Page 63 of Vienna Bliss

You said it to me once, and even at that time I loved you. But I doubted you, and myself. Now I know what I felt then was only a shadow of what my love for you would become.

What I feel when I am with you…it is bliss.

I do not deserve you, which is why I wouldn’t say this in person. You tell me I am not a monster, but the bargain we struck, and what came after it, were cruel things.

Again, I hear you in my head. Telling me I’m not a monster. I hear you calling me your quiet man, and that makes me smile.

If you do read this letter, please know I expect nothing. I only want to tell you that I love you.

Yours forever,

Alexander

Alena pressed the letter to her chest and let out a happy little laugh. He loved her. She hadn’t known this kind of joy—no, what word had he used?—bliss, was possible.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and read the letter again. It was even more perfect the second time around.

Then she blinked and cursed. It had been nearly a week since she’d been back, he probably thought—

A man sat down beside her. Alena turned and stared. For a moment she wasn’t sure he was real, or really there.

“You read my letter?” Alexander shifted, adjusting his suit jacket. There was a faint blush on his cheeks.

She reached over and pinched him.

“Ouch.” He frowned at her.

“You’re real. And you’re here. In Chicago.”

“Yes. I…I thought since I hadn’t heard from you... I was just pulling up to your apartment when I saw you leaving so I followed you. I had to stop and buy a ticket though.” He pointed to the sticker on his jacket.

Alena didn’t know if she wanted to laugh, hug him, or kiss him.

She settled on all three, throwing herself into his arms. She felt him smile against her mouth before he returned the kiss, which was soft but no less passionate for its gentleness.

She broke the kiss, pulling back to stroke his cheek. Then she grabbed his earlobe and pinched it.

“Ouch. Again.” He glared at her.

“I told you I loved you. Twice I said it first.” She thought back to that last night in Vienna and bared her teeth at him. “I walked all the way across that room, heart breaking. Why didn’t you tell me you loved me, too?”

He considered her for a long moment. “If I answer, you’ll pinch me. Again.”

“Probably. Answer anyway.”

He sighed. “I almost…I almost did, but I thought maybe you said it… With what had just happened and…”

“You, once again, think you know what I’m thinking and feeling better than I do?”

“Don’t pinch me.”

She pinched him.

“Ouch.”

“Listen up, suga’. If we’re going to do this, you have got to stop assuming I don’t know my own feelings. There’s being a Dom, and then there’s that. I only like one of them.”

“I realized my mistake about half an hour after you left. Zakaria made me wait out the rest of the party, and then I thought maybe I’d wait, wait…” He stumbled a little, paused, then went on. “I decided to wait for your response to the letter.”