Valerie seemed to notice him staring because she grabbed a cloth, dipped it in the water basin next to her bed, and scrubbed at her face.
“What…” she started before clearing her throat. “Was there something that you needed?”
Dravka very rarely ventured down here, which was no doubt why she was bewildered with his presence. Andpax, he avoided coming here not only because the bottom floor was where Madame Allegria delivered her ‘punishments’…but also because Dravka didn’t trust himself to be alone with Valerie down here.
In the dark. In the quiet. When it was all too easy to imagine that it was just them and no one else in the universe existed.
Even now, as she swiped at the reddened color of her lips, he physically had to keep himself still so that he wouldn’t be tempted to snag her towards him so he could taste them.
“Where were you?” Dravka asked. It was abnormal that Valerie had left the brothel. Madame Allegria didn’t like her to leave, liked to keep her here, with the rest of them.
She didn’t answer and she still hadn’t met his gaze. Instead, she cleared her throat, tossed away the cosmetics-covered cloth, and said, “She’ll be on Genesis for the next three days. She’s already on her way there.”
Relief threaded through Dravka. Unconsciously, he took a step closer towards her and he noticed her swallow.
She turned to the side, moving to a small table, which held a golden mirror and a small vial of perfume, though he was certain Valerie had never worn perfume in her entire life. She took a slim elastic from the table and he watched, rapt, as she gathered her curled hair, neatly wrapping it in a bun on top of her head.
“Valerie,” Dravka rumbled, stepping towards her, unease beginning to thread through him. Just earlier that morning, it had been her that had been trying to speak with him. He felt ashamed of that now. For months, there had been a distance between them that hadn’t been there before…and it had only made them both miserable. “Will you look at me?”
Dravka caught her wrist gently once she smoothed her hair back, once she looked more like herself. She paused at his touch and her eyes flashed up to meet his.
He frowned, seeing something that the cosmetics had hidden. The area around her eyes was reddened, as was the tip of her nose. Her face seemed leached of color.
“You’ve been crying,” Dravka rasped, stepping closer. “Why? Tell me what’s wrong.”
Immediately, her gaze flitted away. Unable to take that again, he cupped both sides of her cheeks in his palms, gently lifting her face so she couldn’t hide from him. Up until recently, they had never hidden from one another.
Valerie closed her eyes. Briefly. He watched her swallow. When she met his gaze again, her eyes were slightly glassy but then she quickly blinked the moisture away.
“You’re freezing,” he rasped, frowning. Though it was warm in the room, her skin felt like ice beneath his hands. Without hesitating, he pulled her into his body, his arms draping around her.
She was so much smaller than him. Her forehead pushed into the middle of his chest, though her arms remained at her sides.
He didn’t know how long they stood there before he finally felt her arms coming around him, hugging him to her, her grip tightening with every passing moment.
Dravka struggled with the control over his body, taking care not to breathe in her scent.
She relaxed, ever so slightly, in his arms, burrowing her face deeper into his chest. Some primal part of Dravka liked that she sought comfort with him…even when his treacherous mind knew that it was dangerous.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he pleaded with her softly, his fingers trailing down her back, over the unseen and covered scars he’d once helped heal.
Valerie let out a shuddering sigh. But just when Dravka thought that she would confide in him, she pulled away.
Stepping out of his arms, she retreated, her gaze flitting away from him once more. Suddenly, he felt very, very cold without her, though his two hearts were pumping quickly.
“Valerie.”
“You were right, Dravka,” she whispered, shaking her head. Her arms wrapped around her middle, like she ached. “We can’t do this.”
“Valerie—”
“Who were we fooling?” she continued morosely, peering up at him, her eyes becoming glassy once more. “Only ourselves. And even then, I think we always knew.”
The sight—of her sad eyes and slumped form—damn nearkilledhim.
“You should go,” she said, repeating the words he’d said to her just that morning after he returned from his client.
His brow furrowed. In his gut, he knew something had happened. Something was wrong.
