8: Georgina.

None of this college. None of this college?

Didn't I know something like this was coming? When Aleksei said he never intends to leave me, I should have questioned him further. In the back of my mind, wasn't there always a belief that he couldn't simply move me into the dorm and drive away? Furthermore, that it would be so...wrong to part from him, after everything we've been through?

My mother's death, high school, my driver's test, college applications.

Thunderstorms, injuries, loneliness.

My Twilight phase.

Aleksei was there for it all. The only one who was there.

Especially now that I know what my body sensed all along wasn't a fluke...and we are oh-so-freaking compatible...not being with Aleksei every day fills me with unimaginable sadness. Not only do I love this man, but there's no denying he just woke up something inside me. Wild, consuming sensations that I don't think I can live without. And there's a beat pounding in my heart, telling me Aleksei is the only one in the universe who can give them to me.

But. Oh, there are some serious buts.

I stopped trying to make Aleksei notice me as something but an honorary niece long ago. No matter what I did, he didn't seem interested in me beyond my being his ward. A...job. So I threw myself into school work-focused on it hard — and realized a degree is something I want badly. Some day I want to be the one unlocking the library doors and deciding what's stocked on the shelves. Maybe for a lot of girls, college is a given. But not in my world. If my father had it his way, I would be kept under lock and key until I need false teeth. I fought for this chance to attend school, and I'm not going to compromise one dream for the sake of another.

Currently, one of those dreams is carrying me down a crowded sidewalk like a sack of potatoes, and fine, the caveman routine might work for me a lot of the time. But not today. Not when the future I've worked so hard for is at stake.

"Aleksei!" I scream through my teeth. "We have to talk about this. Put me down. Right now."

“I do not think this wise,” he says, sounding completely calm.

"I don't care." I bunch a fist and ram it awkwardly into his back. Of course, it ends up making my own wrist throb. "Ouch, dammit."

Aleksei clucks his tongue. "I taught you to punch better than that."

"Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?"

My blood cools, then freezes, at the sound of a strange man's voice. Not because

I feel threatened. Oh no. An angry mob could be chasing me and as long as

Aleksei was there, I wouldn't feel an ounce of fear. No, my jolt of alarm has everything to do with the newcomer's safety. Not mine.

Beneath my draped body, Aleksei's shoulders turn to rippling iron, his step slowing to a stop. I struggle in his grip to get myself upright, and Aleksei lets me, remaining still as a marble statue as I slide down the front of him. I can count on one hand the number of times another man has dared to question Aleksei - and it has never happened in relation to my well-being. When !

catch sight of the deadly intensity he's directing at the stranger, I know I have to intervene or he's going to decorate the sidewalk with homeboy's guts.

"Hey." I frame his face with my hands and attempt te get his attention, but his neck

is stiff, his gray gaze never leaving the stranger. "Aleksei."

he rasps, one of his eyes

was only checking to see if the

with malice written on his

my

tension. A standoff where my lips work over his stiff ones. Someone questioned my safety. If that man knew how serious Aleksei

taking good care of me. A classic tale of "II can yell at my possessive Russian bodyguard, but God help anyone else who does." And when the fight drains out of him and he groans, the edge is taken off my earlier anger, even more so. One big hand slides into my hair, the other finding my hip as he begins ravaging

of his car pressing

a hard time making out their words over

He just told me I'm not going

his kiss and drag in a gulp of breath. "Me.

"Still you believe this?"

"Did

head, like I'm daft. "Nyet, Georgina. After five years of making sure no one breathes on you, do you think I could leave you in the care of strangers?" His eyes glitter with malice. "Males. No supervision.

things mixed together will not set foot near my

floods my cheeks. "Then where are

the car and you

the car. And...and...my train of thought is busted because his erection is so thick where it

to? I

taste of freedom stolen. By the only person who'd tempt me to give it up of my own free will. If

Right.

find another way to

across his expression. "You would

I lift my chin. "I

Play the situation. And after what just happened in the library, I should have known seduction would be his

just a

thousand butterflies dance through my stomach. "I might have," I murmur, squeezing my legs

handily ignores the second part, sweeping his thumbs

rumble in his

lungs evacuate in a massive rush. "I can't even handle

forehead meets

what happens in a game of sheltered virgin versus Russian hit man, isn't it? "I'm only getting into the car because I have no other ride," I whisper. Aleksei

to be debating whether or not to kiss me again. But if I allow that, he'll reduce me once and for all into a simmering pot of hormones. Already my panties are soaked in public and I'm making out with a man who looks like he belongs in a Guy Ritchie movie.

myself from Aleksei's hold, shooting him a

seat of the car. Like always, he waits until I've buckled up to close the door and cross to the driver's side. With his typical tight control, he starts the ignition and pulls onto the road, coasting

clicking to bring us onto the highway when he asks, "Are you warm enough?” A pause. "I'm

totally right, but I don't give

remember why I'm pissed as hell. "Did

no further change

you lied? To

"I said I would bring you where you

a close — mouthed scream. "And

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