Flavors of Ecstasy IV by L.A. Day Isabelle Drake Regina Carlysle Madison Hayes Aubrey Ross Brigit Zahara

Author:L.A. Day, Isabelle Drake, Regina Carlysle, Madison Hayes, Aubrey Ross, Brigit Zahara
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

Late the next afternoon, Nadia sat at her dinner table while staring at the drawn curtains on her window. Some light might have helped to lift the deep melancholy that had settled around her but she didn’t want anyone to think she was open for business. The memory of Mikhail filled the stone cottage and she didn’t want anything or anyone to dispel the peaceful aura he’d left behind. Not just yet. She wanted to hold his memory close to her heart for at least a day. Although she told herself she’d done the right thing in refusing to see him again, in her heart she felt as though she had made the biggest mistake of her life.

No, she reminded herself with a dispirited wave of her hand. Ivan had been the biggest mistake of her life. And she, of all people, knew the dangers of listening to her heart.

The sound of a horse picking its way down the slope beside the bridge reminded her of the promised visit from one of Mikhail’s brothers. Plucking at the skirt of her peach silk gown, she left the chair and crossed the stone-paved floor. As she opened the door and narrowed her eyes against the setting sun, she saw the rider. For a moment, her heart fluttered. She thought she was looking at Mikhail. But as she took a closer look, she realized the rider’s hair was shorter.

A sudden gust whipped beneath the bridge and tugged his ink-black mane over his eyes and, try as she might, Nadia couldn’t get a good look at his face. She could only see that he was clean-shaven and, in the place where Mikhail grew a small beard, he had a shallow cleft in his chin. Automatically, she searched his cheek for a dimple but, again, the wind spilled his collar-length hair across his face.

“I’m Dmitri Holender,” he introduced himself as he dismounted and looped his reins around the branch of a sturdy young oak that clawed at the riverbank. His clothing was immaculate without being ostentatious. His heavy linen trousers were of a fashionable cut and his black leather boots had not seen a month’s wear. Like Mikhail, he wore a clean, loose white shirt but where his brother’s cloak was made of plain gray wool, Dmitri sported a cape of thick blue felt.

“Won’t you come in?” she offered, assuming that he was there to pay Mikhail’s bill and wanting to get a closer look at him while privately hoping to find in his features a trace of his brother’s rugged beauty.

“Did Mikhail cut that wood?” he asked without looking at the neat pile of oak stacked beside the door.

“Yes,” she answered, her mood brightening at the mention of his brother’s name.

“He’s good with his hands,” he offered.

“Yes, he is,” she replied, the memory of what Mikhail could do with his hands leaving her a little breathless. “And what is your forte?” she asked.

“Aleksander says I have a golden tongue.”

“Aleksander?”

“My older brother,” he explained in a rough-edged voice that sounded so arousingly familiar.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.