New In The Territories (Book 1) COMPLETED

Chapter 76 Sam

Settling on the third outfit I tried on, I rushed outside to wait for Dmitri before changing once again. Two and a half weeks since we had been official dating, and it still played havoc on her body; stomach in knots, palms sweating and my nerves frazzled. The waiting was always the hardest part. Ready to jump out of my skin with nervousness, excitement, and still in the back of my mind was the thought of this too good to be true and I waited for it to finally end. Shaking my head, closing my eyes, I took a cleansing breathe to discharge all the negative thoughts. Taking in the smell of fresh cut grass, as the warm breeze brushed against my skin, while I listened to the soft chirps of the birds, letting it all put me in a happy and serene place. Slowly the knots in my stomach loosened, muscles in my shoulders relaxed, and the negative feelings slid out though my toes.

The sound of Dmitri's jeep had my eyes snap open and bouncing in my seat. The nervousness I had felt, now replaced with pure excitement and anticipation. Looking down at the jeans and soft blue fitted blouse, I hoped the choice was going to be appropriate for our date. Dmitri said to dress casual, but refused to tell me where we were going. So far, there dates consisted of meeting at his bar, staying in, or walking through the woods, mostly all by my choice.

Parking his car, I watched Dmitri gracefully step out of his jeep. As always, the world faded leaving only this beautiful man standing in front of me. His black silk hair tied back at the nape of his neck, ocean blue eyes sparkles with the last ruminates of the sun surrounding him in a glow of light. Sharp lines on his face were softened with the cleft in his chin. Wearing washed out jeans and a very well fitted red T that showed every defined muscle. The man was huge; standing at 6'5", I knew why people found him intimidating, but to me, he was my personal teddy bear.

Frozen in the chair, breath caught in my throat, I stared and watched him walk up to the house. That crooked smile, that knowing smile lite his face, the one that said, "I know what you're thinking." The thing was when I did see him, I was not able to think at all. That was one of the problems, I could never think when he was around, everything just went blank, and the rest of the world no longer existed. The more time I spent with him the lower my IQ went. And the more time that passed when we didn't see each other always hit me that much harder. I hadn't seen him since the barbeque on Saturday, once again by my choice.

I was a very independent woman, but around my new friends and the two men I had fallen in love with, made me feel more needy and that was not acceptable in my eyes. So I started to pull back a bit to collect my bearings and to prove to myself that I was still that same strong independent woman that I prided myself to be. The downfall was that the longer I kept myself away from them the harder it was to concentrate. This was something I had to fix soon, but for right now at that very moment nothing mattered except Dmitri.

"Hi," he said. That deep rumble of his voice wrapped around me like a warm soft blanket and seemed to snap me out of my stupor.

With a huge smile, I jumped up with a little too much enthusiasm for my liking and bounded down the stairs where I jumped right into his arms. Dmitri caught me without any problem and held tight. "Hey," I said, voice soft and husky, placing a delicate kiss to those amazing velvety lips.

"I've been waiting for this all day," he purred into my ear, holding me tight, "Are you ready?"

Releasing the death grip, I had around his neck, breathing his soft subtle cologne and natural scent. "Mmm hmm. Where are we going and am I dressed alright?" I asked, sliding down his body back to my feet and locking my rubber knees in place.

Taking my hand he lead us to the passenger side of the jeep. "You look amazing as always and it's a secret," he said with a wink.

I climbed in the raised jeep with as much grace as a child learning how to walk for the first time. Before I was seated, a black piece of material came across my eyes. For a brief second my body tensed and fear ran down my back. "What..." I started.