[ZARINA]When a similar suburban area came into view, I should have known where exactly the driver was heading. The nostalgia struck me like a tsunami at the sight of the beach house before the car even pulled up at the decent driveway.I ran to the door.The sight of the living room was just like I left behind.The sound of the crashing waves, the smell of the salt and something so warm and homey. It punched me with feelings all at once until my heart couldn’t take anymore and I broke down. The memories of all the days and nights we spent in this house came streaming back, twisting my stomach into all sorts of knots. It made me miss him even more. More than I was prepared to. It cautioned me of the emptiness I felt in the last few months. The emptiness that couldn’t be satisfied until now. I had this penetrating impulse to throw myself at him and kiss him until he saw nothing but me. I had this compelling hunger to make him feel the best. He deserved nothing but the best.Instead of

[ZARINA]After waking up the second time this morning, I found Vladimir moving back and forth in the kitchen. Preparing breakfast for both of us. Something warm and sweet curled up inside as I tried not to fall so hard for him. Watching him from a distance and offering no help made me feel like a creep. But it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t muster up the courage to be in front of him as if nothing had happened the previous night.Or this morning.A ticklish dash of heat glided down my spine at the thought of his mouth on my core, his fingers pumping inside. Those sweet words he spoke in that sexy voice of his. All those hot and needy touches. Impassioned kisses. Our bare skin pressed against each other. The feeling of him and me together. Thinking about all of that was enough to drive me crazy and for my thighs to squeeze together to relieve myself of the ache he left behind. But it never eased.I couldn’t tell what was holding him back from giving me everything he had, or if he was

[ZARINA]An hour later, we were approximately 40,000 ft above the ground and I was yet to ask him where we were heading. With Vladimir being so dark with rage, I couldn’t muster up the courage to say anything at all, let alone the destination of our unexpected trip.Once the car pulled up at the hangar, Mir slid out while one of his men opened the door for me. The sight of the massive jet, the one I had seen only once before when he came to rescue Julie and me from that hell, brought back some unpleasant memories. However, I got little time to dawdle in the past because the next thing I knew, we were being ushered inside the jet, everyone preparing to leave.Vladimir ignored me the entire time until the jet was ready to take off. But even after he sat across from me, he kept himself occupied with the stack of papers he took out from a leather bag. He was taking his sweet-sweet time to go through each one of them. From the look on his face, they seemed of great importance to him. So in

[ZARINA]After Mir left for God knows where, I spent most of the day following Aunt Alessia around. She’s a nice person. Talks really quickly and maybe a little oftener than I’m used to, but seems like she’s only excited to have Mir back. It’s been a while, she said, as long as Mir’s grandfather (her father-in-law) was alive, he used to visit nearly every month without fail. But after the old man passed away, he stopped visiting.He stopped caring.She also told me that Mir and his grandfather were really close. Together, they hung out more than Mir and his father ever did. The way she said those things, I felt as if Mir and his father did not have a smooth relationship. Though Aunt Alessia seemed as chatty as one could be, she seemed mindful not to bring up the subject of Mir’s parents.It was only then I realized I knew nothing of Mir’s past. Sure, I know about his failed marriage to Aurora and that he had a brother and Hazel as a niece, but...what about the rest? He mentioned nothi

[ZARINA]“Mir, this is...” I gasp.“Do you like it?” pressing those words into my ear, he grazes his teeth below my lobe.“...gorgeous. It’s gorgeous.”After our deep and long conversation, the previous night, Mir and I woke up with someone causing a ruckus at the door. It was only then it dawned on me that I ended up sleeping in his room. Something Aunt Alessia had been warning me since the moment we got here. Even though she was quick to assume that we had already done the deed, she expected us to be patient until the marriage and keep our desires to ourselves.And now that we’ve broken one of her directions, she sure sounded angry beating the door outside. To be honest, I panicked a little originally. Not wanting to give anyone a reason to be upset with us. But Mir had different thoughts regarding the matter. He blatantly and outrightly ignored all her screams and peeled the covers off me instead. Despite my reluctance and attempts to reason with him, he moved between my legs with