Chapter 175

Elena:

I ran my fingers through my mate’s hair, gently massaging his head. His eyes met mine as he looked up at me, and I couldn’t help but smile as I leaned in to connect my lips with his. He kissed me back, and I ran my fingers through his hair, deepening the kiss.

The two of us pulled away to look one another in the eye, and Vladimir’s purred, making my heart swell. “You’re a gorgeous woman, have I told you that before, malyshka?”

I bit my bottom lip, and he ran his finger over my waist. He massaged my back, and I couldn’t help but laugh as he tickled me. “You are my beauty, my mate, and the one woman that I would ever think of looking at. Don’t let anyone, not Konstantin, not Batrov, and not anyone in this world convince you otherwise. I am going to break their heads if they try to tell you that something is different.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice, Vladimir. I know that you only have eyes for me, and I know that you won’t be looking at anyone else if they offer themselves to you.” I said, and he smiled. He ran his finger, his eyes meeting mine for a second before he leaned in to kiss me again. 

“Konstantin is going to leave,” Vladimir said, and I raised an eyebrow. 

“What?” I asked, my eyes widening as a smile formed on my lips. The idea of him leaving was something that I couldn’t help but find amusing. The fact that he wasn’t going to be around was enough to make my life a lot brighter. It was something that I found myself looking for before Vladimir was here, and now that he was, I knew that things would be more beautiful. 

“He’s heading off to Paris. I am going to stay here to tend to a few business meetings. The man is a coward to face one of the partners that we have.” He said, and I nodded, not asking him any questions about who this partner was. I often knew not to when he didn’t want to let me in on things. In his opinion, it kept me safer not to know, and that was something that I was sure to listen to him about. 

“He would be long, right?” I asked, hoping that we would be getting a little privacy to ourselves. Vladimir chuckled and shook his head.

“Not as long as we would want him to be, but at least we would be getting a few days of peace without him intervening with everything that we do. You know, when he does that, it usually is not for nothing. He is going to come back looking for more trouble, but hey, we are going to be ready for him when he is.” Vladimir said, and I shook my head in question. He smirked, wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me to his chest, and I couldn’t help but laugh when he kissed my cheek. 

“What are you planning, Vladimir?” I asked, running my finger over his chest. I knew that he had a lot on his mind, and though he mostly didn’t let me in on what he was thinking when it included Konstantin, this was something that I was curious about.

“Nothing, for now. But I am going to make sure that he understands what it is to mess with what is mine, and I think that you know very well that you are mine, malyshka.” He said, and I smiled. I nodded, smiling at the man whose eyes lit up. He proved to me more than once that he had eyes for me alone, but his next words were what had me stepping back. The smile on my face faded almost instantly. “I am going to need to have another girl for a while though.”

“What?” I asked, shaking my head in question. I had to fight back gulping as the air felt tight in my chest. His eyes studied my expression, and I looked away from him, not wanting to see the pain in my eyes. I had to admit that this was the last thing that I expected him to say, and I knew that he understood that judging by my expression.

“He needs to lay off your back a bit, Elena. If I don’t do that, he is going to keep taunting you, playing you, and he would even try to hurt you to get to me. I need to do something to stop that, and another woman is what would get this done,” he said, and I hummed in response. I went to get off his lap, but he tightened his arms around me, stopping me. “Elena…”

“Please don’t try to explain this anymore than you did.” I said, stopping him. 

“Malyshka, you need to understand that there are things that I am against and yet I am doing. One of them is not claiming you as my own because I need to keep you safe.” He said, and I rolled my eyes as I pushed his hands away from me. He didn’t fight me off this time, allowing me to get up from bed. 

“I am going to go and take a shower. It’s already late and I need to go to bed,” I said, and he sucked in a harsh breath. He didn’t say a word for a few seconds, allowing me to leave, but I couldn’t help but feel like a weight was settling in my chest, one that I didn’t like. I hoped that he would tell me that he would be finding another way as I walked into the bathroom, that he would stop me. 

He didn’t, and for the first time since I’ve met him, when I entered the bathroom, I turned the water faucet on before a sob broke from my lips. 

“Konstantin was right,” I whispered to myself. “It was only a matter of time before he got tired of me.”

I looked myself in the mirror, my confidence, whatever was left of it, broken as I found that even the person who was supposedly made for me went to choose another. 

“Who do you think you are for him not to search for another woman in the first place?” I asked, shaking my head in question as I whispered my words. “You really are nothing but a slave in their eyes…”