Page 87 of The Unseen
“I’ll wait. I’ll wait forever if I have to.”
Alexei’s lips captured hers and she gave herself up to the kiss, desperate to feel something other than shame and disgust. Alexei pulled her close. He felt so solid, so strong. All she wanted was to be with him, now, today, forever. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. Her gaze was full of purpose as she moved toward the door of the parlor, fully intending to take him upstairs, when there was an ear-piercing shriek.
Tanya had just walked in through the front door. Her hand was pressed to her mouth in shock, her eyes glowing with joy. She tossed her hat onto the console table and rushed forward, nearly knocking Alexei off his feet as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Oh, God, Alyosha. You’re alive. You’re alive!” she cried. “Mama, come see who’s here. Kolya, hurry!”
Alexei’s eyes sought Valentina’s over Tanya’s head. He’d understood only too well what she’d intended, and his soul reached out to her, pleading with her not to change her mind.
“Where are you staying, Alyosha?” Valentina asked once Elena and Tanya finally calmed down long enough to go upstairs to change. Kolya remained by Alexei’s side, gazing up at him adoringly.
“I don’t know yet. I came straight here after I was given your address at the church.”
“Go to the Falmouth Arms Hotel. I’ll give you the address. I own it. I’ll ring the manager and tell him to prepare a room for you.”
“Will you come?” Alexei whispered.
“Yes.”
FIFTY-TWO
Valentina thought she’d spend the rest of the day in an agony of indecision, but there was nothing to decide. Alexei was alive. He was in London. He had found her, and she’d be damned if she’d deny herself the joy of loving him. Tomorrow, she’d think about the consequences of her actions and start to doubt the wisdom of what she’d done, but tonight was hers, and she would take full advantage of her hard-won freedom.
The evening wore on, the long hours an eternity of breathless anticipation. It seemed that Elena and the children would never retire, but they went up at last, tired after a day filled with excitement. Valentina didn’t bother to change. She couldn’t bear to waste another moment on mindless ritual. Instead, she grabbed her bag and slipped out the door into the balmy night. The moon was nearly full in a cloudless sky that was a study in violet and lavender. The air was heavy with the smell of honeysuckle and roses, which grew in wild profusion at the front of the house. Valentina hailed a taxi and got in, ignoring the curious stare of the driver, who probably didn’t see too many well-bred young ladies going out on their own after dark.
The ride seemed eternal. Valentina made a pretense of looking out the window, but all she saw was Alexei’s beloved face, and her heart hammered a joyful melody as she drew closer to the hotel. That place was associated with such awful memories. She’d faced degradation, humiliation, and indifference within its walls, but everything was about to change. Alexei’s presence would wipe out the past and usher in a new beginning. She’d not only been spared the noose but given a new lease on life, a new hope for the future. God had forgiven her, and it was a heady feeling. It was as if an unbearable weight had been lifted off her shoulders and suddenly she could stand up straight again, and look the world in the eye without being weighed down by crippling shame and regret.
She paid the taxi driver and was out the door before he could even offer to give her change. She ignored the raised eyebrows of the night clerk and asked for Alexei’s room.
“Madam, you can’t go up,” the clerk said, shocked by her brazen behavior. He was new. He had no idea. The night concierge who’d witnessed her degradation had been dismissed with a glowing reference and a full month’s severance pay.
“I can and I will. I own this hotel,” Valentina replied and turned on her heel. She took the stairs two at a time, a terribly unladylike thing to do, she reflected, as she patted her hair into place before knocking on the door. Thankfully, it wasn’t one of the rooms she’d been in before. She’d asked the manager to give Alexei the best room, not one of the smaller, dingier rooms reserved for Dmitri’s less savory activities. The knock sounded unnaturally loud in the silence of the corridor. And then she heard his footsteps, walking briskly toward the door.
Alexei opened the door and smiled, his relief evident. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
“I was,” she replied, and then she was in his arms, kissing him and tearing at the buttons of his waistcoat, desperate to touch the hot skin beneath his starched shirt. Alexei pulled at his tie as she threw her hat on the bureau. The years of loneliness fell away, but not the experience they’d gained during their time of separation. They were adults now, and neither bothered to pretend there’d been no others. Their kisses weren’t shy and gentle; they were hungry, demanding, and filled with purpose. Alexei’s fingers flew over the buttons of her dress, and it fell to the floor, pooling around her ankles, quickly followed by her corset and bloomers. Valentina yanked at Alexei’s belt buckle with trembling hands, for once eager to get to the business at hand. She undid the buttons of his fly and pushed his trousers down over his hips, desperate to remove the final barriers between them.
Alexei’s gaze clouded with desire as he drank her in. She’d never seen a man look at her that way. There’d been lust, and need, but never love, never this speechless reverence. He stood in frontof her, naked and ready. Valentina took him by the hand and pulled him toward the bed, silently letting him know that she knew what she was about and wouldn’t change her mind.
He pushed her down, and she spread her legs willingly, guiding him inside with an urgency she hadn’t known she was capable of. She cried out as their bodies finally came together after years of longing, the past few months falling away like the dead skin of a snake as it shed. The men she’d been forced to service had disappeared, the memory of them erased as Alexei moved deep inside her, bringing her to heights of pleasure she hadn’t thought were possible. She moved her hips against him, calling out his name as he taught her the meaning of love and brought her to her first orgasm.
She clung to him long after their desire was sated, needing to feel his solid presence. He wasn’t a dream, a delusion caused by her loneliness and fear. He was real. He was back. And he still loved her. Valentina traced the jagged outline of the scar on his chest. It had healed, but there was still a ropey mark left by the sharp blade of the bayonet.
“You’re alive,” she whispered, filled with wonder. “You’re really alive.”
“I’m alive and I’m here,” Alexei replied. He took her hand away from the scar and kissed her fingers, one by one, then moved to her wrist. The skin was so sensitive, she gasped when his lips brushed across it. “I’ll never leave you again, Valya.”
Valentina touched his cheek. His skin was flushed and his eyes were heavy with fatigue. “When did you last sleep, Alyosha?”
“Not for a while,” he replied.
“Then go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Will you really?” Alexei asked, smiling into her eyes. “I dreamed of waking up next to you so many times, and then I awoke to find myself alone, and it was like losing you all over again.”
“I’ll be here,” she replied.
“Won’t you be missed?”
