Page 38 of Scarlet Promise

He stares at me, his gaze cold, glittering.

He takes one step forward. “Stay the hell away from my sister.”

He turns on his heel and stalks inside.

Alina’s still in the kitchen, and they exchange heated words I can’t hear. Demyan tries to pet Albert, but he barks crazily at him until he just shakes his head and stalks out of view.

Albert and Alina come rushing out.

“You should go in,” I say. “He’s pissed.”

“I don’t care.”

“Are you okay? Albert?”

She nods, and I smile, touching her cheek. Then, because fuck Demyan to hell and back, and because I want to, need to, I pull her into my arms and kiss her.

It’s an explosion of passion and need, our tongues dancing in the heated confines of our mouths, the promise of sex and love caught up in it all. She tastes so good, like my Alina, like sweetness and lust and love.

Fuck, that’s what she tastes like—love, in its brutally bare simplicity. In its aching complexity.

She’s love.

And I’m addicted.

I can’t get enough.

But I make myself end the kiss.

I smile down at her, our bruised faces no doubt matching. “I should go before he loses it completely. I’ll call you later.”

“Don’t…don’t give up on me,” she whispers.

“You? Never. Or Albert.”

“He bit him!”

I laugh, I shouldn’t, I know. Albert should be better behaved than that. He is better behaved. And while I don’t think he hurt Demyan, unless you count his pride, it’s terrible for me to laugh.

Alina looks so horrified, hand at her gaping mouth eyes wide, dark with guilt that I laugh again and shrug. “It’s okay,malyshka. It wasn’t deep. Just a scrape.”

“I saw blood,” she says.

I will my mouth not to twitch up into another smile. “Da. There was blood, but he’ll survive.”

“I wish you could stay. I made things worse.”

“No,” I whisper, pulling her closer, brushing her lips once again. “You didn’t.”

She smiles and squeezes my arm.

I stride away, not looking back, because if I do, I’ll be the one kidnapping her.

With each step I take away from Alina, my agitation builds.

It’s still swirling in me when I get home.

Svetlana gives a small shriek when she sees my face, but I wave her off before she can fuss over me.