Chapter 081
He was standing alone on the highest dune. His powerful dark silhouette
dazzled her. He was like the sun—her northern star.
With an intake of breath, she climbed the sand dune towards him, as fast
as she could go. Looking around, she realized she’d come to love the
vastness and beauty of the desert. It didn’t feel so lonely anymore, or make
her feel small.
As long as she was with Viktor , the world was a wondrous place.
She stopped. Was she making a mistake to tell him she loved him? Would
it ruin everything?
She looked at him again, and her shoulders relaxed. Her momentary fear
floated away, evaporating like dark smoke into the blue sky, like a shadow
beneath the bright Moroccan sun. She didn’t have to be afraid. Not
anymore. Viktor had believed in her.
And now, she believed in herself.
“I’m not afraid,” she said aloud. Her legs regained their strength. She
started to walk towards his broad-shouldered shadow on the top of the dune,
silhouetted against the bright sun.
A warm desert wind blew against her skin, tossing tendrils of her hair in
her face as she reached him. She was so happy to see his handsome face
that tears filled her eyes. “Viktor . There’s something I need to...”
“I have good news,” he interrupted coldly.
She looked at him more closely. His desert garb was gone. No more tight
black T-shirts. No more cargo shorts or jeans, either. Instead, he was back in
his dark suit with a tie and vest. He looked exactly like the same dangerous
tycoon she’d first met in Honolulu.
In the distance, she heard a loud buzzing noise. Suddenly feeling
uncertain, she echoed, “Good news?”
He gave a single sharp nod. “I’m taking you with me. To Russia. So I can
get your sister.”
“Oh,” Lyra said faintly. “That is good news.”
It was. But why was his handsome face so expressionless, as if they were
total strangers? Why did he seem so suddenly distant, as if they hadn’t spent
last night ripping off each other’s clothes? Why did he look at her as if he
barely knew her when just hours before he had been gasping with sweaty
pleasure, deep inside her?
“Time to go,” he said flatly.
Looking at him in his suit, Lyra suddenly felt cold in the warm morning
air. The joyful, emotional barbarian with the unguarded heart, the one
who’d taught her to ride horses, to snowboard sand, to make love—was
gone. She bit her lip. “When?”
He glanced behind him, and she saw an approaching helicopter in the
wide blue sky. “Right now.”
Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her body, feeling chilly in her
cotton shirt. They stood only a few feet apart on the sand, but there was
suddenly a deep, wide ocean between them that she didn’t understand.
His cruel, sensual lips curved. “We’re leaving to find your sister. Aren’t
you happy?”
“I am,” she said miserably. Then, reminding herself she was brave and
bold, she lifted her gaze. “But why are you acting like this?”
He blinked. “Like what?”
“Like...” She looked straight into his eyes. “Like last night meant
nothing.”
“It meant something.” He took a step towards her, his face hard as a
marble statue. “It meant...a few hours of fun.”
It was like a stab in the heart. “Fun?”
Viktor gave her a coldly charming smile, looking every inch the
heartless playboy the world believed him to be. “Oh, yes.” He tilted his
head, looking at her sideways. “Definitely fun.”
For an instant, Lyra could hardly breathe through the pain. Then she saw
a flash of something in his expression, something quickly veiled and
hidden. Her eyes widened as she searched his gaze.
“You’re deliberately pushing me away,” she breathed.
His expression hardened as he set his jaw. “Don’t.”
“Last night meant something to you. I know it did!”
“It was an amusement, just to pass the time. But that time is over. Let’s
get this done. Get our divorce. Then we’ll never have to see each other again.”
She licked her lips as the approaching helicopter grew louder. “But you
said...we could still be friends....”
“Friends?” He gave a harsh, ugly laugh. “You really think that would
work? You expect me to give up my life and join you in your fairy-tale
world, where families love and forgive?” He slowly walked around her, his
eyes glittering in the white sun. “Tell me. Are you already picturing me
mowing the lawn outside your storybook cottage with the white picket
fence?”
“You’re using my dreams against me?” she whispered. His sneer ripped
through her heart. She blinked back tears. “Why are you being so cruel?”
Viktor stopped. The helicopter landed on the pad some distance behind
him, causing sand to fly in waves. His black hair whipped wildly around his
face as he looked down at her. When he finally spoke, his voice had
changed.
“Whatever happened between us last night,” he said quietly, “cannot last.
Someday soon you will learn the truth about me. And you will hate me.”
She shook her head fiercely. “I will never—”
“I’m not giving up my revenge.” His blue eyes suddenly blazed.
Reaching out, he grabbed her shoulders. “Don’t you understand? You can’t
make me give it up, no matter how good or kind you are, or how you look
at me. I’m never going to change, so don’t even try.”
“But you can,” she choked out. A single tear spilled over her lashes. “You
could be so much more....”
A flash of raw vulnerability filled his stark blue eyes as he stared down at
her. “A woman like you would be a fool to care about a man like me,” he
said in a low voice. “Don’t do it, Lyra . Don’t.”
She stared at him with an intake of breath.
“It is growing late.” The cold mask reasserted itself on his handsome
face. Abruptly releasing her, he turned towards the waiting helicopter.
“Time to go.”
An ache filled her throat.
“It’s too late already,” she whispered, but he’d already turned away.