Page 34 of Dmitri

“Dmitri,” she mumbles against my chest.

My heart skids to a stop.

She hooks her arms around my back and clutches my t-shirt. I stiffen immediately. Daelyn inhales a long, deep breath against my chest and her body relaxes instantly.

Holy shit. I’m not sure what to do. No way did my scent just comfort her. She doesn’t know me like that. And she hasn’t been around enough for any part of me to be familiar to her.

“Daelyn.” I don’t like that I can’t wake her up. I don’t like that I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going on and I can’t see it happening. I don’t like that I’m suddenly insanely protective of a woman I do not know.

It doesn’t stop me from taking care of her, though.

Repositioning her back into bed, I crawl in with her and become the big spoon. Hooking my arm around her side, I pull her in close, like I’m protecting her from an army of sleep paralysis demons.

This settles it. I’m certifiably out of my fucking mind.

I’ve never held a woman like this before. Even the Butterflies I’ve been a Dom for at the club didn’t get this much from me. I hold them until they fell asleep, then bolt back to my dungeon for a little space.

I’m not bolting from Daelyn.

Holding her against me, I count her breaths, memorize her bedroom. I inhale the floral scent of her hair and rub little circles on her belly with my fingers. I whisper things in her ear, hoping they’ll penetrate her dreams and keep the nightmares at bay.

Something I do must work because she doesn’t flinch or cry out for the rest of the night. She stays motionless in my arms until it’s after ten in the morning. Birds chirp loudly from her open bedroom window. Cars are annoyingly loud on the street, reminding me why I love my silent dungeon so much.

She didn’t let go of my shirt all night. Tucked into mychest, she breathes deeply, slowly, and her hair tickles my nose, making me sneeze.Shit! I sneeze again.Double shit!Trying to keep the noise down, I end up making my ears pop with the third sneeze.

Daelyn stops breathing. Her body stiffens.

“Sorry,” I say, before sneezing a fourth time.Fucking hell.

She cautiously pulls back and lets go of my shirt. Of me. Her sleepy eyes grow wide as she stares at me with confusion and horror warring on her sweet face. “What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t reinforce the glass door.”

She scoots away from me, not realizing how close she is to the edge of the bed, and almost tips off it. I snag her arm and pull her close to me again before she falls on the floor. “You should have blocked my way in if you didn’t want me here, Daelyn.”

Flustered, she presses her palms on my chest and pushes back a little. I could be a gentleman and give her space. If she shoves me any harder, she’ll slide herself off the bed and onto the floor, because I’m not catching her a second time.

At least that’s what I tell myself.

“When did you get here?”

I casually glance at the clock on her bedside table. “About ten hours ago.”

Shock blasts across her face. Then she winces and rolls over to stretch her fingers out. “Ow.”

“You had a tight grip on me most of the night. Your muscles and joints are probably cramped.” I reach out to her. “May I?”

She twists to look at me again. “May you what?”

“Give me your hands.”

Begrudgingly, she obeys. I massage her palms and fingers, wiggling each one individually. After a few minutes, I let her go. “Better?”

“Mmm hmm.” She rolls out of bed, her dark hair a tangled mess with the hairband buried in a knot at the base of her neck. Daelyn rubs her eyes and stands up, giving me a spectacular view of her ass in the little booty shorts she’s wearing. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I tried.”

She glances at the bottle of pills on the side table, her shoulders slouching when it dawns on her why she didn’t wake up. “Shit.”

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