Page 64 of Blood & Snow
Only satisfaction.
“Insanity keeps me alive,” I mutter against her skin, still buried deep inside her.
We stay tangled together, my weight holding her down, her hands tracing lazy patterns across my shoulders.
I kiss her one more time, slow and rough, before finally rolling onto my side and pulling her against me.
She fits against my chest, warm and spent.
“Now that,” I murmur, brushing my lips over her hair, “is recovery.”
"We can't keep doing this," she says quietly.
"What part? The medical care or the aftermath?"
"All of it. This whole situation." She props herself up on one elbow to look at me.
"I can't keep lying to my family while falling deeper into your world."
"Then don't lie anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell them the truth. That you work for me now, completely. That this is your life whether they approve or not."
I pull her closer, ignoring the protest from my shoulder.
"They'll adjust to the new reality."
"And if they don't? If Irina tries to take the children and disappear?"
"Then I'll find them and bring them back. Family stays together,Ptichka. I protect what belongs to my people."
I reach up and curl a stray hair around her ear.
She stares at me for a long moment, probably weighing my words against her knowledge of what I'm capable of accomplishing.
It's not difficult—I have resources and connections that make hiding from me nearly impossible.
"You're asking me to burn every bridge to my old life."
"I'm asking you to acknowledge that your old life already burned. This is who you are now. This is where you belong."
I kiss her forehead gently.
"With me."
She doesn't respond immediately, but she doesn't pull away either.
Progress is measured in small acceptances rather than grand declarations.
Eventually, she'll understand that fighting the inevitable only causes unnecessary pain.
For now, holding her while Moscow darkens outside the windows feels close enough to victory.
12
NADYA
