Never Tear Us Apart - Complete

Chapter Fifty-eight

"Well she was all over your brother like cheap perfume," I explained, thinking how apt the analogy was. "And the more she had to drink, the less subtle she was about it. Eventually, she was so drunk it started to get awkward, so I suggested to Baba he ask some of his Guardians to help her back to her room."

"And?" Vika eyes widened in anticipation.

"Well, they were helping her to the door when she decided to go back and say goodbye to Dimitri. Unfortunately, she collided with a waiter carrying a full tray of canapés. She ended up sitting on the floor covered in pastry and caviar." I chuckled, recalling the horrified look on her face.

"Oh my God! How embarrassing!" Vika gasped.

"Ahha!" I said nodding with a huge grin. "Not her best look. It's going to take her hours to get that out of her hair – and I suspect her dress is ruined."

"No loss there," Vika joked.

Viktoria and I were tittering, and even my Russian God wore an amused expression.

"Were the Vitsins there? What did Elizaveta wear?"

"Other than a pissed off look all night?" I quipped. "A purple strapless dress. She looked quite nice."

I almost felt sorry for Elizaveta. Other than a couple of dances with Dimitri, Eddie, and her brother, she was a wallflower for most of the evening. Even Guardian Croft didn't seek her out – and he made a point of dancing with both Meredith and me.

Artyom's eyes had nearly fallen out of his head when he'd seen me. We'd danced twice – the first time he kept stammering about how gorgeous I looked, the second he spent apologizing for Elizaveta's rudeness at dinner the previous night. Both times I was relieved when Dimitri promptly appeared at the end of the song to reclaim me.

"Roza was the belle of the ball," Dimitri told his sister proudly. "She danced almost every dance!"

"And now I'm tired, so if you excuse me, I think it's time for me to head to bed," I said.

"And that's my cue to leave," Viktoria replied with a yawn. "I told Paul if you guys aren't up by 9 am he can come over to my room and I'll take him to breakfast."

"Thanks. Night Vika," I said with a wave as she let herself out the door.

"Alone at last," Dimitri sighed.

"Nearly," I muttered, pointing to his sleeping nephew.

"Come with me." Dimitri grabbed my hand, pulling me into our room. Pausing to switch on one of the bedside lamps, he dimmed it to its lowest setting before closing the door.

"Now we're alone."

"We are."

"I want to undress you. I want to take this beautiful gown off you and reveal the gorgeous woman beneath it."

"Gorgeous Guardian, now thank you."

"You'll always be a woman first and foremost to me, Guardian Hathaway. My woman!"

I turned my back to Dimitri and he found the hidden zipper on my dress, carefully pulling it down my back to where it stopped just above where my panties sat.

"I like this." Dimitri's long fingers slipped between the dress and my skin, fingering the delicate lace of the thong I was wearing.

"I thought you might," I told him, slipping the dress down over my hips and carefully stepping out of it. I placed it on the back of a chair and then turned to Dimitri standing in front of him in my underwear. "You're wearing too many clothes, Comrade."