Loving You Is Forbidden (Third Book of "Fire and Ice" series)

CH. 30: The man I need, the man you love

Dear All,

Here is the new chapter as I promised you earlier in the message. Apologies for not posting it before, but I was checking it and making sure it was going to satisfy you (well, I hope so!) It is a VERY long chapter, but you seem to love them as such, so maybe I should not worry about boring or tiring you.

As I said, their characters are very complex and there is so much I wish to write about them, not to mention their story is rather complicated and it touches many, many issues. I want to give them the deserved deepening and development.

I want to THANK YOU for your constant and overwhelming, incredible support, love, for your votes, comments and messages. You have no idea how happy you make this witchy here and her Cat! I am trying to reply to your comments and messages, so just please be patient and be aware I read each of them.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to everyone and in particular to onedopegirl, as a big thank you for your support, for the love you show to my stories and for your messages: thank you, my dear.

You will see while reading why the chapter was long and how many different aspects, situations it touched. I really hope you will enjoy it, so let me know as always.

I selected a song that seemed to fit the atmosphere of these many pages and no picture this time.

Now, enjoy the new chapter!

"I always loved you, and if one loves anyone, one loves the whole person, just as they are and not as one would like them to be", by Leo Tolstoy in "Anna Karenina"

OLEG POV:

Anatoly and I decided to leave his friends earlier than the rest, for we desired a moment alone and he had been clear on the matter when he followed me to the bar as I went to buy drinks for us both. It had been a very enjoyable evening, considered what heaved down our heads, but we yearned for time spent just in each other's company. His friends were a group of young, yet rather mature and intelligent persons, and it was not difficult to converse with them, the Lebedev cousins in particular.

As Aleksandr discussed over motorbikes with Anatoly and I, for he also held an interest in them, I felt someone observing me from time to time, and that person was River Kelley. I caught his eyes, rendering him still a moment for then smiling in a rather peculiar way, as if not expecting to be discovered. I could tell he watched how Anatoly and I interacted together and there was something in his eyes that left questions in my mind. Anatoly told me that his friend was never easy to understand or almost impossible to read, nonetheless something caught my attention and I wondered what left him so guarded. He cared for him and I saw it by the way he once looked at him talking to Dmitri and his partner with a soft smile. That young man had missed him dearly and I was pleased at seeing what loyal friends my reckless punk had.

I was glad to have joined them, because seeing him among them filled my heart with many different emotions, giving me the chance to see a different aspect of him while spending time with his friends.

As I drove us back to my place, Anatoly remained quiet for some time listening to some music playing in the car, but after a short while he let out the question I knew was pressing in his mind.

"Did you really enjoy tonight or were you bored? Too many young brats?" I shook my head at the very subtle shyness veiling his apparent mocking tone.

"I told you this already and I can confirm it once more: I like your friends. They are very good friends."

"Yeah, they truly are," he agreed, looking at the road in front of us. "They like you, too, especially the Mighty Sasha, Adrian and that jerk of Lebedev." That surprised me earlier, although it had to be marked out that the young Lebedev made a significant attempt in approaching me. "He was sweating bullets when he heard you were about to join us, given what happened months ago, but somehow you talked normally to him, without intimidating him or so, and freaking hell, I never thought he had the balls to speak to you so openly. It looks like this scary beast of a man is a charmer," Anatoly joked, half-grinning at me as he played with an earring.