Hi Everyone!
Chapter 8 is here!
Before all, special thanks goes to Katja for helping me to choose the name for the character Andrey! ^^
Also, I'm really grateful for the reviews, they are the ones that make me eager to write - even if it's only possible on phone at the moment xD - more and more! :D
Chapter 8
For the first time in her mission, Nataliya felt delighted. Having bathed, she lay down onto her bed in the clean clothes the wife of the lumberjack had given her, reading a book about gardening, which wasn't interesting at all, but suited perfectly the "I survived a moaning blonde and a bear an hour ago, now time to relax." atmosphere that fell over her.
But the best happy-factor was yet to come: she wasn't forced to be on the same quartermetre as Alek. Nata's face still turned red from laughter whenever she remembered her new friend, Spencer, the bear being - as Alek said - an oversized, life-threatening furball. Thanks to him, Alek spent every second after their arrival washing the saliva off his face, sometimes commenting the process with some four-letter words.
Nata was already digging deep into the secrets of the tulip species, when the lumberjack, who turned out to be called Vasil , knocked on her door, announcing that the dinner was ready.
"Could you tell Alek about it too?" He asked her. "I am not sure if he'd heard me."
Nata nodded and made her way to the man in the bathroom with the speed and enthusiasm of a sleepy sloth.
-.-.-
Alek was taking off his tattered pullover and T-shirt to examine the wound on his back, when he heard someone shouting to him. He couldn't understand a word from the noise of the water emerging out of the tap, so he barked a bored "Come in already!"
Nata sneaked into the room with her gaze fixed on the floor, then she cleared her throat and 'delivered' the message.
"What?" Alek asked again and closed the tap. "Please, repeat..."
As he turned to look at Nata, his mouth stayed open. The white dress on her was terribly ugly, old fashioned, full of holes... and she looked stunningly beautiful in it. Not to talk about her grey eyes that shimmered from the light... and embarrassement. However, fortunately for her, Alek didn't notice the last thing.
"The... the dinner... is ready." Nataliya mumbled from the sight of his bare, muscular chest and abdomen.
Without having the slighest idea of what she was doing, she touched the scar near his ribs and caressed the thin red line of it. To her surprise, instead of shoving her hands away, Alek tilted his head cutely to the right, stepping closer to her. As an answer, Nata's fingers wandered up to the side of his neck, feeling his pulse. Then, the man's strong arms stared to close up on her hips...
...And this was enough to bring the woman back to reality.
What has got into me again?
"Sorry... Um... now I'll go..." She stuttered, breathing fast.
As no reply came, she peeked at Alek's face, examining all his handsome features. She couldn't read in his thoughts, but she had a feeling that this could be considered lucky in that situation.
Nata started backing out to the corridor, but she ended up colliding to the wall.
Damn! She groaned and walked to the door, which wouldn't move. I cannot believe! Did everything on Earth conspirate to make my life miserable?
"Push it stronger." Alek advised annoyedly, but when he saw how helpless the woman was, he stepped to her and with a confident motion, he tossed the door open. "See?"
"T-thanks!" Nata was paralized: he was within arms reach the second time.
She blushed and turned away to exit, but then Alek stopped her by leaning to the wall with his left hand, forming a barrier between her and the way out.
Nata gazed at him with a mixture of fear and tension.
"Huh?"
She jammed her back to the wall as he leaned closer and lifted her chin with a single index finger to force her to look into his eyes. His irises were the same blue, but darker... scarily darker... What does he want?
"Alek?" She asked, panicing.
Hearing his name, Alek thought for a second, then regained his old, grumpy self and let her go.
"We'll have to talk." He growled on the way back to his room. "Somewhere secure."
Having awoken from the shock, Nata found herself alone in the bathroom, tapping a monotonous rythm on the dirty-white tile.
What the dancing polar bear was that with Alek? What did I think I was doing? And why did he change his mind, when he obviously wanted to say something? And why did he come so... close?
Then, the odour of the fresh-made dinner filled her nose. Following it, she walked down to the kitchen where the others were waiting for her.
-.-.-
The lumberjack wasn't exaggerating his wife's cooking skills: Nata had never eaten such delicious food before. As she was swallowing the fine, vapouring soup spoon by spoon, she felt warmth coming from the inside, spreading pleasantly all over her body.
"The forest is breathtaking this time of the year, what you saw on the way here was just a small bite." Vasil said after finishing his dessert. "You should check it out before you leave for the city."
Nataliya thanked him the advice. "Worths a try!" She smiled at Alek, but he gave no answer.
He is too quiet. She thought suspiciously. No rude put downs, not even a grumble...
She looked at him questioningly, but received a "Mind your own buisness!" glance, so she turned away to chat with Vasil instead.
-.-.-
Having done the dishes, Nata decided to explore the stable next to the house. Because of spending most of her life in the Lucian stronghold, she hardy ever had the chance to meet animals. Walking to the exit, she went past Alek's room and nearly invited him to come to figure out what had happened between the two of them, but she changed her mind. She had to clear her thoughts and with him, she would have got even more confused.
I wonder what the others are doing at home. Irina must be planning to kill me for sure... She smiled, being unaware of how right she was.
-.-.-
"So I'll have to go to the train station and investigate..." Irina glanced at the woman at the Special Equipment Giveout desk. "...just because it doesn't sound like a super dangerous task, I suppose I still deserve at least a gun!"
The lady looked at her sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, but these are all I can give to you." She provided her with poison needles, a tracker device, a special phone, a thick arctic coat and googles with thermal camera.
Irina nodded disappointedly, then stalled to her tiny office and put the gadgets into her bag, checking if she had packed all the necessary stuff into it, then put on her new camouflage: she turned into some kind of geologist...
"Great..." She growled to herself, looking into the mirror. "Hi, I'm Doctor Spasky. I am obsessed with the podzol soil blah, blah, blah..." She frowned. "This mission isn't the real punishment... my alias is..."
"At least your uniform looks cute on you!"
Frowning, Irina searched for the source of the voice, but she had to surrender. "Ok, where are you?"
"Over here!"
She felt someone embrace her from the behind.
"Andrey!" Irina laughed. "Shouldn't you be with the..."
"They can wait." The man grinned. "I had to see you before you left."
Irina blushed. "Oh... ok... Eh, I nearly forgot to say thanks for your help at the interrogation."
"Come on, it was nothing, I'd do that for you any other time!" He kissed her forehead, then slipped something into her pocket. "Keep safe!"
She peeked down.
"Later," Andrey murmured and covered the object with his warm palm, preventing her from catching a glimpse of it. "when you are out of the stronghold."
"But why -"
"Agent Spaskaya, it's time to go!" Yelled someone harshly from the outside.
"That's the last call..." Irina looked meaningfully at Andrey. "If we can't meet again..."
"We will." He interrupted and before she could have protested or queued up the army of doubts she had, he pressed his lips on hers. We definitely will.
That's all for today.
(Reviews are well appreciated!)
Thanks for reading! :D
