Chapter 24 - Kliment #2
I looked up just then and noticed Volkov standing on the balcony, watching everything below him.
He appeared calm and untouched and our eyes met across the chaos.
For a moment, everything else faded and was replaced by the bloodlust I had for that man.
He smiled and with a flash as everything around him darkened, he disappeared.
Rage flared sharp and immediate, but I had expected it.
He had not gone untouched for so long without having a few tricks up his sleeve.
He was always prepared, but despite that, I stepped back instinctively, scanning the upper levels.
“He’s gone,” Viktor’s voice cut through the comms. “There is a hidden corridor somewhere on the upper levels, but we are tracking.”
“Find him,” I said.
But even as the order left my mouth, I knew that he would not be found.
It wasn’t over yet after all. The compound was secured within minutes and the remaining resistance collapsed quickly under the combined force.
Survivors were detained or eliminated without hesitation.
The illusion of control Volkov had built here was gone.
It was burned out and broken, even if he had managed to escape.
For now. Outside, the night was lit by flashing emergency lights and the distant glow of fires still eating through parts of the estate.
Smoke drifted through the air, ash settling over everything like a quiet aftermath.
I stepped out with her beside me. Alive and still here. That was all that mattered.
For a moment, neither of us spoke, and then I reached for her. My hands came up to her face, framing it, grounding myself in the reality of her.
“I thought I had lost you,” I said. There was no pride or restraint in my emotions, just truth. Where I had shied away from expressing myself before her earlier, I no longer cared. I needed her to know what I felt for her because it felt as if time was running out for us.
Her gaze softened.
“You didn’t,” she said quietly.
Something in my chest tightened.
“I should have—” I started, but she placed a finger over my lips to silence me and shook her head slightly.
“You came,” she said. “Nothing else matters now.”
That was enough for her, but it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to cut open my chest and hide her somewhere inside it she would not be able to leave ever again. So that nothing and no one would ever be able to touch her.
“I love you,” I said.
The words came without hesitation or calculation. Just certainty. Her breath caught for half a second and then she smiled.
“I love you too.”
“I love you more,” I whispered, pulling her into my arms as our foreheads collided against one another.
I kissed her then like I had always kissed her.
Without restraint and without worrying about anything.
When our lips touched, everything in the world ceased to exist except Misha.
She was all that there was. Everything that had been held back for days and weeks broke through in that single moment.
Her hands found my jacket, pulling me closer as if distance was no longer something either of us understood.
The world around us faded in smoke, fire, and war. None of it mattered. There was only her and only this, and when I pulled back, I knew exactly what both of us needed.
“Come with me,” I said. She didn’t ask where. She didn’t need to. The smile on her face was enough to tell me she already knew.
Inside the nearest secured wing of the warehouse, away from the noise and the aftermath, silence finally returned.
The door shut behind us, and for the first time since all of this had started, we were finally alone.
She turned toward me before I could speak, her hands already finding mine, grounding, certain.
I pulled her closer, slower this time, my hands sliding to her waist as I watched her carefully. Making sure. Always making sure.
Her gaze held mine as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“I’m here, and I am not going anywhere,” she said softly.
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
She kissed me then. Soft, safe and lacking all urgency.
It felt as if we had all the time in the world.
My tongue entered her mouth, exploring every inch of her like she belonged to me.
Nothing between us was driven by fear anymore, but something much deeper.
Something that had been building long before tonight.
My hand moved to her hair, brushing it back from her face as I let myself take my time, memorizing every second of her being exactly where she was supposed to be. With me.
“I have missed you,” I whispered, pulling her closer.
“And I have missed you.” Her fingers curled into my shirt, steady but certain, pulling me closer in a way that said she wasn’t going anywhere. The space between us disappeared gradually, naturally, like it had always been meant to.
It only took us a couple of seconds to shift from softness to obsession and before I could even realize what was happening, Misha was ridding me of my holster and tactical gear, which was quickly followed by my t-shirt.
Her eyes raked over me my hands reached to do the same to her until both of us were naked on the floor.
“I can’t believe we are doing this,” she laughed softly, and I shook my head, continuing to kiss her neck.
“I want a lifetime of having sex with you in weird places,” I replied, moaning softly as she cupped my cock in her hands, guiding it towards her already wet pussy.
“You should start with fucking me here.”
That was all the encouragement I needed, and I thrust inside her in one swift motion. Both of us moved in a rhythm that our bodies now had grown comfortable with, clearly in tune with each other. Within minutes, she was coming all over me, and I quickly followed, collapsing over her.
We were both panting, yet still clinging to one another as if there was no tomorrow. Just two people who had chosen each other in the middle of everything else. When I finally pulled back, my forehead rested lightly against hers.
“You’re safe,” I said.
Her breath brushed against my jaw as she answered. “I know.”
And for the first time since this began, I believed it.