36. Emily
36
EMILY
“Emily,” she whimpers, hovering towards the mirror. “Is my lipstick too dark? Be honest.”
“You look beautiful.” I hurry to her side and take a closer look. “Just breathe.”
She does as I say, but I spot the frantic energy in her wide, mascara-laden eyes. “How are you so calm?”
“You’re the bride, not me,” I chuckle.
“Oh God. I am the bride.” Clutching the hem of her elegant, crystal-dotted wedding gown, she paces into the main hotel room. Meghan and Carla are mirrored in their knee-length chiffon lavender dresses. Occasionally, they glance over at the details of my dress, and I can spot a hint of jealousy in their eyes. Meghan jumps forward with a glass of champagne. “Here, have some of this for your nerves.”
Nadia grabs it, tossing her head back, chugging it down.
The pair give me a look. I shrug and mouth: Let her do what feels right .
“Okay,” Nadia sighs, setting the glass on the table with a loud thunk. “Okay, okay, okay.”
“ Are you okay?” I repeat .
She shakes her head with a weak laugh. “No, but I’m doing this anyway.”
“Because you have to?” Carla asks, and Meghan elbows her roughly.
Nadia runs her palms over her hair, checking for stray pieces. “Because I want this, even if I seem super nervous.” She casts me a quick, sly smile. “Imagine if I ran away from him, never seeing him again, after all this?”
I can’t help but laugh. “I don’t think Lawrence is going to come chasing after you the way Konstantin did.”
“Thank God for small mercies, huh?”
“Small mercies?” I raise an eyebrow. “Weren’t you the one that said Lawrence has a?—”
“Okay!” She throws her hands up in the air to stop me and stands up, putting her best possible smile forward. “I think I’m ready.”
Something lurches sideways in my guts. I press my hand there with a groan. Nadia glances at me. “You all right, Emily?”
“Yeah, just some mild nausea,” I admit. “It’ll pass.”
“Alright, let’s go!” Laughing until her white teeth flash, Nadia takes my hand in hers. “Just like this.” She squeezes my fingers. “That way we’re stuck together. No bailing. Deal?”
“The last thing I want as your bestest best friend is to bail on you,” I say playfully, echoing the words she said to me weeks ago. “I wouldn’t let you duck out on your fate.”
Grinning, she gives my hand a gracious squeeze and smirks. “Or miss out on good dick?”
“Let’s get you married.” I smile, and stare at Nadia with pure adoration. “You lovable weirdo.”
I’m seated at the main table with Carla and Meghan. Nadia is parked center stage next to Lawrence. She’s glowing under the crystal chandeliers, but I’m convinced it’s coming from inside of her as well.
She’s so happy, I think, studying how she beams at her new husband. It’s really beautiful. I can’t help but stare at the empty seat next to mine and the name card in front of it. Konstantin Siderov.
You promised you’d be here, Konstantin . I glance nervously at the door, almost half expecting him to suddenly burst through it, with his lopsided grin, his icy-blue eyes glimmering in the light, and that mole under his eye rising with his smiles when he looks at me.
He’ll be here, I tell myself. Don’t get so emotional that you start crying!
Rubbing at my eyes to stem the tears, I hide my sniffles with a red cloth napkin.
“Emily?” Carla whispers at my elbow.
“I’m fine,” I say, giving her a grave smile from behind the napkin.
She gnaws at her bottom lip, jerking her head to the side a few times. “No, I was just trying to get your attention … They’re calling you to the mic for your speech.”
“Oh!” Blinking away the last of my tears, I leap to my feet. The glassware jingles from my hip. “Sorry, I guess I was zoning out!”
Nadia waves at me as I pass her table. “Good luck!” she mouths.
With her reassurance in mind, I take the microphone and walk forward.
I clear my throat, and the mic screams in feedback that leaves everyone wincing and reaching for their ears.
“Sorry,” I laugh uneasily. “Technical difficulties. ”
I glance at Nadia—she flashes me a double thumbs-up. Her overt happiness is so infectious that I feel my own smile making its way across my face.
“Hi, everyone. I’m Emily, the maid of honor, well, matron of honor.”
I pause awkwardly and cast one final longing look at the empty seat next to mine. A few other eyes follow, and I hear a couple of whispers rise up. Suddenly, I wish desperately that Konstantin was here.
“When Nadia asked me,” I continue. “I was sort of terrified. I almost wanted to puke.” As if prompted, my stomach ripples.
“Nadia’s was my friend since our first days of college when I was wandering around, totally lost on campus. That’s when she ran up, grabbed my wrist, and …” I trail off, swallowing the hard grit in my throat.
Not now, Olivia … I beg the baby and press on.
Wiping sweat from my forehead, I shift from side to side, clutching the mic until my knuckles go white.
I work my tongue; it’s getting thick. Tingling in a weird way as my stomach continues to do loops inside of me.
“She grabbed my hand … And she asked if I was lost too. I admitted that I was. And wouldn’t you know it. This crazy girl tightened her grip and told me we could be lost together.” I muster up a smile as the crowd laughs at the joke. “It made me feel so much better not to be alone, even when I warned her that she’d be late if she kept trying to help me find my class before hers, and?—”
The doors open, and I gasp suddenly.
He’s here!
Standing in the doorway, the hottest man I’ve ever had the pleasure of being face-to-face with is smiling at me.
His mahogany hair is still thick on top like the first time I bumped into him at the airport. It’s still textured with a fade that tapers toward his long, tan neck, that perfectly complements his ice-blue eyes. His hands are tugging at the lapels of his impeccable suit jacket as he watches me, the smile slowly widening with every passing moment.
His perfectly pressed slacks and dress shirt can’t hide the powerful muscles underneath. There’s a lopsided smile on his face that makes the tiny mole below his right eye shift upward. My eyes are drawn to his lips—soft and full. For a single reckless moment, I want to put the microphone down and walk towards him.
Heads turn and whispers rise all around the room, and I can’t help smile back at him.
He doesn’t say a word, he doesn’t walk to take the seat, and he doesn’t do anything else to take away the spotlight from me at this moment. Instead, he mouths three little words at me that leaves my face flushing.
And just like that, my stomach calms and I feel like all the weight of the world has disappeared from my shoulders.
I hear a throat clearing, and I turn to see Nadia cackling silently in delight. I stick my tongue out at her playfully and turn back to face the crowd.
“Where was I?” I say to the crowd, but my eyes are fixed on Konstantin’s as the smile spreads wider across my face. “Oh right, I warned her that she’d be late if she kept trying to help me find my class before hers …”
“Did you really think I wasn’t going to make it, Kitty Cat?” Konstantin asks as he spins me around on the dance floor.
“I had a moment of doubt,” I admit. “But you came through in the end. Just like I knew you would. ”
“I made you a promise, Kitty Cat,” he says, his voice rumbling deep in his chest against me. “And when I make you promises …”
“You keep them.” I smile.
His large hand moves lower along the small of my back, his fingers working against the thin material of the dress as he pulls my waist closer to his. The smile on his face never leaves as he spins me before catching me in the crook of his arms and brings me low for a dip.
When he brings me back up, I wrap a single leg around his waist, biting my lips as I feel the hard band of his muscles tightening in response to me. His thigh wedges between mine, and a familiar pressure grinds along my skin and pools in my core.
“Did you really think I would want to miss this moment with you? He asks as he pulls me closer to him until my stomach lines up with his.
Burying my hands in the front of his immaculate shirt to feel his heart pounding beneath my fingers, I tilt my head up and part my lips as the light dims all around us.
He closes the distance in a second, dipping his soft full lips against mine to claim my mouth. The smell of soap and aftershave fills my nose while happiness surges in my fluttering heart. It takes everything in me to not moan as his hand around my waist inch ever lower towards my ass.
“People are looking,” I say when we break the kiss, our hips still swaying in time with the music. “I think you’re trying to put on a show.”
His fingers lace into mine and he leans in closer until I see my own flushed reflection in his ice-blue eyes.
“Are you embarrassed?” He leans down and whispers against my ear, his breath tickling my skin and sending deliciously naughty thoughts running through my mind .
“No.” I smile as my heart wriggles up my throat. “Nothing you do can embarrass me.”
His hips grind forward, and I suppress my gasp just in time when I feel his massive cock throbbing against my belly. I push my hips closer to him in response as I bite my lips, feeling the heat between us slowly fill the space until he’s the only thing I can think about in the world.
His lips meet mine again, sending my heart racing in time with his, and I know that this is where I belong. This is where I will always belong. When we finally pull apart, sweaty and panting on the dark floor, he plants a tiny little kiss on the tip of my nose, as if he’s leaving behind a reminder of our kiss.
“I love you, Emily,” he says.
I melt into his touch. “I love you, too, Konstantin.”
“Oh my god, you two!” Nadia pipes up next to us as she clings to Lawrence. “Get a room!”
And then she spins away in her husband’s arms, leaving Konstantin and I alone as the music drowns out our laughs.
“Looks like Nadia’s having a good time.”
“She’s definitely loving it.” I nod.
“And you?” he asks. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Well.” I smirk. “Second part of the night is about to start, and you know what that means. Nothing but the best clubbing music until our ears are ringing. But you know how I feel about club music.”
“Nadia did tell us to get a room,” he says as the music crescendos into one final tremulous note. “And I think I know something that’s more suited to your tastes.”
“In that case.” I push myself closer to him, as close as I possibly can, and my lips curl up in a playful smile as shivers of anticipation run down my spine. “Lead the way.”