10. Dimitri
10
DIMITRI
THE PAST
S he searches my eyes, staring at me for a moment too long. When she rips her gaze away and bites down on her bottom lip, I know she feels it, too.
It’s inexplicable.
Unexpected.
Unavoidable.
In the short timeI’veknown her, this girl has taken over every cell in my body.She’staken up space inside me, filling me with her essence.
“What about you?”she asks.“What brought you here tonight?”
“Stars,” I say. “They finally aligned for once.”
A curtain of blonde hair falls over her face, covering one of her eyes.
Idon’tthink. I reach out to tuck it behindherear. My fingers brush against her soft skin. She sucks in a breath when my hand lingers by her cheek.
“Christ,” I say. “You really are a virgin.”
Twin spots of color appear on her cheeks.“Excuse me?”
“The pendant you’re wearing,” I say. “Rose quartz.”
She glances down at her chest, where a rose quartz pendant hangs above her breasts.
“What about it?” she asks.
“They didn’t tell you?” I ask.
She looks up at me.Her gaze holds so much innocence that I almost feel guiltyabout whatI want to introduce her to. Almost.
But the alternative is letting someone else corrupt her, and Ican’tstandthatthought.
“It stands for purity,” I say. “Innocence.”
“It’s just a necklace.”
“It’smore than just a necklace,”I say.“Each of the girls who works at Elysium is given a crystal. And each crystal means something. In your case, the pink rose quartz symbolizes your virginity.”
She clutches the pendant and blushes a little more. “I didn’t know that. It’s my first night here.”
I growl.“And it will be your last.”
Her eyes cut to mine. My tone makes her shrink away from me. Shedoesn’tdo it with her body, but I feel her energy. I can feel her pulling away.
“Why will it be my last?”she asks.
I cup her chin. She feels so fragile underneath my hand. She feels like a doll that can break at any moment.
And something tells me that shewasn’talways this way.
“Because I don’t like the thought of other men thinking they can have what’s mine,” I say.
“What?”She looks frightened. As she should be.
I exhale.“Idon’tknow any other way to say this, soI’lljust say it.The momentI locked eyes with you, I knew nobody else would ever compare, solnishko .”
I want to say more but don’twant to scare her away.
Inthe span ofjust a few seconds, she became the center of my world. She was the sun who demanded my full attention, lighting up everything around me. She was all I could see.
“And I have a little suspicion that you felt the same way,”I say.
She licks her bottom lip. It looks so juicy that I want to take it between my teeth.
“I should probably go,” she says. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to take a break for so long.”
“I thought we’ve been through this,” I say. “You don’t go back inside that club.”
Her violet eyes flare with something unexpected.
“I don’t like being told what to do,” she snaps.
“Tell me what you’re doing it for,” I say.
“Idon’towe you an explanation.”She heads toward the doors, but I step forward, keeping her from escaping.
“You’re right,” I say. “But I want to know.”
“It’s none of your concern,” she says.
“All I know is thatyou’reangry. Hurt, even. And I have a feeling it has nothing to do with me.”
“It has to do with people like you who think they own the whole world,”she says.There’sthat flare of anger in her eyes again.
She blinks a few times,likeshe’snot used to expressing her emotions like this.
She takes a deep breath.
“I’m sorry. I’m not myself today.” She glances down at her feet.
“You came here because you wanted a distraction,”I say.
She looks back up at me.“What makes you say that?”
“I know you’re not doing it for the money,” I say. “It’s the way you carry yourself. You’ve had private tutors and etiquette instructors. You’ve been around money your whole life.”
She watches me quietly.
“Butit’syour eyes that tell me everything I need to know about you,”I say.“You’reburdened by something. Idon’tknow what it is, butI knowyou need an escape. And I can give you just that.”
She glances at the doors of the club.
“How do I know you’re not some serial killer?” She turns back to me.
“You’rejust going to have to take my word for it,”I say.
Even thoughI’mfatally infatuated with this girl, what I want more than anything is to make the sadness in her eyes fade. I want her to have a good time with me.
She takes a shuddering breath.
“Isaw something tonight,”she says.“Something I wishI’dnever seen. I was going to leave the city and never return. Instead, I came here. I thought I could pretend to be someone else for the night. Live someoneelse’slife. Also, I reallydon’tknow whyI’mtelling you all this.”
“I think it’s because you trust me,” I say.
“We’re strangers,” she says. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Itdoesn’tmake any sense to me either,”I say.“All I know is that it feels right.”
“I don’t even know your name,” she says.
“My name is Dimitri,” I say.
“Dimitri,” she says. “I’m Briar.”
Hearing my name on her tongue makes me want to take her right here against this wall.
I drop my head against her shoulder, resting bothof myhands against the wall, careful to hold the cigar away from her skin. I like how she feels trapped between my body and the wall. I feel like I own her completely. Likeshe has no choice but to be all mine.
“So, um, do you come to the club often?”she asks me.There’sa sharp edge to her voice once again.It’snot anger this time, but jealousy.
I bite back a smile.She’sas insane as I am.
"No, solnishko ," I say. “This is my first time here. I’m here on business.”
“You keep calling me that,”she says.“What does it mean?”
“It’sRussian.”I twirl a lock of her long blonde hair before dropping it at her waist.“It means ‘little sun.’”
“I like it,” she whispers, taking a deep breath.
We look at each other for a while.
"What else do you like?"I ask her.
She lifts a shoulder. "I don't know."
“Do you like fast cars?"I ask.
She searches my face.
“We have the roads all to ourselves,”Isay.“I can take you for a ride.”
“Where to?” she asks.
“Wherever you want.”