Chapter Four

Galya

Candlelight flickers on the mantle. I’m dressed in a simple nightgown I borrowed from Polina, barely covering my breasts, hitched up my legs as I sit cross-legged on the bed. My hand pauses mid-brush, frozen.

I want him. I want him so badly, I ache.

It feels as if this night’s enchanted, as if I’ve lived a full lifetime in a few short hours.

As if all the years apart have prepared me for this moment.

My breath catches as he strides toward me, his eyes dark, intense, every step radiating purpose. My god, I’ve never seen anyone stronger, more arresting than he is. His collar’s undone. Even the small triangle of tanned skin makes my mouth water.

Before I can move, his hands cup my face, warm and strong, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks in a way that sends a shiver through me. The touch is at once possessive, his grip warm and unrelenting.

No one else exists. The entire world spins on its orbit for us, and us alone.

He lowers his mouth to mine. His lips are fierce yet tender, the kiss unraveling the years of distance, breaking down every wall I built to protect myself from him.

A low thrum of need builds between my thighs, my belly warm and melty when his tongue meets mine and he swallows my moan.

I cling to his shoulders, feeling the solid strength of him beneath my hands, his muscles taut, coiled with barely restrained tension. He deepens the kiss, claiming me in a way that feels inevitable, as if every moment, every stolen glance between us was leading up to this. My back presses against the headboard, but I’m lost in him, the rest of the room fading away as he fills my senses. His hands slide down, tracing the curves of my body, igniting something wild and reckless inside me.

I gasp against his mouth, my body responding instinctively, drawn to him with a need I’ve tried so long to deny. I arch into him, my fingers threading through his hair, pulling him closer, wanting to feel every inch of him, to make up for the lost time, the years of wanting and restraint. His hands roam my waist, his touch possessive, and every inch of me aches to be his, to let go completely.

He lays me down in a mess of heated kisses and tangled limbs, his weight pressing me into the mattress as he settles above me. He trails his lips down my neck, his breath hot against my skin, and I feel myself melting beneath him, my body surrendering to every touch, every kiss. His hands are everywhere, igniting trails of fire that leave me breathless, and my own hands explore his back, his shoulders, as if memorizing the feel of him.

Hearts pound. Breathing hitched. Clothes pushed away, unwanted. Skin to skin, vulnerable and connected.

There’s an urgency between us, an unspoken understanding that this isn’t just about desire but possession, about finally surrendering to what we’ve both known was inevitable.

He lowers himself over me, his movements slow and deliberate, each touch, each caress drawing me deeper under his spell. I gasp, pulling him closer.

“I want you in me,”

I breathe. I want him to fill every part of me. To own me.

The world narrows to the sound of his breathing, to the way his body moves against mine, and everything else fades away. He enters me in one thrust, and a spasm of pleasure fills every cell of my being, leaving just the two of us tangled together, our bodies and souls entwined.

With each movement, each shared breath, I feel a part of myself break free, liberated in a way I never thought possible. Tonight, I’m his, entirely, irrevocably. And I know, without a doubt, he’s mine.

We don’t talk. We don’t need to. Our bodies say without words everything we need to fill the years of separation.

“Mine,”

he says, his breath catching on the verge of climax.

“Yours,”

I breathe, as ecstasy explodes in my chest and our bodies become one. It feels as if every tear I shed, every hope I held onto, every dream and whispered prayer, led to this… us.

We collapse onto the bed. He holds me to his chest.

Our fingers tangle and he brings mine to his lips, kissing each knuckle like a knight in shining armor.

“Sleep, angel,”

he whispers in my ear. “Tomorrow, we plan what’s next. No one. No one will come between us again.”

Far in the distance, church bells ring, hearkening the coming of a new day, and for me… a promise of a new life to come.