From Russia With Love

Dominika was fast asleep, alone in her own bed, her room dark, when a pair of cold hands wrapped around her scantily-clad body beneath the covers. She jumped, half awake, and turned over, her eyes fluttering in the darkness.

“Hm?” she sighed, barely conscious. Gerard’s muffled chuckle beside her pulled her out of her sleepy haze slightly, and she dragged her eyelids open, struggling to focus on the dark form next to her in the bed.

“Gerard?” she said, a little more awake this time.

“I hope you weren’t expecting it to be someone else” he said, his lips finding the side of her neck in the darkness. He kissed her skin softly once and whispered in her ear.

“Happy Birthday, baby”

Dominika froze for a moment, deciding whether or not she’d heard right.

“What?”

“It’s your birthday, kid, don’t tell me you forgot your own birthday”

“What’s the date today?” she pressed, still unable till believe it could be December already. The weather had become arctic in comparison to when she’d arrived, and they’d had occasional spells of snow fall, but nothing substantial enough to blanket the ground in white like it had in her home country. The days had seemed to pass so easily now that Gerard was with her, and she’d lost track of time, caught up in being both his nurse and his lover. But was it really December already?

“December sixteenth kid, your birthday, check your phone if you don’t believe me. How did you forget your own birthday?”

“I don’t know, there's been a lot going on” she replied, truly dumfounded.

“Do you need me to remind you how old you are, too?

“Oh no, that’s easy, all I have to do is subtract twenty years from your age” she teased.
Before she had time to process what was happening, Gerard had bundled her into his arms and then she was on top of him, straddling his lap as his long fingers encircled her wrists and pinned them to her sides.

He grinned for a moment, his teeth glinting in the darkness before sitting up suddenly so they were face to face, bemused.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be hanging around such an old man then, Princess, they have a tendency of knowing just how to get you into compromising situations just like this”

“I think I can make an exception” she said, closing her eyes in pleasure as his hands ran down her back against the smooth silk of her night shirt. Gently, cautiously, he rested them on the curve of her backside. She was perfect, slim and toned, but with lovely curves in just the right places other ballet dancers often lacked. He mentally scolded himself when he felt his member twitch involuntarily beneath her, the closeness of their bodies almost too much to bear. He could smell her left over perfume from the day off the heat of her chest and closed his eyes, composing himself. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel pressured on her birthday.

“I wanted to show you something” he said quietly.

“You’re not going to tell me to close my eyes and put out my hand are you? ‘Cause I’m not falling for that”

“No!” he said, a little too loudly “and where did you learn that, anyway?”

Dominika rolled her eyes.

“You never cease to amaze me kid” he said, shaking his head “Too cheeky for your own good”

“Isn’t that why you love me?”

“One of the many reasons. Now, are you going to keep distracting me or are we going to do this?”

“Alright” she relented, a smirk plastered across her face “I’m listening”

“Put your jacket on and come with me”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see” he said, mischief touching his eyes “just do it”

She complied reluctantly, peeling herself out of the warmth of the bed and over to her expansive closet, feeling through her clothes in the dark till she found her favorite sweatshirt. Dominika pulled it over her head in one motion, shaking her long hair loose of the neckline.

Gerard was at the door, holding it open as he held one hand out to her.

“Hold my hand” he whispered.

She grasped his outstretched hand, and with the free one he felt around for his walking cane, leaning against the door frame. Gerard’s fast pattern of healing had continued thus far, and within the last week he’d been given the all clear to downgrade to simply the cane. His gait was almost perfect now, so close to the way he’d been before the accident, but the extra support was still necessary as his body tired easily with the effort. Dominika had been there for every one of his physical therapy sessions, and though she suspected he felt slightly emasculated having his younger girlfriend dote on him, his gratitude was inarguably apparent.

He guided her into the hallway, even darker than her shadowy room, and led her down the east end towards the other empty guest rooms and Dominika’s makeshift ballet studio.
“Where are we going?” she hissed. Gerard turned back to her and pressed his index finger against his lips, gesturing for her to be quiet.

When they reached the end of the hall, Dominika was confused as to why they were there. As far as she was aware, this end of the house was typically disused. Without a word, Gerard pushed aside a thick, dark green curtain that covered the narrow back wall of the hallway, revealing a tall glass sliding door Dominika had never known was there. He reached up with ease to flick the latch on the top of the door and pushed it open, the hinges groaning in protest. An arctic gush of breeze blew across them, and Dominika shivered in her sweatshirt, every hair on her body standing on end.

Gerard gestured for her to follow, and she did, stepping carefully out onto a large stone balcony. It was completely concealed from the front of the house, hence why Dominika had never known it existed, and must have been used very rarely, as almost every stone was overgrown with squishy moss and thick leafy vines.

“How did you know this was here?” she said softly. Gerard smiled at her as he shed his own jacket, spreading it across the natural green carpet that covered the uneven stones beneath their feet. He sunk slowly to the ground then, carefully, being mindful of his wounds that were still healing and patted the jacket beside him.

“I was quite the explorer as a kid, Domi, I know every inch of this place”

“When was the last time anyone was out here?” she asked, looking around them. Almost every inch of the grey smoky marbled stone was coated in green, making the space look almost like another planet.

“Who knows” he mused, his eyes fixed on hers. The light of the moon high above them was just enough to see by, and Dominika held his gaze for a moment, his eyes soft in the silver light “I used to come out here all the time at night as a kid and draw, write, whatever I felt like. It felt like a different world out here”

“It still does” she agreed.

“I’ve never shown anyone else this place, not even Mikey” Gerard continued “I’m not sure my parents even know it’s here”

“Now I know your little secret” Dominika said, turning to him. A smile pulled up the corners of her mouth and he ruffled her hair, breaking the serious mood that had befallen them.

“You know all my secrets, kid. I’ve never really shared them with anyone but you”

“Even when we were little?”

“Even then, even when you were a snobby little brat” he said, smirking “It’s always been you, kid, and it will always be you”

“I was never a brat” she chided, frowning at him. He pinched her cheek softly, playfully, and the humor and affection that touched his eyes made Dominika’s heart swell in her chest.

“But yes” she continued, slightly rattled “I know you. Maybe better than you know yourself”

“Maybe. Probably”

Without warning his lips were on hers, his hand braiding into her long hair as they kissed. Their tongues mingled and the intensity that built between them made Dominika’s skin tingle with a mixture of nervous and excited anticipation. When he broke away, his breathing was heavy, eyes wild with exhilaration.

“There you go, distracting me again” he breathed “How do you always do that?”

“Distracting you from what?”

“What we came out here for in the first place. Look up”

Dominika did as he asked, gasping audibly as she took in the view above them. The sky was clear, dark but clear, and punctuated with numerous large, bright stars in different colors that were different from anything she’d ever seen in Russia. To their right, the Milky Way was visible, a long belt of whipped white cloud dotted with clusters of twinkling stars.

“It’s beautiful” she said in awe “even more beautiful than home”

“Some of my most vivid childhood memories are from nights out here” Gerard said, his voice taking on a dream-like quality “it seemed only right to share it with you”

His arm was around her then, encouraging her closer to his body in the chill of the winter breeze that blew across them.

“You know, it sounds stupid, but when I was over there and you were here, every night I used to look up at the sky at all the stars and feel better knowing it was the same sky you were looking at, no matter how far away you were”

Dominika was touched, her heart lurching in her chest at his words.

“I know the feeling” she said, knowing she’d done something much the same, her voice strained with the emotion building behind her prose. She couldn’t help but love him, somehow he always knew exactly what to say to make her melt, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

She wondered silently if it would always be like this, her emotions set on fire by his words, somehow always just what she needed to hear. Could he really read her that well or was it coincidence caused by their personalities? Her mind drifted back to Russia again, and all she could picture was violence and fire.

“Will we ever go home?” she asked suddenly, her voice breaking.

“Yes, Domi” he replied quietly.

“I swear, I will take you home”

Notes

This chapter was inspired by the song "Under The Milky Way" by The Church, if you don't know this song, I highly recommend you look it up!
We are at 65k words for this story and we have about 8 - 10 chapters to go till the end, but don't worry, there will be a sequel ;)
Thanks for reading! I love your comments xo