22

“Did you buy what I asked for?” Nadia asks him. Captain Kirill opens his coat and gives her a bag of medicine, then removes the piece of clothing and throws it on a chair opposite the fire. He’s dressed in a black button-down and a sweater that fails to leash the intensity dripping off him. “Good, good. I thought you were going to be killed by the storm.” Nadia nods. “Now, get over here.” I can’t believe my ears or my eyes, because the captain actually follows her instructions and allows himself to be ordered around. Something niggles at the back of my head, and I can’t figure out what, no matter how much I think about it. As he approaches me, looking bigger than a god and just as deadly, the reason behind my frozen state rushes back to me. Did Nadia just call me his…wife? There must be some sort of misunderstanding, because what the fuck? My thoughts whither and vanish as he sits beside me on the mattress and wraps his arm around my waist. The heavy weight of his hand settles on my hi