Chapter 21 - Rodion

Anya has been so distant lately it’s really starting to worry me.

She keeps telling me she’s fine, but I can see something is wrong.

I think it might be because I’ve been spending extra time at work with the threat of the rivals pressing down on us. But even with that going on—I have decided to take a break for a few days and take Anya out of the city—somewhere beautiful and peaceful where we can just spend some time together and forget about whatever is stressing us.

Before I tell her about the getaway, I arrange everything.

The private jet is booked and the cottage on the edge of the forest lake is stocked with firewood and food before we even get there. I want everything to be perfect and I don’t want her to have to worry about a single thing.

The last few mornings, she has been asking for tea instead of coffee so before she wakes up, I head down to the kitchen to make her a cup.

I’m excited to tell her that we are going away—and I’m really excited to spend some valuable one-on-one time with her. I’ve missed her these last few days. I’ve missed being close to her, hearing her laughter, and seeing that gorgeous smile of hers.

***

I stand next to the bed, looking down at her peaceful, beautiful face.

“Princess,” I say softly, easing her awake.

“Mm,” she mumbles, rolling over and burying her face into the pillow.

“Princess, your tea is here.”

“Tea?” her voice comes from somewhere in the pillow, muffled and distant.

I put the tea down on the bedside table and gently roll her over, brushing her hair from her eyes and kissing her cheek until she wakes up.

“What time is it?” she asks.

“Past nine. You slept late. I would have left you to sleep longer, but we have a plane to catch.” I grin.

She squints at me, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “A plane?”

“We are going away together. Just you and me.”

It’s not a long flight to the cabin, but Anya seems distant and awkward the entire time though.

“Don’t you like flying?” I ask, confused about what is upsetting her.

“I don’t mind it at all.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and lean her against me, sitting quietly with her for the remainder of the flight. I’ll go out of my way to make her smile again. Once she has settled in at the cottage I want to try and get her to tell me what is bothering her. If she talks to me, I can find a way to help her.

We arrive at the cottage in the late afternoon, with the sun streaming long warm beams of light through the trees. “Oh my word. This place is straight out of a fairytale,” Anya says, standing out on the wooden deck and looking towards the lake.

I step close behind her and wrap my arms around her stomach. She flinches for a moment, then sinks into my embrace.

“I’m glad you like it, princess. Tonight I’m cooking us a steak—a nice relaxing night in a beautiful place. Tomorrow, we can sleep in, all day if you want, and if you are feeling adventurous, we can take the row boat out onto the lake.”

She turns around in my arms and her eyes gaze up into mine. “Thank you, Rodion. For all of this.” I press my lips against hers, and for a momen,t I think everything will be alright.

But as the afternoon drifts into the evening, Anya becomes more withdrawn. She doesn’t talk much at all, and she spends most of the time sitting on the wooden deck overlooking the lake while I am cooking in the kitchen. I had hoped she’d want to cook with me—spend some time bonding and laughing together.

I feel like she is pulling away from me and it’s starting to scare me. I have to stop it. We sit outside, watching the moonlight glisten over the lake, eating our dinner in silence.

It feels heavy and awkward. The tension grows the longer I say nothing.

Eventually, I can’t take it anymore.

“Anya—is there something bothering you?”

She shakes her head, biting at her bottom lip.

“Did I do something to upset you?”

“No,” she snaps. “You keep asking me, over and over again. Can you just leave it? There isn’t anything wrong.” She sighs, her eyes closing for a moment as she tries to pull her thoughts together.

After a while, she opens them again, and when she looks at me, it appears that she was holding back tears. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just tired.”

“It’s ok,” I say tightly. But inside I feel wound up like a bomb, ready to explode any moment. What did I do? What did I say to push her away from me so much?

“I’m going to head up to bed. Tomorrow, we can go out on the lake,” she says, smiling, trying to pretend she’s fine when it’s so obvious she isn’t.

“Aright, princess. I’ll be up in a minute.”

This is not going at all how I wanted it to go. Instead of feeling more connected to her out here, I feel further away from her than ever before.

This woman, who I am not supposed to be in love with—she is driving me crazy. I can’t lose her.

The dinner dishes clang together as I carry them through to the kitchen and drop them in the sink. I’ll deal with that tomorrow. Right now, I want to get up to bed before Anya falls asleep. I want to try and talk to her again. She can’t keep pushing me away like this. I’m her husband. I’m supposed to be the one who takes care of her and makes her problems easier to handle—she just needs to trust me.

The bedroom door opens with a creek when I push it and Anya shifts in bed, the blankets rustling softly, but she doesn’t turn to look at me.

I walk to the side of the bed, crouching down to look at her. “My angel, please talk to me. I can see something is bothering you,” I say, touching her face and feeling the dampness of tears on her skin.

It breaks my heart. She can’t keep lying to me about this.

“Rodion, please, just leave it,” she says, practically begging me to stop asking.

“Whatever you want—I can get it for you. Whatever you need in this entire world. I’ll make sure you have it, Anya. All I want is to see you smile. Your smile means everything to me.”

I don’t know why, but my words seem to bother her even more.

She cringes into herself, almost as though she is trying to escape my kindness.

I can’t allow this to carry on.

I pull the blankets off her and drag her into my arms.

“Anya. Speak to me.”

She pushes me away and glares at me with heated anger in her gaze.

I stand up, ready to step back because clearly I’ve crossed a line and she needs space from me more than I imagined.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, shaking my head.

Anya, to my complete surprise, grabs the collar of my shirt and yanks me towards her. “What—“ I stammer, falling against her onto the bed.

She rolls, grabbing me and forcing me to roll with her, until she is sitting on top of me, her legs straddling my hips.

“Anya, what is—“ My words are smothered by her kiss.

The force of her lips crashing against mine shocks me to my core. She rips my shirt off, sending buttons flying across the room, then scratches her nails down my chest.

My cock is hard against her, my body going wild to match her level of ferocity.

While she’s kissing me, she’s dragging my belt open. She shoves her hand inside my pants and grips my cock tightly.

“Take them off,” she demands. I shift beneath her and kick my pants off along with my shoes. She stands on the bed, her feet on either side of me, pulling her panties off.

Then she kneels back over me and wraps her long, beautiful fingers around my cock, throbbing and aching with desire for her.

Slowly, she lowers her pussy onto my cock. I try to sit up and grab her waist, but she pushes her hand against my chest and shoves me back down.

She starts to ride me, pushing her hips back and forth, tilting her head back and gasping loudly as my cock moves inside her. She rolls her hips in a circle, dancing on my lap, driving me insane with the way she is moving.

I grab her hips, and she slaps me hard across the face.

The smirk on her lips pushes me to the edge of pure lust. I reach up, grabbing her throat, I flip her over and pin her to the bed. I watch her eyes flare with heated passion as I pin her down by her throat and start to fuck her so hard that the bed slams against the wall behind us.

She screams loudly, arching her back up towards me, scratching me until I bleed.

Everything inside me comes out in a huge, aggressive surge of desire and I thrust my cock into her again and again, watching as her breasts bounce and her eyes roll back in pleasure.

How the fuck can she be this perfect?

How the fuck can she control me like this?

I fuck her harder and harder until I feel her entire body shaking, she tilts her head back against the bedding, her hair spilling around her like flames, and I watch as the orgasm hits her like a tidal wave.

My cock goes harder than it has ever been, and I explode inside her, gripping her throat tightly and groaning pleasure against her ear.

Breathless, I collapse onto the bed next to her.

She wraps her legs around me, snuggled against my side, and without a word she falls asleep.

I lift her, pulling the blankets out from beneath us and wrapping them around her perfect body.

I fall asleep with her in my arms and my thoughts muddled. I have no idea what just happened, but I am more obsessed with her than I have ever been before.

I am desperate to know what is going on with her.

I can’t lose her. She is everything I have ever wanted and more.

***

In the morning, warm sunlight splashes through the open window and wakes us up with a warm summer breeze.

I reach across the bed to pull her back into my arms, but she is already up.

Blinking, I roll onto my back and yawn, stretching my arms and flexing my shoulders until I feel awake.

Following the smell of bacon and eggs towards the kitchen, I step up behind her and she jumps when I wrap my arms around her stomach.

“Good morning, beautiful,” I whisper.

“Hi. Are you hungry?” She wiggles away from me and I frown.

“Sure,” I sigh.

“You can sit out on the deck. I’ll bring it to you—with some coffee?”

“I’ll make the coffee,” I say, wanting to be near her.

She is still being off. I had a lot of hope that after last night—whatever that was—she would be feeling more open towards me. But apparently, that is not the case.

The air between us is still thick with tension. A heaviness settles over my heart. I can’t push her to tell me what is going on. I might have to be patient and wait for her to be ready to talk to me. I just hope that whatever it is—we can find a way to solve it together.

The getaway is over too quickly, and I did not achieve what I wanted to achieve. When we get home, Anya is just as distant—if not even more so. For some crazy reason, it seems that the nicer I am to her, the more it bothers her.

I’m filled with frustration and clueless about what to do to fix it. I’ve never had to deal with a woman on this level before. I’m out of my league. I can handle business with irate clients and missing shipments. I can handle rivals and allies—but I can’t seem to handle my own wife.

The next morning, I have no choice but to go to work.

I’ll try and speak to her again tonight.

If I have time I think I should stop at the jeweler and buy her something beautiful.

During the day at work, I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s a huge problem.