Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Anatoly could feel Maggie’s breath on his neck as he leaned in.
His brain was foggy with desire, making it difficult to think, to do anything other than pray she kissed him.
He wanted so badly to feel her soft, pink lips against his mouth, to slip his fingers into her hair and hold her close to his chest. The strength of this temptation was too much for him to resist; she was too much for him to resist.
He was just about to give in when the pounding at the door shattered the moment. In a flash, he was stepping away from her, clearing his throat and trying to smooth his torn, holey shirt.
“Father Anatoly! Are you okay in there?” James’s voice came through the door as the handle wiggled, but it was still locked.
Maggie bent over and picked up the pistol from the floor, then slipped it back into her purse. Once she was done, Anatoly finally unlocked and opened the door so that James could see all was well.
“We are fine, Father Deacon,” Anatoly assured him, attempting to keep his voice even.
“I heard gunfire,” James pressed.
The deacon glanced over at Maggie, who had wandered to the other side of the room. Her cheeks were flushed pink and even from the corner of his eye, Anatoly found her alluring. More than anything, he wanted James to leave so they could resume their conversation.
“Gun did go off, but nobody was hurt. There is no cause for alarm,” he insisted to his subordinate. He was ready to pull rank and insist the deacon let the matter drop, but he appeared to take the dismissal in Anatoly’s tone.
“If you need me…”
Anatoly shook his head. “I will not, but thank you, James.”
The deacon glanced at Maggie again, the slightest bit of tension evident around the corners of his mouth. His dislike was evident, but that was a matter that could be dealt with later.
“I will see you at midnight mass, Father,” James said, and then he retreated through the door, leaving the pair alone once more.
“I take it he hasn’t seen your bullet trick yet,” Maggie remarked, her tone wry. Now that they were alone, she had turned to face him again just as he was now facing her. She looked nervous, her fingers playing idly with the hem of her sweater.
Anatoly felt it, too. The room seemed smaller and yet she was too far away for his liking. His feet moved without conscious thought, closing the distance between them in just a few, measured strides. He didn’t react to her attempt to change the subject and he came to a stop just in front of her.
She craned her neck back and he watched her throat work as she swallowed. “So, what’s it like, drinking blood?”
“It is unpleasant necessity,” he answered honestly.
“All I can compare it to is getting my steak too rare once… It was pretty gross, if I’m being honest,” she babbled anxiously, looking anywhere but at him.
“Maggie…”
Her cheeks blushed when he said her name, but her round eyes finally found his. “Yes? What?”
Anatoly reached up and brushed a wet strand of hair behind her ear. “Why did you come here tonight? You were on date.”
“Yeah, well, it sucked,” she shot back.
“So you came here? Why?” he pressed again.
All of this could have been avoided if she’d not shown up and yet he was relieved she had.
He still felt like there was something she wasn’t telling him and if they were laying all their cards on the table, then that meant getting a straight answer out of her.
Maggie frowned at him, but she still didn’t step away. “You left so suddenly, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
He chuckled, the sound low and rumbling. “A text would have sufficed, nyet?”
“Nyet,” she proclaimed, mimicking him fairly well. “You showed up to have a date with me and then left. You owe me.”
“Oh, I do, do I?” Anatoly’s eyes sparkled playfully as he shifted a little closer, leaning across the distance that still felt like miles of endless space between them.
She nodded, her jaw set stubbornly. “Do you always play with your food like this?” she abruptly changed the subject.
Anatoly nearly laughed, but he held it in, his gaze flicking to her mouth as she wet her lips. “Is that what you think is happening?”
“I don’t know what to think, Anatoly…” she whispered, the puff of her breath taking him back to their near kiss not so very long ago.
“You are not prey,” he reassured her, surprising even himself with how true those words were. Yes, he would enjoy feeding from her, but only in the sense that it was such an intimate act for him and he longed to share it with her. There were many things he longed to share with her.
“Then, what am I?” Maggie asked, her voice barely audible.
In an instant, the tables had turned and Anatoly felt nervousness squirm its way into his chest. He wasn’t sure how to answer because he wasn’t sure of his own feelings yet. She was his friend, but that word wasn’t adequate to describe the emotion she had stirred to life within him.
“You are temptation,” he found himself saying, the words flowing from him before he could stop them. “You have awakened part of me I did not know existed and now I will never be same…”
“Oh,” she breathed, her eyes gleaming with emotions that were mirrored in his heart. She bumped against him as she shifted on her feet and the brief touch nearly made him come undone. “But, you’re a priest…” she blurted suddenly.
This time he let a chuckle escape, even as he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.
Being a priest was the farthest thing from his mind right now.
His faith, which was core to his identity, was never far from his heart, but he was surprised to find that his heart no longer belonged only to him and God.
The realization should have frightened him, just as being so close to Maggie should have felt wrong, but the rightness of it gave him a sense of peace he’d not known his unlife had lacked.
“I am dead priest, vows were broken when I took final breath,” he answered her as honestly as he could.
“Oh,” she said again. “But—”
Anatoly put a finger to her mouth, silencing her with the soft touch alone. Then he slowly dragged that same finger down her chin, over her throat, to the silver crucifix she had worn tonight.
The religious icon was uncomfortable against his skin, but he didn’t mind. He was used to handling such objects as part of his duties; it was Maggie’s flesh beneath that made him feel unsteady. He wanted so badly to explore all of her and the thought made him blush.
A soft smile tugged at her lips, drawing his gaze back to them. They were pink and full, and he found himself staring intently, imagining what they might feel like against his own…
Maggie must have read his mind, either that or his desire was plainly written on his face. While he couldn’t figure out why he had hesitated to take action, she simply went for it.
Heat surged through Anatoly as Maggie pressed her mouth to his. The gesture took him off guard and at first all he could do was stand there in shock. When she started to pull away, he captured her in a kiss of his own.