Where My Demons Hide

Chapter Twenty-Three-Star

I wanted to give up. 

I wanted to crawl into P'Dragon's arms, curl into his warmth and give up. As I stood, toes dug into the warmth of the sand, I stared out over the vastness of the ocean. I watched the water rolling under its own power to crash into the cliffs off in the distance only to b retreat again.

There was so much on my mind, I kept tossing and turning, interrupting Dragon's sleep. Each time he wrapped his arms around me, I would settle down again but not for long. Most men would have left thee bed to sleep in another room. But he stayed, whispered soothing things to me until my brain wasn't the enemy.

The moment it was light out, I'd climbed out of bed, dressed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and made my way down to the water. With people after me, I didn't dare go far from his reach. Someone seemed to like the game they were playing. They knew either myself or Dragon would come looking so they'd gone out of their way to create a character I'd made for one of my biggest selling video games.

Did that mean we were back at square one? Did that mean we no longer had anything to go on with this entire thing? How much longer would I continue to put P'Dragon's life in danger? I wanted to protect him—I felt the strength of that need to my very soul.

The thought of someone hurting him because of me, because of any reason killed me inside and I couldn't stop that nagging voice that told me it would have been my fault.

Eventually, I made my way back to the house to find P'Dragon standing on the deck of the infinity pool. He was watching me and I knew he'd been hovering there for a while, keeping an eye on me like some dark, guardian angel.

He was shirtless, His wide chest perfectly sculpted as though they'd been carved by a higher power. Still, I managed a smile. "Don't lecture, P."

"What would that lecture entail?" He asked without moving.

"Me leaving without telling you." I stood in front of him and looked up into the storms of his eyes. "I know I kept you up all night—khrap. I just needed you to get some more sleep. If I told you I was going down tot h beach, you would have gotten up to take me."

He growled softly.

I trembled.

"I know you worry about me." I bit down against my lip as I wondered if this was because he worked for my father. The fact my brain went there caused me to wince—I was developing real feelings for this man and he worked for my father.

Were his feelings real?

Not wanting to cause a fight, I touched his cheek gently and stepped around him and entered the house. Though I couldn't silence the worry fully, I made coffee and by the time Dragon entered the house again, I was in the middle of making rice to go with kai jiew. Dragon walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin to my shoulder.

"Why don't you let me do that?" Dragon told me.

"I need to keep busy." I peeled my body from his and stepped away. "I'm just in a weird mood this morning—just give me a little time, please."

"Tell me what's going on." Dragon leaned his back to the island and folded his arms across his chest.

How did he expect me to concentrate when he looked so good?

"Get dressed." I turned away from him to grab two mugs from cupboard.

I didn't turn again until his heavy footsteps carried from the kitchen. I exhaled, wondering why it was I couldn't hold onto my temper and my shifting mood a bit better. I'd made so many strides with P'Dragon. There was a time he wouldn't even stay in the same room as me. I finally was able to break through, to have him touch me like they wrote about, to have him smile at me, and because of my mood, I could be pushing him away.