Tonight was perfect…
Vitali seemed genuinely pleased with the evening. My eyelashes frosted over in the Siberian winter, but the warmth that knowledge gave me thawed out my world.
“Come on, Kotik, I want to take you somewhere,” he said suddenly, and we took a turn back. I began protesting, I wasn’t done with the evening, but he hushed me. “Trust.”
We were close to the podyezd and my heart sank because it couldn’t be over yet, but he veered off toward the BMW.
“I didn’t bring my heels; do I need my heels?” I asked as he held the door open.
“No.”
It took three cranks to get the engine going, and Vitali almost swore, then muttered something about missing the Mercedes. We didn’t drive far, just outside my district, where there were fewer lights and almost no one around. Those who went out had already left for the lively hubs near the parks, and those who stayed in were holed up in the warmth of their apartments. All was still, and dark.
He parked, predictably atop what would be a small field for kids to play football in the summer, and did not shut off the engine when he opened the door for me. I tried to ask more questions, but he gently shushed me as he fiddled with something while I stood off to the side. He left the back door open when he faced me again.
Its light cast across the untouched, sparkling snow, creating brilliant shadows and a soft winter glow. I stood in its spotlight.
Then, it all became clear.
So many years spent in the dark, holding the ashes of my spark…Chloé Dae began.
He offered me his gloved hand.
You were the sun breaking through, the warmth I found, I found in you…
I took it, breathless and relying on him to hold me up as my boots slipped. The momentum only made it easier for him to catch my waist.
There was no hope in me at all, then you showed up and made me whole…
The icy pavement crunched beneath us as he led me in the slow, careful dance.
You showed me all that I could do…
I tilted my head back to look into his eyes. They were fixed on mine.
Now I close my eyes and I am something new—because I loved and you loved me too…
His ragged breath spilled like smoke into the cold, and the leather of his glove pressed against the nape of my neck, the ice left over on their surface digging into my skin. Our lips met in a violent collision. The kiss sparked, igniting heat driven by the taste of him. Forbidden until now. Unknown until now, and perfect in every way because it was Vitali—in the exact way I imagined.
He held me tight, not even aware he was the one in danger of never getting away. This was everything I wanted, everything I dreamed of for this beautiful, irreplicable moment.
His other hand had caressed my throat, a thumb resting just under my chin as if I wasn’t ready to tear his clothes off in this -30°C weather. The kiss was hot, and deep, and his mouthmoved against mine with urgency that screamed uncontrollable want. His thigh pressed into me and the heat spread wickedly through my veins. His lips, his tongue, his scent—I was burning up. All I could think was that this was the night, and I was ready for it to be this night. Our night, even if it had to be in the backseat of his car.
—because I loved, and you loved me too…
And he pulled away.
No.
No…
“Don’t,” I begged hoarsely.
He didn’t—couldn’t look away from my lips like something fought inside him, and he was close to giving in. But no one had as much self-control as Vitali Konstantinov. His hand remained on the back of my neck.
I was ready to get on my knees and throw any ideals of being a modern woman right off the edge of the world. “Vitali, please…”
His hand shifted, no longer at the back but now holding me firmly by the throat, creating a barrier between him and I. He breathed hard, and lightly shook his head in disbelief at something I wasn’t privy to.
