Page 72 of Shining Through

He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. Baffled, she took it, and then stared in shock at the video of herself skating to “Hello,” the night she’d gone to the rink with Samara. Who’d obviously filmed more than her umpteenth performance of Antigone. “Where did you get this?”

“Your sister sent it tonight, right after the Opening Ceremony.”

She shook her head. “Christmas Eve after you won Russian Nationals, I sent you congratulations. When you didn’t reply, it hurt, so I went to my rink, and dragged Samara along to record my practice. I didn’t know she’d filmed this too.”

He came closer. “I hate the way I acted, and what I put you through. If you can forgive me and we can start again, that would mean more than any victory, any medal. You are the best thing in my life, and I love you, Tabitha.”

She brought her hand to her lips, letting his words sink in. It was what she’d longed for and she wasn’t sure whether she could trust her own ears. Everything that had happened in the past hour was so surprising. She kept a stranglehold on her emotions as her mind struggled to process what he’d just said.

Daniil’s gaze clouded and his brows knit together. “Did I say something wrong?”

And then she knew this was real. He was real. She rushed forward into his arms.

“No!” she whispered against his shoulder. “I love you, too, and this is everything I hoped for. It just felt too good to be true.”

He stroked her hair and tipped her chin upward. She lost herself in his warm brown gaze. “Believe every word, my Angel. I love you. This whole time we’ve been apart, the best part of me has been missing. You gave me so much, and I’m a changed man, a better man, and you’re the reason.”

“I changed too,” she whispered. “I want us to be together, and there was never a time when I didn’t. I was afraid of so many things. Being hurt and everyone knowing about it. Of losing what we’d both worked so hard for. But you weren’t a mistake. You mean the world to me. I wanted so badly to tell you that.”

Joy brightened his face, and he brushed the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip. “You’re telling me now.”

Then his lips were on hers, claiming her in a deep kiss that dissolved her sorrow and regret. He buried his hands in her hair, and she clutched the soft fabric of his t-shirt, her fists bunched against the hard planes of his chest. Once more, she was in Daniil’s arms, tasting his kiss, surrounded by his warmth and the scent of Polo Black. The Eastern lilt of his voice touched her heart like exotic music, as he whispered her name.

“Tabitha.Moy angel. Moya lyubov.”

In an instant they were on each other, kissing and stroking and tugging at buttons, zippers and snaps. His leather jacket was tossed on the floor. Her team jacket followed. They fell onto the bed, peeling away their remaining clothes, and she melted into his kiss and the delicious warmth of his hands and lips on her skin.

Falling back against the pillows, she pulled him down, letting his naked warmth cover her. Her touch made him groan with pleasure. Aching with hunger only he could satisfy, she spread her legs, and lifted her hips, guiding him in. Their love was hot, sweaty, uncontrolled and perfect. Not perfect because she hid away her true self, but perfect because at last, she wasn’t afraid to let it show. She loved how he felt inside her, and when they came, she whispered tender words of love, knowing this was the man she was meant to be with, always.

In the glowing aftermath, she rested her head against his shoulder, as they lay in bed, gazing out at the torch burning against the night sky. “I can’t believe we’re here,”

“Here in Grenoble, or here in bed,” Daniil said, as he stroked her shoulder with slow, enticing motions.

“Either,” she said, smiling.

“We should enjoy every minute of this amazing time, and when it’s over, we can start the next chapter of our life together. I don’t know what that will look like. Now that I’ve broken with Nikolai, there are lots of questions ahead, but the one thing I know is that I love you.”

“That’s what matters,” she said. “The rest we’ll figure out as we go.”

“And we don’t have to go public yet. We’ll do this on your time. Just know that I’m here and I love you. You can always count on that.”

She appreciated that he was willing to wait just a little longer. There was Brett to consider and her aversion to drama and controversy. But he’d straightened out his life and had made the final break from his father. That spoke volumes about his courage and character. She brushed her fingertips across the dark hair on his chest. “One of the speed skaters on my team said a Russian guy in a bad hat was lurking around just after the torch lighting.”

“I wanted to see you in your Star Trek suit and take a picture together so we could always remember tonight.”

“We can take one now.” She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and held it up over them.

He gave a playful scowl. “What about our costumes?”

She gave him a long slow kiss, then rolled onto her back and snuggled close to him, smiling for the camera. “Who needs them?”

~

Early the next morning, Daniil kissed Tabitha awake, then rolled out of bed and grabbed his pants from the floor. She reached for him, trailing her fingers down his back. As tempted as he was to stay, he couldn’t.

She flipped onto her side and offered a sexy pout. Her wavy, bed-head hair fell against her face. “Do you have to go?”

“I’m afraid so. We have an early practice before the team competition tonight. If I’m late, they’ll replace me with Domachev.”

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