Sitting beside her on the bench so she can lean her weight against my side, I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her flush against me.
"Are you okay?" she asks quietly, looking at my face instead of the food.
"I am now."
"Did you…"
"It's done," I tell her, cutting off the question. "All of it. The whole thing is over."
She nods, accepting the answer before taking another bite of her pizza. She hands me the fizzy peach drink, and I take a long sip before passing the cold bottle back to her. We sit together in the underground bunker, eating food and drinking while she rests her head on my shoulder, and I keep my hand flat over her stomach.
The war is over, and I'm home.
"Alexei?"
"Mm?"
"Thank you for remembering the raspberry pastries."
I smile, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Anything for you,Vedma."
She tilts her face up, and I kiss her again, keeping it slow and sweet. For the first time in ten long years, I feel peace.
EPILOGUE
Zoya
I’m so close.
My fingers twist in the sheets, my back arching off the bed as Alexei’s tongue drags slow circles around my clit. His hand wraps around himself, stroking in time with the rhythm of his mouth. The sound he makes—so desperate—sends a fresh wave of heat straight through me.
He’s been starving for this for weeks.
I cut him off after he tried to fuck me during a study session. I didn’t have time for any of that with exams around the corner, but he came up behind me talking about how he wanted to make me forget my own name and how it had been way too long, giving me the whole routine. I told him, “Alexei, I need to study.”
“You can study after.” He kissed my neck.
“No. I have exams in two days.”
“Then I’ll be quick.” He was already removing his belt. I could hear the buckle clink.
“No.”
He didn’t listen, so I shoved him off and grabbed my books before laying down the new rule: no penetration until after finals were over. He could use his mouth on me if I felt like allowing it, but his dick was staying out of me because I was this close to graduating and he wasn’t going to mess that up for me.
He looked at me like I’d just declared war.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes, Alexei. I am serious. You can’t keep doing this.”
“This is ridiculous, Zoya—”
“I’m not getting pregnant again. Not during finals. I don’t want to get sick in the mornings. You know how it was last time.”
He stared at me for a long moment, his jaw tight. Then he did something I didn’t expect. He dropped to his knees.
“Fine,” he said. “But I’m still tasting you.”