Page 49 of Night So Silent
“Oh, is there a Russian version?”
“If there is, it's probably much worse,” I smirk.
Barrett lets out a huff and rakes her hair back from her face. I move to stand as she glances around the room nervously. In a matter of three steps, I come to a halt, inches from her chest.
“You are not weird,” I tell her in no uncertain terms. “You are the only other person who belongs here in this house with me. And, I told you,” I lean down, until my lips brush the edge of her hair line, and lower my voice, “you are myPrintsessa, my treasure, and my entire world.”
She doesn’t look up, only lifts her hands and rests her palms on my chest.
“But you are going back.” It’s not so much a question as confirmation of her intentions.
“Yes.” It’s barely a whisper, but it cuts through the silence like a knife.
I reach for her hand and bring it to my lips, kissing her satin skin. “If you have to go, I will take you down the mountain tomorrow.”
Barrett’s eyes dart away as her jaw tightens and her chin trembles slightly. But she tamps it down quickly, covering it up with a smile as she gives my hand a squeeze. For someone who facilitates the emotional healing of other people, it seems like she’s far more accustomed to ignoring her own in favor of duty.
I glance out the window at the sun dipping behind the trees. Night comes quickly on the mountain and it will be dark soon enough, which means I have things to accomplish that I’ve put off too long already.
“I’ll go down and check the roads,” I tell her. “I’ll be back before long.”
Barrett gives a nod as I cup her face, tilting it up to look at me. She clenches my shirt in her fists as I kiss her, each one reminding her that I meant what I said. I don’t get close to just anyone, but I’ll be her constant, her rock, her lover, and one day, maybe even her husband. I’ll be the one she comes home to, the one she goes to sleep with, and the one she wakes up next to every day, never having to second-guess whether it’s real. Because she’s the one I want.
And I mate for life.
Plans change. Plates shift. And, eventually, we come to terms with accepting that we deserve the things we want. She just hasn’t reached the last part yet.
I step back, letting her hands fall from my chest. Grabbing my coat from the hook, I open the door for the first time to the crisp chill of the wintry air. But then I give pause.
“And remember what I told you,” I say over my shoulder, “do not open this door or go outside until I come back.”
And with that, I step out into the shimmering snow and pull the door shut behind me.
???
“How's your captive doing?” Lutz snickers over the speaker. “Are you the best of friends yet?”
“She’s not captive,” I correct him. “She came back voluntarily. And she could have left by now. The airport is open again.”
“Doessheknow that?”
“She knows the airport is open.”
“Uh-huh…” He knows me well enough to decipher my intentionally vague responses. “She's been asking Brett about you, searching for intel.”
Of course she has.
“She is smart.”
“See? She’s pretty cool, right?” he says smugly. “I knew you all would get on like a house fire.”
You have no idea.
“Yes,” I agree, “she is the one.”
Lutz is silent for a moment and then a warmth seeps into my heart, just like every other time I render him speechless, which is not often.
“Wait, what do you mean,the one?” he finally asks. “You want to be with Barrett?”
