Chapter 9: Chapter 9

ANNA

On Friday afternoon, I’m sleeping off our last night shift for a while when Ray’s scream jolts me out of bed. I sprint to her room with my baseball bat in my hand.

She is jumping on her bed, squealing.

I drop the bat to my side and feel my body relax.

“What the hell, Ray? You want to give me a heart attack?” I go to sit on her bed. Something tells me this is going to be something great.

She falls on her back next to me, laughing, and hugs her phone to her chest.

“Jordan is taking me away for the weekend. We are meeting his parents.” She starts rolling onto her stomach.

~Aren’t you supposed to be stressed about meeting the parents?~

“Um, Ray, why are you so excited about that?”

She looks at me like I’m stupid or something.

“Oh, Anna, it means that we’re serious. You don’t just take ~any~ girl to meet your parents.” She starts to giggle, jumps up from her bed, and walks over to her closet.

I shake my head at her and leave her to pack.

~This means that I’ll have the weekend with Damitry alone.~ I smile at the thought.

Jordan picks Ray up around one o’clock. I try calling Damitry but it goes straight to voicemail. Jordan had told me he is very busy lately.

~I hope I can at least see him tonight.~

I order pizza for lunch and cuddle up on the couch, reading. The day passes quietly, and I have leftovers for dinner.

By ten o’clock, I still haven’t heard from Damitry. I don’t know if I should be mad or worried. I phone him again and this time he answers.

“Hello?”

It sounds like he is at a club or something. I can hear the music playing.

“Hey. Where are you?” I’m leaning toward “mad” now.

“Anna, can I call you later? I’m a bit busy.” He ends the call.

I stare at the phone.

~What the hell is going on? That’s not how this works.~

~Hell with this. I’m not going to sit home alone on a Friday night.~

I dial up Dominique.

“Hey, Anna.” She sounds surprised.

“Hey, want to have a girl’s night out?” I ask sweetly.

“Yes, that would be nice. There’s a new club that just opened—I’ll send you a pin. See you there in an hour?”

“Awesome.”

I run upstairs, get dressed and made up, and call an Uber.

Dominique is already at the club waiting for me when I get there. She waves me over and asks me where Ray is. I tell her about the meet-the-parents date with Jordan. She starts to laugh and we enter the club.

It’s a huge two-story space. The first floor has a massive bar and a gigantic dance floor, and it’s flooded with people. Black leather couches line the walls.

The second floor is the VIP floor. It has a view over the dance floor, and each booth has a beautiful dark wood round table and more black leather couches. It’s so luxurious.

We head to our booth…and I see Damitry, Xander, and Alex.

I grab Dominique’s arm and pull her into one of the empty booths.

“Why’s your brother here? He just told me he’s busy, but this doesn’t look busy.”

“He had a meeting with the owner and was about to leave to meet you when I told him you’re coming here.”

I let out a sigh, pull myself together, and walk over to our booth.

~He looks tired and stressed.~

I wonder what is eating him.

His eyes meet mine and he stands up and walks over to me.

“Hey, Damitry.”

“Hey, my cupcake.” He gives me a gorgeous smile and places a gentle kiss on my lips. We join the others at the booth and order drinks. Dominique asks me to go dancing with her. She pulls Alex with her and I pull Damitry with me.

We start to get our groove on. It is fun, but I miss Ray. I can only imagine what she is doing.

Damitry leans close to my ear and whispers, “Wanna leave this place?”

I nod and run up to the booth for my purse.

At his car, he opens the door for me. As I am about to get in, he pulls me in for a kiss; then I get in.

We drive off into the night and end up at a marina on the Hudson.

He stops and opens the door for me. I look at him, a bit confused. He just smiles.

~I don’t do surprises.~

“Um, why are we here?”

He takes my hand and leads me down to the dock. He’s not giving away anything; he just keeps that smug grin on his face.

We stop at a beautiful sailboat, and he helps me on.

“Are we allowed on here?” I ask a bit shyly.

“I would surely hope so. It’s my boat,” he says, all proud.

~Showoff.~ I roll my eyes at him.

There is a nice picnic with candles and champagne on the deck. It looks amazing and so romantic. I flash him a sweet grin as he takes my hand and leads me to sit down.

***

After the delicious meal, we go below deck to a cabin. In the center of the room is a huge bed with off-white sheets and pillows. It looks so clean.

He turns around to face me.

I gulp and take in a deep breath.

His eyes are on me and they’re undressing me. He moves in closer, lifts his hand, and gently runs his fingers up my arm. He keeps his gaze on mine.

He places his hand on the small of my back, and I can feel the heat under my skin. I sigh, hoping this is leading toward an earth-shaking kiss.

He leans in so close our noses touch.

~This is going way too slow for me.~

I move my gaze to his mouth and gently bite the bottom corner of my lip. He smirks at my motion, but still doesn’t kiss me. He moves his hand up and down my spine and moves his other hand to the back of my neck, knotting his fingers into my hair.

~He is ’so’ toying with me.~

He starts to kiss the tip of my nose and gently kisses my jawline, brushing past my lips, which are burning for his.

He starts to place soft kisses on my neck. I even feel him biting gently. It feels good. He moves his hands up my shoulder and pulls the strap off. He starts to kiss my shoulder

Finally, he reaches my mouth and gently bites my bottom lip. I feel the smile on his face.

I lift my hands, wrap them around his neck, and deepen the kiss. He pulls me up against him and I wrap my legs around his waist. His hands cup my ass and we slowly make our way to the bed.

Oh, I do want to give him my everything, but not yet. The kiss is deep and so full of lust. He slowly lays me down on the bed, not breaking the kiss, moving his hands to my thighs.

I can feel he is so hard for me.

“Anna,” he says against my lips, kissing me more wildly.

I know he wants me so badly it’s driving him insane and me as well.

“Please, Anna.”

~Oh, baby, you have no idea how much I would love to give in, but I’m just not ready yet.~

I push him off. He sits on the foot of the bed, looking confused.

“I can’t,” I say.

He takes both his hands and runs his fingers through his hair, then stands up.

“Jeez, Annabeth, you are driving me crazy,” he says, pulling on his pants like he is very uncomfortable.

I push myself up on my elbows and just watch him pacing.

“I’m sorry.”

He stops and looks at me, gives me an adorable smile, pulls off his shirt, takes off his shoes, and makes his way back to me.

I look at him, super confused.

“Don’t worry, cupcake. I can cuddle as well,” he says as he pulls me into his arms, turns me on my side, and nuzzles his nose into my hair.

We fall asleep all cuddled up.

***

Saturday morning we decide to take the sailboat out. Damitry is a sexy sailor. I can’t take my eyes off him. The way his biceps move when he turns the boat, it’s like honey to a bear, for my soul.

I sit on the deck just staring at him, biting my bottom lip unconsciously.

“Oh, cupcake, don’t bite that sweet lip of yours. You’re turning me on,” he says in a sweet husky voice with a sexy smile on his face. “Would you like to steer, so that I can admire the view?”

I nod my head in excitement and make my way to the helm.

Damitry stands behind me, caging me in, to help me steer. After a few minutes, he leaves me in charge and goes down the deck. It feels good; the breeze blows in my hair and the smell of the ocean is so clean.

He makes us some snacks and gets us some wine. Sitting next to me, he starts to feed me. I can feel his flaming gaze on my mouth as I slowly open it to take the food from between his fingers. Now and then I nibble on his finger.

He has a sweet smirk on his face and looks very playful. When we are done, he slowly moves behind me. Brushing my hair to one side, he starts to slowly kiss the sensitive place on my neck. I let out a sweet giggle.

“Someone is ticklish,” he says against my neck and starts kissing his way down to my shoulder. “Let’s go back.”

Smiling at me, he takes over to steer us back to the docks.

***

It is almost six o’clock when we arrive at the dock. Two guys are waiting for us. They jump on and take over. Damitry helps me off and places a soft kiss on my lips.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asks, wrapping one hand around my waist as we walk to his car.

“It was fun. It’s so quiet and peaceful out there,” I say, smiling sweetly at him.

~Also, I desperately need a nice long shower now and I need to comb my hair.~

Damitry drops me off at my apartment and drives off. I go to the bathroom, turn on the shower, and take in the warm water running down my skin. It feels good.

After a while, I get out, walk to my bedroom, and get dressed in my comfy sweatpants and my sleepysaurus T-shirt, finger-comb my hair. As I go back downstairs, there’s a knock on the door.

~Who could that be?~

I open the door.

~Damitry?~

He scans me and raises his one eyebrow with a huge smirk on his face.

“Sleepysaurus?”

I look down at my outfit.

~OMG.~

“Yes. I love my sleepysaurus T-shirt. Is there a problem?” I lift my head proudly.

He starts to laugh and pulls me in for a hug.

“Do you want to come in?” I kiss him on his cheek and we enter my apartment.

We sit and chat on the couch, make out a few times. He orders pizza; we eat and then go to my room. I snuggle up on his chest as he starts to read my book for me.

His voice is like a beautiful symphony to my ears and I doze off.

Sunday morning, Damitry is sitting on the foot of my bed with coffee in his hand. Oh, it smells good.

He smiles at me as I try to wake up. I’m not a morning person.

“Morning, cupcake.”

~Ugh. He must be a morning person. Did he even sleep?~

“Coffee?” I plead.

He hands me my cup and chuckles.

“Anna, I need to tell you something.” He sounds serious. He looks serious as well.

~Shit, is he bored with me? Now he’s going to kick me aside.~

I take a big breath of air.

“I need to go away on a business trip.” He looks worried.

“How long?” I whisper.

“Four weeks or more,” he says, and scratches the back of his neck.

“That’s long. I’m going to miss you a lot. Would we be able to talk?” I ask sheepishly.

He smiles, looking more relaxed.

“Yes, you can phone me any time of the day.” He pulls me onto his lap and kisses me.

“When are you leaving?” My heart is aching already and he hasn’t even left yet.

“My jet is already waiting. I leave in two hours.” He brushes some of my hair behind my ears and kisses me again.

“I know you can’t come with me, but I wish you could.”

I kiss him softly on his jaw.

“I can’t leave my patients for four weeks. I’m going to miss this.” I snuggle deeper into him, breathing in his scent.

He takes one hand and places it under my chin, lifts it gently, and places a full-mouth kiss on my lips. I wrap my fingers in his hair.

He runs his hand down to my thigh. Slowly and gently he places me on my back on the bed with him between my thighs. We are losing ourselves in each other’s taste.

He starts to kiss my neck and my whole body starts to react. I let out a soft moan. He moves back to my mouth like he wants to catch my moan, and we get lost in a passionate kiss.

My body aches for him. Every fiber in my body and soul wants this man.

“Damitry,” I say, softly and out of breath.

He pulls away to look at me. His eyes are filled with lust. I nod at him, and he grins.

He pulls me up gently, not breaking eye contact. He slowly takes off his shirt.

I take in a deep breath.

~This is happening!~

He slowly removes my shirt, then scans me and starts to kiss me, slowly pushing me back on the bed, kissing his way down to my waist. He pulls my pants off, then stands up at the foot of the bed.

“Fuck, Anna, you are breathtaking,” he says before undoing his pants.

He stands there in all his glory. I start to bite my lip, and he smiles at me.

“Oh, I know, baby.”

He moves to me slowly, like an animal stalking his prey. We get lost inside each other. He is so gentle with me.

Afterward, we lie in each other’s arms, naked and breathless. I’m tracing his chest with my finger, and he is stroking my hair. We lie there for an hour not saying a word, lost in each other's scent and touch.

Damitry’s phone brings us back to reality.

“Hello?”

He places a kiss on my head and gets out of bed, grabs his clothes, and goes downstairs to the bathroom.

I’m a bit sore and not ready to get up yet. My legs feel like jelly.

~That was mind-blowing~.

I grab my blanket, wrap myself up with it, and start to giggle.

Damitry comes back up, leans against the doorframe, and smiles at me. I peek up from under my blanket and flash him a sweet smile.

He smiles back and walks to my bed, sitting on the side.

“Cupcake, you have no idea what you do to me.” He bends down and places a kiss on my head.

“Do you have to leave?” I ask, pouting at him.

He laughs and pulls me onto his lap.

“I wish I didn’t have to. Annabeth, I need you to promise me that you’ll wait for me.”

He sounds so serious.

I cup his face in my hands and look him straight in the eyes.

“Damitry, I love you and would do nothing to hurt you.”

He smiles at me and he starts to kiss me again.

“I. Love. You.”

I smile as I hear him say those three little words. My heart is doing flip-flops in my chest.

He slowly places me on the bed, gives me one more kiss, and stands up.

“I have to go now, my sweet Anna, but I will come back to you. I love you.” He turns around and I jump out of bed, wrap the blanket around me, and go to his side. We walk downstairs. I kiss him goodbye at the front door.

“Goodbye, baby. See you soon.” He places a soft and tender kiss on my forehead.

“See you soon,” I say as he turns and walks away.

When Ray gets home later that day, she tells me about her awesome weekend and how great Jordan’s parents are. She tells me about their romantic horseback ride up a hill to a sunset picnic. It sounds wonderful.

I tell Ray I lost my V card to Damitry and she gets all excited.

“Come on! I want details—and don’t leave anything out,” she says.

I start to laugh and tell her everything.

***

The days go by slowly, and every day I miss Damitry more and more. At least work is busy so that keeps me from thinking of him.

Ray and I also go shopping and then have a girls’ night in. Poor Jordan looks like a lost puppy when Ray tells him she is having a night with me.

Damitry and I video chat whenever we have a chance. He even stays on the phone when I fall asleep. He’s so sweet, and we talk for hours.

When Ray goes out with Jordan, we video call and watch movies together.

Oh yeah. There is one super embarrassing moment.

When I tell Damitry about it, he laughs so hard I think he is going to explode. Yeah, I kinda walked in on Ray and Jordan.

~“Ugh, I am so not ready for work today.”~

~I jump up out of my bed when I hear a scream. I rush to Ray’s room. (In my defense, I think she’s being attacked.)~

~I fling the door open and yeah, there Jordan stands in all his very sexy glory. Ray is sitting on her bed, perfectly okay.~

~“Anna!”~

~I feel the blush burning up my face.~

~“Oh, shit! Sorry, guys!”~

~I shut the door as fast as I can, run to my room, throw on the first clothes I can get, and run out of the apartment. Can’t face them after that…~

So yeah, my weeks without Damitry aren’t that boring, but I miss him.

***

It’s been three and a half weeks since Damitry left. I don’t feel like going out. Ray has Jordan at her side but I don’t want other men ogling me, so I stay in.

I’m lying on the couch reading a book when my phone rings. It’s Damitry.

~Aww. We only video chatted like an hour ago.~

“Hey, already miss me?”

“Hey, cupcake. I always miss you.” I can barely hear him over music playing in the background.

“I was just wondering, what you are doing tomorrow night?”

~He’s coming home early!~

“Nothing much, why?” I smile at the thought that he might hold me tomorrow.

“I’ll be back around two tomorrow. I’ll just need to settle some business stuff with Jordan, and then I’m all yours. Love you, see you soon.”

Yeah, my heart is doing backflips.

“Can’t wait. Love you more.”

I jump off the couch and run upstairs thinking about my outfit for the next day. I can’t wait to see him again.

***

It’s seven o’clock Friday morning. I jump out of my bed, run downstairs, take a long shower, shave my legs, and scrub my hair and my body. My blood is pumping in excitement. Damitry is coming home today and I can’t wait to see him.

I go back to my room, grab my white summer dress and pull it on, grab my matching sandals, blow dry my hair— it takes me like an hour just to do my hair— and last but not least I apply some makeup.

I can’t settle down, so I start cleaning. I’m tidying up my bedroom when I hear a knock on the door.

~It is just past eleven, and he said he’d be here in the afternoon.~

I run down the stairs, open the door— and there stands my Prince Sexy, holding a bouquet of flowers.

My heart is jumping out of my chest. I jump into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, my fingers in his hair, and my lips lock on him.

He drops the flowers and cups my ass in his hands, deepening our passionate kiss. We make our way in without breaking our kiss. He kicks the door closed with his foot and carries me up the stairs to my bedroom.

He slowly pulls away, placing me gently back on my feet, holding me by my waist.

“I think I need to leave more.” He smiles and kisses me on my forehead. “You look beautiful.”

He runs his hand up my spine with a dark, lustful smile on his face. I can feel his eyes undressing me.

~Holy shit.~

He has full control at this moment and I’m like clay in his hands, hypnotized by his touch.

“I missed you, my love.” He gently starts to kiss me down my neck, softly biting the sensitive spots on my neck.

I wrap my hands around his neck, twisting my fingers in his hair. He moves back to my lips and kisses me, a deep and passionate kiss.

We are lost in each other when we hear the front door opening and we break apart.

“Anna, are you up there?” Ray yells as she makes her way upstairs. “Anna, you wouldn’t believe—”

She stops and looks shocked when she sees me and Damitry all breathless and messed up. She smiles a devilish smile.

“Well…guess I can come back another time, then.” She starts to giggle and goes back downstairs. Both I and Damitry start to laugh.

“I have to go now. I’ll see you tonight.” He places a kiss on my forehead and we walk downstairs. Ray is sitting at the kitchen table, checking us out, slowly stirring her coffee.

“See you tonight,” I say as Damitry walks out the front door.

“Bye, Damitry,” Ray calls from the kitchen. Damitry flashes her a sweet and innocent smile and kisses me goodbye.

When I turn around, Ray is at my side with a huge grin on her face.

“That was one hot and steamy makeout session,” she crows, throwing her arm around my shoulder as we make our way to the kitchen. I can’t seem to stop smiling.

Ray hands me a cup of coffee.

“So, do you love him?” she asks, popping her eyebrows at me.

Then she places one hand on mine. “Just be careful, Anna.” She sounds a little worried.

I look at her and give her a sweet smile.

“I will, don’t worry.” I take a sip of my coffee and go to the living room. Ray follows me and starts up a movie. We settle down to watch.

Damitry comes back at five o’clock, done with work, bringing Chinese food. When Ray sees him, she gives me a wink.

“Well, seems I’ll be spending the weekend at Jordan’s place.” She grabs her car keys and places a kiss on my cheek.

“Hi, D-Man. Enjoy!” she says as she walks past Damitry out the front door.

He locks the door and turns to me, smiling sexily.

***

We stay in the apartment the whole weekend. We shower together, which is amazing. We lose ourselves in each other.

We talk about a new business plan he has. He seems so motivated. I love a man that knows what he wants.

When we’re not talking, we make love, and sweet love it is indeed.

Monday morning, Damitry leaves early for a meeting, and I get ready for work. I’m working the day shift all week, so no partying.

The week flies by. Damitry picks me up at work every day and sleeps over every night. He even buys food and showers with me. We talk about our days. He reads my book to me until I fall asleep, and then he cuddles with me.

Saturday night finally arrives, and we all decide to go out dancing. Dominique, Xander, and Alex say they will meet us at the club.

The club is busy. Ray and I are shaking our asses on the dance floor while Jordan and Damitry watch us from the booth.

Suddenly, Ray just freezes. The smile on her face disappears and her eyes get all dark.

I turn around only to find some blonde bimbo giving my boyfriend a lap dance.

I storm to our booth, Ray hot on my tail.

“What the ~fuck~, Damitry?” I can feel my head pounding and my blood boiling.

“Anna—” he says as he pushes the blonde off.

I grab my purse and rush out, feeling tears burning in my eyes. Damitry follows me calling my name the whole time, but I ignore him.

At the exit, I walk straight into Xander’s chest.

“Anna.” He gives me one look and moves his gaze to Damitry, who is navigating his way through the crowd to me. Xander gently pushes me aside, clenches his fists, and swings at Damitry, punching him in the face.

“What the hell, Xander!” I hear Jordan shout as he pulls Xander away from Damitry.

“You fucking asshole!” Xander spits through his teeth.

Ray checks Damitry and eases him up. I turn around and rush out of the club. I can’t take it anymore.

“Anna, please, just stop!” I hear Damitry shouting. I slam my heels into the ground and turn around to face him.

“Anna, please.” He moves closer and tries to reach for me. I take a step back.

“What? Huh? ~What?~” I can hear the fury in my voice.

“She just started to dance. I didn’t ask for it.” He moves closer and I keep on moving backward.

“It’s not like you even tried to push her off,” I say, wiping away a tear.

“I don’t even know her,” he says in a soft voice.

“And that makes it okay? Just leave me alone, Damitry.” I turn around and start to walk away from him.

“Anna, I’m sorry.”

I stop and turn to face him one last time.

“Sorry can’t fix everything. Why didn’t you push her off?” My eyes are on fire. I walk closer to him, looking him straight in the eyes.

“I did! Hell, Anna! I said I’m sorry. I would never cheat or hurt you.” He runs his fingers through his hair. He looks pissed.

~He doesn’t get to be pissed.~

“Well, you just did, asshole.” I spin around and yell for a cab.

Damitry grabs me by my wrist.

“Anna, please.”

I turn and see Xander heading our way. I flash him a smile and rip my wrist from Damitry’s grip.

“Good night, Damitry.”

As I walk over to Xander, I can feel Damitry’s eyes on me.

“Anna, did he hurt you?” Xander sounds mad and worried.

~He just ripped my heart from my chest and stamped all over it, but other than that, nope.~

“Please just take me home.”

Xander gives Damitry a death stare, moves his gaze down to me, gives me an apologetic smile, and places his hand on my back.

“Okay, let’s get you home,” he says.

Damitry stands there frozen to the ground as I walk away.