play with your nipples.”

I lazily zip up my jeans. Thread the belt back through the loops. Tug on a shirt and grab a sweatshirt. Her head falls back and her mouth parts.

“Don’t you dare fucking come without permission.”

“Aleks,” she moans on a whimper. “You’re mean.”

“Mean would be making you wear my come and wait for your climax,” I tell her with a shrug.

The gleam in her eyes tells me she’s game for both.

Jesus, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind with this woman.

I sit on the edge of the bed and silently beckon her over. She wobbles to me, half drunk on arousal. I strip her out of her jeans and panties then lift her, lay back on the bed, and arrange her over my face.

“Aleks!” she protests. I clap my hand across her ass, hard, when she fights me. She tries to stop me but can’t reach my arms. I spank her hard, again and again, until she finally complies and spreads her legs for me. I take her hard little clit between my teeth and scrape it to teach her to behave herself, then swipe my tongue through her seam to reward her obedience.

I suckle and lick, lick and suckle, and soon she comes on my mouth with a scream. I lick her through every spasm of pleasure until she slumps on me, give her ass an affectionate parting slap, and drag her back down on the bed.

“Now behave yourself like I told you to, or we’ll be even later than we already are.”

Her eyes roll to the back of her head for a few seconds before she releases a heavy sigh.

“We are definitely going to need to stop for coffee on the way.”

“We will but we have one more stop before we get to the foster home.”