They spent the rest of the day touring the city, from St. Isaac’s Cathedral with its portico columns of red granite to Kazan Cathedral and its stone colonnade with huge fountain in the center. He even took her to the Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood, built on the site where Alexandre II was assassinated. It looked very similar to St. Bazils to Zoey. It was an amazing day and she found herself thankful to share it with him every time she held his hand. All of the sights were beautiful, but none compared to the sight of him sitting on the grass with the breeze lifting his hair.
With every smile and every laugh, she was becoming more and more enamored with him. She loved the way he found joy in the everyday things. She loved how he told her stories from when he was a kid, how he laughed at himself. They stopped a small café for just a little refreshment. The gentleman at the table next to them was drinking a familiar kind of beer. Alex laughed to himself and she looked at him questioningly.
“I have had experience with that beer a long time ago.”
“Oh?” she said urging his new story.
“Mishka and I were playing outside when we were kids, just some street hockey. It was very hot that day. We were very thirsty. My pop had his car parked on the street and we sat inside to get away from the sun. He had one of those beers inside. We drank it.”
“You did?” she looked at him with trepidation.
“Da. When Pop realized that we had drank it. He was mad. I don’t think I could sit down for a whole day.”
She covered her laugh with her hand and he laughed too. He took her hand away and kissed the top of her knuckles.
“Do not hide your smile from me. It is gift you should share,” he said, glancing from her hand up into her eyes. She smiled at him all the more, her heart warmed by his compliment.
Just before dusk, he surprised her with a private canal tour of the city. She was not surprised, however, that he found someone with a powerboat as opposed to a regular tour boat. Alex was all about speed.
“This is Andrei,” Alex said, as he held out his hand to help her onto the boat.
“Privet,” she said and Alex grinned at her. “What? I said it right!”
“Yes,” he laughed. “Yes, you did.”
“What then?” she demanded.
“Nothing.” He was still grinning when he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
He sat down on the bench seating in the back of the boat and patted the leather next to him. She joined him and he put his arm across her shoulders. She loved the feel of his arms around her.
Andrei set off down Griboedov Canal at a moderate speed. He spoke to them in English which Zoey much appreciated, since Alex did not have to translate for her. She laughed when Alex asked how fast the boat went. Luckily, Andrei said that they could not go top speed with all the canal traffic. They passed by many of the sights that they had seen today, but seeing them from the canal was just as impressive. Zoey got a lovely shot of Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood with the canal in the foreground. It was beautiful to see the shimmer on the water. The White Night effect in St Petersburg was an awesome sight. Zoey had never been anywhere where the sun didn’t actually go down completely. She heard that at times it was bright enough that the city didn’t even need to use street lights. It was not that bright on this night. Andrei said it would be near twilight all night long. So the beautiful sunset that she was sharing with her handsome Russian knight would not end for hours. She snuggled up to him with a sigh.
“Are you cold?” he asked, rubbing her arm.
“No, I’m okay. You’re keeping me warm,” she said looking up into his eyes.
He smiled at her and brushed her wind-blown hair from face. She loved how gently his fingers felt as they brushed across her cheek. She closed her eyes at his touch. She felt his warm lips on hers as he kissed her. It was a soft, gentle kiss. She looked up into his eyes again as he pulled away. She was overcome with feelings for him at that moment. All she wanted was to be with him, to have his arms around her, to love him. Love him? her brain scoffed. Yes, love him, her heart responded and ignored everything else her brain might have to say.
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