Chapter 5

Sasha woke me with a gentle kiss on the nose. I was relieved to be getting up and to forget about the dreams I had.  He was already dressed wearing a navy blue long sleeved shirt and black running shorts. His hair was messy, whether on purpose or not, it suited him. His jawline was covered in day old stubble, I didn’t think it was possible for any man to look this sexy. His eyebrows knitted together as he looked at me, concern and discomfort written all over his face.

‘Have you been crying, Malyshka?’ He asked, holding the sides of my face gently in his hands. He rubbed his thumbs under my eye and down the side of my face. I smiled sadly at him. 

‘No, I just didn’t sleep very much last night’. He kissed my forehead and held me close to him. 

‘Did you want to come for a run with Dmitry, Lyosha and me?’ I laughed heartily at this as Sasha looked at me with amused confusion. ‘Why is that funny?’ he asked, I laughed again.

‘Do I look like the kind of person that goes running’ I asked pointing at myself. He shrugged. ‘No thanks, I don’t run… on purpose’ I continued laughing. He kissed my forehead again as someone knocked on the door to our cabin. 

‘Suit yourself’ he answered as he opened the door. I saw Lyosha peering in but Sasha pushed him back out as they both left the cabin. I threw myself back down on the bed thinking about how gentle Sasha had been with me this morning. He seemed genuinely concerned for me. My thoughts drifted to our hot make out session the night before and I could feel myself getting aroused. I touched my breasts and felt my nipples harden. I imagined Sasha’s warm hands on them as heat spread between my legs. I reached down to feel my wetness, my back arched as I imagined Sasha kissing down my belly and nipping at my skin. My fingers drew circles around my clitoris as I rolled my nipple between my fingers like he had done. I moaned softly, Sasha’s scent was around me and made me even wetter. I could almost feel his presence in the cabin. Soon I reached climax, I felt the blood rush to my genitalia and rode the wave of pleasure. I fell into a dreamless slumber. 

I woke up a few hours later feeling refreshed and in a good mood. I had a shower before making my way  to the farmers market by the shore with Julie and D’Arcie. The market was very busy and the group easily got separated. I ended up following my nose towards a vendor making crêpes. My mouth watered when I saw all the fresh fruit and cream stuffed crêpes. 

‘Nice to see you here, Zayka’ Lyosha breathed into my ear popping up out of nowhere. I jumped in surprise and he smiled at me.  He had tied his hair up in a messy man bun, he hadn’t shaved in a few days and his deep blue eyes seemed to stare right into my soul. ‘Care to join me for lunch?’ he asked.  Not waiting for my answer he motioned to the clerk that he was ready to order. ‘What would you like?’ he asked with a heart melting smile showcasing his perfectly straight white teeth. I stuttered my order to the clerk, ordering a strawberry and cream stuffed crêpe while Lyosha ordered a banana and chocolate one. He handed the vendor money, refusing that I pay for my food. We walked over to the park where Lyosha sat so close to me I could smell hints of rosemary and cedarwood from his cologne. 

‘Where is Sasha?’ I asked looking around. Lyosha shrugged as he took a large bite of crêpe soaked in chocolate sauce. I took a bite of my food and  closed my eyes to better savour the tartness of the strawberries and the sweetness of the cream.. 

‘Mmmm...This is amazing!’ I gushed. 

‘Here try mine’ Lyosha said leaning forward bringing his fork to my mouth. I hesitantly opened my mouth to take the food. Lyosha watched me intently as I savored the offered food.  His was much sweeter than mine but equally delicious. 

‘Mmmm’ I groaned, wide eyed. 

Lyosha smiled and reached for my mouth with his hand. I backed my head away unsure of his intentions. ‘You have some chocolate here’ he said wiping the corner of my mouth with his thumb. He licked the chocolate off his thumb while looking me in the eyes. I grinned like a fool, breaking eye contact, while I'm sure my face turned a crimson color. His eyes always seemed to have a hint of mischief behind them. I didn’t feel as comfortable with him as I did with Sasha.

‘Oh, thanks,’ I say, trying to concentrate on my food. Was Lyosha flirting with me? I felt short of breath for a short moment. Was I still dreaming? Did I lose my mind?

‘I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Zayka’ he said, placing a loose lock of hair behind my ear and tracing the back of his finger along my cheek.

When I don’t reply or look at him, Lyosha starts asking me questions about my family, my work and my love life to distract me. He is very easy to talk to and he listened intently to me. He seemed captivated by what I say to him and made me feel like I was the only person that existed in that moment. We talked casually for a few hours, watching the people milling about.

Julie spotted us and made her way towards us. ‘There you are’ she said to me, ‘we are headed to the coast for a bonfire. Are you interested in coming? Your friend can come too’ she finished quickly eyeing Lyosha and biting her plump bottom lip enticingly. 

‘Sure, I’d love to go’ I said before Lyosha had time to answer, ‘what about you?’ I asked looking at him. 

‘I suppose if all the girls going will be as pretty as you two, I should go’ he said smoothly. Julie giggled at this and I saw Lyosha’s eyes appraise Julie’s long legs.

‘I just need to go to my cabin and grab some warmer clothes first though, I will meet you there’. I said. 

‘I’ll walk you there’ Lyosha offered, placing an arm around my waist. A frown flashed on Julie’s face for a moment, but she quickly caught herself and plastered on a smile. 

‘It’s okay Lyosha, I’ll meet you there’ I retorted walking away from his grasp,  ‘but I’m sure Julie would love to go over with you’. I saw a flash of hope in Julie’s green eyes, she grabbed his arm to pull him along. Lyosha looked back at me in confusion but followed Julie. 

It took me 20 minutes to make it back to the cabin. My heart fluttered when I saw Sasha arriving at the same time, but a close look at his face told me he wasn’t terribly pleased to see me.  My heart did a flip at his glare. 

‘Is...is everything ok?’ I asked tentatively as he opened the door for me.

‘I don’t know Avery? Is everything ok?’ The way my name rolled off his tongue chilled me to the bone. 

‘I’m confused’ I said slowly, ‘did I miss something?’ 

‘I thought you were confused last night too, but you didn't seem too confused about getting cozy with Aleksey Ivanovich’ he spat.  I tilted my head slightly and raised an eyebrow. 

‘Who?’ I asked, trying to piece the puzzle together. Sasha rolled his eyes and gestured widely with his hands.

 ‘Lyosha!’ he yelled out. Realisation and nausea hit me. What was going on in my life all of a sudden? ‘I know what it must be like for you with Aleksey Ivanovich, he has a silver tongue, he is a snake charmer. Don’t fall for that, Malyshka’ he said frustrated.

I sat on the corner of the bed and looked absentmindedly at the wall. Seriously, Lyosha trying to seduce me? Sasha was angry that Lyosha was flirting with me. Was there a shortage of women in the world all of a sudden for the two most gorgeous men I’ve ever met to pay this much attention to someone like me? Was this some sort of She’s All That sort of game, who could get the chubby plain Jane to fall in love with them first? 

‘Do you like him?’ Sasha asked regaining his composure and pulling me out of my reverie.

‘I don’t even know him’ I pleaded desperately ‘or you for that matter!’

I quickly grabbed my sweatshirt out of my bag and rushed for the door. Sasha grabbed my wrist to stop me leaving. I tried to yank my arm away from him meeting his gaze.

‘DON’T!’ I said through gritted teeth. Realising what he was doing, he let go of my wrist. I left the cabin and ran over to a group of people heading for the coast. My heart was pounding in my chest, most likely from running, but also from fear, guilt and confusion. I didn’t really understand why the guilt though. Sure, Sasha and I shared an intimate moment last night, but I was pretty sure it meant nothing to him. Lyosha’s affection earlier was just him being flirty, wasn’t it? I just couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened in the last 24 hours. I went from being in a shitty relationship for 6 years to being the object of two gorgeous men’s affection. I decided that I would ask Isabella to make sure I was far away from Sasha when we got to Paris the next day. 

As we got closer to the beach, Lyosha was making his way towards me. I didn’t want to talk to him, and I had changed my mind about going to the beach at all.  I turned around to make my way back towards the cabins. 

‘Zayka!’ Lyosha called out but I ignored him. He caught up to me easily. ‘Avery, what’s wrong?’ he asked,holding my shoulders tightly.  He lifted my face to him and his hands slipped down to my hips. I childishly turned my head to avoid his gaze and pressed my hands against his chest to put more distance between us. 

Out of nowhere I heard Sasha’s voice talking to Lyosha. Lyosha let go of me turning towards Sasha, the two of them glared at each other. Lyosha jeered at Sasha and the exchange went on until I saw a shadow pass over Sasha’s face. He gave Lyosha a hard shove. A nasty smile crossed Lyosha’s face, he swung his fist and connected with Sasha’s jaw. 

‘STOP’ I cried out.  I heard a dull crack as Sasha punched Lyosha right back on the nose. Lyosha stumbled back, bringing his hands to his face while blood ran down his chin.

‘SASHA, please stop’ I pleaded but neither of them were paying any attention to me.  Lyosha spat at Sasha’s feet and walked away. I exhaled a breath I didn't realise I was holding.

‘Lyosha!’ I called out horrified but he simply ignored me and walked away. I turned to Sasha but he didn't meet my gaze.

‘Are you ok?’ I asked him. He simply nodded.

‘Please come back with me, let’s go to bed’ he pleaded, holding his hand out to me. 

‘Are you serious?’ I laughed out harshly.  ‘I don’t want to go back with you’ he looked at me confused. ‘I just watched you break a guy’s nose for no reason!’

‘For no reason?’ he demanded angrily, eyes wide, he pointing towards where Lyosha was minutes ago ‘I told him I was interested in you, to stay away from you, he ignored me, pretended to be my friend while he went behind my back.’ 

‘We ran into each other at the market, we had lunch together. Nothing happened. Why should you even care what happens?’

‘I told you, Lyosha is a snake charmer, he just wants to fuck you and move on to someone else.   I will not let that happen. I like you’ he said sheepishly.

‘You don’t even know me!’ I scoffed. He looked up at me, a flicker of emotion I didn’t recognise crossed his face. 

‘I know,’ he said in a low voice,  ‘but I can’t stop thinking about you, every day! You drive me crazy already, Malyshka. Give me a chance to get to know you.’ He moved closer to me and grabbed my face gently in his hands. Next thing I knew his lips crashed against mine in a tender embrace. A jolt of electricity coursed through me at the contact making it impossible for me to push him away.

‘Let’s go to the bonfire’ he whispered, suddenly breaking our connection. I whimpered softly as he grabbed my hand in his. 

‘Sasha, I…’ I attempted, flustered, but lost my train of thought as he looked at me adoringly. 

Moments later we were sitting by the fire. Every muscle in my body tensed when I saw Lyosha approaching us. Sasha stood up and extended his hand to Lyosha who accepted it pulling him into a one armed hug. The two exchanged words and laughed. For a moment, I thought that I had imagined their last exchange, but Lyosha’s swollen nose and bloody shirt assured me they had just fought. Talk about mood swings. 

Some of the locals had joined in our bonfire. The air was chilly but the large bonfire was cozy. People were drinking wine, beer, spirits, while others were providing entertainment on the guitars and singing, it was a very festive atmosphere. Sasha and I sat close together drinking beer and conversing with the people around us. Julie sat on my other side describing in detail how D’Arcie had decided to go for a swim earlier, only to find out her friend didn’t even know how to swim, causing a scene at the docks. I laughed with her, noticing how she looked at Lyosha admiringly. 

The party was still going strong past midnight, but I was tired and fighting off sleep. I finally gave up, resting my head on Sasha’s shoulder. He took a look at me and put his arm around my waist for support. The resonance of his deep voice soothed me to sleep, only waking up hours later when the fire had gone out and I was chilled. Several people were still talking and drinking beer. At this point my head was resting in Sasha’s lap while his hand rubbed my arm and back. Sasha felt me stir and immediately finished his beer, waving goodbye to the others. Turning to me, he bent down slightly and threw me onto his shoulder in a firefighter carry. I heard the others laugh as I squealed and giggled. 

‘Put me down Sasha, I can walk!’

‘Shhh.. go back to sleep, Zayka’ he says with a mischievous chuckle. I pleaded with him for nearly 10 minutes when he finally put me down. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

‘Wow, you really are strong’ I mocked while checking out his biceps. He snorted as he grabbed my hand. 

‘Holy shit! It’s 3am, we are leaving for Paris in 4 hours and I haven’t even packed yet’ I panicked after checking my phone. 

‘We will shove all your things in your bag later’ Sasha replied nonchalantly ‘Come on, let’s go to bed’. I stared at him as he removed his hoodie and changed into pyjama bottoms. ‘Your turn’ he said looking at me expectantly. I grinned shyly.

‘I’d rather not. Please don’t look’. 

‘That’s not fair, you got to see me change’ he pouted.

‘Please’ I whined again. He shut his eyes tightly as I took off my bra from under my shirt tossing it into my bag. I turned my back to him to remove my jeans but Sasha didn’t give me time to put on my shorts. I was wearing a t-shirt and a lacy pink thong when he grabbed me by the hips pulling me onto the bed next to him.  I protested but he held me tightly, pretending to snore loudly. I giggled at his childish behaviour. The last thing I remembered was a soft kiss at the back of my neck before I fell asleep.