Avrora
I make my way up the wide, sweeping stone steps of The Langham Hotel and the gentle night breeze lifts the ends of my hair.
As Leif is so distinguished in the Knights, and generally throughout Boston, I'm not surprised his retirement party is being held at one of the city's finest hotels.
It's located right across from Boston Harbor, so the slight salty scent of the sea tickles my nose. A little distraction from my shaky thoughts.
I'm not a hundred percent certain about this idea of just turning up and seeing how things go with Anatoli, but I'm doing it.
This is me trying. This is me fighting for the pirate man who holds my heart.
The doormen open the doors for me and I walk in, immersed in the music and people dressed in formal wear. It's almost a déjà vu moment from the fundraiser, but this time I'm by myself, and people notice straight away.
The hotel's facilities have been booked out for the event so everyone around me is here because of it. But there is no mixture of what I call normal people and those who belong to the Knights.
Those around me are either from the Knights or the Bratva. There are also those from the alliance. As such, there's a different vibe in the air. Something that commands authority and attention.
Immediately, I feel out of place, but I push my feelings aside.
I'm not here for these people. All I need to do is find the one man I came here for.
Walking through the ballroom, I search the crowd, but I can't find Anatoli anywhere.
I head across the room, walking out into the other foyer which has a balcony.
That's where I see him talking to Leif.
My heart warms just from seeing him. Instead of the few days that have passed, it feels like years since we last saw each other.
I hope I can fix this, but more than anything, I pray he can look at me as Avrora again, not Uther Galitze's daughter.
Whatever Anatoli and Leif are talking about looks important as they seem deep in conversation. But Anatoli must feel my eyes on him because he glances my way and our eyes lock.
We're about thirty feet away from each other, but the intensity of his stare is so potent he could be standing right in front of me.
Heat streaks through me, warming every particle in my body just from his stare.
But I can't tell what sort of mood he's in. He looks neither happy nor sad at seeing me. He's just looking.
I stare back, thinking of everything my father did to him. I almost feel like abandoning this plan and going back the way I came. I just know that if I do, I will regret it. Just like Ehlga said.
With a deep breath, I summon the strength from my heart and continue my path across the foyer to the stairs that will lead me to him.
It's only when I reach them that I look away from Anatoli and take the stairs up.
When I arrive at the top and walk onto the floor, someone calls my name.
It's Mikhail, and I'm determined not to make tonight go as badly as it did at the fundraiser.
When he rushes up to me, I stop, turning to face him, ready for whatever he's going to say to me. Good or bad.
"You're here." His voice takes on a softer tone than the other night, without that vindictive air.
"I am."
"I would have tried to call you, but I didn't want to make things worse."
"There was no need to call me." The coldness in my tone is new and invigorating. All my life, I practically worshiped this man. It's good to have the smoke cleared from my eyes.
"Yes, there was. Avrora, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I still want to be with you. I'm still fighting to be with you."
"You don't need to do that either. Mikhail, I don't love you. I'm not sure I ever did." I wish I could lash out about the vineyard, but remembering Anatoli's words about the possible plan to kill him keeps it locked in my mind. "This has to end here. I'm in love with my husband."
Mikhail's eyes narrow, becoming dark pools of venom. He doesn't answer, but when his gaze shifts from mine to over my shoulder and hatred amplifies his stare, I know there's only one person he could be looking at like that.
So when I turn and see Anatoli, I'm not all that surprised.
From where he's standing and depending on when he moved to us here, he would have heard what I said to Mikhail. He certainly would have heard the last words I said, which were the most important.
Without another word, Mikhail turns and walks away. Although I know I just added another wedge into a messy situation, I made the right decision and my heart feels free.
I walk toward Anatoli and stop a breath away, searching his eyes as he gazes back at me.
I hope he can see how I feel because this is the no-holds-barred version of me. It's everything. My heart is in my hands, and all that I feel is beaming from me like a beacon of light calling this sailor home.
His eyes roam over my long black evening gown, which isn't that different from the last one I wore. When he reaches out to lift a lock of my hair, I feel more at ease, and I realize the door is open for me now. I just have to take the chance and walk in.
"Valkyrie," he says, and parts of my heart heal just hearing him call me that. "Every man in this building has his eyes on you in this dress."
"I just need one guy looking at me."
"He is."
"Then I hope he can look into my soul and see how I truly feel about him."
The guard drops from his eyes and he inches closer. I inhale him, committing his scent to memory.
"Be careful, Valkyrie. The angel shouldn't fall for the devil."
I have the perfect answer. He thinks I'm the angel, but I'm not. It's him. He's the avenging angel, while I'm the devil's daughter.
"Then maybe you shouldn't fall for me." I feel like I'm crawling over thin ice just by saying that, but I needed to. And I need to trust that this strong connection between us is solid enough to keep us together.
Anatoli touches my face, bringing his nose to mine. As he looks at me, I wonder if he can tell that I now know about the past and what my father did. It's the only reason why I could have said what I did.
"It's too late. I've already fallen for you."
A brush of his lips over mine renews my strength. I touch his cheek, running my finger over the scruff on his chin.
"It's too late for me, too. I think if I lived my life a thousand times, in many different ways, something would always lead me back here to this point where I choose you."
He guides my face closer to him. "Then I will always find you in every lifetime."
When he presses his lips to mine, time fades into the ether, taking everyone and everything with it. All I feel is him, all I want is him, all I need is him.
We kiss as if we need each other for our next breath, then suddenly, he's moving me away.
"Come. I need you," he whispers over my lips, then he takes my hand and leads me down the hall away from everyone.
He opens the first door we find. Dim lights pop on, revealing the interior of a storage closet holding boxes and shelves. Before I can even take note that we're probably somewhere we shouldn't be, he pushes me up against the wall.
His lips return to mine, and I no longer care where we are.
Hungry kisses rule my lips, then my mind, then my body.
When he shoves my dress up to my hips, lifts my leg and hooks it around his waist, I'm ready for him.
My pussy is aching to have his cock inside me, pounding my mind into oblivion.
Anatoli stops kissing me for a moment to shove his pants down and take out his cock. Then he grabs me, moves my panties to the side, and slams right into my passage.
I gasp, throwing my head back in pleasure, and he takes that chance to push me harder into the wall and fuck me like he wants to keep me forever.
He pins my wrist to the wall, binding me in pleasure, and I savor him.
I savor the feeling of him, and us joined together. The way we should be. Always.
When he looks at me, I know he sees me for who I am.
Not the devil's daughter.