Tangled Vows

by Yvonne Lindsay

  “And if he wasn’t?”

  She looked at him with such an expression of yearning in her eyes that it made him wish he could grant her every wish.

  “Then we’ll keep him.”

  “I’ve never had a dog,” she admitted, pressing a kiss to the top of the puppy’s head and earning a sloppy kiss in return. “But I’ve always wanted one.”

  “First, let’s get him to the vet.”

  Ilya put out his hands to take the puppy from her. The animal really was a sad little bag of bones and hair. Ilya only hoped that it didn’t have any underlying problems. He could see that Yasmin had already lost her heart to the little guy. He didn’t want to see it broken if the puppy had to be euthanized. It didn’t matter how much money it took, he decided. They’d be bringing this little one back home.

  Five

  When Yasmin and Ilya returned from the vet, they were both covered in grime from the puppy. They’d left him for a thorough checkup and to be rehydrated. The animal wasn’t microchipped and didn’t appear on any lost pet registers so it didn’t look like he could be returned to his owners. Not that they deserved him if they had been the people who dumped him in the first place, Yasmin thought with a surge of anger.

  She’d been pleasantly surprised by Ilya’s reaction, though. She’d seen a side of him she hadn’t known existed before today. Everything she’d ever heard about him in the past had pointed to his being an overentitled, calculating person. Not someone who could show so much compassion to an abandoned animal. And certainly not someone she would ever have seen herself married to, let alone potentially happily married to. She didn’t want to admit she could be wrong about him—after all, once she made up her mind, she didn’t usually waver. But she needed to form her own opinions of the man she’d married, and so far he was shaping up to be very interesting, indeed.

  “I don’t know about you, but I feel like I could do with another shower,” Ilya said, closing the front door behind him. “But before we do that, let’s get you into the biometric security database so you can come and go as you please.”

  He invited her to the keypad and pressed a few buttons before asking her to put her finger on the sensor.

  “There, that’s all done.”

  “And in a power outage?”

  “Battery backup.”

  “And if that fails?”

  “Generator.”

  She pursed her lips. “Do you always think of everything?”

  “Contingency plans are my thing.”

  “Is there a particular reason for that?”

  “I don’t like being caught unprepared. It happened once in my life and I swore to always be primed for whatever could happen next from then on.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “It was.”

  Yasmin looked at Ilya—saw the shadows that passed through his eyes.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she prompted gently.

  “Not really, but you deserve to hear it from me rather than secondhand from anyone else. In fact, I’m surprised you don’t already know.”

  “About what?”

  “The day my father died.” Ilya sighed and rubbed his fingers over his beard. “I was sixteen and he was giving me a flying lesson. He just died. Right there next to me. His head dropped forward, he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. Just like that. One minute we were talking, the next he was gone. I couldn’t do a single damn thing to help him. Even if I’d known CPR, it wasn’t like I could start it right there in the cockpit. I had to land as quickly as possible to give him a chance, so I radioed for help and they talked me down.”

  “Oh, no. That must have been terrifying for you.”

  “I’d done a couple of landings before, so while it wasn’t the best of landings, we got down safely. But it was too late for my dad. They said he suffered catastrophic heart failure and there was nothing that I could have done.”

  Silence fell between them and Ilya shook his head.

  “Anyway, that was nearly twenty years ago. It’s well and truly in the past and it’s part of the reason why I like to be prepared for any eventuality now.”

  “I’m really sorry about your dad, Ilya.”

  He looked at her, his intense blue eyes piercing her as if he could see through all her shields to the genuine compassion she felt for his loss.

  “Thank you.” He gave her a bittersweet smile. “You know, most people, when they hear what happened, focus on the flying and on how I got the plane down. Very few actually remember I lost my father that day.”

  Yasmin tried to ignore the tug in her chest. “Well, I don’t think anyone could ever accuse me of being like most people.”

  “You’re not at all like I expected.”

  “That makes us even, then,” she answered as lightly as she could. Before he could reply, she started up the stairs. “I’m going for that shower you suggested.”

  She felt his eyes boring into her back, as if he was reassessing her in some way. It made her wonder exactly what he had expected when he realized she was to be his bride.

  In her room, Yasmin gathered up some clean clothes and went into the bathroom. His housekeeper had been in already and changed the towels. The woman had to be a ghost because Yasmin hadn’t met her yet, but she could certainly tell where she’d been. She put her things on the vanity and reached to turn on the shower. Her wedding ring caught the light and the diamonds sparkled brightly.

  Unused to wearing jewelry, Yasmin was surprised at how quickly she’d become accustomed to the ring. It wasn’t something she would have picked for herself but she certainly wasn’t averse to wearing it. The design was very low profile, so it wouldn’t catch on anything, and the baguette and round diamonds that crested the top of the platinum setting appealed to her hidden sense of whimsy.

  She quickly disrobed and stepped into the shower, rinsing away the perspiration of the morning and the grime she’d picked up from the puppy. She wondered how he was doing. The poor thing had been so very listless but the vet, apparently another of Ilya’s cousins, had been reassuring and said she expected him to make a full recovery in a few days’ time.

  Yasmin lathered up some soap and stroked it over her body, remembering just how gently Ilya had held the pup when he’d taken it from her on the walk back to the house. His hands fascinated her. Broad but with long tapered fingers, they contained such strength and capability. What would it feel like when he touched her intimately? she wondered.

  Her pulse kicked up a beat and her insides tautened on a swell of desire. Only time would tell—if they lasted that long—she told herself as she switched the spray to a cooler setting and rinsed off quickly before drying and dressing herself again. There was still the incompatibility clause to contend with, although based on this morning’s adventure, they seemed to be getting along okay.

  But one morning did not a marriage make, she reminded herself firmly. She grabbed her cell phone from her bedside table and quickly checked her email, flicking through the congratulatory messages from her colleagues at Carter Air. There was one there from someone she didn’t know. Strange, she thought as her finger hovered over the message, debating whether to open it or send it to spam. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the unread message.

  You had no right to marry him.

  A sick feeling lodged in Yasmin’s throat. Sheer instinct made her press Delete but then she went into the trash file to find out who had sent it. The sender’s address was linked to a widely used email provider and there was nothing in the moniker attached to it, hisgirl, that rang any bells. Yasmin hit Delete again, removing the message from her email server completely. It was just some sicko with nothing better to do, she told herself as she returned downstairs and put the correspondence to the back of her mind.

  She found Ilya out in the loggia by the pool. Grapevines, laden
with bunches of plump fruit, grew over wooden rafters that sheltered the area. He rose from a chair as she approached.

  “I just made a call to Danni. She tells me the puppy is on a drip with dextrose and he’s already starting to look more alert.”

  “Oh, that’s great news. Thanks for checking up on him.”

  “No problem. I thought you’d want to know. Danni said she’ll give me an update this evening. By tomorrow she thinks he might be able to take a bit of food.”

  “And then can we have him?”

  “That’ll be up to her.”

  “Of course,” Yasmin was quick to agree. “He’s getting the best care possible, which is just as it should be.”

  “I’m surprised you never had a pet as a kid. You seem very invested in this one.”

  “Granddad wasn’t keen on animals. Just another mouth to feed, he always said.”

  * * *

  Ilya looked at her in surprise. Was that how old man Carter had thought about his granddaughter, too? When her parents had left her with him, had she just been another mouth to feed, or had he genuinely loved her?

  “Speaking of feeding, Hannah has made us some lunch.”

  “Hannah? Is that your housekeeper?”

  “Yes, she thought she’d remain scarce while we’re still on honeymoon.”

  “She needn’t stay away on my account.”

  Ilya laughed. “Sick of me already?”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Yasmin protested.

  “Just teasing you. You’re going to have to get used to that.”

  “I’m not used to teasing, period. Anyway, I reiterate, she doesn’t have to skulk around avoiding us.”

  “When you get to meet her, you’ll know that Hannah never skulks,” he said on a chuckle. “She just thought we’d benefit from time to get to know each other. She’ll pop in every few days, freshen up our supplies and do a bit of housework.”

  “I can do housework. I don’t expect to be waited on.”

  “Not even by your husband?”

  To his surprise, Yasmin’s cheeks grew flushed.

  “Not by anyone,” she said firmly.

  “That’s a shame, but you’re going to have to get used to it because I’ve been appointed your waiter for this afternoon. Take a seat and I’ll go get lunch.”

  “I can help.”

  He walked around behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, guided her to a chair facing the pool and gently pressed her into it.

  “I’ve got this. Just relax.”

  Yasmin choked out a laugh. It had a slightly bitter ring to it. “I’m not used to relaxing. I’m more used to working.”

  “Everyone needs a break,” he said lightly. He wasn’t going to be the one to point out that she’d brought up work this time. He hated that they had to walk on eggshells around the topic. The longer he thought about it, the crazier it seemed. But then again, they were business rivals, which was going to make this a very interesting marriage all around.

  He removed the lightly grilled salmon from the oven, divided it into two equal pieces and plated it. He set the plates on a large tray, then added a bowl of salad together with a small jug of lemon-caper sauce for the salmon before taking it all outside.

  “That looks good,” Yasmin commented with a great deal of interest as he approached.

  “Trust me, Hannah is an incredible cook. I’d be half the man I am today without her,” he answered with a smile. “How about you serve up our salad and I’ll go get us drinks.”

  He went back to the kitchen and grabbed the ice bucket, together with two glasses and a particularly good German Riesling he’d been saving for a special occasion. Returning to the table he pulled the cork and poured two measures of wine. He gave one glass to Yasmin then held his up in a toast.

  “To us,” he said simply.

  She hesitated a moment, her eyes not quite meeting his, but then she seemed to come to a decision and she clinked her glass against his. “Yes, to us.”

  For some reason her response made him relax. He hadn’t even realized he’d been on tenterhooks until he’d waited those extra few seconds. He took a sip of the wine. It shouldn’t matter so much already, but he wanted to be fully invested in this marriage. He had told his grandmother he was ready for it, ready to commit to one person for the rest of his life, and according to her she’d found him The One. He was the kind of guy who, once committed, gave it his everything. Was Yasmin ready for that? Ready for him? Maybe if he understood her reasons for entering into their match he could be sure they were completely on the same page, but until then he knew he’d be holding a piece of himself back.

  He’d been hurt. He’d believed his ex-fiancée had loved him the same way he’d loved her. That she’d wanted the same things. But in the end it had turned out that she was a fake, and not only a fake but a cruel one into the bargain. He didn’t want to make that same mistake again. It had made him wary of relationships, of trusting anyone outside of the tight-knit circle of his family.

  Could he trust Yasmin?

  Six

  Yasmin continued to swim against the tide of the pressure jets in the pool. Her arms and shoulders were beginning to burn but she had to rid herself of the frustration and tension that had become her companion over these past few days.

  There’d been another email since the one a few days ago. Again, she’d been tempted to delete it unread. Again, she’d opened it. The message had been succinct.

  Leave him!

  Yasmin had the strong feeling that or else was implied. She wondered who the heck hisgirl was. Clearly someone who thought they had a prior claim on Ilya. Well, that someone could take a long walk off a short pier. Which made Yasmin realize she felt oddly proprietary about her husband of only a few days.

  Yesterday, they’d visited the puppy at the vet’s, and he was coming along quite literally in leaps and bounds. His stomach was taking a while to adjust to solid food again so Danni was taking an extra day or two just to ensure he was one hundred percent before releasing him. Ilya and Yasmin would initially foster him, then hopefully become his full-fledged owners if no one came forward to claim him soon.

  Watching Ilya with the puppy really tugged at her heartstrings. This big man who had such a powerful reputation in the aviation world was an absolute pushover when it came to the puppy. It seemed as if Ilya wore a different face for each different situation he found himself in, which made her wonder about the face he showed her.

  He’d been solicitous toward her, but since the night of their wedding he’d made no further move to touch her or kiss her again, and quite frankly, it was driving her crazy. Her nights had been peppered with dreams of the two of them, limbs entwined, lips fused in passion—and unfulfilled demands had woken her every morning, leaving her seething with frustrated need.

  She’d had sex before. Quite liked it on occasion. But she’d never missed it when she hadn’t been in a relationship with someone, partly because she could always throw herself into her work. And she’d certainly never suffered from this level of torment before. Nor had she ever found herself sizing someone up—in this case, her husband—and wondering about how the play of his muscles would feel beneath her fingertips or her tongue. Or wondering at the shape of his butt as he bent to remove some plate of deliciousness from the oven for their evening meal together.

  Hence the swimming. Between that blasted email and her unrequited sexual needs she had to find release somewhere. She didn’t want to spend all her time mooning over her husband’s all-too-few masterful kisses or the shape of his body. Well, maybe she did, but it wasn’t going to help her any, was it?

  Her muscles screaming, she did a flip turn, slowly swam to the opposite end of the pool and hauled herself up onto the edge.

  “I was beginning to think you’d developed fins and gills,” Ilya said from above her.


  She lifted her head and looked up. Her mouth dried instantly. He was wearing a pair of swim shorts that exposed his long, tanned legs, and above the waistband all she could see was an expanse of skin and muscle.

  “Gotta get my exercise somehow,” she muttered, accepting a towel from him and averting her gaze as she dried off.

  “Our daily hikes not enough for you? Maybe I need to set a more challenging pace,” he teased.

  He sat down beside her on the edge of the pool and dangled his legs in the water. Her skin was cool from being in the water for so long and she could feel the heat coming off him in waves. How was it that he was literally so hot? It was like his internal thermostat was constantly set on high. Her one-piece suit clung to her body like a second skin and she felt her nipples tighten against the wet fabric.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “I enjoy the walks.”

  “Me, too. You’re good company.”

  “Just as well, huh? It would make life difficult if we didn’t get along.”

  Ilya propped himself up on his arms and turned his face to the sun. With the light streaming over his body, he looked like a gilded warrior god of ancient times. Yasmin felt that all-too-familiar tug through her body, that clench deep in her core.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” he started and straightened to look her in the eye.

  Yasmin felt a frisson of wariness. “And that is?”

  “Why did you apply to Match Made in Marriage? After all, you’re a good-looking woman who runs her own business. I haven’t seen any evidence of unusual traits or habits that would be majorly off-putting to anyone.”

  “Majorly? Oh, so you think I have some minor off-putting traits?” she asked on a laugh.

  “You know what I mean. Getting to know you is interesting. Like, I never realized you were such a nerd at school.”

  “I never told you I was a nerd.”

  “No, but this morning while we were on the trails you did tell me about winning the science prize and the math expo and—”