Charlotte

Chapter 16

Rose's Point of View

Something forced me out of Lissa's head. I was hyperventilating, panicking and scared. Lissa and Charlie were both in danger and I had to get to them, but how? They were so far away! It'd take me forever to....to...to what? 

I couldn't remember. What had I just been freaking out about? 

Dimitri. Get to Dimitri. 

Yes, that seemed like a good idea. I felt my skin prick up everywhere from my nipples to my...other parts and my soul was burning. I had to put out the fire. I had to get to Dimitri. He'd know what to do, and we could figure it out together, like he always said. I needed to be near him. I ached to be near him more now than I ever had before. Charlie isn't here to get upset, something whispered to me. Normally, the thought would have made me sick...but right now...I needed him. I'd come clean about it later, and maybe I'd apologize. Maybe I'd mean it. 

He'd told me to come to him if anything was wrong with Lissa. Something was...but I couldn't remember what. Still, I knew he would take care of everything. I'd been escorted back to the dorms after I assaulted Mia, so because they wanted me to remain inside tonight, it wasn't hard getting to the staff wing. I let my feet lead me on instinct, barely paying attention as I found Dimitri's door, and I beat the living daylights out of it. 

Dimitri opened the door, having already finished with his shift, and his brown eyes widened when he saw me standing there. "Rose?" 

"Let me in. It's Lissa." 

He didn't waste time asking questions, as usual, and stepped aside to let me enter. He must have been getting ready for bed, because he was wearing blue cotton pajama bottoms and his chest...wow...his chest was bare. The ends of his hair were curling slightly and looked damp. He'd just taken a shower. Something primal woke within me, and my voice bubbled like I was about to growl like a feral beast. 

"What's wrong?" He asked, completely oblivious to my body's reaction to him. 

I couldn't answer him. His voice had sent electricity through me, attaching me to the floor and I couldn't stop staring at him. The force that had pulled me up here, pulled me to him, so that I was standing right in front of him, and all I wanted was his hands on me. His lips on me. His eyes widened, before they became hooded as if a daze was taking him. I needed him to touch me so badly that I whimpered, freaking whimpered! 

Somewhere deep inside me, I knew something was wrong. But I couldn't bring myself to dig deeper and figure out what it was. It didn't matter right now. Not when I was with him. I kept walking towards him, there was only a foot between us...three...two...I was close enough now that we could bump chests, but I wasn't tall enough to reach his lips, so I kissed his naked chest instead. 

"Rose!" Dimitri exclaimed, stepping away from me. "What are you doing?" 

"What do you think?" I asked, coming at him again like some pathetic, horny teenager. He evaded me. 

"Are you drunk?" He held his hand up in a sort of warding gesture. As if that was going to stop me. 

"Don't I wish," I said, trying to dodge him. "I thought you wanted to-I mean, don't you think I'm pretty?" 

I had felt the attraction before coming off of him. I felt it too. There had been times when I hated Charlie, hated that I loved her so much, because I couldn't touch this man without hurting her. For some reason, all of those reservations about taking care of her heart went right out the window. I was taking what I wanted, and Dimitri wasn't going to stop me, because he had to want it too. I could tell that he did. He was trembling, and his eyes kept trailing down to my lips, then further down to my breasts.