Unless…
I stared longingly at the empty spot to the side of Dmitri. The soft cotton sheets and the non-woodenness of the mattress taunted me. There was no way I’d fall asleep tonight if I stayed on this chair, and the alternative of a cold floor didn’t offer any respite.
I couldn't afford to be any less than one hundred percent alert tomorrow. I’d need to be on guard against Jayden, and figure out a way to take him down. Drowsiness was the last thing I needed.
Crossing my arms, I appraised the queen sized bed.
Maybe I could just separate it out and keep Dmitri on his side of the bed. Tentatively I stood up and moved to the foot of the bed.
“If I sleep here, you don’t cross my side of the bed,” I said, leaning forward to point at the section.
His eyes flashed to my chest now pressing forward from the movement. I immediately crossed my arms over my hardening nipples.
“Can you do that?” I asked, crossing my arms even tighter.
His gaze leisurely moved up my chest, along my neck, and finally landed on my face. Goosebumps pricked in their wake.
“Lie down, kotenok,” he said, his voice gravelly.
My knee nudged against the heavenly soft mattress. “This is my side of the bed,” I reminded him before crawling onto the bed.
His gaze found my exposed legs, and I knew exactly what he thought of the position I was in. I immediately regretted not walking around the bed and lying down like a normal person.
To make up for it, I burrowed underneath the sheets and tucked them just below my chin. His lips twitched at my attemptat modesty. Dmitri stretched out his arm and turned the light off.
Darkness engulfed us, only the cold moonlight portraying the outlines of his body. The heat of him was a constant reminder of his nearness, so I inched away.
When I reached the edge of the mattress, Dmitri rolled on his side. I tried to ignore the shadowy outline of his broad chest.
“Do I make you nervous?” Dmitri asked. I couldn’t see the smirk, but I could almost hear it in his voice.
“No,” I said automatically, unsure if it was a lie.
Dmitri laughed softly. “Then why are you about to fall off the bed?”
“Because I know you won’t respect the boundaries of the bed.”
He tsked. “Why do I get the feeling thatrespectfulis the last thing you want me to be?”
Something fluttered in my lower belly. With the darkness settling over me like a blanket, I felt no guilt in rubbing my thighs together to try to ease the tension.
“What do you want, Alisa?” Dmitri asked, his voice gravelly.
I was silent for a moment. My body was telling meexactlywhat it wanted, but as if of its own volition, my mind began replaying Kiril’s last moments.
“You can’t give me what I want,” I breathed. “No one can.”
I expected a sarcastic comeback, but he must’ve sensed something in my voice because he nodded to himself.
“To have your brother back?” he guessed.
My throat became dry, and I couldn’t have uttered any words even if I could’ve found the right ones.
“Alisa, I can’t bring him back, but I can make you forget everything for a little while.”
In the marrow of my bones, I somehow knew he was the only person capable of following through with that promise.
Since that day I’d lost Kiril, it was like all the light in my life became as muted as this room. The disappointed look on my mother’s face when she glanced at me. The whispers in my mind that it should’ve been me that died instead of Kiril. The pain of my father’s fists.
