37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Sergei
Iease the door to our bedroom open and step inside. My socks are silent against the marble floor as I shrug my jacket off and sling it over the chaise in the corner. At the foot of the bed, I work my cufflinks loose.
Aurora left the blinds pulled apart, allowing the moonlight to seep in, caressing her perfect sleeping body.
She’s lying on her side, a long pillow trapped between her legs.
Can one be jealous of a pillow? Shadows drift over her face, her dark eyelashes resting peacefully against rosy cheeks.
A speck of red glitter sparkles at the corner of her mouth.
Her full lips are gently parted, and each deep breath presses her breasts against the silky gray nightgown she must have decided to wear only to torment me.
I’m going to fire Nadia first thing tomorrow. She had me staying late to go over applicants to replace Anton and Pavel’s positions, while I could have been here. With Aurora wearing this nightgown. My hand reaches out to Aurora’s hip, the temptation to caress her only second to my need to breathe.
Her nose twitches once before her eyes flutter open, the haze of sleep replaced by a dreamy smile. “Sergei…” she murmurs, reaching out to me.
I take her hand and plant a whisper of a kiss on it.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll join you in a minute.
” I unbutton the top few buttons of my collared shirt and strip off my pants before climbing under the heavy blanket and on top of Aurora.
I rest my head on her chest, listening to the calming rhythm of her heart.
My arms wrap around her, inhaling deeply her lavender scent.
She loops her arms around my neck, and her eyes close again. “How was your day?”
“Sleep…” I mutter against her skin. “We can talk in the morning.”
Aurora hums and licks her lips, blinking a few times as if trying to jar herself awake. “No… tell me.”
“Busy. Long.” I plant a kiss on the top of her left breast. “How was Misha?”
“He was so good today. We did… some artwork for Valentine’s Day.”
I swipe the speck of red from the corner of her lips. “Is this glitter then?”
She peeks an eye open. “I scrubbed him and myself as best I could. At this point, I’ve resigned myself to the fact it’s just part of my body now.”
I chuckle at how adorable she is. Unable to stop myself, I press another kiss against her nightgown. “Did Daniel pick him up okay?”
She nods, eyes drifting shut again. “Yes, he was so excited for a sleepover with his Ankledun.” She lifts her head a little bit off the pillow, a line forming between her eyebrows as her hands frame my face. “How are you doing with that?”
The idea of having Misha not under our roof, especially after everything that happened last month, makes my stomach tighten, but I trust Daniel. He may have been an asshole to me, but he defends the people he loves with everything he has. I know he won’t let anything happen to my son.
I let out a long breath before kissing Aurora. “I’m okay.” I nuzzle my nose in the spot behind her ear, and her skin responds immediately, goosebumps prickling to the surface. “How are you? Anything from Layla?”
Her earlier smile falls, and while I hate that my question caused it, I prefer to have her share her feelings and thoughts with me than let them cause chaos inside her mind.
“No.” She bites on her bottom lip. “I keep texting her, but she either doesn’t respond at all or replies so late that whatever I suggested we do has already passed.”
“She’ll come around.”
“I know, it’s just… I wish she’d let me in, talk to me. I’m so worried about her. What if something happens? What if she gets arrested? What if one of her clients hurts her? What if—”
“Hey, you’ll turn yourself sick worrying about all the what-ifs. Layla is a big girl who can make her own decisions. Trust her judgment.”
She nods, but the worried look doesn’t leave her face.
“I know, but—” she starts, but I don’t let her finish as I plant a kiss to the junction between her neck and shoulder.
The gesture quiets her down, a soft moan escaping her.
“What are you doing?” she asks when I shift down her body, trailing wet kisses as I go.
My teeth caress her collarbone, my lips graze her chest. I decide to pay special attention to the valley between her breasts, dragging my tongue down her soft skin.
“Sergei, you’re tired. You should go to sleep. ”
I nip at her under breast, eliciting a yelp out of her before I suck on it to soothe it. When my nose brushes against her belly button, her fingers dig into my hair, and I know I’ve convinced her. “I will, but first I would like to do what I’ve been thinking about doing all day long.”
I’m not lying. Like always, I have spent most of the day thinking about her and Misha.
Despite the chaos the incident in Mount Charleston unleashed—both with the authorities and in the public image—my teams have been handling it very well.
I, on the other hand, have been struggling to move past the fact that I didn’t see who Anton really was until it was too late.
The fact that Pavel has disappeared doesn’t help either.
It doesn’t appear he had anything to do with Alessia’s death, but him vanishing keeps me on edge.
I need to protect my family, always, and an unknown like Pavel puts that at risk, which is why I have been reluctant to find replacements for them yet.
I need to make sure I don’t make the same mistake again.
My gaze shifts up, landing on her shoulder. The scar serves as a reminder of my failure to protect her.
“Hey.” Aurora locks her gaze with mine. “If I can’t worry about Layla, you can’t worry about me getting hurt. I’m okay. We are okay.”
Her words don’t ease the guilt over me. But I still try to refocus my worry.
She’s here. She’s safe. The past couple of weeks have felt like a surreal dream.
Not much has changed on the surface, especially in our interactions in front of Misha.
We wanted to make sure we transition Aurora’s role in our house as smoothly as possible.
But between stolen glances, momentary touches, and inappropriate innuendos that thankfully still go over Misha’s head, I’ve been finding myself on the edge most days.
Luckily once Misha goes to sleep, Aurora and I lock ourselves in our bedroom and make sure to catch up on every unfulfilled desire.
“Then let me do this. Please.” My voice cracks at the last word.
A mischievous smile curls on her mouth, and she bucks her hips up. “So, what are you waiting for?”
A growl vibrates from the back of my throat.
This woman. I lower my face in between her legs, lifting the silk nightgown up only to find that she’s bare underneath it.
My cock hardens at the sight of her. I breathe in the lavender scent that is uniquely hers, the one that I’ll follow to the end of the world.
She’s here. She’s safe. And she’s mine. I wrap my arms under her thighs, propping her legs on my shoulders, my fingers pressing into her flesh.
When I swipe my tongue over her clit for the first time, she arches her back, my name a whisper on her mouth, and I know that no matter what happens, I’m home.