Chapter 31 #2
Noc automatically raises his arm when I'm a couple feet away to let me in by his side, as he continues to speak with Maria.
He doesn't even have to break eye contact with her, sensing my presence the same way I know when he's looking at me in a room full of people.
I give her a petty smile, and I don't miss her disappointment as she darts her eyes between us.
“Zhena?” Another word I don't know, but I feel him smile against my temple as he places a kiss there.
“Da, ona yest.” She prints out the remaining tickets, giving him one last flirtatious smile, but it drops as quickly as it formed when she looks at me.
I can't even entertain the devilish thoughts in my mind, so I decide to follow Hawk’s orders.
But not before I remain there a couple seconds after Noc leaves, hoping she can sense the hazard in my eyes.
Which works, as always. She scurries away through a door behind her, her heels, which she almost topples over in, furiously clacking off the magnolia tiles.
Shame. My hand is gripped at my side, Noc tugging me to walk with him behind the rest of the group, heading towards the check-in desk.
“Your territorial nature gives mine a run for its money, Malyshka.”
The team manages to get through without any issues, and I breathe a little easier.
But the unease is still there as I wait for the clerk to go through Noc’s and my documents.
He stares at them for a beat longer than I’d like, my ears prickling when he says, “Have a safe flight Mr and Mrs Romanov.” I scrunch my brows and stare at him.
When we walk away, I double check my documents to look at my passport again.
I rehearsed the information in it during the five-hour journey here.
“Let me see your passport.” I hold out my hand to Noc, like someone eagerly waiting for their pet to give them a paw.
He licks his bottom lip as a smile breaks free, causing my eyes to narrow at him.
He slaps it into my palm, and I flick through the pages to see we have the same surname.
My mind thinks back to Maria and what she said when we collected our tickets.
“What does Zhena mean, Noc?” my heart's skipping in a little rosy circle as I connect the information in my head, but not wanting to embarrass myself by saying it out loud.
He makes me feel like a giddy schoolgirl around him, not the brutal killing machine I've crafted myself to be.
But I'm met with silence as he guides me by the small of my back into a clothing store, switching to take me by the hand as he swiftly grabs an item off the rack, directing me towards the changing rooms. “Noc, what the hell?” I whisper yell.
Why has he dragged me in here? He locates an empty changing room to step into, pulling me inside as he whips the curtains closed, the material in his hand clanking off the ground as the metal hanger is long forgotten in his hand.
He takes a seat on the small black stool, one I fear might collapse with his size, never mind us both as he tugs me to straddle his lap.
His eyes have darkened, the greyish blue barely visible from the way his pupils have dilated.
“Wife.” A shiver trickles its way down my spine, that one single word feels dominating, yet curled in his velvet tone makes me feel intoxicated.
“It means wife, Brodie.” My lungs constrict, and I feel a blush threatening to scorch my cheeks.
I can't seem to get oxygen back into my pulmonary system.
“You married us without my prior consent?” I say.
I try to act indifferent, but I can’t help the stupid grin that’s starting to hurt my cheeks.
“On those fake documents, yes.” His hand snakes around the back of my neck, fingers splaying through my hair as he holds my nape.
“You're mine, Brodie. My all-consuming obsession.
Always have been, always will be. You're the heaven to my hell.
And if I'm damned to an eternity with the devil, then I'll happily go and serve him, knowing I was able to dance through this life with a fallen angel.”
The final enduring piece of ice melts around my cold and frozen heart.
It expels as tears spill from my lashes, and I allow them.
His other hand comes up to my cheek, slowly wiping them away.
I lean my lips to meet his, and our kiss is sacred.
Devoted. Eternal. When he pulls away, his eyes close as he rests his forehead against mine.
I follow his lead, letting his words carve themselves into my memory until the end of time.
“Marry me, Brodie, when we end this. Say you'll give me this honor, give me anything you're willing to offer.
In return, I'll give myself to you entirely and worship you like the goddess you are.
We'll fight, we'll heal, but we’ll stay together until our last. No more running away.”
My breath hitches in my throat, and I manage to push past the emotions to speak.
I force myself to have the courage his words need from me, what he needs from me.
“I will Lev, you've always had the entirety of me, it's always been yours.
There's not a single day gone by that I could truly deny it to myself.” I glide my hand along his sharp, stubbled jawline, and look into his burning eyes.
My words seal our curse until the end of time. “Don't worry, when the devil calls you home, it won't take long for me to come and remind him who you really worship.”