I found myself resting against her heaving chest, soft moans rustling my hair. A cool breeze washed over us, and she shivered but held on when I tried to move. I turned to kiss her neck, not quite sure what happened, and feeling as drunk as if I’d taken ten consecutive punches or drank way too much vodka.
That was all, Lilia. My shy little fawn, holding me in place against her trembling body. This time, I had no desire to stop it and kissed her again. It only seemed like a few minutes that we were tangled up with each other, but now the sun had set, and only a faint red glow on the horizon kept us from being plunged into total darkness.
Finally, she loosened her grasp, and I rolled off, lying beside her with the grass jabbing at my naked thighs. “Get on me if you’re uncomfortable,” I said.
Her hair tickled my cheek as she shook her head. “I’m fine. Look.”
I turned to follow her gaze straight overhead. It was only dusk, the sky not yet midnight black, only a hazy purple color. A bright star still managed to make itself visible despite the hovering smog and light pollution of the city below us. I stopped short of telling her to make a wish.
Who knew what she’d ask the heavens for.
She snuggled in closer to me at the next breeze, but made no move to get up. I was content where I was, too. As volatile as things were between us, the slightest change might set off another argument. Just thinking about reality brought it crashing down around us. My phone rang.
“Don’t,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“Bad stuff might be happening,” I said, reaching for my pants to get my phone out of the pocket. “I’ll just make sure—”
Damn it. It was Benedikt. I had to answer it.
“Do not tell me any bad news,” I said, sliding my hand apologetically down Lilia’s creamy thigh before jumping up and striding down the row of orange trees to listen to what he had to say.
“Luigi knows that Lilia tried to make a run for it,” he said.
“What?” I snapped.
There was no way that could be possible unless someone from my household security team had leaked it. No one at themeeting, not even my own men, knew why I left, only that there was trouble I needed to deal with.
“Did the guard she stabbed make it back from the hospital?” Benedikt asked.
Still buck naked, I moved further from where Lilia now sat up, staring after me into the darkness. “He never went,” I replied in a low voice. “I sent him to my personal doc.”
“You might not be paying that guy enough,” he said. “Or your guard was pissed off enough to talk. I don’t know how it leaked. I also don’t know if they’ve finally got your location.”
I froze, turning to walk swiftly back to Lilia’s side, as if an army might breach the walls at any second. “Find out,” I said, not needing to tell him just how urgent this was.
After ending the call, Lilia started pulling her clothes on, handing me the pieces that belonged to me as she found them. “Is everything okay?” she asked in an anxious voice.
For once, this had nothing to do with her family’s safety or stopping an attack against them. Now the threat might be aimed squarely at Lilia. I kept my tone neutral, glad that the darkness concealed the fear that was surely written all over my face.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, gripping her arm a little too tightly. Nothing was fine. Far from it. “It’s cold. Let’s get inside.”
Chapter 27 - Lilia
Naked, hardly able to breathe, hard ground and prickly grass against my back, my hand intertwined with Gavril’s. The night was moving in fast, the sunset glow almost completely gone. A cool breeze made goosebumps rise on my skin, but I wasn’t chilled. Far from it, I was still overheated from that wild passion.
I drew Gavril’s attention to one lone star shining above us, and we just stared at it in silence as we caught our breath. It seemed like ages ago that I was running for my life; sure, I’d be punished severely this time.
Instead, I got this. Not just another self-defense lesson, but so much bliss I could still feel the tremors coursing through my body. How was it possible? I shouldn’t have been feeling anything remotely like what I felt at that moment. How could I be so giddy, so close to perfectly content? How could I be holding hands and staring at the night sky with the man who wanted to destroy my family?
I couldn’t exactly come to terms with that fact. I hadn’t been able to find out anything new, but I highly doubted his plans had changed in the course of a few days, especially after his little slip during the shooting lesson. I was absolutely certain he ran out of the house this morning because something was going on with my cousins. Or more likely, against them. He was the leader of the Collective after all, our biggest rival.
As soon as they popped into my mind, guilt punctured a hole in my serenity. No, there was no way I could be sighing at the beauty of lying in an orange grove after being so uncharacteristically voracious when my family had to be going out of their minds with worry.
Especially Masha, who hated that we were so far apart and had been trying to get me to move up to the Bay Area with her. She probably blamed herself somehow and was definitely not letting Anatoli get any sleep. I imagined they were in LA now, scouring the streets, interrogating anyone who might have any information, and just plain pulling out their hair.
Poor Matvey, who was like a big brother to us, and the eldest of our Russian clan. He had to be taking this hard, too. Between him and Aleks, I didn’t know who Gavril should fear the most.
I turned to look at Gavril, still gazing up at the star, his bare chest awfully enticing even when I was wracked with guilt. But I had tried to get away so I could get word to them. Maybe I should have picked up that rock after all, to smash a window and find a phone.
