Page 53 of Hidden Empire
His chest inflates with a breath, drawing my eyes. God, he’s huge.
“He offered,” he tells me, giving his brother some credit for the kind act.
“But he did it for you?” I check.
“If he’s there, I know you’re safe,” he answers.
Deciding to put my unopened food back into my bag, I slowly inch closer to him while we sit.
“Dmitri?” I ask.
“Yes?”
“We’re not in a dingy party now…” I almost chastise myself for being so obvious, but who cares about subtly, I want this man to kiss my pants off. Maybe even literally.
His stunning brown eyes flick to our surroundings, and he sets his nearly finished container down on the table in front of us. “Come with me,” he says, grabbing my hand and my bag, beginning to carry it for me as he guides us away from the table.
Leaving his dish behind, he pulls me along an unfamiliar path, not straying too far from the open tables and benches. With a careful hand, he pulls back a tree branch, exposing a hidden enclave. A wall taller than the two of us still stands here. Lush vines decorate the bottom of the structure, having slowly climbed up as time goes on. As Dmitri lets the branch fall back into place, it creates something like a room.
The little hidden area isn’t entirely secluded, we can still hear the sounds of people existing in the courtyard around us, but they wouldn’t be able to spot us without coming around the fallen building wall or the tree branch.
Silently, Dmitri walks me backward until my back connects with the old building. He lets my bag fall to the ground, neither of us bothering to spare it another glance. The cold stone wall is stable enough that I can lean against it without worrying. The soft brush of greenery sways around my knees, but I don’t mind the touch.
“You want a kiss?” he asks, head tilted to one side.
“From you,” I clarify.
“Just from me?”
My head bobs, and breathily, I answer, “Just from you.”
“And what’s my name?” he asks, hands finding the stone wall on either side of my head as he leans down, watching my lips.
The way he’s looming over me is addictive.
“Dmitri.”
He closes the distance between us in an instant, lips rushing forward to press into mine. I slump harder against the wall behind me, knees going weak upon first contact. What starts as crushing pressure lightens up so that he can part his lips and move them, leading me to try and follow along. My fumbled attempts don’t seem to bother him, so I keep trying to match his pace with my eyes sealed shut.
He tastes like the food I made him, and I don’t even care. Unfamiliar pleasure rolls right from my lips down into my gut, growing a hunger for more.
I don’t know what to do with my hands, but I know what I want to do. Greedily, I reach for his tie with both hands, using an unyielding grip to hold him right where he is.
Time seems to come to a stop, and it’s like no one else exists. It’s just us, and I can’t get enough of how kissing him makes me feel.
Eventually, he slowly pulls back, and our eyes flicker open to lock on one another.
“Is this your first kiss, Jade?” he asks without a hint of judgment.
I release a breath. “Am I that transparent?”
He shakes his head. “I like being able to read you.”
“And that you’re the first one to kiss me?” I ask. “Do you like that too?”
Dmitri smiles. “I like that I’ll be the last.”
Our lips meet again, unsure of who leans in first.