Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
But we could… play.
“How about a glass of wine?” I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her a little.
“Tea, please.”
I used the small kettle to heat the bottled water, and poured her a cup. I eyed the pristine row of unopened bottles of vodka in the bar but decided to refrain. I simply wanted to hold her, tonight. I was not upset. I did not need to numb myself. I wanted to feel everything.
To remember every precious moment of this night.
I gestured to two seats that were front facing and beside each other. She sat by the window. I sighed as I sat beside her to prepare for takeoff, eyeing the couch that was more or less a bed on the other side of the cabin. Perhaps later… I reasoned with the beast inside me.
I put her seatbelt on, then my own, just as the pilot started to taxi. There were no unnecessary interruptions or chatter on my private jet. No pretty stewardesses either. I sent them all off to work for my brothers as soon as I met Mishka. I knew there would be no need for window dressing.
My on-board staff was now all the best you could get, minus the visuals. I felt a slight pang over how superficial I had been before. I still valued beauty, but it was only in one woman, as far as I could see.
Mishka made all other women pale in comparison. They were cardboard cutouts and she was full, splendid, 3D. She was music and art and magic. She was life.
She was my life.
We talking quietly during takeoff, watching the New York skyline fall away as the plane climbed. The colors were slightly different from our arrival several days before. It was nearly midnight, and the city was lit up like a leading lady on Oscar night.
Nearly as beautiful as the woman sitting so gracefully beside me. I felt such a divine sense of peace in her presence. She would never hurt me, I knew. Never utter an unkind word. She would challenge me, yes. Make me work to keep up with her, to understand her, to know her.
But the only way she could truly hurt me, would be to leave. And I aimed to make sure that she never did.
We curved back towards the coastline and then the topography changed. The vast blackness of the Atlantic was gone. Instead, we sailed across an ocean of land and lights. Of cars and highways. Of towns and cities. It wasn’t long before I realized that the silly head tucked against my shoulder was still and quiet.
The only sound in the cabin was the muffled hum of the engine and little Mishka’s breath. Dare I say… even some delicate snuffling sounds. I grinned. My little lady snored.
It might be due to the overwhelming amount of food and alcohol I had poured into her during our adventures on that day. Or the dryness of the air at twenty thousand feet.
But either way, my girl sounded like a petite little piglet, rooting for truffles in the forest.
It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard in my life.
I wanted to hear it for the rest of my life.
And I swore, that no matter what it took, whatever it cost me, I would.
Chapter 34
Mishka
Iturned over in my sleep, frowning at the feeling of cold air oh my skin. I scooted back to where I had been, and the source of heat, without opening my eyes. A warm hand smooths over my hip. My eyes opened in the dark.
Anton’s hand. My hip. A bed?
But no, we were on his private jet, flying to California from New York. I must have fallen asleep. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Perhaps because I felt so safe with him… I trusted him enough to pass out in his presence. Once again.
And once again, he had put me to bed. Only this time, he had joined me there. My breath caught in my throat. My heart started to beat faster. But then he curled against my back. His arms wrapped around me, giving me warmth, and comfort. It felt so good, so reassuring, that I relaxed instantly, melting backwards into him.
His breath fanned my ear.
“Good morning, little Mishka.”
“I am not that little,” I rejoined, pretending to grouse. But then added a soft “good morning, Anton.”
I was rewarded with a low chuckle and a kiss against my temple. Then I was turned and it was my lips being kissed. And kissed. And kissed some more.
“Do you want more kisses? Or coffee?” He finally asked when he lifted his head. I stared up at him as he tenderly brushed my hair away from my face.
“Both?” I asked hopefully. “Kisses first,” I amended.
He gave me such a wide, angelic smile that I nearly swooned. If I hadn’t been lying down, I probably would have. His smile faded slightly as his beautiful eyes moved caressingly over my face to my mouth.