Page 11 of Unholy Matrimony
“Before she died, my Mama lived with me and my nanny. My father lived here once too, but he has many properties and never stayed for a long time.” I said, feeling my chest tighten a little. I missed Mama, and the house has felt very empty since she died. Seeing Lina look around in awe makes me feel better, though. Maybe this house will be home again.
Behind us, Oleg and Ilya come bringing in her luggage, and as quickly as it is put down Alina comes in to grab it. “Tsvetok2, this is Alina. Our housekeeper and the best cook in all of Moscow!”
“Stop, ya ne take khorosh3! You must be Kalina, so lovely to meet you. You will let me know if there is anything you need or if there are certain meals you like.” Kalina held out her hand to Alina and instead, Alina sprang forward to hug her. With a look of surprise and shock on her face, she tightly embraced and hugged her back.
“I know this must be difficult being away from your family, but I will do my best to make sure you feel at home here,” Alina tells her. Lina looks happy, appreciative even. I move forward, grab Lina’s bag, and look at Alina. “I’m going to get us settled. For supper tonight something fasting-friendly please Alina.” She nods in acknowledgment.
I turn to the twins. “I’ll call you if I need anything. Be here at 6 a.m. so we can head to the warehouse.” They both pat my back as they walk back out the door. Turning back to Lina, “Come malyshka4, I’ll show you to your temporary room.”
Puzzled, she says “Temporary?”.
“I promised your parents that you would have a separate room until the wedding. That way, there is no chance of me seducing you into having premarital sex.” I wiggle my eyebrows at the last statement. She giggles, and it has to be the cutest thing I have ever heard.
God, she is perfect.
I lead her down the hall, passing multiple rooms, and pointing out little things here and there. “If you keep forward, you will make it to the library, a room I figure I will find you spending most of your time in. If there aren't any books to your liking, let me know and we can get some for you.” I point out bathrooms, my office, spare rooms, and much more.
“This place is beautiful, Lenya. Not what I was expecting to come to.” She says looking around in awe.
She smiles at me as we finally reach the door to her room. “This is where you will stay for the next week. I hope it is comfortable.” We enter the room and her jaw drops. She sees the huge ornate bed frame, and a canopy, and then continues to scan the room.
“You have a bathroom and a walk-in closet that has a vanity in it. Whatever you need, you can let me or Alina know and we will get it delivered.” Seeing her face, unsure if it's still awe or something else, I say, “I want you to be happy here Tsvetok5. Anything you ask for, consider it done. "
I catch her looking at her feet and it has me wondering what is going through her pretty head. So I take the leap, “What are you thinking moy prekrasnyy Tsvetok?6”
She takes a deep breath. “I’ve never slept alone at night, so the thought of it scares me. I am not a child and I hope you don't think of me as one but being alone is something I have never experienced before.”
I see her as anything but a child. I see a young woman who has always had her sister or mama. She was used to having her family around and had never been alone. I am not sure what she wants exactly, so I stand there and wait for her to continue.
"You promised me my own room and I'm very grateful for that,” she said, looking at me. “But couldn’t I just stay with you? Or you stay here with me?” She says with her voice shaking.
I'm willing to do it if that's what she desires. How am I supposed to keep my hands off her, though?
I run my hands through my hair, taking in a deep breath, trying to find the words to approach this. “I will stay if you want me to stay. But I cannot guarantee that I will be able to keep my hands to myself. I want to do the right thing and keep to the plan we agreed upon. But I will not miss an opportunity to be close to you.”
She looks around the room again before locking her eyes on mine. “I am sure. We’d already begun playing with fire when you chased me into the forest. As long as I am a virgin on our wedding day, I think we will be okay.”
Have I corrupted my little tsvetok7 already? Is she missing my touch as much as I am yearning to feel hers?
My thoughts are racing and now all I can think of is burying my face in between her thighs again. This is stupid. I should leave her to unpack her things. I should go to my office to prepare for the warehouse visit tomorrow morning, but here I am, standing here a glutton for punishment. While I am not complaining about her wanting me near, this is going to make this week even more torturous. What am I supposed to do to avoid having sex with her? Talk about the worst case of blue balls in the history of men.
Thinking that it is now pointless to have her unpack into this room, I turn to her, “Well if I am going to stay with you, let's just go to our room then”. She nods. Taking her by the hand, we exit the room and head to the room to the right of my office. The door opens to reveal my very minimal room. I dislike clutter, hence why the main room's focus is on a bed and bedside tables. “That door leads to the bathroom suite and closet,” motioning to the door on the left. “That door leads into my office. I keep it locked, but I can get you a key. I want you to have access to everything.” She smiles at me, but says nothing.
We walk into the door that opens to the bathroom and closet. “WOW, that is some shower!” She says. The black-and-white marble tiled bathroom includes a heated floor outside of the shower, as I show her the switch next to the vanity. “Turn it on before showering and your feet will thank you”
I open the door to the closet and I flip the light switch. Rows of clothes that are neatly organized by function. “You have more clothes than I have ever had! Do you wear all of them?” He eyes wide as she stares.
“Yes. But Alina throws out things as needed, or if she notices things I don’t wear, she donates them to the parish.”
I put the luggage on the bench in the center of the closet, I unzip it for her. She moves forward to flip it open and I move behind her to make room in some drawers and hanging space. I told her we would go shopping for more clothes seeing she had so few things. She gave me seven dresses, four skirts, a single pair of slacks, one blazer, and four shirts to hang. Then two nightdresses and assorted leggings, undergarments, and socks.
Was her father’s business not doing as well as it seemed, or did the bastard just keep his money to himself and let his children go without?
“Papa said it was good for women to have fewer possessions, as it kept them grateful for the things they had,” Lina said in nearly a whisper. Piece of shit. I noticed she brought a prayer book, but no other books. The only jewelry was the cross she wore and gold studs in her ears. Lina looks slightly embarrassed and starts looking around the closet at all of my things. I grab her face and pull her towards me, bringing her body flush with mine. I lean down and bring her lips to mine, and the moment they touch, we are consumed in a blaze of passion.
I run my hands up to the back of her head, I pull her head covering off. My hands weave into her hair to pull her closer to me. Her arms wrap around my neck and deepen our kisses. Her lips part and my tongue darts in, exploring and tasting her. Lina moans. Her tongue meets mine, then I nip at it and she lets out a small yelp at the bite. I break the kiss, and we stare at each other, chests heaving. “Don’t stop” She pulls me back to her mouth.
This is bad! Damn, she feels incredible. Her lips are so soft and she tastes better than I could have ever dreamed. God, if you want her to stay a virgin, you better give me all the strength to stop. If you don’t, you're going to have a deflowered handmaiden at the iconostasis on Friday.