The Russian's Secret Child (The Fedosov Family Series) (6 page)

The dream had been a fanciful one, and one that he’d had little hope of seeing come to fruition, but then he had met Jasmine.

She had been walking across the university campus, completely lost in her thoughts and had stumbled right into the hostage drill his troops were conducting. Not wanting to scare her any further, he had called a halt to the drill for the day, giving his men the night off.

Jasmine had been terrified as she looked up to find a rifle pointed at her face. She had dropped her books, sending notes scattering across the ground. Misha had helped her pick up her things and then offered to help her rearrange her notes.

She had looked up at him and that had been it. His body had responded so quickly to hers, he’d had to hold himself back from grabbing her and finding out if her lips were really as soft as they seemed. When she had opened her mouth to speak, the husky quality of her voice had sealed her fate.

He had escorted her back to her campus housing and then taken her to dinner. When he had seen her to her doorway, she had leaned in and kissed him first. Misha had taken that as a sign and proceeded to kiss her back. They had ended up in her apartment, making love and caring not that she had the first draft of her thesis due the next afternoon.

He recalled the way she had joined him in removing their clothing, her responsiveness to him remarkable. She hadn’t shied away from their joining, but welcomed it, urging him on with gentle caresses and murmured words of encouragement.

Their first coupling had been almost frantic. His eyes closed as he recalled that time…

Entering her apartment, Jasmine had kicked her shoes off and been in the process of removing her jeans when she was grabbed from behind and pushed up against the door.

Misha kissed her ravenously, letting his lips trail from her mouth and down to her chest. He suckled on her right breast through the material of her t-shirt, making her squirm in delight.

Pushing him away, she pulled her shirt over her head before reaching for his own. He helped her remove it and then she pulled him back against her, sighing as their bare skin collided for the first time.

Little to no talking had taken place, other than a murmured “Yes,” or her pleas for him to “Don’t stop!” as he removed her jeans and then lifted her against himself.

Jasmine had responded so naturally to all of his directions, wrapping her legs around his waist as he continued to pay homage to her breasts. When his hands had skimmed lower, slipping beneath the edge of her panties, she had come undone in his arms, gasping his name.

He had been desperate to join with her and had quickly lowered them to the floor, donning protection before pushing his jeans to his knees and thrusting up inside her in one fluid move.

The ride to the top of the mountain had been quick and hurried, neither of them able to slow down the fire that raced through their veins.  The second time hadn’t been much better, but at least they had made it to her small bed.

The third time had been the most memorable. He had awakened in the wee hours of the morning to find her ready and willing. Pulling her atop him, he had allowed her to control the pace, watching her face in wonder as she found her pleasure, taking him over the edge with her.

She had drifted to sleep lying on his chest, and it wasn’t until several hours later when they had awakened that they had both noticed the third time they hadn’t used protection. Not willing to let that fact dampen their mood, they had leisurely showered together before falling back to sleep once again.

Their peaceful interlude had ended abruptly when they awoke around 10 o’clock and she was jolted back into the present. Nothing had been said about their unprotected joining, and Misha had forgotten all about it in the ensuing days and weeks.

Opening his eyes, he recalled how that first night had ended. She had all but kicked him out of her apartment, her mind already on the paper she needed to finish writing. He had promised to take her to dinner that night to celebrate, but they had ordered in instead.

There weeks had gone on in a similar fashion with him directing his troops during the day, and making love to her all night.  The time had flown by, and when the last two days arrived, he had made sure to try to make her see they had a future together.  

Arriving at his home, he gently roused her, “Jasmine, we are here.”

He watched as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and checked on Mikhail. The child was still sleeping, exhausted from his sleepless night and painful earache.

Misha insisted on taking the sleeping infant from her arms, allowing her a chance to stretch her tired muscles. Telling Sergei quietly that he needed to send someone back with his car, he handed him the keys and then turned his attention to the lovely woman still standing next to the car. She looked like a sleepy kitten that had just been awakened and wasn’t quite sure where it was yet.

She hadn’t said more than a few words since they had left her former apartment. He hoped that her friend had not upset her more than she already was, but Dasha had been correct when she encouraged her to be open to everything.

Jasmine followed Misha into his home, noticing the comfortable furniture and modern conveniences, but it didn’t make much difference. She was lost in contemplation of what her life might have been like if she had found Misha when she first found out she was pregnant.

She liked to think that he would have married her then, but maybe that was just a pipedream. He seemed to be trying to make up for lost time now, but she wondered how long that would last.

Misha took Mikhail to his own bedroom, lying him down in the middle of the bed and surrounding him with pillows to keep the baby from rolling off. There was only one furnished bedroom in the house. “Will that work?” he asked her, the first words he had spoken to her since having arrived at his home.

Jasmine simply nodded, afraid if she opened her mouth, everything she was feeling would come pouring out and Misha didn’t deserve that. No one did. She would just have to handle her emotions internally and put on a brave face.

Chapter 12

“Come,” he said quietly, leading her from the room. He glanced at the dark circles beneath her eyes and the way her cheeks drew slightly in. “Are you hungry?”

Jasmine shook her head; she couldn’t eat when she was this upset. Her stomach chose that moment to make itself known and remind her that she hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before.

“Well, I guess your stomach is smarter than your brain. Come on, I’ll fix you something to eat.”

Jasmine followed him down a long hallway, which opened up into a beautiful kitchen, complete with stainless steel appliances, and dark gray marble countertops sitting atop whitewashed wooden cabinets. The white tiles on the floor and ceramic tiles on the walls completed the look. The kitchen was gorgeous!

Jasmine took a seat at one of the bar stools situated around the large kitchen island and watched as Misha pulled eggs, vegetables and some diced ham from the fridge.
She had forgotten his predilection for omelets.
  That’s exactly what he made her.  He didn’t ask what she wanted in it, he already knew.

Cooking breakfast together had become a ritual with them beginning with the second morning he’d slept over. Jasmine had enjoyed starting her day with someone other than her thoughts and had quickly learned just how sensual cooking together could be.

She watched him move around the kitchen and realized that some things hadn’t changed. She still loved seeing him work around the kitchen. His strong muscles in direct contrast to the gentle way his whisked the eggs together, or the way he carefully turned the omelets over.

Misha poured the eggs into the pan, adding meat and vegetables before turning to her, “I spoke to Dmitry on the way here. He’s going to make some calls about your visa. He thinks he can get it renewed as if it never expired.”

Jasmine nodded, “What happens if he can’t do that?”

“We’ll cross that bridge if it arrives. I also asked him for a favor and before you get upset, I want you to hear me out.” He waited for Jasmine to nod before he continued, “Dmitry is having Julia and Desi put together a small gathering for Saturday afternoon.”

“Why? I thought they were planning their own weddings?”

“At this gathering,” he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted him, “I will be introducing my family to my son. And my wife.”

He watched as the words sank in and a protest rose to her lips, “Wait. Before you get angry, think about it. You did not give birth to Mikhail in a hospital. There is no record of his birth other than Dasha’s word and if it gets out that she delivered him and didn’t report it, she’ll lose her license to practice medicine.”

Jasmine hadn’t thought of the fact that Dasha could suffer consequences for having helped her. “I don’t want Dasha to suffer for me.”

“I know,” Misha nodded, turning the eggs over, “That is why we must marry. Russia is a very patriarchal society, this you know well. No one will question his parentage once we are married. He will be free from criticism or speculation, and his Russian citizenship will be secure.”

“I want him to have American citizenship,” Jasmine threw out there.

“Really? Think about it before you make that decision. As my heir, he stands to inherit a third of the richest empire in Russia.” Seeing her eyes widen, he laughed, “I’m surprised you didn’t do your homework once you found out who I was.”

“How would I have done that? I sold my laptop to buy diapers months ago and in order to use the computers at the public library, I would have had to show them some form of I.D. which I didn’t have.”

Her words made him feel ashamed. His woman shouldn’t have had to suffer so!

“Sorry. The Fedosov family controls all of the mining in Russia and as such, is the largest and richest empire in the country. Mikhail is entitled to a third of that empire, but only as a Russian citizen. You know that the government doesn’t allow foreigners to inherit.”

Jasmine knew all of this and nodded. “I can see your point, but how am I to take him back to American with me…”

“Stop. I will make a deal with you. You’ve had ten months with our son. I want the same.” Misha had thought about how to entice her to stay in Russia without attempting to leave, and this idea had just popped into his head, but it was a good one!

“What?! Misha, please don’t try to take him away from me…”

“What are you talking about now? Why would I take him away from you? Oh… you thought I meant… Jasmine, I care for you and want to get to know our son.  I would never take him from you. Never!”

Jasmine felt stupid for having jumped to conclusions, but she was tired and things were happening very fast. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have thought that way.”

“No, you shouldn’t have, but it just goes to prove my point. We need time to get to know each other. Really know each other. I am proposing that you agree to marry me and stay in Russia for no less than ten months while I get to know my son and we see if we have a future together as a family.

“At the end of those ten months, if you still want to return to America, I won’t stop you. I’ll even let you take Mikhail with you, with my blessing.”

“Why would you do that?” Jasmine asked, not seeing what he was going to get out of the arrangement.

“Everything. I’m counting on the fact that in ten months, you won’t want to leave Russia. Or me. Do you agree to my proposal?”

Jasmine looked at him as he dished their meal onto two plates, sitting one in front of her before walking around and taking the stool next to hers. “Jasmine?”

“I…”

“Don’t over think this. Let me help share the burden of caring for our son. Give me ten months to show you what our lives could be like.”

Jasmine longed to say “Yes.” Misha was the perfect man for her; she’d known that those many months ago. But, she
had
to find her brother. She just had to. “Misha, I have to return to the states.”

“Your brother?” he inquired, already having a solution to that argument. “What if I told you that a very good friend of Dmitry’s also happens to have a brother who runs a PI service? All I have to do is make a phone call, and this man will be on the case. He’s good, Jasmine. Very good. If your brother is out there, this man will find him.”

“But the cost…”

“…is something a husband would willingly pay for his new bride. Let me do this for you. We will be married on Saturday, introduce our son to my family, and then see what the future has in store for us.”

“What about your commission?”

Misha smiled at her, “I was offered an early out and took it last week. I haven’t even had a chance to tell Dmitry and Alexey yet. They’ve been a little preoccupied with their brides-to-be and the South Africa project.”

“South Africa project?” Jasmine inquired.

“That is a whole other discussion. One that can wait. I need your answer.”

Jasmine looked down at her hands, seeing the chipped and broken nails – a visual representation of the mess her life had become. Misha was offering her a chance at happiness, not just for herself, but also for her son. Their son. He was offering her what she’d always wanted – a family.

Looking up at him, she was unable to stop the tears that filled her eyes or clogged her throat. She tried to speak but then simply nodded her compliance.

Misha kissed her tenderly before turning her to face her plate, “Eat, and then we’ll see about getting you some much needed rest.”

Jasmine took the first bit of her eggs and moaned in delight, “These are fabulous. But, I can’t sleep. Mikhail will be waking up anytime and needing to be fed.”

“You will rest until that occurs and then instruct me on what needs to be done. I know you are a strong woman, but your days of caring for Mikhail all by yourself are through. I’m here now and I want to learn everything there is to know about caring for him.”

Jasmine nodded, wondering if he would still be so eager if Mikhail had another sleepless night. Only time would tell.

Chapter 13