I stole a glance at him from the corner of my eye, drinking up every detail of him like a parched woman who hadn’t had a drop to drink in days. He wore a charcoal-gray three-piece suit that reminded me of the characters from a show set in the 1920s. Some veins popped up on the top of his hands. I loved tracing each raised line with my fingers. Dimitri’s long white hair fell over his shoulders and behind his back, tempting me to run my hand through the soft tendrils. There were a few times he’d let me play with his hair and massage his scalp. As much as Dimitri enjoyed being grumpy, he allowed me to pamper him and couldn’t hide the fact that he enjoyed it.
“He’s so beautiful,” I said, instantly embarrassed that I had blurted out my thoughts.
Dimitri turned his gaze to me, his eyes narrowed, but I caught the corner of his full lip curling into a smirk. “Glad you think so, sunshine. But if anyone is beautiful, it’s you.”
The butterflies in my stomach went wild, fluttering around and trying to break free. I shyly smiled at him before I looked away. “Sorry.”
Dimitri parked in his spot, closest to the law office’s front door. “Don’t ever apologize.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door as Dimitri slipped out. He stormed to my side as I stood. He grabbed my arm and pushed me against the vehicle while crowding my space. I gasped as he circled his fingers around my neck and squeezed, not enough to choke me, but enough to send a message.
“What are you doing?” Dimitri said, keeping his voice low enough for only me to hear.
My eyes widened. “Nothing.”
I averted my gaze and he pinched my chin, forcing me to look at him again. “You opened the door for yourself and didn’t wait for me.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
I thought I was in deeper trouble than that.
Standing on my tippy toes, I wound my arm around his neck while tilting my head back to gaze up at his face. Dimitri wrapped his other arm around my waist while still cradling my throat. He tucked me against him, and my breath hitched when I felt his erection press against my stomach.
“Yes,oh,” he growled. He released my throat and fisted the hair at the back of my head. He yanked it, forcing my head further back and sending a bite of pain into my scalp. “You are to wait for me.”
I giggled and stretched further up, wanting his lips pressed to mine. Dimitri stared at me with unblinking eyes, refusing me a kiss.
I pouted. “I’ll wait for you,” I promised.
“Good girl,” he murmured before his mouth crashed against mine. His kisses were rough and primal, like he couldn’t stop from losing himself in me. His tongue shoved past my lips and tangled with mine. I tasted his lunch, the spices tingling on my tastebuds, and I didn’t mind. All that mattered was him and his mouth rapidly moving over mine, reminding me that I was his and he wasmine.
I pushed higher on my toes, bumping closer to him. His arm around my waist tugged me closer until my breasts smashed against his chest. My nipples tightened into sensitive peaks, rubbing against my lace bra that I wanted him to rip away so he could palm the weight of my breasts. I wanted his hands on me and not just on my throat or holding my hair, but I didn’t think he’d want to do anything in public.
Pieces of his hair tickled my face, and I ended the kiss, wiggling my nose and giggling. Dimitri watched me with hooded eyes; the amber was darker and looked like molten caramel.
“Are you going to punish me, sir?” I whispered a little too breathlessly.
He scowled. “Don’t tempt me.”
“That’s okay,” I whispered and pecked his lips one more time before I lowered myself. I dropped my arms from around his shoulders and grabbed his hand; it swallowed my much smaller one. “We should get back inside for your meeting.”
As I headed to the printing room, I hummed a song I couldn’t get out of my head. While Dimitri was occupied with a meeting with a couple of lawyers, I took care of some paperwork. After I finished, I’d leave to retrieve the dry cleaning we dropped off yesterday morning.
“Afternoon, Emma,” Tony greeted as he passed me in the hallway.
“Hi!” I said, giving him a little wave before entering the printing room.
An unfamiliar woman stood at the printer, picking up the printed sheets. I hesitated, wondering if I should leave to get the clothes and return later when she was gone. She had her back turned to me, but when she glanced over her shoulder, our eyes met before she looked away. She appeared young, maybe even around my age.
What if I returned later and someone else was here?
I nibbled my bottom lip and sighed. I’d stay and wait it out. Shifting from one foot to the other, I looked anywhere but at her as she continued stacking her papers in the pile off to the side. As I waited, my phone notification chimed. I slipped it out of my pocket and found an alert about snow headed our way. I read the information and studied the radar to see where the storm was. We were expecting snow in the next day or two, which was abnormal for the South, especially in New Orleans. The last time it snowed, our area received half an inch, which melted a day later. But this was supposed to be a massive storm with up to three feet of snowfall.
I rolled my lips and scraped my teeth on some loose skin on my bottom lip. The drastic weather changes worried me. Summers were ungodly hot, winters so cold that people lost their lives from the extreme temperature drop.
This reminded me of a video I came across a while ago, talking about the end of the world because of global warming. A phantom fist reached into my chest, gripped my heart, and squeezed, tightening with each passing second as I stared at the radar.
We’re all going to die.
