Page 34 of Seduced By the Russian

Had she done or said something weird last night? She couldn't remember how she got to her bed because she must have fallen asleep somewhere between the bathtub and his arms. Had she mumbled something in her sleep that sent him into shock?

Fuck! Did she tell him that she was in love with him?

A newly arisen trepidation in her steps, Lisa found her way to Nikolai's bedroom on the same floor as hers - the last door on the hallway. Lisa took a deep breath staring at the door, then knocked shyly, her heart thumping so loud that she thought whoever was on the other side could probably hear it.

Her knock came back to her unanswered, so Lisa twisted the handle of the door, almost sure that it wouldn't give way. But it turned under her hands, pushing open to a world so distinct from the one she had seen for the past months that she had been in Nikolai's mansion. The darkness reflected all the way to the door, that even as Lisa stepped inside, she knew what to expect and she wasn't disappointed.

Like his wardrobe, everything in Nikolai's room was in a shade of black, from his heavy curtains that seemed to do more job of blocking out the sun than for privacy to his bed covers that perfectly covered the bed like no one had been on it for a while. The whir of the AC was the only audible sound in the room, and the black rug caressed Lisa's foot as she threaded further into the room, attracted by its ambiance. Lisa had never thought that black was such a rich color until she met Nikolai and his dark world. Now, it looked like the best reflection of the state of life - all its conflicts, beauty, accidents, knowledge, fury, power, pride, secrecy - everything Nikolai stood for.

There was a picture on the dresser - the only sense of belonging that was in the room. It would have looked like a guest room if Lisa hadn't known how obsessed Nikolai was with the color. Changing the course of her steps, she sauntered to the dressing table, her eyes falling on the sole picture, standing in the middle of nothing save a lone phone charger. Lisa bent forward slowly, with her hands on her knees, careful not to touch the picture to avoid moving it. Nikolai was too attentive to details to miss something like that.

It was a picture of Nikolai, and his young face stared back at Lisa with broodiness and indifference, as if he would rather be doing something else than taking a stupid family picture. His parents flanked him on both sides, with a sweet smile on his mother's face, while his father bore the same look. Lisa realized that Nikolai was more like his father, with their blue eyes that seemed to have the ability to see into one's soul. They also held something dark behind them, and Lisa shuddered with the thought that Nikolai had always been this way, even before his parents' death.

But what struck Lisa the most was the garden in which the picture was taken. None of her foster parents had ever bothered to take her out to a garden, and she barely had enough time or interest to go to one herself, yet this one looked so familiar that it tingled her senses the same way it had the first time she saw Nikolai. She could have sworn that she had been in that garden before as a scene unfolded in her head. She was in a flowery dress, running through the flowers with her hair blowing in the wind. She could tell she was only five then, with no cares and worries in the world. And there was someone else running in the garden with her. Lisa couldn't place the face, but she could hear his rich laughter embracing her, telling her to stop running lest she fall on her face.

A smile spread through Lisa's face, and then she caught herself almost immediately. It was strange because she was sure she couldn't remember anything from when she was that young, yet that scene had played out so strongly that Lisa had to believe that it wasn't a figment of her imagination. She had been in that garden.

But with whom? Where was it? Why was she just remembering?

All of it made no sense.

Lisa could feel a headache coming along, but before she had enough time to nurse it, she felt a presence behind her, his woody scent drifting toward her.

"What the fuck are you doing inside here? Who told you it was fine to come in?"

Lisa stopped breathing and went into temporary shock, finding it difficult to turn around to face Nikolai. She didn't want to see the look on his face, but then again, she barely had any other option. Thinking of an excuse to give him, Lisa turned around slowly, her heart giving a huge lurch when she realized he was in nothing but a white towel. His well-defined muscles were right in Lisa's face, standing hard like the right quantity of dessert in a classy diner.

And water was dripping from his damp hair onto the rug.

He was in the shower! How come she hadn't heard anything?

"I - I knocked."

"So?"

Lisa swallowed, looking from the door to Nikolai's face. It was still slightly open from when she walked in, and she wondered if Nikolai would be fast enough to catch her if she decided to run out. He looked really furious like she had done something to piss him off.

Maybe she had, only that she couldn't remember doing a thing.

"I'll just leave," she said in a quiet voice, making to walk around him. But Nikolai stopped her in the blink of an eye, holding her arm so tight that Lisa winced from the pain.

"You're hurting me!" she whined.

"Who sent you, Yelizaveta?"

"What?" Lisa looked up at him, confusion and pain embedded in her eyes. Was this another one of his names for her? Who was Yelizaveta?

"Nikolai," she whispered, as tears sprung to the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry that I walked into your room when you didn't ask me to. I will not do it again. Can you let me go now?"

Nikolai didn't take her words for it, but he released the hold he had on her arm. "This should be the first and last time you fucking wander into my room without my permission. Are we clear?"

A vein bobbed in Nikolai's neck as he spat so much anger at Lisa. She couldn't place it, and that was what hurt her most. Taking a step back, Lisa rubbed her hand on the angry bruise that was beginning to form on the patch of skin that Nikolai had held tightly. It stung like hell, but not as much as the words he threw at her like she was his enemy.

"I'm not talking to a goddamn wall, Lisa."

"Okay!" she replied, shaking even though she tried to hide it.

Nikolai almost felt bad when his eyes fell on the bruise he had caused on her arm, but he reminded himself that she was a Petrova, and they had done much worse than a bruise to him. At least, this Petrova seemed oblivious to everything. She was confused when he called her Elizabeth, so she didn't know that it was her real name.

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