Payment

Promise to Wait

Note: Fresh chapter. Not triple checked for spelling and grammatical errors. If you see any feel free to comment

I slid my fingers along the many fabrics of my wardrobe. I couldn't feel happy that they were mine. I wanted to, I wanted to be flooded with gratitude but all I felt was wariness.

No matter how many lights were lit in my room, I felt shrouded in darkness. It was like the shadows had a hold on me. Something had its claws sunk into my back, drawing me into madness without my eyes catching the actual culprit.

I had seen people, figures watching me, following me. Noises and things falling over without me so much as touching them. Since dinner, I had been raving in my room, my eyes ever shifting to the door. I wanted someone to come in, to show themselves, to prove it wasn't in my head. Because the worse part was that I had yet to be touched. That was terrifying. It was the main reason I wouldn't speak up. I had doubts about myself, about my mind.

So, when the door opened, my body froze, horrified that it would actually move. Only, it was Dominik who entered, not an intruder. I swallowed my shock and sent him a smile.

He didn't look at me to catch my expression. Instead, he strode in with his eyes on the mound of fabric draped over his arm.

He brought it up to me, holding it against my body to see if it fit to size. And it did. It looked beautiful. It was black, silky and haunting. It was too perfect. It made my mind doubt itself even more. I pressed my lips together and pushed my hesitant hands forward to feel it.

It was as smooth as a baby's face. I sighed in relief that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me.

"I didn't think I had gotten you any black dresses." He mumbled, taking the dress away to hang it for tomorrow.

I cleared my throat and pushed my mess of hair out of my face. I tried to shove the manic thoughts out of my mind but they were sticky, a film of little attached arms clinging onto my brain for dear life. I couldn't rid myself of all of it. It remained like a mass in my skull, waiting to apply more pressure.

"Dominik." I placed my hand over my tear strung eyes. "Can you hold me, please?"

I tried not to cry. Apart from a few droplets, I succeeded. But the ones that did escape, they burned my skin like the fiery depths of hell. I had to smack them away, had to scrape them off with the rough fabric of my sleeve. And when Dominik came closer, I buried my face into his chest. It extinguished the flames, calming my face and tumor. I sighed and dug my nose into his body like I could just crawl right into him and disappear.

"What's wrong?" He turned us, bring himself to the edge of the bed to sit before pulling me up and into his lap. I curled against him, slumping down into mush.

"I think I'm going crazy." I sighed into his warmth. "Just, talk to me. About anything."

He was silent a moment, his hand mindlessly brushing at my hair. I could feel him formulate his words in the subtle stalling of his movements. And it was so comforting to focus on him. Everything else melted away until it was just us, sitting together on my bed.

My bed. A warmth fluttered across my chest, a little outside glimmer of appreciation. I felt my body light up, simulated by Dominik and all the extra stuff that came with his presence. The last few hours of being by myself, haunted by the shadows, dissipated into nothing more than mist.

"I know a lot has happened and it's hard for you fully cope with it all, but I want to let you know I'm here. To listen to you, to protect you, and to give you anything you want." His words came out low and honest. They vibrated through his chest and to face. "I love you, Roza."

I breathed in his scent, taking a big inhale before sitting up straight and looking him in the eyes. "I love you too."

He was smiling, a humble smile, but a smile nonetheless. He looked so angelic in that moment, it made me stare in silent awe. The lights illuminated his strong features, making them more angular, more dramatic. I could see the true caramel color of his skin, so smooth and beautiful. With my crazed mind, for a moment, I though maybe I really was crazy because someone as perfect as Dominik couldn't possibly exist. Maybe I really was mad.

But I pressed in anyway, laying a soft kiss on his unsuspecting lips. He seemed to melt into me, grabbing my hips and pulling me flush against him in a demand for more. And like a switch was flipped, my body burned for him.

Aggressive and needy, we kissed harder than we ever had before. Teeth scraped along lips and tongues, our hands clung and clawed at skin, our bodies flipped and tumbled until he was on top of me, weighing on me like he was the entire world.

I didn't stop him from untying me from my clothes and I didn't stop him from relieving me from the clutches of my corset. I should have through. It was cruel of me to open myself to him like this when I knew I would be scared to go all of the way. And it wasn't just about sex, it was what could possibly happen as a result. I was not ready. I knew that like it was written on my skin.

And the worse part was, he felt it with the stiffening of my body. His hands stopped in their slithering beneath my slip and he pulled back to look at me. I couldn't handle what kind of face he was possibly making so I covered mine with my arms and mentally beat myself for being so horrible.

"Think of being a wolf like a virus. I have it and when I get emotional, I feel it the most." He laid kisses along my arms, his hands stuffing my slip back between our pressed bodies as if to serve as a barrier he would not cross. He didn't back away. And that made me more grateful than I could ever explain. "And when I can feel nothing else but you, it goes into a frenzy. The only thing I will be able to do is follow my instincts. I'll bite you and you'll get the virus. But the bite won't ever go away and you'll become like me after a while."

My mind reeled at his explanation, trying to make sense of it. A bite is all it took? I put away my arms so that I could look at him with my confusion.

"It'll hurt a little bit." He laughed at my pinched brows. "But after the brief pain, it'll feel better than anything in the world."

He eyes shone with honesty, the flame reflected in them, shimmering and dancing in his gaze. I saw it take form and play out his desires. I knew he wanted me and that he didn't want to wait. But the beauty of Dominik was that he was so passionate, I knew a part of him wanted the moment to be perfect. This has all just been us swept away by lust. And I knew it was just going to get harder to contain ourselves.

"I would never put you through something you couldn't handle." He sighed, pressing his forehead down against mine. I could feel his heart bleed, could feel it pound and rattle mine. "I would never really hurt you."

As cruel as I was, I wasn't finished. I couldn't stop myself from kissing him again. I lured him in with the taunting of my lips, my tongue in his mouth. And he pressed his hands into the mattress rather than letting them ravish me. I heard him pull and twist against the fabric, desperate, pleading for help. But I selfishly took a few more moments to suck on him, to gather all the power I could, to stay sane while he was away.

"The lake." I moaned against his mouth. "After the funeral, take me to the lake. Do it there."

I heard him swear under his breath a moment before he disappeared. He was gone like smoke, fading off me and dissipating into the air. The only evidence of his exit was the door swung violently open. I watched it close, my body shriveling in agonizing disappointment.

I didn't move until the urges that crawled along my skin, sank back into me and settled. I knew if I had gotten up too soon, I would have gone after him. Maybe I should have.

Because without him here, the shadows were back. They looming along the walls and watched me with their red gaze of death. I closed my eyes and wished them away.

But instead of disappearing, they grabbed me.