Firebird (The Firebird Trilogy #1) Read Online Free PDF

electric current had thrummed between them in anticipation of their unspoken pledge, that they would make the ultimate commitment to each other. After the prom, in a dark hotel room for which he’d been saving his allowance, it took Alex several tries to enter her. Nerves had tightened her muscles. He had pushed, not hard but with persistence, until Stephanie felt a small pinch and, gasping, winced. He was uncircumcised like most Russian men. Sleek as waves on the beach. Full. His love overwhelmed her in its totality.
    Only a few more thrusts before he was grunting and streaming into her. It had taken longer to enter her in the first place, but she’d heard from friends who had already lost their virginity that it didn’t last long. Especially the first time.
    “It is better next time.” He brushed from her face the hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I make it better. Do you want to stay?”
    She had a curfew, but a night in Alex’s arms was worth her father’s wrath. “Yes.”
    Cold air hissed from the air conditioner across the room. She burrowed under the covers and curled up; Alex’s body complemented hers as though designed for it. He tucked his arm around her.
    In the morning, the blackout curtains had obscured all but a white glow framing the windows. Alex had woken her with a kiss, a sensuous touch that ignited her like a match to a stick of dynamite. His face was rough with stubble not yet as thick and coarse as it would become, his chest still naked of hair. Nearly a man but not quite.
    Then he was inside her again, and it was better, just as he’d promised.
    Aleksandr drifted into the kitchen to pour another drink and light a cigarette. “My host mother printed it and framed it for me.” He shrugged. Avoiding eye contact, he tapped the ashes into a ceramic ashtray.
    “You’ve kept this all these years.”
    “I don’t usually have guests snooping around my condo.” He turned from the counter, eyebrows raised. “Chto yebat? What do you really want?”
    “You know how I felt.”
    “Stop.” His eyes softened, pleading with her not to dredge it up. She’d chosen anyway, security over love.
    “You gave me a purple orchid corsage. I gave you a matching boutonnière. The colors were silver, blue, and purple. Starry night.”
    He took a long drag and blew it out slowly.
    “You were so nervous, I could feel you shaking. After eight years, I remember every detail.”
    He gritted his teeth and hurled the tumbler of vodka at the floor. It shattered inches from her, and liquid splashed her shoes. Stephanie, her heartbeat double-timing, jumped back.
    “Get out!” he shouted. “Go back to your safe fucking fiancé and your perfect little life!”
    “ My perfect life? Look who’s talking!”
    “You think this is perfect? Do you see a wife or even a fucking girlfriend around here? Do you have any idea how lonely I am no matter how many women I fuck? Do you know why?” He crushed the cigarette and advanced on her, looming like some fairy-tale beast, his face red, fists clenched at his sides. Too much, in that instant, like her father. Stephanie, groped for the doorknob. “Because in eight fucking years, I haven’t been able to let you go! Is that what you want? Are you happy now? You have all you need to write your story. The real Aleksandr Volynsky is a fucking pussy-whipped bitch over the girl he lost his virginity to. Now get the fuck out of my house.”
    Stephanie stared at him, at his rising and falling chest, into his bloodshot eyes. “Aleksandr, I—”
    “You broke my heart.” The crack of his voice on the last word betrayed his otherwise lifeless tone. “And you do it every time I see you. Now please, go away.” He pushed her enough that she stumbled into the hall so he could slam the door in her face.
    A thousand thoughts fought for purchase. She had done worse than break his heart, and the cruelest part was that he had no idea.
    Stephanie raised her fist to knock but dropped it. She