Chapter 11 Dimitri
DIMITRI
I held Emma to my chest as I carried her to bed.
We’d stayed on the balcony for hours after the firework show had ended.
I had played with her hair while she talked about everything and nothing, but eventually her words had grown quieter and slower until she fell asleep.
The last thing I wanted to do was move her off my lap.
There was something precious about her that roused my protective instincts.
Something that made me want to be…gentle.
The only people I felt this way about were my sisters, but my feelings towards Emma were far from brotherly.
Why the fuck was she affecting me so much?
I’d never been this relaxed with anyone outside my small inner circle, but she made me let down my guard.
It felt like heaven.
I fucking hated it.
I needed to push her away to escape this twisted tangle of emotions building in my chest, but my body just pressed closer.
Even letting her go to lay her down on the bed felt wrong.
I turned off the bedside lamp and quickly checked my phone.
My lips tipped down in a frown when I saw several texts had come from Maxim a few minutes ago.
My blood turned cold when I read them.
There it was. My time was up. The clock struck midnight.
For a few blissful days, I’d deluded myself into thinking I could escape the shadows of my past, but it seemed I was destined to be relegated to the darkness.
I replied to the texts and gathered up my things.
For once in my life, I wished I was more like Emma with my things strewn all over the hotel suite in messy piles.
That way, I’d have an excuse to linger. But the few things I had here were stacked and folded with military precision on the side table.
I stood by the bed, eyes fixed on the sleeping beauty under the covers. Her dark brown hair fanned out over the pillow, and her plush, rosy lips were slightly parted.
Wake up.
Wake up and tell me to stay.
She made a soft sound and turned to her other side, shifting the sheet low enough to reveal the curve of her perfect breasts, but she didn’t wake.
It was better this way. This weekend had been a taste of magic that was never mine to begin with.
I slipped out of the hotel room, my steps heavy as I left my enchanting siren behind.