NIKOLAI (Her Russian Protector #4) (28 page)

"Apparently it is."

Mind reeling, Nikolai wished he'd never seen
his birth certificate. He fought the urge to rip it to shreds.
Instead he folded everything carefully and slipped it into the
pocket hidden along the inside of his jacket.

Later, when he had time, he'd think about the
implications of what he'd read. Today was all about Vivian. He
wasn't going to let this shocking and rather unwanted news to ruin
their day.

"Are you all right?" Concern darkened Yuri's
face. "It would be a shock any day but to learn this on your
wedding day?"

"I’m fine." Nikolai shrugged off Yuri's
concern. He wasn't fine. The fist twisting his guts proved that.
"Let's leave it."

"Okay." Yuri didn't push the issue. "Then it's
time to go marry the woman you love."

Nikolai refused to go into his wedding ceremony
with anything less than a clear mind and clean heart. The hurt
feelings of betrayal and anger surging within him were hard to
muscle down but he managed it finally. He refused to be bound to
Vivian with such ugly thoughts in his head.

Out in the small hallway with Yuri, Nikolai
swept the space for a glimpse of her. At first, the priest and the
deacon and Sveta blocked his view. When they stepped aside,
everything and everyone else faded into the background. Their gazes
met, hers a reflection of the hope he held for their life
together.

In that moment, only the two of them existed.
She had never looked more beautiful to him. The dress, the veil,
her bright eyes—he could spend the rest of his life gazing upon her
and never tire of it.

The bells began to ring, signaling the ceremony
was only minutes away from starting. She smiled up at Eric who
placed a chaste kiss against the top of her veil before releasing
her. She held out her hand, silently asking him to join her on
their first steps toward matrimony. His second-thoughts on making
her his wife vanished. Whatever happened, he would be a better man
by having her at his side.

Taking her hand, he denied himself the kiss he
craved so badly. Hands clasped and arms looped, they faced the
priest. It was time to begin their new life together.

Chapter
Eighteen

Breathless and giggling, I finally managed to
extricate myself from the crush of dancing bodies on the packed
dance floor at Faze. I desperately needed a drink and a rest.
Fanning myself, I skirted the edge of the dancing throng and ran
right into Ivan.

The gleam in his eye told me I was about to get
grabbed and ransomed back to Nikolai again. It seemed Nikolai's
friends had gotten together and decided to pay tribute to an old
Russian wedding tradition by snatching me various times during the
wild reception and making him perform certain tasks to get me
back.

Dimitri had been the first to take me, but he'd
done it so sweetly and gently. Instead of stealing and running off
with me, he'd sat down next to me, had a slice of cake and then
asked me if it would be all right to hide me away in the coat check
area. No doubt they were all worried about upsetting me after what
had happened in December. In truth, I was so glad to have everyone
treating me like a normal girl again and without the kid
gloves.

Ivan held out his hand. I doubted he was going
to just walk me away from the dance floor. My suspicions proved
correct when I grasped his hand. The big bear of a man swung me up
onto his shoulder as if I weighed nothing and hustled me away from
the dance floor and upstairs to one of the VIP sections. I couldn't
help myself. I laughed the entire way.

"Are you all right?" he asked after carefully
setting me down.

"Yes." I still had a smile on my face as I
moved to the railing overlooking the main floor. "How long do you
think it will take Nikolai to realize I'm missing?"

"He already knows. He's been watching you like
a hawk." Ivan extended a glass of ice water. "You've been dancing
for hours. You need to stay hydrated."

"Thank you." I happily accepted the glass of
water and took a long drink. Down below, I caught sight of Nikolai
crossing the dance floor to retrieve me. He began to encounter
obstacles every few steps. They made him drink and answer riddles
and even pay.

Certain he would be busy for a few minutes, I
took advantage of my high perch to survey our reception guests. The
wedding ceremony had been smaller and more intimate but hundreds of
our friends and acquaintances had poured into the elegantly
decorated Faze for the celebration. Russians had a certain
reputation for their parties and tonight was no
exception.

"It looks like Santos has finally found a
reason to celebrate." Ivan gestured to Eric who now danced between
two bombshell blondes.

Agog at the sight of my straight-laced cousin
gyrating between those women, I asked, "How much has he had to
drink?"

"It's not a party until someone ends up dancing
naked on a table."

I cringed. "Promise me you'll make sure he gets
home safely. There's no way he can drive like that."

"I'll make sure he gets a cab." Ivan tilted his
head and smirked. "Although I have a feeling, he won't need my help
getting home."

My jaw dropped as one of the women grabbed
Eric's backside. Feeling uncomfortable watching my cousin groping
and grinding, I quickly glanced away from the trio.

"I see that Sergei is still on Nikolai's shit
list," Ivan remarked with a laugh.

I spotted Sergei standing guard over the gift
tables. The unhappy expression on his face wasn't directed toward
his current position but the sight of Bianca dancing closely with
her date. She'd chosen a doctor as her plus-one and I could tell it
was grating on Sergei.

Not wanting to delve into Sergei's unrequited
attraction toward Bianca, I said, "I can't believe Nikolai is
making him babysit those gifts."

"Considering the gifts being dropped on those
tables, it's an important job."

Judging by the sizes of those stacks, I was
going to be writing thank you notes for a month. The sight of
envelopes piled in baskets made feel uncomfortable. Nikolai wasn't
as wealthy as Yuri but he was doing very well. The going rate for
my artwork would likely increase over the next few years so we
definitely didn't need the money we'd been given by our
guests.

"It's about respect."

I glanced at Ivan. "You can read minds
now?"

"I can read people very well. I can see it in
your face when you look at the gifts. You're thinking that you
don't need the money, but that's not why people gave it to you.
They gave it to you because they want to show Nikolai they respect
him."

"I don't like it."

Ivan shrugged and sipped his beer.
"These are the rules of Nikolai's world." He eyed me carefully.
"They're the rules of
your
new world. You have to learn how to play by them
before you can change them."

As Ivan's advice rattled round and round in my
head, Nikolai finally made it upstairs to retrieve me. Ivan crossed
his arms and blocked the way. I saw him hold out his hand. Nikolai
made a production out of withdrawing his wallet and slapping some
cash against Ivan's palm.

The ransom paid, Nikolai triumphantly retrieved
me. The catcalls began and Nikolai grinned down at me. He slid his
arms around my waist and claimed my mouth in a passionate kiss that
left me trembling with excitement. Our guests whooped and hollered
and clapped.

Nikolai dragged me away from the balcony to a
more private area. He brushed his knuckles across my cheek. "You're
blushing."

"You just kissed me in front of hundreds of
people."

He traced my still buzzing lower lip. "I'm your
husband. I get to do so much more than kiss you now."

I gulped and tried to ignore the throbbing heat
between my thighs. "Nikolai…"

He silenced my protest with another sensual
kiss, nibbling my lower lip and sucking gently on the very tip of
my tongue. "One more dance," he said, "and then I'm taking you
home."

Hand in hand, we made our way downstairs to the
dance floor. The live band Erin had arranged started a slower song
that allowed us to sway together. It felt so good to be held so
closely in his arms and to feel his body heat radiating through me.
Sometime during the night he'd lost his jacket and tie. Now his
sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, displaying the many tattoos
curling around his muscular forearms.

Nikolai's fingers sifted through my hair as we
danced. I pressed my cheek to his chest and reveled in his
strength. As we moved around the dance floor, I noticed our friends
all around us. Ivan held Erin close while Dimitri kept his hand on
Benny's noticeable bump. Lena sat on Yuri's lap and giggled while
he whispered in her ear.

It was amazing to me how things had changed so
much since that day Erin had bravely walked into Ivan's gym in a
desperate bid to find her sister. Now Erin was engaged to Ivan.
Benny and Dimitri were married and expecting their first child.
Lena and Yuri were madly in love—and I was a married
woman.

When the song ended, Lena popped off Yuri's
lap. Seconds later, he swooped in to grab me right out Nikolai's
arms. With Lena, Benny, Bianca and Erin flanking him, he carted me
off to the restroom. My friends dragged me inside and Yuri blocked
the door. Once inside, Lena unfurled the white napkin she'd been
clutching in her hand. "Kisses, girls!"

I giggled as my friends pressed their lipstick
covered pouts to the linen. My lips were last. Lena opened the door
just enough to give the napkin to Yuri and point out which pair of
lipstick lips were mine. Apparently picking out my lips would be
the last riddle Nikolai would have to solve.

With the door firmly closed, Lena leaned back
against it and smiled. "So—we thought you might want some pointers
before you rush off to knock those married boots of yours
together."

My jaw dropped with shock. "Are you serious?
Guys—come on!"

Erin hopped up onto the counter. "Look, my
sister might be a hot mess but she gave me some really good advice
before my first time."

I had a hard time believing that but didn't
tell Erin. "And what was that?"

"She told me to keep my expectations
low."

Benny whacked Erin's arm. "Don't say that! How
totally unromantic! It's her wedding night."

Erin poked Benny's side. "It's good advice.
Believe me. If I'd been expecting my first time to blow my mind, I
probably never would have had sex again."

"Oh, right," Lena said knowingly. "Mr. Two
Strokes, right?"

"Oh, yeah. He barely had that condom on before
he was chanting to Jesus."

"Okay," Bianca interjected loudly. "Forget
about low expectations. Baby girl, listen, just relax. Let your man
take the lead."

"I'm with Bianca on this one," Lena agreed.
"Relax. Let Nikolai run the show the first time. I'm sure he has
plenty of experience."

"Lena!" Benny's eyes were wide.

"What?" Lena replied with confusion.

"You basically just called Nikolai a man
whore—in front of his new wife."

"I did not!"

"Yeah," Erin said with a giggle. "You kinda
did."

"Wow." I shook my head and tried not to laugh.
"Maybe next time you guys can get together first and come up with a
game plan."

Benny snorted. "Told you."

Lena rolled her eyes. "Okay. So maybe we didn't
think this through but it's the thought that counts,
right?"

"I guess," I replied, unconvinced. "I
appreciate what you're doing. Really. And don't worry. I don't have
any crazy romance novel ideas of how it will be."

"It might be amazing," Bianca hurriedly said.
"You never know. My first time was pretty damn hot."

"Mine was really nice, too," Benny added. "Like
very sweet and tender. It was a nice introduction to
lovemaking."

"Do you want any pointers?" Lena grinned
mischievously. "Because there's a certain spot on a
man's—"

"Okay." I held up my hands as my face flooded
with the heat of embarrassment. "We're done here."

As the girls laughed, Nikolai knocked on the
door. "Yelena, may I collect my wife now?"

Lena cracked the door and peeked outside. "One
more minute."

Benny was the first to hug me.
"Congratulations, sweetheart. It was a beautiful
wedding."

Erin grabbed me next. She had tears in her eyes
as she squeezed the air right out of my lungs. "I'm so happy for
you. Good luck."

"You were hands-down the prettiest bride I've
had since I took over the boutique." Bianca patted my back as she
hugged me. "Have fun tonight."

Lena was misty-eyed as she pulled me
into a tight embrace. "You call me if you need anything. I'll have
my phone with me all night.
Anything
."

Visions of me holed up in the master bathroom
and calling Lena for moral support flashed before me. "I might have
to take you up on that."