LITMIR.BIZ

      She was like a deer planning her escape route, Dmitri decided, leaning against the door. Not that he didn’t think it was for the best.

      The moment he saw her on the bed, his bed, in his robe, even if it fell to her ankles, his blood had vanished south.

      She had looked so lovely for a second there, claws withdrawn. Like a lioness who wanted to be petted for a little while. Before she most likely ate you.

      “You look as if you have a fever.”

      She nodded. “I don’t feel… I’m just achy all over.”

      Her words emerged as a rough croak. The soft admission from her was as strange as the feverish look in those dark black eyes. Scrubbed of sleep and any lingering softness that he had ruthlessly pushed away, they glowed with determination. And regret punched him in the gut even as he knew that it was better this way.

      He didn’t want her all soft and melting. He wanted her to fight him and hate him.

      Had she been hurt in their tussle? he thought then, the very idea horrifying him. Frowning, he took a step forward and clasped her cheek.

      She flinched away from him. A silent roar burst into life inside of him, and he forced himself to take multiple breaths.

      Theos, he hated when she flinched at his nearness like that…

      Which was a thousand kinds of insanity because he had practically yelled at her to not come near him.

      Stavros had taught him well. It took all of his willpower to control that wild thing inside him that wanted her hands on him. All of her on him. Reminded himself that all he offered a woman was sex. And Jasmine deserved a lot more.

      Clenching his jaw, he fought for composure. “Did I hurt you when I tackled you?”

      “No. I just… I pulled a muscle the other day and it’s still bothering me.”

      “Let me see it.”

      “No.” Jasmine drew in a deep breath and forced the words to come out evenly. “Thanks for coming so promptly today, Dmitri. For literally coming to my rescue.”

      “You almost choked on that, ne?”

      She shrugged, refusing to take the bait.

      He entered the bedroom and went to the wardrobe.

      Panic blooming in her gut, she looked around the bedroom she had run into.

      It was his bedroom, of course.

      She tried to slide off the silky sheets. And lost the little dignity she had in the process when he turned around, his brows raised.

      Sleeping in Dmitri’s bed was the last thing she needed. It was far too intimate for the little peace that she needed for her overactive mind.

      She dangled her legs on the side of the bed. “I didn’t realize this was your bedroom. I will just…”

      “Stay,” he ordered her softly.

      With his back still against the wardrobe, he extracted a perfectly pressed white cotton shirt with sure precision, shrugged off the bloodied shirt. Too mesmerized by the sight of his corded biceps and chest to even pretend otherwise, Jasmine watched as he pulled on the fresh shirt.

      “I will sleep in the longue or order housekeeping to clean up Stavros’s room.” He buttoned it down, his gaze taking in her flushed face with a casual indifference. “Are you hungry?”

      Getting up and padding away from the bed, she walked to the chaise longue. “No. And you don’t have to babysit me. I just want to crash for a few hours.”

      “I have no interest in spending the night babysitting you. Tell me…how did Noah agree to this outrageous idea of an auction?”

      “You know how.”

      Another step closer. But caught between the bed and him, there was no way to escape. Retribution that he had threatened shone in every line of his body. “Dmitri…”

      “Enlighten me again how it happened.”

      “Even after all these years, we still owed him money. Noah would have liked for me to sign away my entire life and I didn’t want to continue—” a shudder went through her spine “—there anymore. I thought of you and suggested he put me up for auction.”

      He stared down at her as if he could see through her skin and into the very heart of her. “Where was he going to find buyers if not for me?”

      Something in his question struck a chord of fear in Jasmine. “There weren’t any others.”

      “Noah is not famous for his kindness. I don’t understand how he agreed to your condition.”

      “Because all the world knows that you’re a gazillionaire and Noah just happens to know that at one time you used to have a conscience. I gave him an opening to exploit that. If you’re through being disgusted with me—”

      “Disgusted? Theos, what the hell was Andrew thinking to leave you with so much debt? Why didn’t he—”

      Just hearing her brother judged for what little he could have done inflamed her. “Don’t speak his name.”

      “He should have taken better care of you. I don’t understand—”

      Shivering from head to toe, she struggled to keep the grief at bay. Even after five years, it shredded her strength and composure with its claws. “How do you know what he did or didn’t do? You left us.”

      Was that it? Had she hated him all these years because he had left her alone with an alcoholic mother and a brother addicted to gambling away the very little they had ever had? Was her bitter envy over his better life at the root of it all?

      “I didn’t have a choice, Jasmine.”

      “You didn’t have a choice except to forget us? He always watched your back, stopped you from getting yourself killed. If not for him, you would have died a violent death a long time ago.”

      Every inch of his face became immobile under her attack. He stood absolutely still, calmly absorbing her insults.

      Only the haunting depths of his eyes betrayed his shock. “You think I need a reminder, Theos mou, that without Andrew, there would have been nothing left of me for Giannis to save…”

       God, what the hell had she said?

      The cynical curve of his mouth… The emptiness in his eyes… She never wanted to be witness to that ever again.

      She didn’t want to see that flash of pain in his eyes ever again, much less cause it.

      “That…that came out wrong. I just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve never…” She took a bracing breath. “Seeing you just reminds me that he’s forever gone, Dmitri. That he never had a single chance to break away from it all.”

      He stepped away from her as if to avoid the poison of her words. “Until I can ensure that there’s no danger to you, you have no choice but to face me, Jasmine.” Still, he didn’t sound angry or upset. Still, he only spoke about her safety.

      As if it was an onerous duty he had to take on even if she was ungrateful.

      Jasmine wanted to kick herself for her impulsive mouth. Or curl into a ball and cry. In one swoop, she had spewed out all the bitterness she had struggled to keep at bay for years. She couldn’t bear to look at herself, much less at Dmitri. She couldn’t bear to be in his presence for a second longer without

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