“It was one of the first things I bought when my parents’ money was mine to spend,” he said. “The accountant tried to talk me out of it — thought it was a sure sign I was about to waste billions because of a single purchase. Sergei even tried to talk me out of it.” Mikhail’s face darkened briefly, but it passed — like a cloud passing over the sun. “It’s where I want us to be. All of us. As a family.”
I threw my arms around him. “This is amazing.”
“You know what I found when I first came back here?” He slipped his hand in his pocket and out came his phone. Not the phone he used now. The old one.
“Oh, my God,” I said, my mouth falling open. “It was really here?”
“Yep. It charged right up, almost good as new, as soon as I plugged it in,” he said.
My surprise and delight turned into horror. “Oh, no. Oh, please no. Please, please tell me you didn’t read the text messages and listen to the voicemails I sent you.”
“Of course I did.”
I hid my face against his shirt. “I’m so embarrassed, Misha.”
“And I’m so sorry for leaving like that,” he said. “Especially when I felt the same way about you. You’ve always been the one, malysh. I’m sorry it took this long for us to be together — and all the speed bumps along the way.”
I couldn’t respond to that, and Mikhail seemed to take pity on me.
“Let me take you on the tour,” he said, letting the house distract us.
The interior of the estate had been lovingly restored. Parquet floors stretched from wall to wall, refinished to their original glory and buffed to a lustrous shine. Floor-to-ceiling windows provided a stunning view of both the sea and the surrounding forest.
There was still a little more work to do, but it was gorgeous. I could imagine the kids running around in all the space, leaping from the furniture. We wandered around, looking at the place in its renewed glory.
“This is the room, isn’t it?” I asked, though I didn’t need to. There was a special sort of feeling to it — something I couldn’t shake. It had been beautifully furnished, full of low couches and chairs that looked comfortable enough to sleep in. But that rug in the middle, and the fluffy poufs and cushions that had been arranged over it, that brought back memories of flushed faces and tongues that tasted like red wine and illicit candlelight.
And heartbreak. That would always be there too. But I knew it would fade in time. There was only so much room for sorrow when my heart was busy getting flooded with love.
I turned around and gasped. Mikhail was on his knees, looking up at me, holding out a small, velvet box.
“I figured this would be something of a foregone conclusion, malysh, seeing as how we’re moving in together. As a family.” He smiled at me, blue eyes shining. “But I did want to make it official. Marry me.”
I fell to my knees in front of him, nudging his outstretched arm away so I could hug him tightly. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
“You didn’t even look at the ring.”
“I don’t need to look at the ring.” I tightened my grip around his hard torso. “Everything I need I have right here.”
He bent down to kiss my neck and I tossed my head back, inadvertently giving him better access to explore my throat. He knew exactly the right spots, exactly the right pressure, exactly the right speed to make me feel amazing.
He knew me inside and out.
“Want you,” I murmured — though that was as foregone a conclusion as me saying yes to Mikhail’s proposal. “Need you.”
“I got a really, really nice bed, malysh,” he said, his voice muffled against the crook of my neck. “You’re really going to like it.”
“Need you now. Here. Please.”
Where it had all started. Where the rest of our lives would continue with the happiness we had created together.
“Anything for you,” Mikhail breathed, tipping me backward and working my top open, taking care not to pop any of the buttons. I don’t know how he did it. I clawed at his front, pulling at the fastenings until he gave in and helped me, shrugging it off.
Skin to skin was how I felt I knew the man I loved best. There was nothing between us, and I could feel his heart beating into mine. He slid his hand down my breast and I arched to meet the contact, my skin tightening into goosebumps.
His fingers plucked at the waistband of my skirt, and I lifted my hips to accommodate him. He dragged both it and my panties down in a single swift motion, and I shivered again at the cool air on my bare skin.
“You’ll warm up soon enough,” he said, lifting an eyebrow at me.