Page 86 of Rise of the Queen

We were both breathing heavy, but I was worried about her catching her breath. I moved beside her so I could flip her over. She had a lazy grin on her face as she worked to catch her breath. Her eyes were closed and I couldn’t feel her panic, so I was surprised when she opened her eyes and they were white.

“You’re okay, solnishko. Just breathe slowly. You’re with me. You’re safe,” I started repeating. She normally closed her eyes when she would panic, but she kept them open this time. I started to feel her panic, but it was at a much lower level than it normally was when she couldn’t catch her breath. She was trying to breathe slowly, as she held onto my arm and held my gaze.Finally, she was able to take a deep breath and a small smile crept across her face.

I watched as the white in her eyes faded to the deep blue that I adored. “That was better. Have you figured out how to control it? I could barely feel your panic when it first started this time,” I said, kissing her lips gently.

She reached up, her hand running lightly over my face. “I’m trying to get a handle on it. I actually think seeing your eyes go dark in response to my panic helps calm me down, even though that sounds really weird to say out loud.”

“I don’t think it’s that weird. Like I said earlier, feeling your panic makes me want to destroy whatever is causing it.” I got up, pulling her up with me toward the shower. “Maybe you’ve needed something to focus on visually instead of only listening to me,” I said as I walked us into the shower, turning the water on.

She wrapped her arms around me, resting her head between my shoulder blades. “It all helps.” I felt her sigh as she hugged me tighter. I turned toward her, pulling her under the warm water with me. Her eyes were still deep blue as she smiled sweetly at me.

I found myself completely lost in her for a few moments. It was these moments, those seemingly insignificant moments that were some of my most favorite with her. Little moments where I knew she was just as overwhelmed with the love she has for me as I was with the love I have for her.

Her smile grew as she rested her head on my chest, her arms wrapping around me tightly. I held her just as tightly as we both felt my pull in our chests and her warmth throughout our bodies.

“I could stay like this forever,”I thought, not wanting to break the peaceful silence between us.

“I find myself thinking about how many times we’ve had moments like these, not just in this lifetime, but in every lifetime we’ve spent together. I hope you never get tired of them, because I don’t think I ever will,”she responded.

“Never. I love you. Always and forever.”

“I love you. Plus infinity. Plus one.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ivan

Viktor was exhausted last nightwhen he finally went to his room, so it didn’t surprise me that he didn’t get up at his normal time this morning. It was strange to be at the house without Boss here. It was nice though. The house had become our sanctuary. The place we could go where we didn’t need to constantly be on guard. The place where we could just relax for a few days. We were always happy when Sephie wanted to come here. It gave us more of a break than it did her, I think.

I think she knew that. I think most of the time when she asked to come here, she was asking more for us than she was herself.

This situation with Viktor really bothered her. She knew he’d been avoiding her for weeks. It was hard for her to not take that personally. I still wasn’t completely convinced that Viktor was as happy about finding out he had a gift as everyone else was. Even with the way Stephen’s gift happened and the back story that went along with it, he was much happier about it than Viktor.

It felt like Viktor was an outlier now. We all had very close connections with Sephie. I had an even closer connection with Boss now too. I can’t be sure, but I think somehow Misha and Andrei are becoming even more connected with each other asthings progress. But Viktor. He’s wanted no part of it. It has me worried.

He finally woke up after I was done with my workout and on my way back to shower. He looked like he hadn’t slept well, even though he was pushing ten hours by the time he decided to get up. If he drank, I’d say he was hungover.

“You don’t look like you slept very well, man,” I said, when he stopped in the hallway.

“I didn’t,” he grumbled. He just turned and walked toward the kitchen.

After my shower, I decided to force him to go to the lake, after a short conversation with Sephie.

“I’m not sure what to do with him, princess. He’s hella grumpy this morning. He said he didn’t sleep last night, even though he didn’t wake up until late this morning.”

She was silent for a few moments. Almost long enough that I was worried she hadn’t heard me. I could feel her emotions all over the place, at least, so I knew she was trying to come up with a solution.

“Take him to the lake. It’s not the best time of year for it, but at least it’s sunny today. I don’t know why he needs to go there, but he needs to go there. That spot is magic.”

“No arguments from me there. I’m honestly not sure if he’s even been there. Stephen either.”

“I don’t think they’ve been there. They rarely stay at the house with me when we’re there. But I feel like it will help. No idea how, so don’t ask me details.”

I chuckled.“If I haven’t learned to trust you yet, then there’s something seriously wrong with me, princess.”I could hear her laughing, as well as feel her happiness. Since I had paid attention to the connection last night when we were experimenting, it now felt stronger.

Clearly, it was that way for her as well. I was quiet for a moment, still worrying over Viktor, when she said,“There’s something else, isn’t there? You’re worried about him?”

I laughed.“Of course, you’d notice. Side note, the connection feels stronger since our experiment last night.”