Laughing, I kissed her temple.
God, we all missed her.
She spent almost the entire dinner convincing the guys that she’d be able to travel the next day. They were willing to wait a couple more days until she was better.
“Once we get to Naples, what’s the plan?” she asked, in between bites of food.
“Armando is meeting us there. We’ll spend a couple days there before going on to Sicily,” Viktor said.
“See. I can rest there after the trip. It’ll be fine,” she said. “You guys all need to sleep since I’m apparently the only one that’s done that lately. We can leave like lunch time tomorrow and still get to Naples before it gets dark tomorrow.”
They thought about her suggestion for a few moments. I had to admit, it wasn’t a bad plan. I could use some extra sleep right now, as could everyone else, including her. She could time her superprofen to where she could take it before we left and then she’d be able to take it soon after we arrived in Naples. If she said she’d be up for the trip, I wasn’t going to argue with her. She was, after all, apparently difficult to k ill.
Ivan looked at her, a serious expression on his face. “If it becomes too much, you tell me. We’ll stop for the night before reaching Naples.”
“I will tell you if it becomes too much. I promise,” she said.
As we were finishing dinner, Stephen appeared in the kitchen, looking just as ho rrible as everyone else had and not at all rested. The guys all saw him before he saw Sephie. We all quickly walked outside to give them their moment alone, without him even realizing she was up yet.
Once we were outside, Misha spoke up. “That was kinda mean, but I would’ve loved to have seen his face when he realized he was alone with her.”
It didn’t take long and we heard her yell, “it’s safe. You can come back in.”
We filed back into the kitchen. Stephen’s face was red, but he looked relieved. He looked at all of us as we walked in. nupici Ligny-one
“You guys are as sholes. I nearly sh it myself.”
We all grinned at him. Sephie said, “you’re lucky I’m slow right now or I would’ve tested that.”
Laughter erupted in the kitchen. Everyone needed that little bit of comic relief. I looked at everyone as we laughed and they continued to tease Stephen. They were all going to sleep well tonight now that they knew she was back and they were forgiven. I felt that pull in my chest toward her as I watched her bring light back to every one of them. I hadn’t realized how much her light shone on each one of them until it was gone briefly. My breath caught as I looked to her, finding her eyes on me and her smile wide across her face.
God, we all missed her, but me most of all
Sephie
We all woke much later than normal the next morning. I spent time walking around the house and the patio behind the house, trying to loosen up my still sore body. Adrik stayed by my side the entire time. I could walk by myself, but it was easier if I could lean on someone. He wouldn’t let me take a step without him there. Always there. Always ready to help me.
By mid-morning, everyone was awake. Isabella had left some food out for us, since none of us had made it to breakfast. We were all picking at the food while getting organized to leave in a few hours. Six motorcycles showed up in pairs, Andrei and Viktor moving them from their storage spot to the house. I had to admit, I was slightly nervous about how I was going to feel by the end of the day, but I had spent so much time last night convincing everyone I would be okay that I couldn’t go back now.
Misha walked up to us, carrying a leather jacket in one hand. He handed it to me, “here, gazelle, this is yours. Make sure it fits.”
I took the jacket from him, realizing it was a motorcycle jacket, with extra protection and reinforcements built into it. Where was this thing a few nights ago…?
It fit like a glove. I looked up to see Adrik’s eyes filled with lust as he watched me. I knew he was struggling. He wanted so badly to hold me tightly, to kiss me with every bit of passion he could muster, but I was so bruised and battered that he had to be gentle with me.
As I slipped out of the jacket and handed it back to Misha, I whispered to Adrik, “we might need a bike when we get home just so I can wear that more often.” I winked at him as his cheeks flushed.
Everything was packed up and divided between backpacks that the five guys had. They somehow managed to also fit my few things and Adrik’s into their packs, so I wouldn’t have to wear one. I was both grateful and impressed with their packing abilities.
I pulled my hair into a low ponytail to get it out of the way of the helmet. Viktor saw me and walked over to me. “You will regret this later, sestrichka,” he said, pulling on my ponytail elastic. I looked at Adrik, confused. Viktor just silently started to braid my hair for me. When he was done, I turned to look at him, shocked that my giant Russian bear knew how to braid. He shrugged his shoulders. “I used to have long hair. You would’ve never been able to get the knots out of your hair by the time we get there.”
I opened my arms to him. “Come on. Bring it in.” I kissed his cheek when he bent down to hug me gently.
Adrik walked up to me, inspecting Viktor’s handiwork after Viktor had walked away. He was looking at me, but he was also lost in a memory. I knew he was thinking back to the night we met. His finger lightly trailed down the side of my face and my neck, his blue eyes taking in every detail of me. His fingers gently lifted my chin, and his lips were on mine. He was still holding back, afraid he would hurt me still, but I still closed my eyes and enjoyed his touch.
“You took your antibiotic and your superprofen, solnishko?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.