21. The Rhythm of Love
Chapter twenty-one
The Rhythm of Love
Kazimir
Silent, Emily hugged me as I carried her up those stairs and out of the house in a blur.
When we made it outside, the cool night air hit my face.
Tisha and my men stood in the yard with their guns drawn and their eyes scanning the perimeter.
Meanwhile, Delphine’s people lingered on the edge of the porch. Their silhouettes were menacing in the dim light, as if they were moments away from leaping off and charging at us.
That’s all I need tonight. A damned shootout in this witch’s yard.
“Get back in the cars!” I barked, hurrying Emily down the stairs. “We’re leaving. Tisha and Maxwell, get in one of the SUVs. I’m riding alone with my mouse.”
My men began backing up, moving to the SUVs while keeping their gazes trained on Delphine’s shadowy followers.
“Alright, but we’re sticking to the plan?” Maxwell asked, keeping his pace with me.
For the first time since getting her, Emily lifted her head.
I looked at Maxwell. “We will have to get the kids first along with everybody else and then head to the airport.”
Emily shook her head vehemently, and her expression was one of adamant refusal.
“ Mysh .” I frowned. “We are leaving New Orleans.”
Yet again, she shook her head, struggling against the hold I had on her, and those brown eyes were wide with an unspoken plea.
I stopped walking and scowled. “You were on the floor with snakes slithering over you.”
That memory shivered through me.
“We are going back to Russia.”
She waved one hand from side to side.
“Goddamn it, mysh .” I bared my teeth. “You want to stay?”
She bobbed her head.
Maxwell let out an exasperated breath. “Come on, Em. This shit is bugged out. Aunt Delphine scares me. Plus, she had Kazimir looking like a fucking chump down in the basement—”
“No one had me looking like a chump,” I snapped. “However, you were about to piss your pants several times—”
“Damn right I was! Shit. I think I might have pissed in my pants just a little bit. The normal amount of piss for a normal person dealing with crazy shit.”
Emily waved her hand again, letting me know that she absolutely did not want to leave New Orleans.
“Goddamn it!” I returned to getting us to the car. “We stay tonight, and once you get your voice back in the morning, we will talk.”
She sighed. The sound was so filled with fear it nearly broke me.
I gazed at her and lowered my tone. “But, your voice back or not, I will not budge on this. I want you far away from Delphine.”
“Eh, one more thing.” Maxwell hurried back to my side, dove his hands into his pockets, and produced a joint. “Take this, Em. She said you can smoke and that you would want to. Now. . .I wanted your first time to be just you and me on Bourbon Street, but—”
“Just give her the damn joint and get out of here.” I was ready to break someone’s neck.
“This motherfucker.” Maxwell handed it to her.
She gave him a sad smile and then took it.
“See you both at the hotel.” Then, Maxwell headed off with Tisha, leaving us to face the uncertain night ahead.
Soon, I helped Emily into the backseat of the car.
Next, I slipped in. “Get close to me, mysh . You are freezing.”
She curved those lips into a smile.
“You are smiling?” I slammed the door behind me and wrapped my arm around her waist. “I was terrified. My heart is still pounding in my ribcage.”
She placed her hand on my bare chest.
I turned to the driver. “Why aren’t we moving already?! Get us out of here!”
“Sorry, sir.” The driver rushed with starting the car. No sooner did it start up and the tires crunched over gravel, and we were speeding off.
“And put on some music. Surely, New Orleans has a proper jazz station.”
“Yes, sir.” The driver fiddled with the radio and then stopped on a smooth jazz channel.
The soothing sounds of a melodic saxophone and piano filled the car.
Keeping her hand over my heart, Emily watched me.
Could she feel the maddening pumping of that organ?
Did she have any fucking idea how much I truly loved her?
In the fleeting calm of the car ride, with only the soft jazz music playing in the background, I found a pocket of peace with my mouse. With my arms around her, all the chaos of the night melted away.
I studied my mouse. Even though she had been still on the ground for hours, she looked like she had been through hell and back.
Her face was streaked with dirt, blood, and sweat, her cheeks flushed and eyes tired. Her once sleek hair was now disheveled, sticking to her sweat-drenched forehead.
Still. . .to me. . .she was more beautiful than ever.
My heart ached.
I gently brushed away the strand of Emily’s hair that clung to her sweat-dampened forehead. My fingers lingered with a tenderness that came deep from my soul.
I leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
She closed her eyes.
“I would burn the world to ashes before letting harm come to you.” My chest rose up and down. “Do you understand that?”
She opened her eyes and slowly nodded.
“Yet, you want to stay in New Orleans?”
She nodded again.
“Do you think you are really being healed?”
Her eyes watered.
That made something inside me snap.
“ Mysh . . .” I reached for my mouse, pulling her into my lap.
She let the jacket fall from her legs and straddled me. Her warmth radiating through to me.
Her scent danced around my nostrils, coaxing my angry thoughts into submission.
She placed her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her curvy frame, holding her closer to me. In my grasp, she was a tiny porcelain doll.
Perfect.
Fragile.
The car’s headlights cut through the darkness of the night as we headed away.
She shivered against me.
I tightened my hold on her. “I may end up killing that witch.”
She sat up and scowled.
“I do not trust her.” I dove my hands into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and gave it to Emily. “Type it out. I want to know what happened.”
She shook her head.
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean no?”
Leaning back a little, she took the phone from me, typed a little, and then handed it back to me.
I read the message.
It’s too much.
I looked back at her. “If it is too much, then, summarize.”
She tapped the screen again.
“It’s too much to summarize?”
She nodded.
I wanted to roar, but I wouldn’t let myself lose control, not when my mouse appeared so out of it.
I calmed myself. “I know you. Even if it is too much, you would summarize something. So, what is really going on?”
Emily turned her gaze to the window.
“I know you well enough to know when you are avoiding something.”
She continued to gaze in the other direction.
“I think you are able to type something, but you are afraid.” I took her chin and directed her view to me. “What is it?”
Emily’s eyes shimmered in the faint light, pooling with unsaid words and hidden thoughts. She bit her lip, a sign of her internal battle.
I quirked my brows. “ Mysh ?”
She looked at me, then at my phone, and then back at me.
“Write it down,” I urged, my voice as gentle as I could make it over the throbbing fear that thudded in my veins. “Whatever it is, we will face it together.”
She didn’t move.
The car weaved onto the dark highway, taking us back to New Orleans.
“ Mysh , whatever you decide, I’m with you. Your strength is mine. Your fears, I’ll shoulder.”
She returned to hugging me, pressing those soft breasts against my bare chest.
I relished in the gentle pumping of her heartbeat against mine. “You’re not alone in this, not now, not ever. If you choose to stay in New Orleans and face this, I’ll stand by your side, fighting every shadow, every demon, that dares to threaten your peace.”
My voice was steady, my resolve unbreakable. “And if it’s time to leave, to seek safety in Russia or wherever else, then I’ll swim you there myself if I must. All I want, all I’ve ever wanted, is for you to feel safe, to feel loved.”
She sat back up. Tears spilled from her eyes.
The sight gave me chills.
My bottom lip quivered. “And these words are not a castle built on sand, vulnerable to the first wave that might wash it away. My love for you, my promise to you, is a fortress made of diamonds. Impenetrable. Lasting forever.”
Reluctantly, she took the device from me, but did not type. Instead, those fingers trembled the whole time.
“Do not start holding things back from me now.” I frowned. “Together, we have weathered storms and battled nightmares. This. . .this is just another chapter in our story.”
She parted her lips.
“And I promise you, we will emerge stronger, together. Just say the word, mysh , and I will tear down the stars from the sky and shatter mountains to make it a reality.”
Her fingers hovered over the screen for a moment before they started moving.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Each tap echoing in the silence of our car ride like the ticks of a bomb about to explode.
More tears spilled from her eyes.
Fear—it was an emotion I prided myself on mastering, on bending to my will.
Yet, in those moments, fear seeped into the marrow of my bones.
Unbidden and raw.
It wasn’t the fear of physical danger; no, that was an adversary I knew well, one I could confront with steel and fury.
Bullets and bombs.
This was different.
This was the fear of the unknown, of the unseen blows fate could deal to the one person who had become my anchor in a tumultuous sea.
My mouse.
I feared for her.
I feared for our sons who needed my mouse just as much as me.
I watched her, this woman who had become the epicenter of my world, grappling with the shadows that danced in her eyes.
What could have her so sad and scared?
The thought of her in pain, in any form, was a blade twisting in my gut.
Yet, the realization that she might keep her fears, her burdens, locked away from me was a different, more insidious kind of agony.
Sighing, she gave me the phone back, her hand shaking noticeably.
Alright.
I read the words on the screen.
Kaz. . .I am not the original, and there are more personalities than Lunita.
Shock enveloped me.
More personalities?
I lifted my view back to her.
Fear painted Emily’s face as she looked at me, her eyes wide and searching. Her body trembled.
She’s not. . .the original. . .
I blinked, put my view back on the phone, and reread the message to ensure I was not mistaken.
But no matter how many times I read it, the words remained unchanged.
I put my view back on her. “Do you remember when I took you from New York?”
She wiped at her tears, but they kept coming.
“Deep in my heart, I knew that I never intended to bring you back to America.” I set the phone on the seat next to us. “I just had no idea how much I was in love with you, but. . .eventually I learned. And then you became pregnant with our twins, and lost our little girl, and I learned even more how much I love you. Next, you had our son and I learned again. Now this. . .and my heart. . .it expands wider than I ever knew was possible.”
Shaking her head, Emily covered her face with both hands, pressing her trembling palms tightly against her cheeks.
There, she sobbed.
Tears spilled out from underneath her palms.
“And now, mysh?” I leaned forward and hugged her. “You say there are more people than Lunita, I say there are more people to love. Because they are all you.”
Her body spasmed against me.
I ran my fingers through her hair and landed kisses to the curve of her neck.
My voice dropped to a whisper. “You say you are not the original, and I say you are the only important one.”
Emily tightened her grip on me, her sobs muffled against my chest.
Even now, through her pain and turmoil, I could feel the warmth of her love seeping into me.
Not knowing why, I rocked her like I would have rocked our son, hoping it would soothe her. “You are my universe, Emily. Just do not ever stop loving me. That would be the only thing that could break my heart.”
She let me go, leaned back, and looked at me. Raw vulnerability burned in her eyes.
I pressed my forehead against hers and gazed into those eyes. The points of our noses nearly touched. Our breaths mingled in the small space between us.
Colliding.
Each flutter of her long lashes ignited my inner beast.
Time stood still as we stared deep into each other’s souls.
Our world narrowing to just us.
I whispered, unable to tear my gaze from hers. “And even if you stopped loving me. . .there would be no escape.”
Emily’s breath hitched.
I will have to let the other personalities know that too. They all must understand.
I moved my head back from her. “When you get your voice back, we will talk more about this. I want to know it all. I want to. . .help in any way I can.”
She nodded and her hand slowly rose. Her fingers, shaking slightly, moved towards my face to trace the curve of my jawline.
Her touch was light as a sigh.
Her gaze remained locked with mine, and I could see her mind wrestling with what I had said, dissecting every word and feeling their weight.
“I love you, mysh .”
Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to lean in towards me. Her free hand rose up to cup my face and pull me closer.
And then, our lips met in a soft kiss that sent waves of warmth cascading through my body.
Our kiss deepened and I responded willingly, eagerly even, moving a hand up to cradle the back of her head.
The taste of her lips was as intoxicating as a drug, and I would forever be her addict.
Her tongue slipped against mine.
The intensity of our kiss escalated.
I pulled her closer till I could feel the rhythm of her heartbeat against my chest. It was a staccato symphony that matched my own.
Unable to help myself, my hands explored her silhouette, tracing the shapes and curves with an artist’s precision. My fingers grazed the hem of the shirt, the anticipation in the air was palpable.
She trembled, but I knew it wasn’t fear shaking through that frame.
It was desire.
My hands slipped under the shirt, finding the warmth of her bare skin beneath.
Emily gasped and shivered.
My hand slowly glided up her side and moved towards her breasts.
She leaned back, ending our kiss and panting.
I licked my lips and captured those sensual mounds of softness that my fingers were aching to caress.
The moment my palms cupped her breasts’ fullness, she moaned, and heat shot through me.
Fuck, I want you so bad.
She arched against me, pushing herself further into my grasp. My thumbs brushed over the hard buds at her peaks, stroking them in gentle circles.
Saxophone notes rose in the car. I had no idea if it was a new song or not. All I cared about was touching my mouse more.
But I had to remember all that she went through.
“Should I stop?” I rubbed her nipples some more. “You know that once I start touching your breasts. . .”
To my surprise, she grabbed the bottom of the shirt and inch by inch lifted the hem up, until she had it over her head and off.
“Mmmm.” I placed my hungry gaze on her beautiful body—those full heavy breasts I cupped, the curve of her sides, the slender shoulders, the new little tummy that Emilio had given her, those thick thighs, and that soft warm pussy that sat on top of me.
My beast roared.
My mind went hazy with desire.
My cock hardened.
I leaned my head to the side and yelled at the driver, “Turn the music up, and drive very fucking slow!”
“Yes. . .sir.”