Submitting to the Billionaire(41)

"It was like fate handed you to me on a platter and said have at it. I  set up Ziggurat and I waited for him to take my bait. It was so easy I  almost couldn't believe it. Like a fly to shit he came.

"Then a month ago I let myself bump into you. I didn't think the  attraction would be that strong but, hell, I wanted to throw you against  the wall and fuck you there and then."

"Why were you so cold to me?"

"I was afraid. I was losing control. Anything I had ever wanted I took  without any emotional entanglement. It never crossed my mind that it  would be different with you. It had never happened to me before. I  started to hurt for you. I didn't know how to deal with it and you kept  throwing Nigel in my face all the time. Some nights I wanted to fucking  kill him with my bare hands."

"I never felt for Nigel what I feel for you. Not even a fraction. I was a  girl when he met me. I loved him like a girl. I love you like a woman.  He never made me feel the things you do. And the sex. Oh my god, the  sex. To think I was going to live all my life with him and never  experience what I have with you."

He smiles. "I know. The sex is amazing, isn't it?"

"You mean it's not like that with all the other women?"

"Are you kidding? Never."

I grin. Then I sober up. "Nikolai?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll make it work."

He kisses my eyelids. "We'll take it one day at a time, little butterfly."





Chapter Fifty-Four





Nikolai




Two Months Later



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otMgGp7XJEE

Like I'm gonna Lose You





That morning we wake up early. Autumn is in the air and it is still dark  outside. Star stretches luxuriously. I pull back the sheets to look at  her naked body. I'd punished myself for years but fate sent me Star.  Made her so irresistible that it pulled me out of my self-imposed hell.

In the gloom her pale skin glows. I reach out a hand and caress her  smooth hip. She looks precious. Beyond anything I own or could want. I  need her to know it. If I die tomorrow, I will only be at peace if she  knows it.

"I want to show you something," I say.

"What?"

"Get dressed in your riding clothes. I want to show you my brother's grave."         

     



 

Her face changes. Fear flickers in her eyes. I kept her in a state of  insecurity. That flash of fear. That is what I need to destroy.

"Are you sure?" she whispers.

I smile gently. "Yes. It's time."

We go downstairs in the silence of the house. At the last step Star  stops. "Remember that first night I came here when you stood there and I  stood here."

"It's burned into my memory."

"I thought you were the most magnetic man alive. I had goosebumps just looking at you."

"I couldn't believe my own eyes. How could a mere woman be so beautiful?  I had to force myself not to scoop you up in my arms and carry you  upstairs to my bed."

"No regrets?"

I shake my head. "Not one."

"Give me one moment," she says, and runs lightly towards the big  arrangement of flowers. She stands there for a moment. Then she picks a  pure white lily. She walks back to me. "I'm ready to meet your brother."

We go to the stables and I bring Belyy Smert out of his stall while she  leads Miss One Penny. We get on our horses and gallop out to the  north-west part of the property.

My brother lies in the middle of a beautiful rose garden. His tomb is  made of marble with an angel to watch over him. We dismount and walk  together towards the beautiful structure. I hold open the little iron  gate and she walks through. We go into the stone tomb.

It is cold inside. I feel her shiver.

She walks ahead of me towards his tomb. She gets on her knees and bows  her head. Now when I look at her laying the pure white lily on the  smooth white stone there is a sense that life takes and then it gives.  Life took him away from me and gave her to me. Blonde, beautiful, kind  Star.

She looks up at me. "I love you, Nikolai," she whispers.

For the first time ever I open my mouth and say the words. "I love you, Star. I love you."

Tears roll down her face as she nods with happiness.

"I love you, Star, and I'll love you till all the stars burn away."





Chapter Fifty-Five





Nikolai




Two Years Later





I am so filled with excitement I can't sleep. I just keep turning over  and looking at the beautiful angel sleeping soundly beside me. Every  time I look at her a warm feeling fills my entire body. I'm the luckiest  fucking man alive.

Who could have imagined that a woman would bring the living corpse,  Nikolai Smirnov, to heel? Perhaps because Star's not just any woman.

We waited two long years for this day to happen. I told her she could  have anything she wanted. The grandest and most lavish wedding ever. No  expense spared, but all she wanted was a small gathering of the dearest  of our friends attending.

"What Star wants, Star gets," I said, and so she made her plan and in a  few hours we'll be husband and wife and she'll be mine in every sense of  the word.

And only mine.

God help any man who looks sideways at her.



Star



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUe8uoKdHao

Without You





It's a glorious day with blue skies, and the sun is high above us when  we leave for the church of St Mary in the beautiful Cambridgeshire  countryside.

My father smiles at me. "You've finally found yourself a real man, Star."

"I know, Dad."

"Remember that time I was lying in hospital with a perforated bowel."

"Yeah?"

"I was terrified I would die and leave you with Nigel, but now I feel  good. If I had to die tomorrow, I'd go happy. I know you'd be taken care  of."

"This time does feel so different and so right."

I reach a hand across to dad and he holds it. We just sit peacefully  together. It takes us less than an hour to reach our destination.

The church is a quaint and magical place. Surrounded by ancient trees  and beautifully kept lawns. A stone pathway leads up to the 16th century  church entrance.

I take a deep breath and my dad squeezes my hand.

"Is my dress okay?'' I ask, concerned that it has become all crumpled in  the journey. My stomach is in knots and my hands feel clammy.

"I've never seen you look more beautiful," dad says. Suddenly his face crumples and he begins to cry.

"Oh, Dad. Don't. Please. You'll make me cry too," I say, fanning my face frantically.

"I'm all right. I'm all right," he mutters. Whipping out the carefully  pressed handkerchief from his coat pocket, he rubs it all over his face.  Rosa comes bustling up the path.

"What's the hold-up?" she demands bossily.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," I say.

"Well, get on with it then."

I take a deep breath and we walk to the church's entrance. For a moment  we stand there, as if suspended in time. Then everybody turns to look at  us. My mother waves. There are tears in her eyes. I see Nikolai's tall,  imposing body turn towards me and suddenly the knot in my stomach is  gone.         

     



 

He doesn't smile. He just stares.

The small church fills with Wagner's Bridal Chorus and my father starts  walking. I follow him down the flower petal covered aisle.

This is it.

This is it.

I can't help it. I cry through the whole ceremony. I don't remember a  thing. I am just so overwhelmed, so incredibly happy, so astonished that  I'm marrying Nikolai.

"You may kiss your bride."

Nikolai wipes my tears with his fingers before he kisses me. Then we are  hurrying out of the church. I look up at Nikolai. His light eyes are  mesmerizing in the sunshine and he gives me a sexy smile. The dream  becomes reality.





Chapter Fifty-Six





Star




Two Months Later





I wrap the package up in plain silver paper and tie it with a yellow  ribbon. Then I put it into a silver bag. Carefully, I write inside the  yellow card.



For my darling husband.

Without you there is nothing  …

From your little butterfly, Star





I get into the shower and let the water cascade down my body. The shower  door opens and I smile. A large hand touches my body. I turn around.

"Hello," I say softly.

"Are you having a shower without me?"

"I had to. I'm very dirty."

"How dirty?"

"You won't believe how dirty I am."

"Oh yes, I will," he says reaching for the sponge. He pours soap on it  and drags it across my breasts, under my arms, on my stomach.

"The dirtiest area is between my legs."

He laughs. A lovely rumble that comes from deep inside him. He runs the  sponge quickly over my crotch. That is surely not the way to clean  something very dirty.

"Nah, that's not going to work," he says.

"No?"

"No." He kneels down.

I sigh with pleasure and look down. God, I love this man so much.

The water sluices off his head, his face, his mouth, as his tongue  swipes me gently. After I climax, he has his wicked, wicked way with me.  His seed drips out of me, and the quickly moving water washes it all  away.