“I heard that,” I said. “And stop pressuring him.”
“If you’re careful and not putting strain on your ribs, you can have slow sex, and I mean really slow,” the doctorsaid. “Nothing that makes you twist, lift, or breathe too hard. And if it hurts, you immediately stop.”
Needless to say, Yulian tried to fuck me as soon as the doctor left, which I didn’t allow, of course.
And now, he’s doing this in the lake, completely blasé about his health.
“He’ll be fine,” Uncle Anton says from beside me. “He looks happy. Let him be.”
“I’m just worried,” I whisper.
“I understand, but a guy like Yulian doesn’t seem to like being tied down. He’s a restless energy ball, and the best way to keep him happy is letting him have his way once in a while.”
I drag my gaze to Uncle. “Is that what you do with Uncle Maks?”
“Mm. I suppose.” Uncle Anton smiles warmly as Uncle Maks waves at us. “He looks his best when he’s out there, being active and wild.”
“Don’t you worry?”
“Of course I do, but I also know for a fact that he can protect himself and that I can protect him. Besides, no matter where he goes, he’ll always come back home to me.”
“I’m just…” I let my gaze flit to Yulian, who’s grinning as he pulls on the rod. “I’m not sure I can protect him from his dad. Alina is safe with Cyrus, and he’s safe with me, but I feel that as long as Yaroslav is alive, Yulian is in danger. I know you and Uncle Maks are extremely private, but did you ever worry about danger from society or the upper echelons?”
He shakes his head. “Iamthe upper echelon. When you have enough power, no one dares to touch you.”
That’s similar to something Mom and Dad say.With enough power, we become invincible.
“Look, Mishka!” Yulian holds up a big fish.
“Beginner’s luck,” Uncle Maks grumbles.
And I just stand up and make my way to them, because I have an idea.
An entirely reckless one that makes complete sense, and I want to hug him, touch him, because this may be the moment our new lives start.
“That was the best ever,”Yulian says after we step out of the shower with towels wrapped around our waists. “I always wanted to go fishing again. Reminds me of the times we used to go to Dedushka’s estate when I was young.”
“You said your mom took you and Alina there during summers?”
“Yeah, they were my happiest memories ever, probably because Dad wasn’t there. Dedushka taught me how to do all sorts of things—horseback riding, fishing, shooting, hunting. You know, things Dad had no interest in teaching me because he doesn’t like spending time with me.”
“Your father is an asshole.”
“I know, right?” He grins, but I still feel like a dick for nagging while he was probably taking the experience with Uncle Maks as a trip down memory lane.
He sits on the edge of the bed, and I help him with replacing some bandages; thankfully, he’s healing properly. But it still stings to see all the slashes, the new scars covering old ones.
I sit behind him on the mattress, my legs on eitherside of him as I do his back. My fingers trace the glorious tattoos interrupted by the slashes.
“It’s the mountain and the cave,” he whispers as my fingers pause on the top of the mountain, trembling slightly against his skin.
“What?”
“The wolf’s me,” he says, his fingers brushing the ink on his shoulder. “Half charging, always ready to strike but never free. The barbed wire is Dad’s cage. His way of trying to hold me down. It doesn’t work.”
My hand slides to the other shoulder, stopping over the raven’s wing. “And this?”
“That one is the part of me that still thinks it can escape. The feathers are broken because…well, you’ve seen what happens when I try to escape.”
