CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10
ALEXEI VOLKOV

Fucking obsessed.
Untamed.
Sexy enough to incinerate the world.
I can barely muster up one sentence to convey the galaxy-blowing excitement of making love with Natalia Morozova.
Hell, making love pales in comparison. If she were a witch, I'd fear that she would put a spell on me, because every single part of me isn't already hurting to be with her. And as we stretch out together—in the back of a car—I just can't help but wonder whether it was placed there for us. I resent the fact that within two hours and a few minutes, our night will be over, and we will be separated.
The past few hours have passed in a haze of sex and whispers, and I know one night can't save the world—god, I'm so fucking hoping it will.
Because even if I do manage to get her out—she and I are fire and gasoline. The world will turn against us. Both sides will be hunting us ruthlessly and—even as amazing as this night has been—I'm having to ask myself: Is it even worth fighting for?
I look down at her, surprised to have her chocolate eyes meet mine.
Hell fucking yes it is. Because she is.

"Currents in the mind," she says.

"What are you thinking?" she asks.

I touch my fingers through the smooth threads of her hair. "You said you'd tell me where you're kept. Who keeps you?"

Her eyes turn wet, face altering, and she turns her head aside from me.

Please, come and pick me up, Natalia."

"If you come looking for me, you'll never leave, Alexei. Viktor Dragunov has a dozen wolves guarding his estate. And besides, there's the witch…" She freezes, paling as her eyes widen. "Oh no." Natalia covers her mouth with both hands.

"What is it?" I frantically worry at the horror on her beautiful face. "Natalia, what is it?

"We just had sex, like three times."

"Yes."

"That's three rounds of unprotected sex."

"Ye—oh shit. Can you get… I mean, are you—" My brain begins panicking even before my blood starts racing. I go back in my head and see what I know about shifter lore. Could I even knock her up? Ugh, what was I thinking? I mean, I don't exactly carry condoms, but still, I could have fucking pulled out.".

“The witch, she said I’d be fertile, but…” She trails off again, not giving me a minute to respond before her body relaxes. “We’re good. I’ve been shift blocked.”

“Sorry, what?”

"The witch kept me from shifting. My wolf half has been kept away from me for months, and I can't completely get into my fertile cycle unless I am released of the block, which was to occur when I wed."

"Because you can shift then? You can only—you know—when you're a wolf?" I don't know why the simple act of asking her whether or not she has to have sex as a wolf in order to get pregnant bothers me, but it does. Because that would be a downer on a future relationship for us if she ever wants kids. Wait.kids? What the hell is wrong with me?

"No, I'm not going to get pregnant in my shift form by itself. But if that part is plugged up, I won't be able to become fertile, so we're good."

"Good." I shake my head sharply and run a hand over the back of my neck. "You said he's got a dozen? How old are they?"

"Old enough. You can't come and get me, Alexei. You won't drop it."

"I can't leave you in there.".

She pushes up and straddles me as she raises her hands and cups my face. “We have tonight, right? One night of forgetting.”

“I don’t know that one night is enough for me.”

Her eyes fill, and she leans in to kiss me before pulling back and running the pad of her thumb over my cheek. “Then you’ll need to wait until I’m married.”

“What? Why?”

"Because the shift block would be removed then."

"You would kill your own kind—"

"I would fight my kidnappers if it meant being with you."

"Then tell me where you are."

She smiles, running her hand over my cheek. She gives me a quick kiss on the lips before turning and climbing out of the car. When she does, she bends down and retrieves her thong from the earth. "Later. For the moment, I wish to look around."

"Look around?"

"Yes. We are on the boat, Alexei. When will such a thing ever happen again?"

I can see she's trying to change the subject. I glance at my watch and see we've only two hours until dawn. That gives me one hundred and twenty minutes to convince Natalia that I can save her. That I need to save her.

It's ironic to me because I came here looking for answers. For knowledge. Never once did I ever consider bumping into someone that I couldn't lose. Mainly because I've been there. I loved Alina Petrovna, and when she passed away, I never thought that I would ever find another.