Read Online The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron - Free Book Online Page A

think it already has,” he whispered against her mouth, and led into a kiss that could have melted the snow at her feet.
    She fell against him, inviting the warmth of his strong arms to shield her from the shockingly cold night around them. Sheclung to him with the passion she’d felt anytime her soul connected with his. He was, after all, her closest friend, and though the future seemed uncertain, he was the man she wanted to spend it with. The blackness of Nazi Germany flooded into their dreams for a future, but still she dared hope it would someday end, that she could one day love him freely.
    Adele dared to hope their first kiss wouldn’t be their last.
    Vladimir wound his hand through the curls at her nape, the softness falling down in a curtain around her neck. She melted further, leaning in, coveting every second of the kiss she’d always wanted from him. And suddenly, Vladimir pulled back.
    The void left her speechless. Perhaps he was aware that if he did intend to leave, the kiss was only making it more difficult. Adele looked back at him, the hazel eyes she’d long ago memorized looking down on her so sweetly.
    He lifted a finger and traced the outline of her chin.
    “Was that a good-bye?” she asked. The only courage she had left was in those few short words. “Tell me it wasn’t a good-bye.”
    “I’d take you with me if I could.” He brushed a hand over the hair at her temple, smoothing it back from her brow. “You’re safe here, with your parents.”
    “But even when you do come back, my parents won’t let me see you.”
    “I know, Butterfly.”
    She blinked, knowing fresh tears were glazing her eyes. “Take me with you.”
    “I can’t. Not where I’m going.” He squeezed her hand. “Anything that connects us now would only implicate you, and I won’t let you be hurt again. Do you understand me?” He pulled back sharply. “Never again.”
    He tried to turn, but she spun him around, forcing him to look at her again.
    “I chose this, remember?”
    He wouldn’t acknowledge her words. Instead, he stood stone-faced, looking back at her.
    “You didn’t know what you were doing.”
    “Yes, I did. I was the one who brought them to you, remember? I was friends with them. I was the one who promised we would get them out—all of them. And I came to you. Why do you think I did that?”
    Because I trusted you , her heart willed him to understand. Say it. Say you know I trusted you then and I trust you now . . . Tell me I haven’t imagined the love between us.
    Tell me that, and I’ll live on it forever.
    A clock chimed in the background, breaking the silence with its aching, lonely tone. It signaled what they both knew.
    “We have to go,” she whispered, the fur suddenly inadequate to prevent the cold night from producing a chill down her spine.
    She turned and he caught her at the wrist. Lightly. With the softest hold on her sensibilities at the same time.
    “I promise this is not the last time we’ll see each other. I swear it to you.” His eyes searched hers, looking over her face with a fervency she wasn’t prepared for. “Do you believe me?”
    She couldn’t say yes. Her heart couldn’t commit to it. She was too afraid this was the last time.
    “Two blinks.” She offered the onstage signal they’d always shared. From that first night they’d played together, he’d blinked at her to give her courage to go on and it had been their silent message ever since. “I’ll give you your two blinks when I see you onstage, as usual.”
    He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s going to work for me anymore. A signal to mean ‘my friend’ doesn’t seem appropriate,” he said, and offered a sudden, heart-stopping smile. “Not after the way you just kissed me.”
    Adele blushed. She knew her cheeks were as red as her lips when she felt them flood with warmth.
    “Now, as for our friendship—I’d like that to continue.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. “The