Page 115 of Wicked Knight

Dimitri comes by to see me at eight. At the sight of him walking through the door my heart lifts.

He scoops me up into his arms the moment we close the door and when he sets me down, he looks over my face.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Better. The swelling has gone down and I still have a few bruises here and there, but it's nothing like the other night.”

“Good. You still look beautiful.”

“Thank you. Thanks for coming by."

"As if I wouldn’t take the chance to see you.” He smirks.

“Is everything okay for you to be here?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me. Where are your parents?" He looks around.

"It's just us."

His smile brightens. "Really? We have the place to ourselves?"

"We do. They'll be back Wednesday. Do you want to stay over?"

"Of course I do.”

“Can you?” I tease and he pulls me in for a slow, seductive kiss.

“Of course I can and I will.” He grins back at me. “How are you feeling otherwise. You look like you have questions, Spider.”

“I do Scorpion.” There’s a lot I wanted to talk to him about. Like this marriage thing. And my nightmares.

I’ve been contemplating about telling him about those. I booked an appointment to see the therapist Eilish recommended later in the week. Perhaps we can talk about it then. I certainly would like to talk about something happier tonight.

“I’m all ears.”

"Did you mean what you said to my father about marrying me?"

He holds my gaze and stares into my eyes lovingly. "You know I did."

My cheeks heat. "How are we going to pull that off, Dimitri?"

"I don't know yet, but it's going to happen.”

I’ve never met anyone like him. “You do realize all the odds are against us?”

“No. Last week you broke up with me and here I am talking about marrying you. Last week I could never even think of coming into this house, but here I am. Last week your father and I weren’t speaking, now we are.”

I grip on to his shirt and dare to dream. “You’re right.”

“I am right. So are you saying yes? To marrying me?”

"I am."

He leans in and kisses me again. “I’m going to ask you properly. This is just the prelude.”

I laugh. “I like it. Now I can be surprised but have something to look forward to.”

“Yes, baby. Right now, I want you. It’s been too long.”