It’s one thing to see us fooling around, but knowing we just had sex is another. Now I’m left to wait and see if he’s going to leave me to be with her.
He’s staring at the door like an internal war is raging in his mind, and all I can think isplease don’t leave me.
Please don’t think of me as Uther Sidorov’s daughter, but just Anastasia.
I’m just Anastasia.
As if he can hear me, he turns his head to face me and stands, towering me like a colossal giant. I’m tiny next to him, and I feel smaller.
He keeps his eyes pinned to mine, his throat working as he swallows.
I continue to stare at him with the same anticipation Gytha must feel waiting for his answer.
“I’m busy,” he calls back to her, and my eyes snap wide. “I won’t be available until tomorrow.”
With that, he reaches for me and scoops me into his arms, lifting me off the ground again.
“What are we doing?” I manage, pressing my nose into his hair when he pulls me closer.
“We’re not done yet.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
Desmier
I’m sitting naked on the balcony outside my room, stargazing while I smoke a Cuban cigar.
The starry sky is perfect for sailing on a long voyage like the sea captains did in the past to unknown lands.
I used to be obsessed with the sea.
Now I’m obsessed with a woman, and I don’t want to stop being obsessed, even if I know the crash will be mightier than the burn if I fall.
I take a long drag on my cigar and savor the memory of how Anastasia gave herself to me.
She became mine officially the moment my cock sliced through her maidenhead and her virgin blood coated my length.
The feeling that came with knowing I was the first man to have her was euphoric but more than anything, knowing she chose me and not Viktor was something else I don’t know how to describe.
Anastasia might have loved him first, but she gave her body to me and told me she wanted me.
I had her all night. Over and over again. We went from the bed to the hot tub, to the shower, and back to the bed again, where she practically passed out.
Unable to sleep, I left her there in a deep slumber. That was hours ago. It’s nearly four a.m. now.
There was too much on my mind to allow sleep to take me. The number one thing being her.
As fascinated as I am with her, part of me feels as cursed as the ancient mariner did on his haunted ship.
Viktor said enough to pique Anastasia’s interest, so I know she’ll have more questions than she already asked.
There’s too much to talk about that I’m still not ready to discuss. It feels harder now that I’ve been with her. In ten days’ time, she will be my wife, and I’m sure my struggle will feel even worse.
Then there’s the matter of the vineyard. It’s bad enough to keep my secrets about the past from her, but withholding information that essentially constituted a plot to steal from her makes me no better than Viktor or her father.
Still, it’s in my best interest to keep hold of that information a little longer. Just until I think she really needs to know. I don’t want to worry about her confronting Viktor or her father about it.
Although I told Viktor to stay away from Anastasia, there are going to be situations I can’t control where he could pop up. There will also be events in the upcoming weeks where they’ll see each other.