That Summer In The Country

Nineteen

Nineteen

The rest of the day, Alina felt strangely out of place. When had she become the girl that masturbated in the dressing room?

"Are you alright?" Nina asked. "You've got a strange look on your face."

They were in the private car that Aleksander had had her and Nina take. "Did you ever feel...wrong, doing it?" Alina asked.

Nina raised an eyebrow. "Being with both of them? Or the general actions of what we were doing?"

"Both. Maybe. I don't know." She groaned. "You know, Aleksander I never even noticed. If we hadn't had that chance encounter in Novyi Zem---"

"Chance encounter?" Nina asked.

Alina sighed. "I lost my virginity to Aleksander when my family was on vacation. I didn't know who he was until after?"

Nina raised an eyebrow. "You didn't recognize him at all?"

She shook her head. "I mean, the last time I saw him, he was an awkward teenager. I wasn't expecting him to look like---"

"A model?" Nina said with a smirk.

"Yeah, that," she admitted, "but I've always had a crush on Mal. And when I pictured us being together, I pictured it being a little different. I didn't think that it would be like some poly thing with his brother where I'm masturbating in the dressing room because of how badly I want them."

"Because of how badly you want them or the butt plug?" Nina asked with a smirk.

Alina frowned. "Maybe a bit of both."

"Have you ever been in a relationship before them?"

"I...well.... I mean I've flirted, and I've gone on dates....."

"I mean, a real relationship?"

Alina shook her head. "No. I haven't. I sound like a child, don't I? Anyone else would think this was heaven, two men that want to ravish them completely..."

"I don't know. Maybe you like normalcy."

She laughed. "Nothing about my life has ever been normal. My parents were marine biologists who tracked dolphins for a living. I spent my life on a boat. It isn't as if I really had the chance to go do normal girl things."

"What is normal though?" said Nina. "What's normal for you might not be normal for someone else. The only thing that matters is what feels right. Does being with them feel right?"

"Yes," she said, "and no. I don't know----"

"You're only young once. If you're going to make mistakes, you should make them now."

"Yeah, but I'm a girl," said Alina, "you know how different mistakes for us are. Mistakes with us wind up with us pregnant."

"Well, you've read the contract, haven't you?" said Nina. "You know that Aleksander would take care of you."

"I know," Alina said, "but then I'm tied to them forever."

"There are worst spots to be in. You've got two of the richest men in the world obsessed with you. I say, have your fun. You never know when you're going to be in this position again."

"How long until they find a new girl to share?" Alina said glumly.

Nina laughed. "Is that what has you worried?"

"Yes," she admitted.

"Do you want to know part of why I left on business? Why I went looking for someone else?"

"Why?"

"Both of them wouldn't shut up about you. Not only Mal. Aleksander too. They always said that you were the start of everything. It was always 'Alina made us this way'."

Alina flinched. "How could I? I was little. Like ten the last time I visited. If anything, I was the one always trying to get their attention. Mal could have cared less and Aleksander ignored me."

"Yes well," said Nina, "believe me when I say that you made an impression. I don't think they're going to let you go, ever. Whatever this game is to them, it's something that they are in the long haul for, Alina. You've got nothing to worry about. There won't be another girl. Trust me."

"You really think so?"

"Yes," said Nina, "I bet that you could ask them for the world and they'd conquer it for you. Lives ruined, bloodshed, and all of that nonsense."

Alina laughed. "Well, I don't need the world conquered. Maybe just the two of them. I think part of its fun, getting lost in their touch. But I don't want to lose myself either. I had a plan and I'm just worried that I'll get so caught up in them that I'll forget about it and then it will be too late."

"What was the plan?"

"College," said Alina, "the woman my parents worked for had a job lined up for me. I just needed to get a degree. But I don't see Aleksander following me around the world to go chase dolphins or whatever."

Nina smiled. "Aleksander?"

Alina winced. "That's not----"

"Oh, don't worry I won't tell anyone," she said, "but it is very telling."

The car pulled to a stop. They had arrived at The Great House. Alina heaved a big sigh. It had never felt more intimidating, knowing she was going back in there as a woman kept by Aleksander and Mal. With clothes for seducing them.

"You want my advice?" said Nina. "Open a bank account. They're going to give you all sorts of things. A credit card with unlimited spending, jewelry. Keep the ones you like and wear them in rotation. Sell the ones that you don't. And put the money away in case you need a get away plan. I don't think you will, though. You, Miss Starkov, are for keeps."

Alina blushed. "I'll keep the advice in mind. I think you're wrong though."

"Why don't you tell that to your heart? It's already chosen your favorite brother. Just don't let the other one know. That might make things difficult for them. And we don't want them back to where they started."

Alina shook her head. "There's nothing to tell. I don't...I don't love one more than the other. I don't even think I could begin to describe what I feel for them, you know?"

Nina smiled. "I know."

"Thanks, for the day out. I'd like to do that again sometime. I don't have any friends here."

"Well, call me if you need to escape the brutes. I know how difficult they can be. I bet Aleksander's already got me programmed into your phone."

Alina laughed. "I haven't checked, but I'm betting you're right. Thanks, Nina."

"Anytime, Alina."

She grabbed her bags and got out of the car. As she made her way up the steps of the house, she saw Mal waiting for her, a worried look on his face.

"So," he said, "there's been a development."