Page 81 of The Pakhan’s Hidden Heir

“Bastian,” I whimper and he buries his face in my neck, breathing against my skin. His body tenses, and with one final deep thrust he comes, pulsing inside me as he groans. The feeling of him letting go triggers my release and pleasure crashes over me in waves.

I convulse and jerk, spasming and twitching as I ride out wave after wave of sensation and feel his hot seed draining out of me every time he pulls back to drive in again. It’s euphoric, and I never want it to end. But like all good things, it must.

Bastian pulls out, rolling to his back where he lies staring at the ceiling with his chest heaving. As much as I enjoy that, I still feel conflicted and confused. The way a simple demanding kiss can set me off is scary. yes, I love him, but giving in to him like that sends the wrong message. So when he turns and pulls me to his chest, I tense.

“Bastian,” I protest, grabbing his arm, but he’s too strong.

“You’re my wife, Raina. You’ll sleep with me now.” He nuzzles into my hair, but I’m not happy about this. We didn’t resolve anything. Sex does not fix the problem we have, which is he doesn’t respect my autonomy.

“I want to go to Felix. He’s alone in a big house he’s never been in. He needs me.” I try to get up but he holds me tightly.

“I want you here. He’s with Akim and Demid. He’s fine for tonight.” Again he tries nuzzling in, but the name sets me off. I don’t want that monster anywhere near my son. I throw his arm back and slide out of bed, grabbing my clothes to dress as his cum slicks my thighs.

“I’m going to my son.”

“Get in bed, Raina.” Bastian sits up, looking scarily mad.

“No. That monster has wanted me and my son gone since the day I got here. I don’t want him near my son at all. I’ll watch Felix myself.” Fear pushes me onward, hands shaking as I dress faster than I got undressed.

“Monster?” he asks, furrowing his brow as his eyes narrow. He isn’t trying to stop me, but I don’t care if he does. I’m going to be with Felix.

“Akim isn’t who you think he is, Bastian. He wants me dead. And I want him out of this house or you can forget me coming back to this bed again.” I snag my shoes, dropped to the floor when he picked me up, and head for the door.

But his word stops me cold in my tracks as I start to unlock it. “Raina.” I pause, not looking back over my shoulder. “Get in the bed,” he says again, firmly. But I’m not going to be bullied.

I love him, but he will learn to respect me one way or another.

So I turn, with a glare hotter than the sun, and say, “If I’m your wife, then you respect me as your wife. I am going to my son, and don’t try to stop me. If you want me to be your real wife, you can’t force me to do things.” My cold glare doesn’t thaw or soften at all, but he sighs and says nothing as I turn back to the door and open it.

I’m going to throw those men out of my room and be with my son. And if Akim comes back around to threaten me, he’s going to learn the hard way why Bastian chose me as his wife. Felix is the heir, not him. I may not like that or what it means for Felix’s future, but one thing is for certain. Akim won’t win this.

I will.

And I’ll do it by revealing just how evil he is.

33

BASTIAN

“Well done!” My heart swells with pride as I watch Felix’s eyes narrow in concentration then his face light up. We’re playing a block-stacking game and the object is to remove a block from the tower without knocking the tower over, and he’s beaten me three times already.

“Look, I did it,” he announces, jumping up and down proudly. The whole tower sways, and I steady it with a hand to allow his celebration. Having him back has been the best experience of my life. Following on the heels of my darkest days, it’s revived me.

“You did. What a great job. Now let’s see what I can do.” I wink at him as I select a block, knowing how fragile this tower is, and begin sliding it from the stack. The thing’s about to go anyway, and better on me than him. The disappointment he experiences is almost painful to watch.

When the tower of blocks topples and he is the winner, his whole face lights up. A cackle erupts from his chest and he falls backward, rolling on the floor and slapping his leg. Not a very humble winner, but I’ll never expect him to temper his joy just to avoid hurting my feelings. He’s my son. I celebrate with him.

“You lost!”

“I did,” I say warmly, grabbing a leg to pull him closer. I tickle him, making his laughter and joy brighter, but the mood darkens when my phone rings and I know I have to get back to work. I’ve been shirking my responsibilities to be with him, though not as much as I had been before they came back in my life.

“Why don’t you see what your mama’s up to?” Just talking about Raina brings more warmth to my chest. She hasn’t come to my bed willingly. I’ve had to beckon her every time, but she’s less hostile. We have a lot to work out, but we aren’t fighting at every turn now.

“But I want to play again. Maybe Uncle Akim can play with us.” Felix is stubborn, like me. Ingrid says he’s worse than me, but I can’t blame Raina. She’s had a lot on her plate being a single mother for so long. She did well with what she had.

“Now, I said I have business, so you should go see Mama.” I lift my eyebrows and cock my head, and Felix scowls at me, balling his hands to fists. In a week’s time, he’s had ample opportunity to learn I mean what I say, and he’s adjusting well.

“Yes, Batya. But we can play again later?”