Fire flooded my body.

Need pulsed between my thighs.

Everything was heightened.

I was hungry for more.

Desperate.

Just as suddenly as it all started, he pulled away, leaving me empty.

It was time to go and make food. Without a word, I left the bathroom, needing the space. I touched my swollen lips as I entered the kitchen.

It was just a kiss. To me, it felt like so much more, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop thinking about it.

****

Slavik

I cleaned up without getting the bandage wet.

Aurora’s stitching had fucking hurt. I’d forgotten how painful it could be, but there was no reason to phone the fucking doctor or go to the hospital. They were a persona and place I tried to avoid. Besides, I had a very high pain threshold. It took a lot to get to me.

I left the bathroom, drying my body and changing into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt. I followed the scents coming from the kitchen, and I didn’t alert Aurora to my presence as she worked. She chopped onions and garlic, putting them in a pan, sprinkling in some herbs and spices as she did.

Mesmerized by the way she moved in the kitchen, I thought about what she said earlier, about feeding me. When I’d asked Sergei what she had to eat, he told me she cooked for herself, but no one else.

My anger at the asshole I’d killed was renewed. I wished he was alive so I could have killed him again. Not only that, I’d have made him see who Aurora belonged to. She was mine. No one else’s, and I was frustrated to know he died without me driving that point home.

I’d never considered myself a possessive person, not when it came to a woman. My turf I defended violently, keeping it belonging to me and in turn, part of Volkov’s terrain. Women came and went. As a young man, I’d fucked my way through so much pussy. None of them had any faces. It had all been about getting myself off, and for them, it was about taking on the Volkov’s meanest fucking brigadier. I was a badge to them, a title.

When Ivan told me I needed to get married for an alliance, I’d been happy to do it. I’d never intended to be faithful to my wife, or think about her.

Aurora had come as a huge surprise to me in so many ways. First, my desire for other women had faded. Even while we hadn’t been having sex but had been married, I hadn’t looked at anyone else. I hadn’t cared to. Women had tried to capture my attention, but I’d ignored them. Each time they did, Aurora’s face would flash in my head, and any desire for anyone or anything else faded.

It meant nothing to me.

Aurora opened a can of tomatoes, adding them to the pan, stirring, followed by some water from the kettle. She went to the cupboard, and I liked seeing her at home in the kitchen. The way she turned and worked. This was her home.