Chapter 9 #6
I felt my blood boil in my veins, a sudden heat spreading through my stomach as she looked at me with her wide green eyes. I wanted her like I had never wanted anything in my life.
Not just physically but all of her. With her qualities and her flaws. With her kindness and her rage. I wanted her no matter what she was trying so hard to hide from me, because all of it was what made her who she was.
And I wanted her.
—
The wedding was slowly coming to an end.
The young couple had withdrawn not long ago, and the few remaining guests were chatting and laughing in a calm atmosphere.
My gaze stopped for the thousandth time on Sienna, who was talking with Ganesh a little farther down the garden, while I smoked a cigarette with Ashwin and Kenji.
She smiled and rubbed his back as he gently shook his head.
Since his niece’s departure, he had grown grumpy, he had even struck Kenji when the latter dared to mock him.
Kenji and Sienna both held a special place in Ganesh’s eyes; one glance was enough to understand that.
“Did he adopt you?” I asked bluntly, I saw Ashwin tense out of the corner of my eye, while the Korean merely exhaled his smoke calmly, “Sienna explained the why and how to you,” he replied simply.
I let out a dry laugh. “We all know that story is bullshit. And you know that I know it. And she knows that I know”.
Sienna was far too intelligent to believe I had swallowed that story and she knew me too well.
But for now, I had let it slide. Let her enjoy the festivities, we would talk soon enough.
Kenji said nothing, merely shrugging. I knew I would never get any information out of him, especially after what he had revealed to me during our clash at the gate.
He distrusted me now, he wouldn’t fall into my traps again.
So I didn’t push. I would corner Sienna later.
Just then, she pulled Ganesh toward the dance floor as a slow song began to echo through the large garden and a few couples started dancing.
Ganesh shook his head but didn’t resist, he followed her, and they began to sway gently.
Strangely enough, I felt no jealousy. I understood that he saw her as his daughter.
I even smiled faintly when I saw her burst out laughing, throwing her head back, her long hair cascading down her back, her eyes shining.
I pressed the hand holding my cigarette against my chest as my heart tightened in a way I had never felt before, like I would die if she ever disappeared.
“You’d better hurry, Ivanov. She’s quite coveted around here,” Ashwin suddenly said and I frowned, my gaze sliding from Sienna to a few young men who had moved closer to the dance floor, all of them staring at her.
A curse in Russian escaped me as I flicked my half-smoked cigarette away and stepped onto the floor.
I approached the dancing pair, my gaze catching Sienna’s over Ganesh’s shoulder as she frowned.
“May I steal her from you?” I asked Ganesh, slipping my arm around Sienna’s slim waist. She stared at me wide-eyed, and I couldn’t help smiling at her confused expression. She was irresistible.
“Be my guest, my boy. This old man has trouble staying on his feet anyway,” he laughed, winking at Sienna before stepping away.
I turned toward my favorite storm, casting a dark look at the young men who had even dared to think they had a chance, before plunging my gaze into the eyes of the woman in front of me.
I pulled her against me, and I instantly knew what she was thinking. I knew it by the way she bit her lip, I knew it by the way she slid her hand into mine while the other rested on my shoulder.
My thoughts drifted to a warm beach, the moon shining on the horizon and reflecting off the waves, the sound of cicadas filling the air, where a pair of green eyes had enchanted me, and a smile had cast its spell.
Seven months earlier, Philippines
I followed her along the beach, the waves occasionally brushing our feet when we drifted a little too close to the water, but we didn’t mind.
It was even a blessing after such scorching days, the climate in the Philippines was nothing like Russia’s.
It had been almost three days since we had joined Nikolai and Selina, who had left on their honeymoon two weeks earlier. A rest we had all thoroughly deserved.
I stopped again as Sienna knelt in front of me before standing up and turning toward me to drop the shells she had just collected into my shirt, which we were using as a makeshift bag to gather as many as possible.
She wanted to place them somewhere more accessible on the beach so the children could find them more easily tomorrow.
“Look how pretty this one is,” she said, lifting one of the shells in front of my eyes with a wide smile and I couldn’t take my eyes off that smile.
It was beautiful. “Very pretty,” I replied.
She raised an eyebrow, then pouted, which made me smile in return.
“I’m serious. Take me seriously,” she said, placing the shell with the others before turning away.
I caught her by the waist, spun her back toward me, and pulled her close before crashing my lips into hers, she moaned softly, her hands resting against my chest as I held our treasure against my stomach.
She responded instantly to my kiss, her hands sliding up my torso and neck to cling to my nape as she rose onto her toes to deepen it.
“You’re beautiful, Angel,” I said as the moonlight made her porcelain skin glow.
She slowly opened her eyes, shining with a softness that made my heart stumble every time.
“And you’re quite the flirt,” she murmured, her lips brushing mine.
“Only with you,” I whispered, stealing another kiss, which made her smile before her gaze drifted to the waves and then settled on the full moon shining above our heads.
Suddenly, she gathered all the shells I was holding in the folds of my shirt and placed them inside the straw hat she had abandoned a little farther away.
Then she came back to me, resting her hands on my shoulders.
“Let’s dance,” she ordered and I obeyed without hesitation, a slow smile spreading across my lips as my hands settled on her hips.
We began to sway gently to the sound of the waves, the breeze lifting her shining hair and carrying her scent to me, her warmth wrapping around mine.
I lifted her off the ground and spun her around, making her laugh. She tilted her face up toward the sky, arms outstretched, eyes closed and it was the most beautiful sight I had ever been given to see. She looked like a goddess. No, she was a goddess. Mine.
Suddenly my foot slipped, and I pulled her against me before we both toppled backward, her body landing against my chest as I fell onto my back, I groaned as I hit the sand and she gasped.
She lifted her face from my chest as I lowered mine, worried.
Her wide eyes met mine and then she burst out laughing, and so did I.
That sound. That damn contagious sound, I could listen to it over and over again.
We eventually calmed down, and she rested her head against my chest as I began to stroke her hair.
I had never felt like this before, so peaceful, so free, so…
happy. Not since my parents’ death. Sienna gave me something I couldn’t quite name, but she helped me find balance.
My life made more sense when she was near me.
Everything made more sense. “Sasha,” she murmured against my chest as my arm tightened around her waist. “Hmmm.”
“I need to tell you something,” she breathed, her fingers stopping their caress on my stomach.
I frowned slightly and lifted my head from the sand to look at her, but her gaze was fixed on the distance, her cheek pressed against my shirt.
I removed my hand from her hair and gently lifted her face toward mine, holding her chin.
“What is it, Angel?” I asked, my eyes searching every feature for a sign of trouble but nothing showed.
She lightly bit her lips, still swollen from our kiss, her gaze locked on mine, “Sasha…” her words dissolved into silence when we heard the others’ laughter approaching, they must have put the children to bed.
“We’ll talk about it later,” she whispered, standing up before turning back to resume her shell hunt, as Elif and Roman joined me to see what we had collected.
Present
“You are beautiful,” I murmured to her as my hands slowly slid up and down from her hips to her waist. “Thank you,” she swallowed, turning her gaze away, and I restrained myself from clenching my jaw.
We were light-years away from that beach in the Philippines.
I was light-years away from my Sienna, from my Angel, from the one who laughed freely, from the one who looked at me with shining eyes, from the one who burst into laughter by my side.
But I wasn’t going to let go. I wasn’t going to let her go.
I was a patient man and above all, a stubborn one.
Sienna and I were inevitable, and my mouth betrayed me before I could think.
“When are we getting married?” I asked without hesitation and she froze, lifting her wide, startled eyes to mine, which made me smile.
I loved surprising her, seeing her react.
“Ganesh explained the meaning of the Kaleera to me,” I added, and she nodded softly while moistening her lips and I pressed mine together. Those damn lips.