“You truly are one of a kind,” Yuri says, letting a heavy sigh out.
“Yuri,” I manage, melting against him.
I’m soft. I’m boneless and breathless, smiling as I breathe him in. I hope to memorize his scent, to wrap myself in his darkness. It feels good and right and perfect, even if my lower back aches a little against his wretched sink.
“Dangerously addictive,” he says and slowly pulls back.
It feels strange, his absence from my body. It’s as if I’ve spent my whole life missing a piece, and now that I’ve found it, he’s taking it away from me. I know, deep down, that I cannot ask for more. I can see it in his eyes.
The muted sadness, wrapped in shadows and mystery, wrapped in truths he cannot speak.
I know nothing about him.
Yet I feel like I’ve known him forever.
“You look like a rose in bloom,” he says as he picks my panties off the floor. With slow and gentle movements, he helps me put them back on.
I’m speechless, suddenly disappointed that it’s come to an end. The afterglow is downright delicious, but I know the real world awaits just beyond this door.
Quietly, he makes sure I’m fully dressed and looking decent before he puts his shirt and jacket back on. A few minutes passin heavy silence—not awkward silence, just heavy—as we get cleaned up and make sure we look the part before we go back to our seats.
He’s right, though, I notice as I gaze upon my reflection.
I’ve got roses blossoming in my cheeks and a spark in my eyes. The kind of spark I never thought I’d see in them. Yuri takes me in his arms and plants a soft kiss on my temple.
“I’ll go out, first,” he says.
I nod slowly.
“This isn’t something I can ever forget,” he adds, then unlocks the door and leaves.
I need a moment to myself. A splash of cold water to my face as I try to regain my composure. I keep wondering what life will be like after this. What I will do, because everything has fallen out of focus.
My mission. My trip to Paris. The mystery regarding my origins was enough of a doozy on its own. Now, I’m already pining for a man I may never cross paths with, ever again. And I have mixed feelings about it.
“Get it together, girlie,” I tell my reflection.
Easier said than done, but somehow, I manage to pull myself together.
Once I come out of the bathroom, I walk past the flight attendant without so much as a glance, terrified that if we make eye contact, she’ll figure out what just happened. First class looks as tranquil and as ritzy as I left it.
The cabin lights have been lowered, the world softened to a hush of shadows and half-sleep.
And Yuri is back in his seat, unfolding a blanket for me.
“Come. Rest. We both need it,” he says, smiling as he looks up.
“I could sleep forever,” I reply and settle down.
He wraps the blanket around me and keeps me close. I let my head rest on his shoulder, wondering if now is the moment I wake up and realize it was all just a dream. But it’s real. It happened.
And my body has memorized every second of it.
CHAPTER 4
ASTRID
The hum of the engines is soft, as if off in the distance. When I open my eyes, the cabin is dim, quiet.
