Page 110 of Kadra: The Unfeeling

Now I’m busting my ass to be hers.

Holding her in my arms, I honestly can’t imagine my life without her in it. If anything, I’ve forgotten how I used to live before she came along. I brush my lips against her forehead before I begrudgingly pull back to look into her eyes. “What’s wrong?” Her eyes look sad all sudden.

Kadra holds my gaze while she speaks. “I’ve never been that woman, Vitali.”

Frowning, I take her face in my hands and I stare at her gorgeous face. Her pouty lips. “What woman?”

Kadra sighs. “Like my sisters. The type who lights someone’s world with just one smile. I’m not happy all the time and optimistic. I have more bad moods than good ones. I’m the rain after a sunny day. That’s who I am…” She pauses and continues. “I’m darkness. I don’t light up anyone’s world.” She whispers then tries to look away from me but I don’t give her a chance to. I held her face closer to mine, letting her see the truth in my eyes.

Feeling angry that she thinks that way, I pull back and make sure she’s looking at me and only me. Taking her chin in my hand, I tilted her face upward. “You’re wrong, Kadra.” I make her look up at the blackened sky and take her in my arms from behind, holding her tightly then whisper for only her ears to hear. “Look up, Moya dusha. Look up and see what you do to my life. To my heart.”

She does as she’s told and looks up and when she does the look on her face makes up for every single shitty day of my life.

Fuck, I love this woman.

Fireworks light up the sky showering the darkness with bright colors.

And while Kadra looks up at the fireworks in awe, I look at her.

“You light up my world, baby.” I kiss the back of her head and smile when I feel her suck in a shocked breath. “And fuck sunny days… I’m a man drawn to the storm.”

* * *

Kadra

I never believed in love at first sight. I thought it was silly to think you could form deep bonds with someone you’ve met only once but Vitali Solonik made me believe in it.

Twice.

I fell in love with him before I even knew what love was and I’ve been falling every day since he came back into my life.

There’s not a day that has gone by that he hasn’t filled my heart with joy.

And now looking up at the sky, exploding in countless colors, I fall again. Is it possible to fall for the same man more than twice?

It is.

“That’s what you do to me, baby. You light up the world for me. When all I had was darkness you became the light I never knew I needed.”

You light up my world, baby.

And fuck sunny days… I’m a man drawn to the storm.

Love like I only feel for him consumes me and makes my heart feel like it’s going to burst out of my chest. Turning around, I grab his neck and pull his face down so our noses touch. “You do the same to me.” His eyes shine and rob me of air but I push through it and continue my thoughts. “There’s white and there’s black and then there’s you… my favorite color. Gray.” My heart starts to go wild inside my chest when his perfect gray eyes pierce my soul. The words ‘I love you’ are on the tip of my tongue but I don’t say them. The lump in my throat keeps me from whispering words I’ve never uttered to anyone in my life. Not even my sisters.

I hope he sees it in my eyes and feels it in my touch.

I don’t notice the tears that start to fall but he does. My big, tough, and at times psychotic Russian brushes my tears away with his thumb before his mouth covers mine. And while surrounded by her men and under a sky that’s lit up with fireworks I kiss Vitali through my tears and the kaleidoscope of butterflies that have invaded my stomach.

After a long while that feels like an eternity, Vitali breaks the kiss and looks down at me. “What are we Kadra Parisi?” he asked with a small smile on his drop-dead gorgeous face.

I think about it for a second, feeling my heart slow down as his eyes keep me under a spell I don’t ever want to break.

What are we?

It’s no secret that we’re no longer two people playing on the same team and aiming for the same goal. We’re so much more.

So, I look into his eyes and give him the honest-to-God truth. No matter what happens next, I have him now. I’ll have him forever in my heart. Wherever I go, Vitali will always come with me. In my heart, soul, and beautiful memories.

---