Page 22 of Natasha
"I mean..." Silas looked off to the side for half a beat before he turned back to her. "Are you still comfortable with what we've started? I don't want to leave here with you having any doubts. If you want to stop this here and now, we will. End of story. No harm, no foul. We had a nice time together, last night, and that's that."
Silas spoke with such earnestness that Natasha felt her chest squeeze. He was checking in with her to make sure she wasn't feeling pressured. Consent was sexy, and she wanted him even more than she already did. The man was absolutely maddening in the best way.
Reaching forward, Natasha grabbed both of his hands and pulled them to her chest. "I want this. I do."
"Natasha." Silas sighed and looked down at his feet. "Last night was a lot to deal with for you. I wanted to be there, to give you what I saw you needed. I keep thinking I should have just brought you back here after you woke up the first time, but you don't hav—"
"I want…" Natasha closed her eyes for a second and blew out a deep breath, fingers tightening on his. "I want you to be my Daddy. Please."
Now it was Silas' turn to blush, so much so that the tops of his ears turned pink. "Are you sure?"
She gave him a small nod. "Yes. I'm positive. Will, ah, will you please be my Daddy?" Asking for things was foreign for her; she winced when the words tumbled clumsily from her mouth. Natasha had to convince Silas to stay with her. There was no way she was ready for this to be over. Not by a long shot.
"I'd be honored, baby girl." Silas leaned close and pressed his lips to her cheek. "For as long as you'll have me."
* * *
Natasha feltlike she was in a stupor after Silas left with a promise to see her the next day, but gradually, she came back to earth. When she did, everything seemed a bit softer, gentler, more rose-colored. She supposed it was what genuine infatuation did to a girl. Bouncing on her toes, Natasha paused in the middle of cleaning her bathroom and stopped to consider herself in the small mirror above her sink.
She didn't appear too terribly different than she had the previous morning, except that she did look more at ease. The usual flat line of her lips was gone, the corners turned up into a slight smile. Natasha touched her lips with a raised eyebrow. The smile was new. Principal ballerinas in a fight with not only competing dancers, but the ticking clock of how much longer their bodies would be able to hold up, did not walk around with silly grins on their faces like lovesick school girls. The ringing of her phone had her jerking around with a barely repressed squeal of excitement.So much for being a serious girl, Natasha thought, snatching up her cell phone, though it only took a half second before her smile vanished. It was her grandmother.
"Perfect," Natasha grumbled, her back already snapping into perfect posture at the prospect of engaging with the eldest Ochenko woman. Her grandmother rarely called her, and if she was doing so now, there was a reason. She would need to be on top of her game if she wanted to make it through the interaction unscathed.
"Babulya," Natasha answered, her voice cool and composed.
"Natalia." Her grandmother's heavily accented voice came across the phone in its normal clear and crisp tone, using her pet name for her. "What happened last night?"
"Uh...what?" Normally, her grandmother was direct, but the question about last night threw her for a loop. Immediately, Natasha's thoughts went to Silas, and she was about to ask how her grandmother had gotten wind of him so quickly. "I'm sorry?"
"Last night, Natalia." Her grandmother's voice wasn't so crisp anymore and was just shy of agitated. "At the school. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Oh!" Natasha all but slapped her forehead when she realized that her grandmother had no clue about Silas. Her grandmother was referring to Peachtree, not Silas. She let out a sigh and sank down onto her bed in relief.
"Don't you 'oh' me. Tell me what happened. And at once. I have two voicemails from this man threatening to sue us."
"Sue?" Natasha laughed at that comment. "Sueus?"
"Natalia, lower your voice. I'm an old woman, but I'm not deaf."
"Sorry, Babulya. Last night, Mr. Peachtree attacked me after my last class."
"He what?" Her grandmother's voice had gone deathly quiet, and for once, she waited for Natasha to go on speaking.
"He waited until after the other students were gone and then asked me out. I said no, and when I did, he attacked me."
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Natasha assured her quickly, but she went still when she heard her grandmother barking orders to someone else in the room. Her eyes widened when she realized that her grandmother was talking to her mother.
"Don't tell Mama!"
"Too late! What do you mean, don't tell me?" Her mother's snarling voice was now on the phone. "I'll kill that man with my bare hands."
"Mama, please," Natasha protested weakly with a hand at her temples. "It's all okay."
"What do you mean it's all okay? He attacked you! My only child!"
"A friend, ah, already took care of it," Natasha said finally to stop her mother from making good on her threats.
