“It’s okay, sunshine.” Dimitri reached out and squeezed my thigh as we eased through the four-way intersection.
Something caught my eye, and I turned my head to the right and stopped breathing as another set of high beams barreled toward us.
“Dimitri!” I screamed.
The light engulfed us, and metal crashed against metal as if some giant monster had ripped the vehicles like they were paper. A tight band pressed against my middle. The force of the crash jostled me around like I was a rag doll. My screams tore through my throat until they became painful, and only breathless grunts slipped from me as I tumbled inside the car. My head smacked against hard objects until gravity pulled me like a fist, grabbing my center and yanking me through the glass. Pain lanced through my head as it slammed against something, and I flew. Cold surrounded me, and I landed on something freezing and wet. Everything went black.
“Emma!” a familiar voice yelled, breaking through the haze.
Every part of my body felt like a giant had snapped my bones and taken a blowtorch to me. I parted my lips, intending to scream, but nothing came. I wanted to die. Darkness took hold of me, and I didn’t know how long I stayed there. When I came to again, footsteps crunched toward me until they stopped inches away.
“I’m sorry it had to be this way,” a woman whispered—she sounded so familiar. Fingers brushed my burning cheek and played with a lock of my hair. “But you have to understand the man you’re with isn’t a good person.”
“Emma!” a man bellowed.
Everything became fuzzy, and my heart worked hard to keep beating, but with each passing second, it slowed down. I was going to die, and my heart broke for Dimitri and Demon. I’d wanted more time with them. I knew it was too good to be true when—
My ears rang, and I felt my psyche withdraw down a long hallway, watching the light at the end of it shrink away from me with each heartbeat.
“I’m sure he’ll still use your corpse once you’re gone. Rest easy, Emma,” the same woman murmured.
“Emma!” The man’s voice came closer. “Sunshine,” he whispered.
Tears welled up in my eyes, stinging them as breathing became difficult. My lungs burned with the need to fill them with air that wouldn’t come.
What did she mean by him using my dead body?
“Sunshine.”
I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with my—
“Sunshine,” Dimitri said, sounding closer.
My shoulders shook, and my eyes fluttered open. My chest ached, and my forehead felt too tight from the immense emotional pain flooding through me. A quiet sob escaped past the lump that had formed in my throat.
“Sunshine,” Dimitri said again, sounding desperate.
I blinked until everything became clearer. His bedroom was filled with soft gray light from the rising sun. The fans whirled, which usually set me at ease, but it didn’t work right now. Another cry burst out, and I flung myself into Dimitri’s arms. He sat up and pulled me with him until I straddled his lap. Burying my face into his neck, I quietly cried as I tried to push away the awful feelings from my nightmare. He stayed silent but offered comfort by holding me close to him and rubbing my bare back.
“It was just a nightmare,” he whispered. His palm glided over my spine and rubbed circles, which helped ease me.
I cried until I couldn’t produce any more tears, then I quieted. Dimitri leaned back and cupped my cheeks, forcing me to look at him. I was sure I didn’t look good. My eyes were most likely red, and I had to sniffle so snot didn’t run down to my lip. He didn’t show any judgment. His amber eyes only softened as he looked at me.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. His thumb rubbed small circles on my cheek, brushing away tears that lingered on my skin.
I swallowed around the lump and squeezed my eyes shut. It wouldn’t hurt to talk about it, but I was afraid I would start crying if I had to relive those moments again.
Dimitri stayed quiet, and when I opened my eyes, his gaze was steady on my face. “Good girl.”
My cheeks warmed. He’d been waiting for me to look at him. “I...” I licked my lips. “I had a nightmare that we got into a bad car accident. Two cars hit us, and I was in so much pain. I landed in something cold and wet, and I couldn’t stay conscious long enough to form coherent thoughts, let alone to call for you. Then a woman talked to me. Saying that she was sorry for doing this and that you’ll...” I swallowed my next words. The woman had mentioned Dimitri using my dead body, and I was terrified of repeating that. Knowing my grumpy boss and lover, he’d hate that I would dream of something gross like that.
“I’llwhat?” Dimitri asked.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. It was just a nightmare.”
Dimitri’s dark eyebrows briefly bunched together, forming a crease at the bridge of his nose. “I don’t think it was a nightmare, sunshine.”
My spine straightened. “What?”
