The Life of Anna, Part 4: Ensnared (18 page)

“Anna. Anna, shh.” Vlad put his hand on her
forehead and spoke calm, soothing words that she didn’t understand,
but did indeed calm her. “Shh. Go back to sleep.”

Anna tried to protest, but her eyes grew
heavy and she drifted off.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful, but
relaxing and enjoyable. Vlad left Anna alone, though she felt him
watching her a lot. Peter took her to the Muse Boutique in downtown
Laguna Beach where she bought a few things to let Wilhelm know
where she was. She remembered her dream about Alex, but didn’t
remember waking to find Peter and Vlad looking at her.

“I just made the flight arrangements,” Peter
said Monday evening when they were back in San Francisco. Peter had
told Anna that he was going to St. Petersburg for a week after
Nutcracker was over to visit Dariya.

“Did you tell Dariya?” Anna asked softly.

Peter nodded. “She’s placated for the moment.
I need to go. I’ve barely spoken to her since I left and
she’s...upset.”

“I know.” She didn’t understand why he felt
the need to justify himself. It wasn’t as if their “relationship”
was real. He needed to maintain his relationship with the other
girl. Anna tried to smile and tell him she was okay with it, but
couldn’t bring herself to speak the words.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts
and she went to answer it.

“Jack, what are you doing here?” Anna
exclaimed after she opened the door. He leaned against the doorpost
with a smug look on his face.

“Why do you think, Baby?” he asked with a
grin, pushing the door open. He saw Peter sitting on the couch. “Is
this the new boyfriend?”

Peter stood. “I am. And you are?”

“Anna’s former guardian. I don’t believe
we’ve met, although Devin told me quite a bit about you.”

Peter’s face remained impassive.

“Jack is a very good friend of Devin’s,” Anna
explained as a warning that he would tell Devin about anything that
was amiss.

Peter’s face broke into a smile. “Ah, of
course.” He walked forward and shook his hand. “I have heard much
about you.”

“You’re Vitaly’s grandson, eh?”

“I am.”

Jack nodded and studied Peter for a moment.
“You look like him.”

Peter smiled. “I’ll take that as a
compliment.”

Jack laughed. “You should.” He glanced at
Anna and then looked back at Peter. “You don’t mind if I use Anna
for a bit, do you?”

Peter shrugged. “I’d appreciate it if you
didn’t hurt her. Opening night is Friday and she’s taking longer to
recover these days.”

“Really?” Jack looked at Anna. “That’s too
bad.” He sighed. “I suppose I can take it easy on her this time.
I’ll just make up for it after the first of the year.”

Anna motioned to the bedroom door and she and
Jack walked through it. He wasn’t nice, but he wasn’t as mean as he
normally would be and he left, mostly satisfied, an hour later.

Anna heard Peter say goodbye to Jack and then
he rushed in to check on her. “Are you all right?”

Anna sat up and nodded. “Yes,” she said
softly. As all right as she ever was after a visit like that. Peter
sat next to her and she lay her head on his chest. “I suppose this
is a reminder that all of this isn’t real,” she said softly.

Peter didn’t answer, but hugged her tightly.
After a while, Peter kissed her on the head. “Go shower. I’ll take
care of the bed.”

“Thank you,” Anna said. She kissed his cheek
and headed into the bathroom.

Nutcracker opened as a great success. Aaron
and Stephanie danced the
Grande pas de deux
beautifully,
as usual. Peter was stunning as he and Erin danced in the snow
scene. Anna felt like she performed well, and Peter told her that
she outshone her fellow ribbon dancers.

Afterwards, Peter escorted her out to the
party in the lobby. His parents, brothers and sister, and Vlad and
Nina had all come up to see him. They were happy to see them both
again and praised Anna for her beautiful dancing. Mikhail thought
Peter had been wasted as the snow king, but Peter said he didn’t
mind.

“It was nice not to have all the pressure of
dancing the prince, like I normally do,” he remarked. “I don’t mind
it, Papa. I really don’t.”

Mikhail mumbled something in Russian and
Peter laughed.

Devin walked up a few minutes later and
greeted everyone. Anna resisted the urge to step closer to Peter.
Peter had to play the part. That was all there was to it.

“Peter, you really are an excellent dancer. I
would love to see you and Anna dance together. That would
be...quite a pairing.”

“I agree,” Peter said. “Isaak mentioned the
possibility once she’s promoted to Principal.”

Principal? Isaak was already talking about
that? Oh, she would love to dance with Peter. And Aaron. Anna was
thankful she didn’t have to make her partner decisions. She didn’t
know if she could choose between the two.

Devin and Vlad walked away for a bit and the
family continued talking. When they returned, Devin looked
pleased.

“Anna, may I borrow you for a few minutes?”
Devin said, offering her his arm.

Anna nodded nervously and took the proffered
arm.

“You danced well, Anna. I was very
pleased.”

“Thank you, Devin,” she said softly.

“You have been doing very well in everything
lately, Anna. You’ve even managed to charm Vlad, which is not easy
to do.”

“I did? I thought he disliked me.”

Devin shook his head and guided her around a
corner where there were fewer people. “No. He said he understood
why I wanted you.” He looked around before opening a door and
pushing Anna through gently, before joining her. It was a small
janitor’s closet and Devin closed the door and turned the light on.
He turned her around and kissed her neck while pulling her skirt
up. “I don’t get near enough of you anymore,” he murmured before
delving his fingers inside her panties.

Anna leaned her hands on the wall and moaned
softly as he thrust his fingers in and out of her. He straightened
suddenly and a moment later was pushing her up against the wall and
thrusting his cock into her. They both panted as he rammed himself
repeatedly into her body.

“Come for me, Baby,” he whispered, and Anna
did a moment later. He drove himself deeper inside her and groaned
as he came. “I needed that,” he said in a low voice.

They fixed their clothing and emerged from
the room a few minutes later.

“I think I want you to stay with me once a
week. Both of my daughters are out of the house, so I don’t have to
explain your presence.” He glanced at her. “While performances are
going on, I want you Monday evenings. Peter can bring you over and
I’ll drop you off at the studio on the way to work on Tuesday
morning.”

“Yes, Devin,” she said softly.

“Tell Peter, as I won’t likely have a chance.
Come at...oh, seven-thirty will be fine.”

“Yes, Devin.”

Anna told Peter about Devin’s new demand when
they got home that night and were lying in bed. “Every Monday?”
Peter asked.

Anna nodded. “While there are
performances.”

Peter sighed. “I guess it could be worse. He
could want you every night.” He turned over to his side to kiss
her. “I don’t know if I could part with you more than one night a
week.” He slid his hand down her bare hip. “I like having you in
bed with me.”

Anna looked up at him. “I’d rather be here
with you, too,” she said in all sincerity.

Peter smiled, his brown eyes warm, “It makes
me glad to hear you say that.”

Anna didn’t want to think about the fact that
he would eventually leave her and go back to St. Petersburg. She
just wanted to enjoy what was going on here and now.

Something brushed her hip and she looked
down. “Again?” she asked with a smile.

Peter grinned and shrugged. “Can’t help it,”
he said, and captured her lips with his.

The myriad of Nutcracker performances made
the next month pass quicker than Anna would have expected. Anna
spent Monday nights at Devin’s house. Her morning sickness showed
up a few days before Christmas. Anna had woken up and ran to the
bathroom before Peter realized what had happened. He wet a
washcloth for her and rubbed her face and neck with it as she sat
on the floor every morning.

Peter flew to St. Petersburg the day after
the Nutcracker closed. Anna found the apartment very lonely without
Peter there, but resolved to not sink into another depression. She
didn’t want Peter to feel guilty for leaving. She could see it in
his eyes that he didn’t want to leave. But Elder-Sons and
grandsons, must perform their duties.

The next day was what would have been Anna
and Alex’s 3
^rd
wedding anniversary. Anna couldn’t make
herself get out of bed. She had put his picture on the bed next to
her and stared at it, missing him so much she could hardly
breathe.

Anna attended a formal New Year’s Eve party
with Devin and Tyler. Several of the Deacons were there as well,
including Jayce and Trenton.

“See, Anna,” Devin said as they danced
together close to midnight. “You are much more useful to me when
you have a stable relationship. Even with Peter gone, you are
holding it together. You have been very pleasant to be around all
evening, and have charmed the men I told you to charm.” He spun her
around and then kissed her bare shoulder. “I like this version of
you.”

“What happens when Peter has to go home?” she
asked quietly.

Devin smiled. “Maybe you’ll come live with
me,” he murmured in her ear. “With the kids all moved out, the
house is rather empty. And I would love to have you in my bed every
night.”

Anna blinked and stared at his chest. Live
with Devin? In his house? She didn’t know what to think about that
and just hoped that Vitaly would never die.

Most of the week that Peter was gone, Anna
kept to herself. Jenna came over one afternoon and they hung out,
but for the most part, Anna was content to be alone...aside from
missing Peter. He had sent a text message letting her know he had
arrived safely, but she hadn’t heard from him since. She didn’t
really expect to, though; he was with his girlfriend. He had told
their friends in the Company he was visiting his family.

Friday morning, Anna met Peter at the airport
and greeted him happily after he gathered his luggage.

“Peter!” she exclaimed and ran to hug him.
She had missed him more than she realized.

“Hello, Anna,” he said with an affectionate
smile.

“Did you have a good trip?” she asked as they
walked towards the car.

“Yes. How was your week?”

“Good. Not very interesting, but that’s
okay.” She smiled up at him. He looked preoccupied. “Are you
okay?”

Peter nodded. “Tired. It’s a long
flight.”

He wasn’t very talkative as they drove back
to the apartment, though he did say that he appreciated the warmer
weather here. Anna wanted to ask about his seeing Dariya, but was
hesitant. He wasn’t very forthcoming with information about her in
general, and now that he was home from seeing her, seemed even less
inclined to talk about her.

Anna looked at him as he drove. “You’re
growing your goatee out again?” He had shaved it off for
Nutcracker. It was very thick already.

Peter shrugged. “Dariya likes it.”

“Oh.”

Anna looked down and noticed a ring on his
right ring finger that he hadn’t had before. Three colored gold
bands were put together as one ring. Anna stared at it for a
moment. “Did Dariya give that to you as a Christmas present?” she
asked quietly with the premonition that it wasn’t just a Christmas
present.

Peter tightened his hand on the steering
wheel and shrugged slightly. “Something like that,” he said softly
after a moment.

Something like that? What did that mean?
Unless.... “Peter, did you get married?” she asked softy.

His knuckles turned white. “Why do you have
to be so observant, Anna?”

Anna took that as a yes. She turned to look
out the window and rubbed the back of her hand, determined to keep
silent the rest of the way home. She didn’t want to upset him any
further.

She told herself it shouldn’t bother her.
It’s not like Peter was ever going to marry her. Sooner or later,
he would go back to Russia and get married. He just did the
marrying thing sooner than she expected. It wouldn’t make any
difference in how they related to one another. After all, their
relationship wasn’t real.

Neither of them spoke for the remainder of
the drive. Anna was proud of herself for not crying. After all,
what good would crying do? It’s not as if it should have been a
surprise...really.

Peter parked the car in their stall and they
walked to their apartment together in silence. He reached for her
hand and held it while they walked, but didn’t speak. When they got
to the apartment door, he unlocked it and they both went inside.
Anna went to sit on the couch while Peter unpacked.

Anna didn’t know what to do. What would
happen now? Why didn’t he tell her he was going to get married?
Should she move out? No, Devin probably wouldn’t like that or allow
it.

She sighed and stared out the window. Why did
she feel the need to be loved so much? Why couldn’t she be like the
other Elder-Mistresses and not care about things like love and
marriage?

“Anna? Can we talk?” Peter asked a few
minutes later, sitting down next to her.

She forced a smile. “Sure.”

Peter played with his ring. “She accused me
of falling in love with you,” he said. “And said she didn’t believe
me when I said that I would come back and marry her.”

Anna shook her head. “Why would she think
that? All this is just to keep me...sane.”