“Be careful, zvezda moya.”
Her breath caught painfully in her chest at the sound of his nickname for her. It meant his star. Brushing away the tear, Hope smoothed the front of her skirt unnecessarily, and headed back to the café hoping that she wasn’t too late.
Chapter 4
By the time Hope got back to the café, any sign of Mr. Blue Sports Coat was gone. She tried to reach out to her seller, Mr. Jones, but had no luck with him either. She took the bus back to her studio apartment, and stayed there, restless, for the rest of the afternoon. It took all her will power not to check the manuscript where she had it hidden in a false ceiling tile she had fabricated, but the strange way things were unfolding around the valuable object had her leaving it be, untouched.
Overwhelmed, stressed, and desperate for a distraction, she threw on a short, sinfully tight black dress and head to a club just a few blocks away from her place. She needed to blow off some steam, maybe dance for a few hours, and think about everything that had happened earlier in the day. The last thing she needed was to stay cooped up in her tiny apartment.
Even though it was pretty early in the night, just shy of nine o’clock, The Rocket had music blasting, a crowd of people moving on the dance floor, and a packed bar. Hope wound her way into an empty space, placed her order for a seltzer water, and waited while the busy bartender got her water and handed it to her before walking to one of the only empty tall tables. She rested her drink on the black linoleum surface, playing with the condensation, not noticing the big shadow falling over her until it was too late.
She looked up into simmering, ice blue eyes, and was lost. It was like that every time, and she was desperately afraid it always would be.
“You look amazing.” The heat in his words matched the fire burning in his lust-filled gaze perfectly, ratcheting up her own temperature. “Come dance with me, Zvyozdochka.” Little star.
She cracked, just for a moment, but a moment was all Valentine needed as he grabbed her hand, so dark against his own pale skin, and led her onto the dance floor.
Desire threatened to drown her as he moved his body tantalizing close to hers.
“That dress is driving me crazy, Hope.” Valentine growled in her ear as he brushed his fingertips down either side of her ribcage, the touch so light she almost didn’t feel it. The swayed to the music like that for some time, Valentine teasing her over and over again until she felt her body would combust.
“Please, Valentine. I…”
“You what?” The words were whispered roughly against her neck, and the feel of his hot breath on her skin had her aching even more, a deep, pounding throb that matched the beat of the heavy music.
“I…can’t do this. You, the way you make me feel. So out of control.”
He just chuckled huskily.
“Of course you can do this, Hope. Our bodies were made for one another,” He paused briefly, before continuing so quietly she almost missed it. “We were made for one another.”
That crack turned into a flood at the emotion she heard in his deep, accented voice. But his next words had the blood in her veins freezing.
“Why don’t you just hand the manuscript over, and we can put this all behind us. Move on.”
“What!”
“Just give me the book, Hope. Return it to me, and then we can move on to other things. More fun things.”
She shoved him back with her hands on his shoulders, but he didn’t budge.
“Are you serious, Valentine?” Suddenly, it all clicked. “Oh, I see. That’s what this is all about. You just want the manuscript back. You’re just…using me?”
“No, that’s ridiculous. I want you, Hope. You know I want you, you know I care about you.”
“What if I said no? I won’t give you the manuscript, what them?”
Valentine let out a rough sigh, his expression suddenly hard.
“Hope, it’s important. I need that book!”
“Right, the book is important. But you care about me, so that makes it all better. Well, forget it, Valentine. I can’t believe I actually almost fell for your stupid…” Hope shook her head as her words trailed off.
“I mean it Valentine, just forget it. And forget me!”
With that she pulled away from him, quickly snaking through the dense crowd, looking for some escape. She desperately needed some fresh air, needed to clear her head. She saw the red sign proclaiming an exit toward the back and headed towards it.
That…man! Hope fumed as she flew through the back exit of the club. On one hand she knew she wasn’t really in any position to be angry at him, but that didn’t stop the vicious stab of pain at the realization that he was just using her to get the manuscript back. That was the real reason he was there. Not because he cared about her.
It was so dumb. She had stolen from him, lied to him. Hope knew that she had even hurt him, but it didn’t change the fact that it had torn her apart to do it. She had let herself get in way too deep, and had almost lost everything. Her job, her home, her brother’s life and security.
It turns out that losing Valentine had hurt her just as much, maybe more. And that realization terrified Hope. She cared about him, deeply, more than she could ever have imagined.
There a scrape of a boot behind her, and that was the only warning Hope had as she was dragged behind the building, the large parking lot deserted at the late hour. She struggled wildly as panic crashed through her, wiping out reason, thought, logic. Only pure instinct was left, and she used it, simultaneously bringing her elbow back sharply and the tip of her heel down on the top of her attacker’s foot.
“You bitch.”
The muffled swear had fear spiking as he grabbed her by both arms, his hands digging viciously into the tender flesh as he dragged her further into the shadows.
“Help! Someone…Help me!”
Her words were cut off as he smashed a foul smelling rag into her mouth.
“Shut up!” He shoved her face first into the rough brick wall of the back of the club. Tears threatened as she heard the distant sounding thud of the music, so close to safety and yet so far away.
“Tell me where the book is!” Shock slowed her mind, making thought all but impossible.
“Wha…What?”
“The book! You know what I’m talking about, the manuscript. The one you stole.”
“How could you possibly…?”
“The people I work for know a lot of things, sweetheart.” The sneer in his voice as he said the endearment made her skin crawl. “A lot of dangerous things. They’re dangerous people.”
“I don’t know, I swear. I met with a man today at the Café du Monde” She said, thinking as fast as she could. “He, uh…he bought the manuscript. He took it with him. That’s all I know, I swear.”
“Well, I don’t believe you.” He emphasized his words with a rough shove, scraping her cheek against the brick. “and the people I work for really aren’t the kind you disappoint, so…Agh!”
Suddenly, the pressure holding her against the wall was gone. All it took was a single punch from Valentine to send her assailant to the grimy ground, but he was up quickly, replaced his thick-framed glasses, and running into the shadows before Valentine could catch him.
He rushed over to her. “Her, are you okay?” He tried to examine her, but it was too dark. “Come on, I’m taking you back to my hotel.”
“No, Valentine, I really don’t think–.”
“No arguments, Hope.” She looked up into his serious blue eyes, and knew he was a second away from just throwing her over his shoulders and carrying her all the way there. She sighed in resignation, secretly glad not to have to return to her apartment alone.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Chapter 5
“I just don’t understand, Valentine. How did they know about the manuscript? How did they know about me? And why would they want it so bad they would be willing to hurt me for it? Something’s not adding up.” Hope continued to pace in m
ain room of Valentine’s penthouse suite, not even noticing the expensive décor.
She looked at him, her dark brown eyes wide with fear. “He told me they would come after me. That the people he worked for were dangerous.”
“I have to tell you something, Hope. Something I’m not supposed too.”
Hope just stared at him quizzically, confused.
“I was…hired to come collect the book. I was sent here on a mission, but my team, well, we’re the good guys. I can’t tell you more than that, but you just have to believe me.”
“So, you’re like a secret agent or something?” Valentine shrugged, then nodded his head, unable to elaborate. “It makes sense I guess, those days you would disappear, and have to come up with some sad excuse to tell me.”
“Hey, they weren’t sad. They were perfect covers.”
“Uh huh, like when you went to go visit your sick grandmother,” Hope arched an eyebrow in his direction, “your dead grandmother.”
Valentine just shrugged. “Give me a break, I’m still new to this.” He shook his head, continuing, “But the point is, there are also other people after the manuscript. Bad people. Very, very bad people. I also came because I had to protect you. I knew you might be in danger and I couldn’t stand the idea of not doing anything to help you.”
His words had her anger melting.
“What’s so important about this manuscript anyways? Besides that it’s a valuable artifact.”
“Well, it’s more valuable than either of us realized. They wouldn’t tell me the whole reason, but the Captain did let it slip that if this got into the wrong hand, a lot of people would get hurt, whatever that means.”
Valentine sighed as he walked over, wrapping his arms around her stiff body.
“I’m so sorry, zvezda moya. I’m sorry that this happened, and I’m sorry for being an ass earlier at that club. It all…the words just came out wrong.”
“Why did you say it at all? You…hurt me. Which I know isn’t fair. I know you don’t owe me anything, and I destroyed any chance we might have had, but–.”
Her words were stopped by the pressure of his lips on hers. Unexpectedly, aggressively. And so delicious Hope had to hold herself back from purring. It felt so right. It always felt so right between them, in a way she had never felt with another human being.
In a flash, their clothes were gone as if they were incinerated, neither willing to waste any time between them. His hard body crowded hers, the short hairs of his chest tickling her as he scooped her up effortlessly in his arms and carried her to the oversized bed.
Laying her down gently, he kissed her again, hard, urgent. She could feel just how tense his muscles were as he held himself above her.
“Lay down.” Hope guided him until he was laying on his back, and she crawled on top of him, amazed as always at how comfortable and safe she felt when she was in his arms.
“Oh, Zvyozdochka, Hope, you’re perfect.” The words rolled out of his mouth, his accent so thick she almost couldn’t understand them, but she felt their meaning all the way to the soles of her feet. His words tuned to Russian and she let the melodic language sweep over her as he whispered endearments in her ear.
She swept her body up his until her soaked opening was just over the part of him that she craved the most, thick and rock hard beneath her. With unbearable slowness, she guided the tip to her entrance and slowly, oh so slowly, lowered her body onto his, relishing the sweet slide of flesh against flesh.
The friction was almost too much for her as he stretched her, filling her completely, but she reveled in it. He was like an addiction that she was afraid she would never be able to really shake. The tension in her body would tighter as his hands worked over her body, igniting hidden fires that just added to the inferno already blazing inside her.
It didn’t take long before she was tumbling of the edge, completely lost to him as she cried out her climax. Valentine was right behind her. Hope collapsed bonelessly onto his chest, and lay there, trying to catch her breath.
“I’ll do it.” She whispered against his skin. His husky laugh met her words.
“I think you already did, love.”
Hope ran her dark fingers the pale sprinkling of hair dusting his pecs. “No, I mean the manuscript. I’ll give it to. It’s yours.” I’m yours. Hope sighed, leaving that last part unsaid as soaked in the feel of his body beneath hers. Another thought ran through her mind before she could stop it. I love you.
Chapter 6
Hope looked around in horror at the mess that used to be her apartment. It was completely torn apart. Someone had broken in, obviously looking for something. Looking for the damn manuscripts. She was really starting to wish she had just passed this job by.
She glanced over at Valentine, who had just finished sweeping her bedroom, and was now looking through her bathroom for clues. But then she wouldn’t have met him. She wrapped her arms around her middle, thinking of all the other things that wouldn’t have happened. In the end, she wouldn’t change that for anything.
Ignoring most of the mess, Hope went straight to her secret hiding place, dragged a chair over for extra height, and climbed up on it, pushing up on the false ceiling tile that blended seamlessly with the rest. After another solid shove, the piece came loose, and she carefully angled it so she could reach up into the whole it created, felling for the locked safe still nestled where she had left it.
After a minute of maneuvering, she had the case down and unlocked, looking again at the object that had caused her so much trouble. Replacing the lid, she locked it again, then went in search of Valentine who had disappeared into the bathroom several minutes ago and hadn’t come back out.
She stopped as she saw him, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, staring at something small and plastic in his hands. Her stomach dropped as she walked closer, recognizing the pregnancy test she had taken just days before.
Valentine looked up at her with unreadable blue eyes.
“Is it…” He stopped to clear his throat roughly. “Is it mine?”
Hope released a brief, hard laugh, but there wasn’t much humor in it.
“Of course it’s yours.” She sighed, then took a seat next to him on the cold ceramic lip of her bathtub. “I…I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. And after this, I figured you would just go back to Moscow, and I couldn’t, I just didn’t know how to...”
“You weren’t going to tell me?”
“Valentine, I don’t know what I was going to do. I just found out a few days ago, and then all this happened.” She gestured to her destroyed apartment. “I was still trying to figure things out when you just barreled back into my life, and everything turned upside down.” She felt tears threaten, but tried to hold them back.
He took her hand gently in his, twining their fingers together.
“Are you…are you going to keep it?” The words were dragged out of him, and her heart stopped at the thought.
“Yes! Absolutely! No matter what happened, Valentine, I…” Hope took a breath before continuing, “I’m so happy. It’s complicated, and it will be hard, but when I think about this baby all I feel is…joy.” Hope placed a hand over her still flat stomach, and then looked at Valentine, shocked to see his eyes glistening wetly back at her.
“I love you.” Those words wrapped around her heart, and refused to let go. Valentine continued, “Not because of this, not because you’re pregnant, although that makes me so happy. But because of you. You’re smart, funny, and beautiful, you make my life better, and you make me better.” He laid the softest kiss against her lips. “You might have to give up being a thief when the baby comes though.”
Hope gave a watery laugh, and kissed him back. “I love you, too.” She whispered the words against his lips, feeling lighter, happier, than she had in months. Finally, she pulled away, swiping at a stray tear that had made its way down her cheek.
“So what do we do next?”
Valentine gave a big grin, “Next, w
e catch the bad guys.” He stood, and held out his hand for hers. His grin morphed into a seductive smile, full of heat. “But first, we celebrate.”
An hour later, they were headed back toward the Café where Hope was originally supposed to meet the buyer. Mr. Jones, her seller, had called and he wanted to meet her, saying he had some information on the people who had broken into her apartment.
“I still think it’s strange, Hope. Why would he call you, how would he know anything about that?”
“It’s really not that weird. It’s his job to know things, and he always keeps track of the objects I bring him. He calls it insurance.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Look, maybe he knows who they are, or where they’re from. Any information that will help us figure out who we’re up against.”
Valentine sighed. “I know, you’re right. I still don’t like it.”
Hope leaned up on her tip toes to place a sweet kiss on his lips. “You don’t have to like it, you just have to go along with it.”
Within a few moments, they were at the café, not as crowded this time because of the time of day. She scanned the crowd until she spotted his familiar dark hair, and the brown suit he always wore, no matter how warm the weather was.
Valentine gave her hand a squeeze, and then broke off, disappearing into the crowd to wait at the spot they had planned out before. He would be able to see and hear everything without being seen himself.
Hope took a breath, that uneasy feeling of being watched returning as she approached his table and casually sat down.
“Hello, Mr. Jones.”
“Hello, Ms. McAllister. I hope all is well.”
“No. No, not really. You said you had information on whoever trashed my apartment.”
“Yes, I do. And it really was a shame they didn’t find the manuscript for me, it would have made this all a lot easier.”
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