Page 136 of For a Price

“I told you I want to be able to have a conversation with you. I have some phrases down.”

It’s endearing that she’s been practicing. That she’s speaking of us in a future sense as if wanting me to know she believes we’ll survive this.

I grunt, squeezing her close. “Like what? Tell me some.”

“Gde tualet?*?” she asks almost doubtfully, her brows knitting.

“Where is the toilet?” I repeat in a roar of laughter.

“Don’t laugh!” she says, almost breaking into a giggle herself. She slaps at my chest and snuggles closer. “It’s very important to know how to ask about the restroom. It’s one of the first things they tell you to know when learning a new language!”

I’m unable to stop my laughter for several seconds as she grows self-conscious and tries to roll back over. But I’m holding onto her so tightly, I don’t let her. I press kisses onto her face and neck and urge her to tell me more.

Speak more Russian to me.

“You’re going to laugh!” she pouts.

“Devochka, I love hearing you speak it. Only you can make it sound so fucking… cute.” I kiss her again in encouragement.

Still pouting, she mumbles, “Mozhno mne vody?*?”

“Can I have water? Very good. You’re learning fast.”

“I need to learn how to say asshole in Russian for times like these.”

“Mudak,” I say grinningly.

“Good. Now I know what to call you when you make fun of me.”

“My kitty cat loves it.”

She surrenders in a fit of more giggles as I tickle my fingers along her sides and then drop more kisses all over. Soon she’s slipped under me and I’m hovering over her, the room full of the sounds of our playfighting.

I nibble at the ball of her shoulder and nuzzle her neck like a beast to more of her laughs. Her hands roam my broad chest, gliding over the scratch marks she’s left everywhere after our passion-fueled night.

I pin her back against the pillow and peer into her eyes, finally ready to answer her question. It’s taken long enough.

“I don’t know was the truth,” I clarify. “Because I have never imagined myself as a father. But I have begun to… sometimes. Only sometimes. Only after meeting you. And if I were to ever become a father, you would be the only woman I would want as the mother to my child.”

Tears gloss her eyes immediately. Different emotions flicker across her beautiful, bare face. Some of them leftover from the grief she’d been feeling last night after losing her friend. Fresh pain that slowly fades for hope and optimism.

I press a final kiss to her lips before I’m forcing myself out of bed.

I’ve indulged long enough. It’s time to begin preparations for the next phase of this war.

“Zver,” she murmurs, sitting up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. “When will you be back?”

I pause footsteps outside the closet, keeping my back to her. I could lie, tell her I’ll be back tonight and we’ll spend more time together.

But I’ve learned it’s best to be honest. We’ve been through so much together in a short amount of time that there’s no use leaving her in the dark.

“I don’t know, kitty cat,” I confess. “But a crew of men will be here with you. Protecting the building. If they tell you it’s time to evacuate, then something has happened, and you go with them. They will take you to a different location where it’s safe.”

She shakes her head. “Not without you?—”

“You go where they take you,” I order. “I’m not asking, Katerina. You must go with my men.”

I stride into the closet to change and get ready for the day, aware she’s unhappy with what I’m telling her to do, but it’s necessary given the war we are in.

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