Read To the Steadfast for Free Online Page A

moment for so long now. I want to make this last.”
    “Really?” He’s never
paid me any special attention before, no more than the other girls.
    “Of course. You’ve
always been beautiful.” His hand moves from my hair to my cheekbones. “Every
part of you. Inside and out. Kind, caring, and you try so hard to make others
happy.”
     His face falls like
he’s trying to talk himself out of something. “You’re sure you want to do this?
I mean, this is a big step you can’t undo. I can’t promise you anything. I fall
as hard as I try.”
    I could drown in the
depths of his eyes. “I want this. I want this with you.”
    He shuts me up by
pulling me into a long kiss. His hands tangle in my hair as he continues to
ravish my mouth with his tongue. Our bodies melt together in an entanglement
of hormones. The heat tingles from every part of me like an exchange of kinetic
energy between the two of us. His fingers find my bundle of nerves and
delicately stroke against me. I do the same to him, wrapping my hand around his
hardness and moving at the same rhythm as his fingers. We stay like that for
the longest time, relishing in each other’s desire.
    “Ready?” he asks.
    I almost nod, then
remember where we are. My parents’ bedroom, the bedroom they never sleep in,
the house they hate being at. The daughter they hate for tying them together.
He notices my distracted gaze and grabs my chin. He forces me to look at him. I
focus on the emeralds in his eyes and forget my parents.
    “Do you want to go to
another room?”
    I nod, and he picks me
up. I point to my room across the hallway. He sets me down on the bed and
covers me with his body. 
    And for the first time
in months, I let everything else disappear except for me and him.

 

    “Turn off the
alarm,” I say, swiping my hand
against Mischa’s chest.
    He groans. “It’s not
mine.”
    When the beeping stops,
I shoot up in the bed. I know that sound. It’s the gate, someone’s at the gate.
No, someone’s turning off the home alarm. Someone’s here. Shit.
    “Get up,” I hiss. I
jump out of bed and begin throwing on my clothes. Last night, we stayed up for
hours talking about everything. There was a connection there. A feeling that I
could tell him anything. Mom and Dad are supposed to be away all weekend, and
it’s not like anyone’s going to come into my room. I’m the last person they
think about when they walk through the doorway. Still, I don’t want to get
caught with a guy in my bed.
    Mischa is up and
already has his pants on when there’s a knock on the door.
    My heart is racing as I
motion for him to hide under the bed.
    “Who is it?” I call
out. My voice takes on a high-pitched squeak as I trip over some dirty clothes
on the floor and fall flat on my face.
    “It’s me.”
    My pulse quickens as I
hear Violet’s voice on the other side of the door.
    “What are you doing
here?” I squeak. I get up off the floor and straighten my clothes.
    “Your housekeeper
showed up at the same time I did. She’s downstairs.”
    “I’m not dressed. Can I
meet you downstairs?”
    I turn to Mischa, who
is throwing the rest of his clothes on.
    “What do we do?” I ask.
    “Don’t tell her
anything. She’ll freak out, and she doesn’t need any more stress.”
    Violet pounds on the
door again. “Don’t play dumb. Is Mischa in there? Open up!”
    Mischa groans before
walking over and throwing the door open. He continues buckling his belt.
    “What?”
    “Are you two sleeping
together?” Violet whispers. I can tell nothing else matters right now. She’s in
a state of panic. Her hair is pulled back and she isn’t wearing a lick of
makeup. Us sleeping together means that everything’s changed.
    “No, I just stayed
over.” Mischa finishes pulling his shirt over his head. “Why are you freaking
out?”
    “Because she’s my
friend, and I don’t want you ruining everything because you can’t keep your
pants on.”
    I step forward and put
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