Page 97 of Samhain

What warmed me the most, what replayed in my mind before I fell asleep, was the way Lex had bonded with her. I found them whispering to each other in dark corners, laughing and giggling.

“She thinks I didn’t want her,” Lex said when I asked, pinching a cigarette between his fingers and running the other hand through his hair. “And she’s right. Now I’m trying to show her that maybe I was wrong.”

Fuck, my heart melted for him. If I didn’t love him before, I’d fall for him all over again. But Lex reminded me homosexuality was illegal in Russia, and if we were found out, his uncle would toss me and Poppy on the first flight home. He’d likely beat Lex to hell for besmirching the family name in his own house. Either way, we were careful with our PDA.

About a week after we arrived, I received word from my agent that one of my auditions had been pushed up and, if I wanted to do it, I had to come home soon.

“How you feeling, kiddo?” I asked Poppy on our walk in the woods behind their estate. She had never seen snow before, so after outfitting her with an appropriate suit to keep her warm, I showed her what the stuff was all about. Snowballs. Snowmen. Snow forts. All of it. But she seemed content to wander and try to catch the flakes on her tongue.

“I’m better,” she said.

“Do you like it here?” I shoved my hands in my pockets, bracing myself against the bitter chill in the air.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Very much. Vera is nice, and Dmitri seemed scary at first, but he’s a big softy like Lex.”

I stiffened. He only seemed like a big softy to her. I’d heard the rumors, and I didn’t need to ask to know that most of them were probably true. But Poppy was part of the family now. Vera had seen to that. Dmitri treated her the same way he treated any of their other children.

“Would you be okay hiding here for a while?”

She didn’t answer at first, but then she nodded and pursed her lips. “I can come to Ivy’s house whenever I want?”

I squatted down to be at eye level with her. “You should try to stay here if you can. It’s safer.”

She nodded.

“But yes,” I answered, “Ivy’s house. My house. I gave you the addresses. You have the photos.”

“Does this mean you’re leaving?” She stared up at me with big, curious eyes, reminding me so much of Lizzie.

I sighed and adjusted her jacket, wrapping it tighter around her neck. “Yeah. I have to work.”

She took a deep breath, resigning herself to this next chapter of her life. “Okay.”

“I wish you could come with me,” I said, standing again. “And one day, you will. When it’s safe.”

She grabbed my hand while we walked. “When will that be?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But one day.”

“Do you think I’ll ever be able to get back to Faerie? Back to my lady?” She squinted up at me, perhaps hoping I’d be able to tell her she could.

“I hope so.” That was the best I could offer.

Ursula came out of the woods and threw a snowball at Poppy’s chest, beaming her right in the shoulder. Poppy gasped and then burst into giggles, chasing after her new friend.

“Ursula! Poppy!” Vera called from beyond the tree line. She followed with something in Russian that I suspected asked them to come back for lunch. They both ran laughing in that direction. I turned to follow, but a big body hit me from the right and took me down to the ground with a loud grunt.

The smell hit me next.

Lex.

I wrestled with him, pushing his shoulders so I was on top. He countered, and we crested a hill, rolling in the snow until we stopped in the valley at the bottom, me on top of Lex, his legs bent on either side of my hips. His cock dug into my pelvis, already hard despite the cold, and I shivered with anticipation.

I pinned his arms above his head, chuckling low and deep in my throat as he thrashed against me. We’d both gotten bigger with age, but I worked out for a living. My job was to look powerful for the camera. I outweighed him by at least thirty pounds of muscle.

“Well, well, well,” I said. “What do we have here?”

“Don’t gloat just because you’re a stupid fucking meathead now.”

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