Faye

 

With impressive dexterity and me in his arms, Andrei opened the door to his office, crossed it and headed outside. A rush of freezing air met us.

“What are we doing?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and shivering against him. “It’s freezing.”

Andrei set me down and placed a hand on the small of my back. “Trust me.”

Hugging myself, I nodded and stepped forward, picking my way across a small, cleared off deck. There was a shovel resting against the railing and I stopped, looking up at the sky. The stars were bright overhead, a billion fiery gems pulsing in an ether of deep, glorious violet.

The moon hadn’t risen yet and I traced my way through the constellations. With ease, I found the Hyades star cluster, then Orion, the Big Dipper, and Leo. A dim flicker in the north promised a show of the aurora borealis in the coming hours and a lightness went through my chest.

For a moment, I forgot everything but right now. This night, the sky and the stars.

Andrei.

Turning back around, I saw he was standing behind me, waiting with a smile. A glow, brighter than even the stars, leaped up in my chest. Making my way back to him, slipping a little on the snow in my haste, I held out my hands. He pulled me to him and let out a sigh, looking up at the sky.

“I don’t look at the stars enough,” he said.

Something in Andrei’s voice was oddly wistful and I pressed my cheek to his chest, then followed his gaze upwards. “You should.”

He let out a rueful laugh. “There’s a lot of things I should do, dushechka.”

Darling. I smiled and asked, “Like what?”

“Stop to live once in a while. Breathe.” Andrei’s voice was oddly quiet and serious. “You know this is only the third time I’ve seen Tulila?” I looked up at him, remembering how he’d held his niece and gazed at her for a long time. How hard it had been to tear my eyes away from them. “Sometimes I still think I’m in my twenties and with so much time to live…”

“Yeah, you’re pretty old, there, Grandpa,” I teased Andrei. He didn’t respond, only smiled slightly and continued to look upwards. Shivering, I moved closer. “I know it’s probably sacrilege to say this to a Zima, but why don’t you do something different for the Order? Like Roy?”

Andrei sighed, his shoulders slumping a little and I shook my head. Sometimes I thought the Zimas and Weslarks didn’t get along not because of their differences; but because they were so damn similar. Independent, fierce, loyal and with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

“You’d be great at anything you did, Andrei,” I continued.

“Well, I know that,” he said with a smirk and I rolled my eyes. “The question is whether I could. You know how addicting this life can be. How much it can consume you.”

“I tried to never let it get to that point,” I said and Andrei let out a snort. Pulling back, I looked up at him in surprise. “What? I’m not consumed!”

“Mhmm,” he murmured. “You’re as bad as I am, but at least I can admit it.”

“Hey!” I protested. “The last few months do not count. I mean it, when this is all over, I’m going snowboarding for a month.” Andrei gave me a dubious look. “Maybe two!”

“By yourself?” he asked, reaching and tilting up my chin. His thumb stroked my jaw.

“Um, I hadn’t… I…” We were inches apart and I saw something flicker in his eyes.

“I almost killed an innocent person,” Andrei suddenly said in a hard voice, almost against his will and I jerked backward. “I almost killed you for the damn Order.”

“But you didn’t,” I said quickly. “You knew I was innocent and did the right thing. You saved me.” Andrei looked away. “Andrei, you did. I can admit that. Without you, Rasoir would have…”

He stepped back and raked his hair in frustration, not listening to me. “Faye, when I think about the fact that…” Andrei’s face went tight. “I still accepted the assignment. No questions asked.” He paused and I moved closer, gripping his shirt. “But more than that, I keep thinking about the what if’s – what if I’d…” His throat worked. “What if someone else was sent?”

My lips parted as I tried to think of something to say. But all I could do was stand there and listen, holding onto his shirt. I wanted him to keep talking and release the poison Mirois had injected him with. He seemed to realize that and he started to speak again.

“I could have met you at any point over the years. Pulled you aside and said thanks for Roy.” Andrei’s green eyes never left mine. “Realized I wasn’t such a lone tiger after all.”

“Isn’t it lone wolf?” I asked, trying to laugh, but I wasn’t really thinking about that. Instead, I was conscious of how I was trembling and it wasn’t from the cold.

I’d wanted to see the real Andrei.

And here he was.

My chest rose and fell as I watched his face. The softening of his eyes and set of his mouth. We looked at each other for several moments, neither of saying anything.

“What if I never met you?” Andrei asked in a rough, deep voice.

A sound left my throat, a choked sob combined with a happy laugh. Reaching out, I found his hands as I had the other night and smiled at him. “No chance.”

Andrei squeezed my hands, but there was a shadow on his face. “It haunts me, Faye.”

“No,” I murmured, as our fingers linked and his head bent. “You delayed the inevitable long enough, Andrei Zima. And then you found me in a blaze of glory,” I teased.

“I did, didn’t I?” Andrei smirked. “Come to think of it, you could've come to me.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” I muttered and Andrei laughed.

Warmth brushed across my lips as we moved closer. His hand slid up to my cheek and I stood on my tiptoes as our grip tightened. I stared up at him and smiled.

The green of his eyes was blazing as he kissed me.

I’m home now, came a stray and sweet thought.

We may have stayed like that for hours if the wind hadn’t picked up and Andrei broke away, grinning. “I almost forgot why I brought you out here.”

I glanced at the sky. “It wasn’t for the stars?”

“No, stargazer, although I remember from our conversations as Dean and Bess that you are quite the cosmos queen. And then last week, you explained it’s one the reasons you and Piper are such good friends.” I raised my eyebrows and Andrei gave me a superior look. “What, I listen.”

“Okay… Tell me what you have up your sleeve, then,” I said, squinting at him.

Tugging on my hands, Andrei led me over to a large jacuzzi as his grin became devilish.

However, I couldn’t help but grimace. “Is it clean?”

“Seriously, Faye?” Andrei asked. “Yes. Do you see this shoveled deck? I came out here the yesterday to ah, get some space. Cleared my head and cleared the deck, along with the hot tub. It’s not often I get to use it. And here it is, all ready for us.”

“But my swimsuit is upstairs…” I trailed off as Andrei let go of my hand and began to unbutton his flannel shirt. “Wait – you’re not saying… Oh.”

“You’re sexy, but you’re also cute as hell with that innocent streak.” Andrei was already down to his undershirt and pulled that off. “Better get undressed fast, it’s only going to get colder...” He hit a knob on the side and the water began to bubble, steam pouring from it and wafting across my face. He shed his pants and stood there in his boxers. Folding his arms, he smirked at me. “This is as far as I go until you join me, Faye.”

The challenge in his words goaded me into action. As did the starlight illuminating his half-naked, muscular, and delectable body. Even as I shook my head, I pulled off the sweatshirt. Andrei’s eyes widened slightly and his smile grew. Heat raced up my neck and I was blushing as I fiddled with my tank top, before pulling it off along with my sweats.

“Wow,” Andrei said, his eyes lazily tracking over me and I hugged myself.

“You’ve seen me in a bikini,” I muttered, tossing my hair forward to hide my face.

“And I enjoyed every minute of that, but this…” He whistled. “Come here.”

My skin was covered in goosebumps, but strangely, I wasn’t cold. Although there was an aching burn in the soles of my feet that probably wasn’t good. But I ignored it and I moved closer.

“Ladies, first,” Andrei said, holding out his hand and I gave him a sassy look. “What?”

“I like this bra,” I said, reaching back and unclipping it with more bravado than I realized I possessed. I pulled it off and held it up with one finger, then dropped it. His jaw fell along with it. Then he let out a strangled breathy laugh as I took off my panties as well.

When Andrei didn’t say a word, I shrugged and climbed into the hot tub, letting out a sigh as the hot water hit my skin. My hair fanned out in the water as I sank into my neck and looked up at him.

“Come here,” I said in an arch, teasing voice.

Andrei began to laugh, a rich and joyous sound. I slipped forward and crossed my arms over the edge closest to him, watching him with a smile. I’d never heard him laugh like that.

“That, I was not expecting,” Andrei said. “But I should know by now to watch my step around you.”

I was about to make a retort about wasting time when he stepped back and shed his boxers. My breath caught as the starlight cut shadows across his entire naked and hard body. And I saw what was between his legs. Lips parted, I couldn’t help but think, Zima crown jewels, indeed.

Moving back as Andrei climbed in after me, smirking, I could feel my heart beating into every cell of my body. An ache of fire blazed up, deep in my belly and demanding to be quenched. Face to face, I watched the water slip over his muscled shoulders as he moved even closer.

Andrei’s hands skimmed up my thighs, across my hips and slipped behind to grip my ass. Meanwhile, I smoothed my hands up his chest, following the curves of his tattoos. He said nothing as I looked him over, the water making the colors of those tattoos vivid.

When I looked up, he was gazing at me. “If this is a dream, do not wake me, I beg of you,” Andrei whispered. “God, Faye, you are otherworldly… Like a fallen star.”

I wanted to say something meaningful, but I was breathless. Lost in this perfect moment.

So, I kissed him instead. Andrei preferred that anyway.

Draping my arms around his neck, our bodies became flush and I gasped. In response, Andrei pulled me closer to him and his tongue found mine. My breasts pebbled against his hard chest as our bodies tangled. Reaching up, my hands went into his hair until I’d soaked it from my caresses and the cold droplets mingled with the hot.

Our kisses grew harder and hotter. One of Andrei’s hands traced up my back, following my spine, until he was holding my neck and I gasped again. The skin there was so sensitive and now he was tilting my head back, kissing me even more thoroughly. His other hand was squeezing my ass cheek, fingers lightly caressing it and I arched up against him, legs going around his waist.

As we kissed, our bodies seemed to heat to the point where they were molten. Hotter than the water and each pore overflowing with pleasure. Pleasure that blended and had no lines. His was mine and mine was his.

I was his and he was mine.

Our kisses became deeper and deeper, tongues fighting and stroking. By this point, I was quivering against Andrei, desire and need making me impatient for more.

His hand at my neck slipped down to my back, while the other danced across my thigh and suddenly rough fingers brushed across my warmth. I bucked, gasping and panting as our lips broke apart.

“You’re mine,” Andrei growled and his fingers moved inside of me.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Oh, oh, yes!

My head fell back and my eyes closed. Moaning helplessly at his touch, I wanted to beg for both release and so much more. Andrei was kissing my neck, his scruff on the delicate skin driving my nerves into a frenzy. That, coupled with his expert fingers had me whimpering and he began to move faster. I gripped his shoulders, crying out now, incoherent and delirious.

A wave of pleasure crashed down on me and I shattered, his name coming out as a low, dazed gasp between my lips. For several moments, I kept my eyes closed as I caught my breath. When I blinked them open, Andrei was gazing at me with unmistakable hunger in those green depths. But there was also longing there.

I pressed my fingertips to his cold cheeks. “You found me,” I said, not knowing why.

“No, dushechka,” Andrei said, his voice low and rasping. “I think you found me.”

His arms tightened around me as he sat back on a seat and pulled me down on top of him. My knees were on either side of his hips and a moan escaped me as his hard shaft brushed against my center. I arched up and my breasts left the warm water.

Andrei’s mouth found one while his hand found the other. Grabbing his shoulders, I was gasping and writhing in no time, trying to rub my thighs together to release the friction he was causing there. I began to beg for him to sate it, but Andrei ignored that. Instead, he switched his hand and mouth several times. When he’d finished, I was shaking with need and sagged against him.

Andrei leaned forward, pulling my lips to his. “I’ve never made love under the stars before,” he murmured.

Pulling back, I met his eyes and pressed a hand to his cheek. “Me either.”

There was an intensity in Andrei’s gaze, but also a question as he settled his hands on my hips. “Faye…?”

“Yes,” I said, pressing against him and moving my lips to his ear. “Hell yes.”

Andrei chuckled, turning his head to kiss me again. Then he pulled my hips down, his length sliding halfway in. Gasping, my fingers digging into him, my body squirmed and trembled as I tried to adjust to the massive size of him. He stopped, concerned and I shook my head.

Finding his lips, I kissed him hard and pushed my hips down a bit more. Andrei groaned into my mouth and I laughed. Relishing the feeling of our bodies pressing together, the swish of hot water over bare skin and the ice-cold breeze, I kissed him again.

For so many weeks, I’d been a ghost.

And now I’d never felt more alive.

“Yes, Andrei,” I murmured between kisses. Then he slid all the way in. “Oh, God, yes…”

“I love how you say my name,” Andrei whispered as he filled me entirely and we caught our breath. “I love how you feel.” He kissed me. “How you taste.”

Suddenly, he began to move and I did as well. Our hips were in perfect sync.

Soon my breath was ragged and filled with moans. Andre’s lips found my neck and my head fell back. Opening my eyes, I saw the stars wheeling overhead and I wanted to cry out at the beauty of it all. This profound pleasure. This beautiful man and this beautiful night.

“Faye,” Andrei murmured. “My Faye.”

This freedom and belonging.

Andrei kept saying my name over and over between finding every sensitive spot on my neck. The sound of it brought tears to my eyes as the wind brushed through the treetops. And I cried out his name as well, begging now.

“Faster, harder, please, oh, oh yes,” I gasped out. “Andrei, oh Andrei!”

Suddenly the stars burst overhead and I cried out his name one last time as I shattered.

Pleasure engulfed me as I saw the stars spinning in fiery wheels, before falling like scattered petals. Andrei followed, calling out my name in a harsh and masculine way, making the stars spin again.

When we both came down and were two people again, it was almost a surprise. That bliss had been so complete, so big and powerful, I didn’t know how to reconcile with it.

But then Andrei kissed me and everything made sense.