11-28-2003, 08:46 PM
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obsolete
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 617
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Nikolai...
Liudmilla repeated his name in her mind, mesmerized by the sound of his voice, the directness in his eyes. What color were they? Brown? Blue? Green? She couldn't concentrate. He was talking. She struggled to answer intelligibly, but... There were those eyes again. That voice!
He moved closer. She could barely breathe!
He said her name as though she were the Czarina herself. No. It must be her imagination. Liudmilla felt the heat spread from her face to the rest of her body. His eyes! He could see right through her. She was sure of it. She shivered and he reached out his hand to place it on her arm. "Cold?"
"No. Yes!"
Nikolai arched an eyebrow. "Which is it, 'Milla? Yes? Or no?"
"Y-yes," she managed to stammer out. Her skin, where he touched, felt as if it were on fire. "I'm not cold."
He laughed then, making her want to slide under the table from embarrassment. Oh, but his laugh... Even at her own expense she would hear it over and over.
She was acting like a silly schoolgirl. She wasn't a child! Would he think she was silly and foolish? Liudmilla so wanted him to... To what? He could read her mind! Don't think. Don't say anything. Don't...
Unable to break away from his almost hypnotic gaze, Liudmilla Naletov knew that she was bound. Literally and hopelessly. She didn't know why or how, but she was. His look, his touch were erotic. He was different from other men she'd known. Powerful. Something in that knowledge both thrilled her and frightened her all at once.
"Here you go."
'Milla breathed a soft sigh of what -- relief? disappointment? -- at the disruption when he turned to accept the proffered drinks from Sonya as she approached the table. She had never even noticed that he'd ordered them.
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