The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 138

It was true, why thank him? There would be sex anyway.

I laughed and he joined me, and we spent a few more minutes sharing kisses and murmurs that neither of us fully understood, but that didn’t matter. I managed to take off his bags and coats, and pushed him into the kitchen to serve him some hot coffee. He took a seat in the usual place, at the spot closest to the backyard exit. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my lips; it was as if having him there had completed my wish list for the rest of my life, in some ridiculous and childish way.

The truth is, I was happy like a child on Christmas.

“So, can you smell drugs?” I asked him while opening the coffee maker.

“I’ve been taking an intensive course with Richie and Nika for a few months. The thing is that my training is incomplete; I still had five more years left when I left. Nika trains her dogs in drug and explosive detection, and I pretend to be her assistant. Richie trains me in parallel.”

“So you went back to ‘university‘?”

“You could say that.”

“And do you recognize any drugs?”

“… I’ll never be as good as Richie, and that’s a fact,” he commented with a little laugh. “For now, only

the most dangerous and certified ones, you know. Cocaine, heroin, crack, marijuana, strong psychotropics; and other dangerous substances like explosives, acids, poisons… they could be very useful. But sometimes medication leaves a trace in people’s scent, and many drugs smell similar. I got a scare when I smelled you and detected it.”

that’s why you thought I was sick, I’m sorry. Should I have warned you?”

He smiled at me kindly and received the cup I gave him, but didn’t answer. He also seemed very happy, which only reaffirmed my confidence. His eyes smiled almost as much as his mouth, shining in a bright and flawless blue. Even the scar on his cheek seemed less threatening when he was so animated. Instead

I staying seated, Alexander stood up and walked over to the table, where a small recipe book was open and I had marked a few things. I had been preparing that

so everything would be perfect. And I

meal for several days, gathering the ingredients, doing test

had put a lot of effort into it.

It had been a long time since I embarked on a project like that, with so much energy.

“So, what are we having for dinner today?” he asked, flipping through the book.

“A roasted venison with surprise garnish,” I said proudly.

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“Sounds great. Do you have the venison? Because I could.

“Don’t worry, I have it and it’s fresh, thanks. Luke gave me some of his hunt from the day before yesterday, you don’t have to worry.”

Alexander made an appreciative gesture, raising his eyebrows, and started drinking the coffee. I liked to think (with a mischievous smile) that he was wondering since when Luke did so many things for me. I leaned beside him, against the counter, and he passed his free arm over my shoulders, giving me all the freedom to wrap mine around his waist and rest my cheek on his chest, over the soft flannel fabric of his red plaid shirt. I allowed myself to close my eyes, to better enjoy all the sensations. His warmth, the calm beat of his heart, the strength of his arm around my body, his subtle but masculine scent. This time, my lungs filled with the true fragrance of his person, not some artificial essence; it was pure him, that aroma I remembered so well and had

missed so much.

“I missed you,” I told him, somewhat shyly, and then searched for his eyes again with a sigh. “And I

miss the children.”

“I missed you too, more than you can imagine,” he replied, setting the cup aside. He left a kiss on my forehead again, and I think he sniffed my hair. “Andre and Sasha miss you a lot, I had to lie to them telling them I was going on another business trip. It was painful, you know? I don’t like lying to them, Andre notices. But I promised them they would see you soon.”

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Chapter 138-2

“And they will”

“Yes?” The smile spread wide and pleased on his lips.

“I’ve already made arrangements to spend Christmas in Moscow with you, as you suggested; but ! owe my parents a really big one and I’ll have to be here for New Year’s. Now, all I need is a tourist visa and my vaccines. I hope to have the passport in time.”

“You will. I’ll talk to Rex to pull some strings.”

There was no point in telling him I didn’t need it, I knew he would do it anyway. I had to get used to the idea that I would spend my Christmas holidays in another country, and the idea already excited

me very much.

I relaxed, finally, because it really seemed that things were going well.

The roasted venison turned out spectacular, modesty aside.

I’ve always liked cooking very much, although there were particularly dark periods in my life when I lacked creativity for it. We accompanied the meal with wine, but I noticed he preferred water. I had already noticed that behavior before, for the first time in London, when he took me out of that publishing house event and brought me to eat at his hotel. He hadn’t touched the wine either, although he let the waiter serve it. I didn’t dare to ask anything at that moment; I was already nervous enough and didn’t want to ruin it.

I must also admit that it was quite an interesting and pleasant dinner, where the most important thing, perhaps, was a discreet game of silent hints rather than the conversation we shared, which in fact wasn’t anything special. There were moments of silence in which I couldn’t help smiling at him; I didn’t feel entirely comfortable knowing I was under the intensity of his blue gaze; or he would make a comment that suddenly forced me to burst into laughter. I don’t know what was

happening to me.

I was afraid my anxiety for him was too evident.

When the meal ended, I mentioned something about coffee and he said something about taking

my pets out.

In the end, I made coffee only for Alexander, since I didn’t feel like it because I felt like a battery one step away from overload. Him stepping out for a moment gave me enough time to calm down; I felt more like downing the nearly untouched glass of wine Alexander had left on the table every time my eyes fell on it. But I was happy. I was very happy. I would have liked to shout it, write it on the walls, call a random stranger and tell them…

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Alexander came back, and I was already waiting for him in the living room, with the coffee and the glass in my hand.

He sat beside me calmly, the television was on a twenty–four hour news channel and the volume was low, the background noise calmed me a little. Or maybe not, because he turned it off immediately, and the silence suddenly felt very deep.

“All set,” he commented, taking a sip from his cup. “The animals are locked in already. Tomorrow there will be a lot of snow outside.”

“Thanks for taking care of them. I don’t like them being in the garage when the weather is so horrible, but if they sleep inside the house it’s torture; the puppies whine all the time.”

“Don’t worry, they love you anyway.”

That joke made me smile. Alexander turned toward me and stretched his arm over the back of the sofa while drinking his coffee, focused on looking at me. I don’t know what we were waiting for, really, but I didn’t dare make a single move; I could only observe him. His calm amazed me. Didn’t it mean anything special to him, what we knew was going to happen?

No, it wasn’t that. He had already accepted it, and he was waiting for me to do the same.

I kept looking at him for a moment too long, enjoying the warm golden color the fireplace gave to his skin, the crystalline glow of his eyes and the hard line of his jaw, the reddish tone that tinged his hair. In that silent interlude in which we lost ourselves studying each other again, Alexander finished the contents of his cup and set it down on the saucer on the coffee table. My heart jumped inside my chest. He settled back in his place, and for one second more than a wolf stalking me he reminded me of a satisfied cat, waiting for the mouse to come to him.

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