Page 101 of Hidden Empire

“I knew my cock would be inside you tonight as soon as you asked to feel me bare, Krasotka. You didn’t ask for something I didn’t want to give. I was trying to be good for you, holding back.”

My lips turn up, eyeing him playfully. “You were very good for me, love.”

With a chuckle, he kisses the top of my head. “I meant that I was trying to be honorable. If people find out, your name will be whispered for years in certain circles. I don’t ever want you to feel like you were so close to something and I took it away from you at the last minute.”

“Being a virgin before marriage isn’t important to me,” I promise. This is it, the time to lay my feelings out. “I’ve always been interested in sex, the only thing I was waiting for was you. I was waiting to be in love.”

“If it’s love that you need, you have nothing to worry about, Jade.”

Smiling up at him, I whisper, “I know.”

Dmitri cups my face, gazing at me with adoring eyes.

“Do you want me to say it first?”

“So badly.”

He nods, holding me close. “I love you, Jade. You have my entire heart and all of my strength. I’ll never stop being yours, no matter what.”

“No matter what,” I echo, the words like the biggest weight being lifted off of my shoulders. “I love you too, Dmitri. I’m yours too, always.”

I could die today happily.

I’ve got everything I’ve ever dreamed about.

A family and an epic love that no one can take from me.

Chapter 27

Jade

The next night, I spill my guts as soon as I’m alone with Ivan.

“Dmitri and I had sex,” I blurt, hardly waiting a second after the door shuts behind my boyfriend. He has to do a pick-up tonight, but I didn’t want to sleep alone, so the two of them snuck me out of my building and into theirs a few minutes ago.

Embarrassed, I cover my mouth but don’t take the words back.

“Yeah,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m right across the hall, Jade. Thin walls.”

Oh. My. God.

How mortifying!

My eyes bug, and I shake my head. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“It’s not a big deal,” he says, shrugging so lightly that I almost believe him. “It’s bound to happen, especially since I’m guarding you now. Chances are, I’ll overhear a lot.”

Well, if he really isn’t fazed by it.

“We said ‘I love you’ too,” I gush, folding my bottom lip under my teeth.

His boyish smile brightens. “So the sex was good then.”

I laugh through the nerves. “You’re bad.”

He holds up his hands, chuckling. “Do you want anything to eat? Or are you tired?”

“Not hungry, not too tired yet, though,” I admit, peering over at the old brown leather couch. “Can we just cuddle?”