That Summer In The Country

Thirty-three:

Thirty-three:

It was such a small moment. Malyen taking Alina's hand. It shouldn't have bothered him. Of course, being back by the ocean was going to be bittersweet for her. She had been a child of the sea. Her parents had chased every animal imaginable, mostly dolphins, for ages. But while Alina had called the ocean home, it was also the thing that had taken her parents away from her. The reason she was even in Ravka again in the first place.

Aleksander wondered if he should talk to her about that more. Or, maybe, if she needed therapy. He would happily pay for whatever it was that the girl needed as long as she stayed with him and didn't drift further into his brothers' arms. Sharing her was meant to keep him and Mal honest, but it was different this time around.

They weren't teenagers, for one thing, and it wasn't some girl. Alina was part of their world. She knew them. Had seen them grow up in a way that most people didn't know the Morozova brothers. Alina knew that behind his icy demeanor, there was a human there, and he liked that about her.

When Mal had taken her hand to comfort her, it had rattled him. There was some part of Alina that Mal would always understand better, no matter how hard Aleksander tried. If he were any kind of good man, he would have left her and his brother alone. He would have let them date, get married, and be happy. But Aleksander had never once said that he was a good man. He was a selfish bastard, and he wanted Alina for himself, and himself alone.

Oh, he'd share her with Mal, but he would make it run its course. He would make Alina crave him, and him alone, and have her bound to him in every way that mattered. And that was why he made Alina sleep in his room, instead of the room he'd had personally set up for her. He'd have the staff move her clothes and things in later.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Alina asked as she closed the door behind them. "You don't think Mal will get jealous? Things have been off between you two."

"Things are always off between us," said Aleksander, "you're just beginning to understand the mind field of being with a Morozova."

"You know he wasn't trying to challenge you, right?" Alina told him. "When he took my hand? The ocean makes me a little sad now sometimes, that's all."

He scowled. "I wasn't thinking that at all."

Alina's eyes sparkled. "Yes, you were. I saw murder in your eyes, Aleks. I'm supposed to be both of yours, remember? What's more, in public at least, I'm supposed to be Mal's girlfriend. Remember? You arranged that."

"I know," he said, "and you don't think I hate myself for it? You're still too young, Alina. You might be eighteen, but you haven't even finished school yet, and even with a diploma the board of directors isn't going to be pleased about me dating someone as young as you. Especially someone that is the niece of a servant. It's going to be a scandal, and father could very well decide to disown me."

Alina raised an eyebrow. "It's going to be a scandal?"

He smiled at her. "You didn't think I'd let him keep you forever, did you?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought the point of this was that I would keep both of you happy."

Aleksander reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, his thumb lightly stroking her bare skin. "It's not the same, what we have now. I can't stop thinking about you, Alina. I thought up this trip because I was so distracted at work thinking about you. I want...I want nothing more than for you to finish school, so that I can loudly declare that your mine. I'm not a boy anymore, Alina, and I want the things that a man wants. Serious things, and I want them with you."

She blushed. "What if I want more then that?"

"Well, the good news is that I am fabulously wealthy, darling. I can give you anything and everything your heart desires. Including myself. Now if you feel really strongly about it, I did have the servants set up a room for you but please I....I want to sleep in a bed, alone, with you."

"And Mal, right?"

He heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair. "And Mal."

"The plans you have are lovely, but I don't even know what I want yet. For now, let's just enjoy the summer, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said with a huff, "but I'm still taking you out to a fancy dinner tonight, and we're still going to fuck hard as much as we possibly can."

"Oh, of course," she said, kissing him, "I encourage the fancy dinners, and the fancy things."

"You're happy, hmm?" he asked.

She hesitated. "Of course, I'm happy with all of this."

"Alina, you lost your parents. If you are using this as a distraction from your grief, I don't want to be taking advantage of you."

She shook her head. "That's not what this is, Aleks. I think all of this was meant to be, one way or another. Even though I loved my parents----I don't know if the life that I had with them is necessarily the one that I wanted. But I didn't have any choice in the matter. If I could have, I would have stayed at The Great House forever. I think all I wanted was to find my place there, one way or another."

He pulled her tightly to him, wrapping his arms around her. "You'll have it, Alina. I'll make sure. You'll have everything you've ever wanted."