[ANASTASIA] For better or for worse, Ivan and I fall into a new routine. After returning home from Kazan, Ivan makes it impossible for me to ignore him. The moment we are alone, he’s all over me. And if I were to be honest, I’m just as much all over him. It’s as if the denial, reluctance, and absolute rationality that always guided me to keep myself at a safe distance from him suddenly snapped, and now, I can’t come up with a single decent reason to suppress what Ivan and I unwittingly unleashed in that hotel room that night. My hands ache to touch his body, my heart swells at every little word of praise and admiration that slips out of his mouth when he talks about how perfect I am. What kind of insane demon is possessing me? Am I really this desperate that I will willingly destroy t

