Chapter 20 - Natalie

It has been a long and lonely week, spent wandering the halls of the mansion or sitting in the conservatory sketching some of the flowers. I mainly worked with watercolors, focusing on the fluidity of the flowers.

I didn't think I would spend the week after my wedding alone, but there were important matters to deal with, whatever that meant. I wasn't told anything specific; all I know is that my husband wasn't home much.

Even as Leon now sits opposite me in his private plane, I feel lonely.

He looks at the papers in front of him and sorts through a few numbers while we're on our way to our honeymoon. I don't know where we're going because he won't tell me, but it doesn't look like he wants to go there now.

I run my fingers over the leather seats" white seams and look out the window. There is nothing below but clouds covering the land we're over right now.

I lean back in my seat and look at the sketchbook in front of me.

Instead of watching Leon any longer, I decide to sketch him.

I pull my knees up and put my feet on the edge of the seat. Thanks to the bump that"s steadily growing, it's not as easy as it used to be. About five months go, and I'm counting down the days until I meet our baby.

"Hold that pose," I say as I pick up my pencil and sketch Leon's body's masculine lines.

He looks up at me from behind his dark lashes, and the corner of his mouth tilts up. "Are you telling me what to do?"

"I might be, but I really do need you to stay still."

He chuckles, obliging me by staying in one position while I finish roughing in the drawing.

My pencil flies over the page as I capture his angular jaw, freshly shaved, this morning. I try to get the shape of his eyes, the roundness, and the way they taper, but it is slightly more difficult to properly put down on the paper than I anticipated.

The side of my hand is covered in graphite as I reach for the mouldable eraser, shaping it into a blob and dabbing at some of the lines that are too dark. I make them lighter, tracing over the perfect ones, reducing the ones that weren't quite right.

Leon looks up as I make a soft noise in my throat. "Sketch not turning out the way you want?"

I shrug. "Perhaps. I don't know. It's been weeks since I sat down to sketch something new. My fingers are a bit stiff. I feel like I can't get the shape of your mouth right."

"What's so wrong about it?"

I giggle and say sheepishly, "Oh, there's nothing wrong with your mouth," which earns me a puzzled look.

Sighing, I turn the page to him and point to the curve in his upper lip. "I can't get this one right. Every time I draw it, your cupid's bow is either too strong or not pronounced enough."

Amusement sparkles in his eyes. "You"ve spent more than enough time familiarizing yourself with my lips. I think you should know how to draw them by now."

Heat floods through me, and for a moment, I consider convincing him to abandon his work and go to the bedroom at the back of the plane for the second time since take-off.

The pregnancy hormones are making me insatiable.

Or it's the way his big hands feel on my body, which I can't get enough of.

It might be the softer side of Leon that I am beginning to see. No one would ever call him a teddy bear, but some parts are softer than others.

Leon chuckles. "Do you want me to look at my paperwork again so you can keep studying me?"

I put the sketchbook back in my lap. "If you're not going to tell me where we're going, then yes."

"We should be landing in another hour or so. Be patient."

"I'm not much of a patient person these days. Everything seems like it's on a deadline."

"That's because it is. Our baby will be here before you know it, and our lives are changing faster than either of us can keep up with."

"You feel that way, too?" I laugh softly and run my hand over the shape of his mouth again, trying to get a little closer to the right arc. "You seem so calm and collected about everything. I used to be like that too, but then the damn pregnancy hormones got to me."

Leon puts his papers back in his briefcase. "Where we'll be spending the next week or two, you'll have plenty of time to relax and not think about everything that"s going on. You can be as calm and relaxed as you like."

I erase another line where his cheekbone should be in the drawing and sketch it a little higher. "Okay, so you think this place will be relaxing for me."

"I know it will." Leon leans back in the seat and crosses his leg over the other. "I've spent a lot of time there over the years, and I can honestly tell you it's one of my favorite places in the world."

"What's your favorite place?"

A devilish smile tugs at the corners of his mouth, lust shining in those ocean-blue eyes. "Your pussy."

My entire body feels like I've been plunged into an inferno. "If you say things like that, I'll have to join the mile-high club for the second time on this trip."

He chuckles, sending a shiver through my body. "If we had enough time for us to play, then yes, you would be. Unfortunately, your libido is going to have to wait."

I scoff, adding some shading to the picture. "My libido? You're one to talk. As soon as that seatbelt sign was off, you were dragging me to the back of the plane like a damn caveman."

"Can you blame me?"

"It has been a long week. I've barely seen you." I grimace at the whining tone of my voice. ‘I didn't mean that I need to see you constantly to survive kind of way. I guess I've just grown used to going to bed with you, and it felt weird not having you next to me the last few nights."

He leans across the table, takes my hand, turns it over, and presses a kiss to the center of my palm. "I promise you; you will never have to go to bed without me during this trip."

"And when we get home?"

He beams like I've said the thing he's been waiting his whole life to hear. "You think the estate is home?"

"To be honest, I like it a lot better than the penthouse."

Leon laughs and nods, leaning back in his seat. "I understand. As much as I love the city, the quietness of the estate is home for me, too. And it'll be the best place for our child to grow up. I promise that I'll do my best to come home to you before bedtime every night."

"You don't have to do that. I know it's not fair to ask you to do that when you"re so busy with your work, your businesses, your family, and whatever else."

"It's better if you don't know for now. Stress isn't good for the baby."

"Well, you promised days of rest and relaxation, so I don't think stress will be a problem for a while."

He looks out the window as the plane starts to dip. "Looks like we're landing."

***

As we leave the airport in Saint Tropez, the sun slowly sinks toward the horizon, and the colorful stripes in the sky are reflected in the ocean.

"Where are we staying?" I ask as Leon holds open the car"s back door, waiting for us while the driver loads our luggage.

"My mother was French-Russian. She always talked about spending the rest of her life in France. When the time came for her to retire, she bought a beach house in Saint Tropez."

"We're going to stay with your mother?" I grin as he sits down next to me. "Does that mean I can ask her to see all your baby photos? I have a lot of questions about you as a child, you know."

He chuckles as he slides in beside me. "Not happening. My mom died many years ago, but she left the beach house to me. She thought that I would appreciate it more than Sergey, and she was right."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

I look out the windows as we drive through the streets, beige buildings with terracotta roofs on either side. People sit outside in the waning sun while others walk back from the beach with their bags slung over their shoulders. Everyone is sun-kissed and glowing, looking relaxed.

"Don't be," he says, interlacing my fingers with his. I can hear the anguish in his voice as if an unrelenting pain is casting a shadow over him.

I still want to know what happened back then, but now is not the time to ask. If my father was in the mafia too, he must have done something seriously wrong because I believe deep in my heart that Leon doesn"t do anything without a reason.

After what feels like an eternity, we pull into a driveway that leads to a huge beige house. My jaw drops as I enjoy the view of the beach behind the house, where the gloomy waves crash against the shore.

Leon waits while the driver unloads the bags before carrying them to the door. I follow him and am startled when he opens the door and turns on the lights to make the terracotta tiles and blue and white accents stand out even more.

This place looks like an oceanside oasis.

"You know, I don't know what I was expecting when you said beach house, but I didn't think you meant that the back door led straight out into the sand." I turn to look at Leon, who opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water.

He breaks off the lid and takes a long sip. "I know. This place is a sanctuary. I think of all the places my mother decorated; this was the one she was most proud of. This is where she spent her last years, surrounded by people she loved."

As I see the plush wicker sofas and white cushions, I imagine myself cozying up with a book while Leon works.

Although he"s arranged the honeymoon, I doubt he'll be taking much time for himself. He doesn't seem like the kind of man who can slow down and enjoy life for too long.

Leon also hands me a bottle of water and leans against the counter. "Do you want to explore a little?"

"No." I hold a hand over my mouth to hide my yawn as the excitement fades and gives way to exhaustion. "I just want to go to bed. Maybe watch another movie or something, but I don't think I can stay awake for much longer."

He chuckles and drinks more of the water. "I have a bit of work to do before I can go to bed tonight. There are some substantial amounts of moving money I need to take care of, which means I"ll be spending the rest of the night emailing with Sergey."

"Will you at least lie in bed with me so that we can enjoy the first night together?"

"Of course."

He finishes his water before carrying our bags into the room.

Everything in the room is either light wood, terracotta, or white bedding. Plants stand on shelves around the room, and huge doors lead out onto a terrace.

I know where I'll be drinking my warm lemon water in the morning.

Leon puts the bags to the side. "If you want to take a shower, the bathroom is just behind that door."

"A shower sounds amazing." I head for the bathroom, leaving the door open as I shed my clothing and head straight for the shower.

The rain shower cascades warm water down over my tense body. Sighing, I slick my hair back before looking around for shampoo and conditioner.

There are small bottles on the shelf in the shower, and when I reach for the first one, I see that it is the same brand I have back home.

Warmth spreads through my heart that Leon has thought of getting his staff to stock the house with duplicates of things I like.

I wrap myself in a fluffy towel, go back to the bedroom, and rummage in my suitcases until I find an oversized shirt and a pair of shorts.

Leon is already lying on the bed under the covers, his bare chest visible and his laptop glowing in his lap. He looks up at me and lets his gaze wander up and down my body.

If I weren't so tired, I"d find a way to convince him to put the laptop aside.

I put on the shirt and shorts before turning off the light and climbing into the plush bed beside him. His fingers absentmindedly comb through my hair as he reads his emails.

"Here," he says and hands me the remote. "Put whatever you like on. I already programmed the television to have all those streaming sites you love."

"Thank you."

Tears gather in my eyes as I lean close to him and wonder what the universe is trying to tell us. We met in the most unorthodox way, and now it's as if life has come full circle.

Yawning, I lean into the pillows next to him and press our bodies closer together while I choose a movie to fall asleep to.

As I close my eyes and listen to the main characters, Leon's fingers continue to comb through my hair.

For the first time in my life, I feel content.