Page 85 of The Darkness is Calling

“I hope so.”

He holds out his hand, and I place mine in his, following him toward the relaxation room with a wide smile on my face.

Happiness.

10пиздец (ru.) - We’re screwed

Hanna Lee

Chapter 16

Artem

The noise inside my mind is silenced by her playing.

Like a siren, she carries me into another world, one warmer and quieter, far deeper than the moment when I dig the tip of my knife into some bastard’s flesh.

If my mother had known this was a far better remedy than the one my father found, perhaps my life would have unfolded differently.

Still, I am glad it did not happen that way, because I enjoy what I do just as much as I enjoy listening to Ekaterina play.

She is gorgeous, but when she plays, she seems like some magical creature from another world. Her hair falls over her shoulders in waves, and her white silk blouse moves like a pale shadow whenever her slender body sways slowly to the rhythm of the soft melody. Her eyes are closed, living in her own world, one I would like to lose myself in too.

“What do you think about when you play?” I ask quietly, and she slowly opens her eyes and smiles at me with that inviting warmth I am becoming addicted to.

This woman manages to tame my voices, but most of all, my heart, and she has no idea what effect she has on me.

“Colors,” she answers with a shy smile. “The notes are colors that weave around me, through the furniture, toward the walls, like delicate smoke with a beautiful perfume.”

“And it’s just you and the music?”

“Yes,” she says, continuing to press the keys with her long, delicate fingers. “But now, among those colors, you’re there too.”

“What an honor for me,” I say with a trace of sarcasm.

She suddenly strikes a low note hard and pretends to frown at me.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Never, dusha.”

I lean toward her and take her hand from the keys, stopping the melodic playing so I can kiss her magical fingers.

“You just did.”

“I was teasing you,” I say, pressing my lips to the center of her palm.

“Wow! Voron makes jokes. I lived to see that.”

Honestly, so did I. But this woman turns me into something I never thought I would become: a man who wants to make the woman beside him happy.

To make her smile.

I never believed I was capable of feelings like that.

“If you tell anyone, I’ll have to keep you captive for the rest of your life.”

I lift her chin and slowly press my lips to hers. “In my bed, to be precise.”