Page 52 of Hidden Empire

“Inevitable.”

At my shocked expression, a little grin crawls its way to his lips.

“Too much?” he asks.

Not enough, actually.

“No, no, I like the sound of that,” I admit, and my ears feel as hot as my face.

Boldly, he inquires, “Are you scared or flattered?”

Both, I think.

“I’m not scared,” I fib. “Why would you think that?”

“I can see your heartbeat in your neck,” Dmitri informs me, his grin becoming fuller.

Instinctually my hand lifts, moving to cover the base of my neck. “That’s embarrassing,” I mutter, feeling the warm rush of blood under my skin.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he says, reaching for my hand and slowly pulling it from my neck. “I like seeing it, it’s pretty.”

Before he lets my hand go, he guides it into my lap and drags his thumb along the top of my knuckles. His skin is rougher than mine, clear signs of hard work marking them up; calluses on his palm, and some small old scars.

But his veins are what I can’t stop looking at. Maybe I can understand how he’d think my heartbeat is pretty since I’m pretty sure I want to trace my tongue over every valley and bump that makes up his hands.

“It took you a week to seek me out,” he comments, interrupting my thoughts. “I was wondering if you would or if I would need to come for you myself.”

I smile at that. “You would have come?”

“Yes.” He nods in confirmation. “I gave you time, didn’t want to frighten you.”

I wouldn’t be scared if he came to find me. Well, not in a fear sort of way, though I would definitely be nervous like I am now. He could probably snap my neck with little to no effort, but I couldn’t find him scary. Dmitri is beautiful, and feeling his eyes on me is one of the best things I’ve ever felt.

“I would have approached you sooner, but I didn’t know if you could understand me fully. I was too awkward to ask Ivan about that.” I blush and admit, “I considered trying to learn Russian before finding you, but it turns out it’s not something you can pick up quickly. At least not fast enough for me.”

His lips twitch, and my heart rate quickens. “Eager to see me? Good.”

I laugh, and he watches it like the action means something to him.

“I thicken my accent and break up my English around large groups. The more people who think I can’t understand them, the more likely I am to catch things they would otherwise say quieter.”

“Clever,” I compliment. “I guess you would have known what I was saying if I asked you to kiss me at the party then, huh?”

I hold my breath but don’t have to hold it long. His lips shift up into a devilish smirk, and he tucks a fallen bit of hair behind my ear.

“I would have understood, but I would not have kissed you.”

I deflate with a frown. “No?”

“No,” he agrees. “I would have told you that when I first kiss you, it will not be in a dingy party.”

“Oh?” I ask, holding back a giddy, girly screech.

“Mhmm,” he hums.

Somehow I’m able to shake off the desire to ask him to kiss me right now.

“I wanted to thank you for having Ivan switch into a class with me. I don’t have classes with any of my brothers, so it’s nice to have a friend.”