“I have a second home there. It’s nice.”
And far away from New York and the safety it provides.
“I’m in my wedding dress.” My torn, bloodstained wedding dress.
“I have a bag packed with clothes I bought for you ready to go. Don’t worry. If you want to change, you can.” He gets up and opens the overhead container and pulls out a nice, leather bag and hands it to me. Opening it up reveals clothes folded up nicely. It’s so pretty that I almost don’t want to touch them but the last thing I want to do is remain in this dress for the entire flight.
Alek doesn’t make me undress for him this time, for which I’m grateful. Instead, I change in the small bathroom into a pair of white sweatpants and a simple white top. Alek had the forethought to pack me pajamas, which tells me that he doesn’t expect me to be naked for the entire honeymoon. Maybehe’s a man who means exactly what he says. Somehow, that’s frightening.
He doesn’t comment on my clothes when I sit back down across from him. Awkwardly, I hand him the wedding dress.
“I didn’t know what to do with it,” I admit.
He takes the dress without question. “I’ll deal with it after we get to France. Now, it’s a long flight. You should get some rest.”
The airplane is too spacious. Too many chairs. Too many windows. Even though Alek and I are the only guests on the plane – the other people being the flight attendant and the pilot and co-pilot – it still feels like too much.
But there’s nothing I can do about it so I tell my heart to calm down and lean my chair back and curl into the smallest ball I can. And that’s when sleep takes me.
With Alek’s eyes on me.
When I wake up, I see that we’ve already landed. Alek is gently nudging my arm.
“You slept through the whole flight,” he says. “I’m sure you were tired. It was a long day yesterday.”
It’s light out now in France.France. I’m in an entirely new country and I have no way of letting Dimitri know. That pains me most of all. How worried he must be for me.
Alek leads me off the plane and into another town car with another personal driver.
“Where in France are we?” I ask. Beautiful trees pass us by. A gravel road is underneath us. We’re not in a large city that’s for sure.
“We’re in the countryside. It’s about an hour drive to Paris. Close enough if we want to go into the city but far enough away for some peace and quiet.”
Peace and quiet. I like the sound of that. But the thought of being alone with Alek is intimidating. I know he’s going to expect things from me. Look at me naked again.
Touch me when I’m naked.
I shiver. The idea is terrifying and yet… I can’t deny the small amount of heat that settles itself deep into my core.
The house we’re brought to is more of a chalet. It’s something out of a fairytale with grey brick covering the entirety of it and green vines overlaying everything to make the house look even more beautiful. I can’t see any neighbors in any direction from this location.
Alek shows me around the inside of the house. It’s classic European. Grand in some areas and minimalist in others.
We end up in the large master bedroom. The intimidating bed is on full display.
“We’re going to share a bed,” Alek announces. I can’t help but squeak, even though I knew this would happen. “I won’t touch you though. Not yet anyway. Not until you want me to. Yesterday was a surprise to us all. With Jack dying. I don’t want to push you into giving me your body just yet. I know how to be nice when I want to be. So, I’ll allow you today, Katya. One day to rest. To explore the house. Get used to it. And then I’ll begin to push you. Push you outside your comfort zone. Push you to new heights you’ve never thought possible.”
I wrap my arms around myself. “What if I’m not ready?”
He cups my face and I can’t help but find some comfort in it. “You will be ready. When the time comes.”
The only consolation about being here in France is that Alek cannot go after Dimitri. He can send other men though and it’s aterrifying thought that Dimitri could die while I’m in a different country.
“You have too much faith in me,” I whisper. “I’m not ready for anything.”
“I can see the desire in your eyes. The desire for more. The desire to be a woman. I know you want it. So give in to it when the time comes. Now, I’ll let you rest some more. I have a chef coming over today to make us food so you won’t need to worry about that. Stay here, in this room. No cage for you here.”
He’s forcing me to stay inside this large bedroom with its large windows and no enclosed spaces. It’s a test. A way for me to get used to being out in the open. Alek doesn’t want me to hide. Not one bit.
