Chapter 5 - Rodion

I carry on undressing, getting ready for bed while Anya stands there glaring at me with fire in her eyes.

I chuckle to myself, knowing that she has no choice but to share the bed with me. She is my wife, after all. I expect certain things from her. Why the hell is she even arguing with me about this?

She hasn’t even started to undress. She’s standing there looking incredibly uncomfortable and exhausted.

She looks beautiful.

Far too beautiful for words.

Fuck, I want her. I have wanted her for far too long, but when I saw her walking down the aisle towards me, that need to have her exploded and expanded by thousands.

She is looking from me to the bed and back to me again.

She shakes her head and turns her back on me.

That’s when my amusement really kicks in.

Anya is trying to get out of the wedding dress on her own, but it is not going to work. The intricate lace at the back of the dress is hooked and tied beyond her reach and all she is doing by randomly tugging blindly at things is making a knot.

I don’t say anything. I strip down to nothing, slip into some sweatpants, and just watch.

“Ugh!” she cries out, stomping her foot.

“Rodion—“ she says, full of ego and regret, “Can you please help me undo this stupid thing?”

“Of course, my wife. I would be happy to help.” The sneer on my lips does not go unnoticed by her and I know I’m pushing her to the edge of anger.

I step behind her, gently running my hand down her back, across her soft, warm skin.

My cock stirs.

I slip my fingers through the lace tie and begin pulling it loose. One by one I take my time until each hook is undone. But she is getting impatient and keeps glancing over her shoulder. “How long is this going to take?” she snaps.

“Do you want to do it yourself, Anya?” I say calmly.

My hand traces over her skin again and I see goosebumps form across her flesh.

She sighs softly.

I step closer, pressing my cock against her ass. It’s rock-hard.

She jumps forward.

“What the fuck?” she shouts angrily.

“As my wife you are going to give me an heir, Anya.” I tell her, because apparently, she doesn’t seem to understand this, “It is part of the agreement. It’s non-negotiable.

“I will never sleep with you!” she shouts at me, gripping the wedding dress against her chest because it's loose and threatening to slip off her body.

“Anya.”I shake my head, walking towards her, I grab her waist and spin her around so that her back is facing me. “The sooner you accept your role as my wife, the easier this will be.” I pull loose the last few ties and the wedding dress falls open at the back. My eyes trace down, over the curve of her back above her ass. The way it arches perfectly from her spine over her full hips.

I wrap my hand around her waist, slipping my fingers beneath the open dress and onto her warm skin. For a second—one a second—she leans into me. Then gasps and hurries away from my touch. I grab her and yank her back against my chest.

She freezes, terrified, staying dead still as her chest heaves with heavy breaths. I could take her, right now. I could force her to be with me and I would be within my rights. She is my wife. She owes me an heir.

I spin her around to face me and she glares up at me, her lips parted and her breath hot against my mouth. My face is inches from her. I knot my fingers in her hair and yank her head back. “You are my wife, Anya. Clearly, you don’t know what you agreed to when you accepted that position.”

“Let me go,” she demands, barely a whisper.

“Why?” I growl against her mouth.

My cock is throbbing with need. Rock hard and ready to take her.

She is still clutching the wedding dress against her body, as though it is a shield protecting her from me.

I grab it and yank it off her and she screams.

The dress falls to the floor.

She is wearing nothing but white lace panties.

I let my eyes roam over her, taking in every inch of her beauty.

When I look at her face, I see tears spilling from her eyes.

Fuck. This is not how tonight was meant to go. How the fuck can she not have known she would have to sleep with me to give me an heir?

I shake my head. Releasing her and stepping away.

She turns and runs into the bathroom. Slamming the door behind herself.

Going to her closet, I pull out sweatpants and a t-shirt for her.

I want her, but I want her to be a willing participant.

The desire raging inside me is making me angry. I have no way to release it because the person who is supposed to take care of those needs for me is reluctant.

Knocking on the door, I wait for her response.

“Go away,” she snaps from inside.

“Stop being so difficult. I have clothes for you,” I snarl back at her.

There is nothing but silence from inside the bathroom.

I push the door open and find her standing in the corner with a big towel wrapped around her body.

Guilt washes over me. I don’t want to frighten her. That was never my intention.

Putting the sweatpants and t-shirt on the basin countertop, I sigh. I don’t know what to say.

Turning my back, I walk out of the bathroom, closing the door behind myself.

She can stay in there all night for all I fucking care.

I climb onto the bed, leaning against the headboard, waiting. Because I do care. I don’t actually want her to stay in there all night.

I wait for twenty minutes before I hear the door handle move and the bathroom door swings open.

When she comes out, she looks composed. Her eyes aren’t red from the tears she cried, and her feisty attitude is right back where it always is.

She marches over to her side of the bed, throws the blankets back, climbs beneath them and pulls them over herself.

Lying with her back to me, she doesn’t say a word.

“We need to talk, Anya,” I sigh, annoyed at the childish behavior.

“No, we don’t. I need to sleep.”

I grab her shoulder and roll her to face me. “No, we are going to talk. Right now. This is not going to drag over to tomorrow.”

She huffs loudly and sits up, leaning her back against the headboard as well and keeping the blankets right up over her chest. “Fine. Whatever. What?”

“You are not a prisoner here. You are allowed to see your siblings whenever you want. You can go out as much as you want. But the rule is that you will always—every—single—night—come home and sleep here. Is that clear?”

She nods. “Fine.”

“And I will have an heir, Anya. It might not be now. But it is going to happen.”

I smile as she shifts uncomfortably beneath the blankets.

I do love to watch her squirm.

“I won’t do it, Rodion. I won’t promise that. I am not going to sleep with you. I don’t even want to share your bed. I hate the idea of lying here next to you. I told you, I made it clear that this marriage was for show. A business contract. This was never part of the deal.”

I am getting more frustrated by the second. Her words fill me with anger—and hurt. Why am I so repulsive to her?

I clench my jaw, finally coming to understand the challenge I have taken on by choosing her as a wife.

“Your brothers protected you from everything, didn’t they? You have no idea about the real world. You have been shielded from reality in every aspect. You are a little girl who has no idea what it really means to be a mafia wife. What experience do you have with men anyway? Nothing? They stopped you from learning or feeling anything because any guy who got close to you, they just took care of it—made him go away—I get it now. You wouldn’t even know what to do if you wanted to do it.“

My words come flying from my mouth like fire from a dragon's jaw. I know it’s harsh. But the truth can be brutal, and I know that is exactly what happened to her. Her brothers treated her like a spoiled little princess and took care of all problems that came her way.

“You are an asshole!” she shouts, tears spilling down her cheeks again. I’ve hit a nerve. “I hate you,” she whispers darkly.

In a flash, I roll over, grab her hips and yank her down into the bed, then press my body over hers. “And you married me, princess. So you are going to have to learn to deal with it.”

My cock is already growing hard again.

She is squirming beneath me, but at the same time, I see heated desire in her eyes.

She stops fighting, glaring at me with force. I wrap my hand around her jaw and pull her face close to mine. My lips are inches from hers. She doesn’t move.

I press my lips against hers and she gasps loudly.

I rock my hips forward against her. I could just rip her pants off and fuck her. It would be so easy. And every cell in my body is screaming for me to do that.

But, instead, I sit up. She looks confused.

I move off her and shake my head, angry and full of pent up lust.

She moves away from me, scuttling across the bed to the edge.

I let out a heavy sigh of annoyance.

“Go and sleep in the other room if that is what you really want, princess.”

‘What?” she says in horror. “You told me there was no other room.”

“I lied. I am sure you can manage to find it on your own seeing as you are so independent and all.”

She throws the blankets off herself and practically falls out of the bed, trying to move away from me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yells at me.

“What’s wrong with me is that my wife doesn’t know how to be a wife,” I snarl back at her.

She spins on her heels and marches towards the door.

“Anya,” I call her name and she pauses in the doorway, not turning to look at me. “I promise you one thing.”

“What could that possibly be, Rodion?” she says, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“I promise you that in no time at all, you will be crawling back into my bed—begging me to take you.”

Her shoulders tense up. She freezes for a moment and I wait for her to argue or say something back to me—but she doesn’t. She just walks away, disappearing from my sight.

I grab the blankets and yank them over myself as I roll onto my side, away from where she should have been lying tonight.

My body is far too agitated to fall asleep. I can’t focus on anything else but the sight of her in those transparent lace white panties. The worst part is that I know she would have given in if I had pushed just a little more. And I know she would have loved every fucking moment of me being inside her.

Why the hell is she so stubborn?

I won’t take her against her will, though. She has to ask me now. In fact—she has to beg me if she wants anything from me.

If she wants to play power games, then I can play them too. No one says no to me. In business, I get what I want. In my family, they all respect my decisions.

And especially not in my own home. She has no right to say no to me.

But she will have to learn the hard way now.

***

I toss and turn for two hours, desperate to fall asleep but far from being able to.

When I do eventually drift off, it's restless and horrible. I keep waking up with a fright, my body tense and agitated.

In the morning, I get up really early because I can’t take it anymore. Peeking into Anya’s room, I see that she is still fast asleep.

I shower, get dressed and leave the house before she is up. I need to get out and away from her to clear my head.

She makes my thoughts foggy and scattered and I hate that. I need to be in control over everything at all times. Including my body and it’s reactions to her.