Payment

Breathing

Note: Rewritten but not triple checked for spelling and grammatical errors. If you see any feel free to comment.

I was woken by little sounds. They had barely gotten through to me but I had indeed heard them. The chattering of the lanterns, the footsteps of someone trying to be stealthy. It was all strange, but I wasn't scared until the lights went out.

I heard the person's breath, heard their heartbeat. Or maybe it was mine and the shadows we're playing tricks on me.

I cowered beneath the covers as I watched the darkness, too afraid to get up and relight the lantern. I could make out hands grabbing hold of the drapings hiding me in the bed. They moved so slowly, as if they were scared of being detected. But my eyes had been closed so long that I was accustomed to the dark. I could make out his fingers as they curled around the cloth. They pulled it back to reveal a body and right before I saw the intruders face, it froze and released the curtains.

Not even a moment later the door opened and a new pair of footsteps entered. These were heavier, more confident. I laid there, as still as the blanket and waited.

When the lantern was lit and I could hear the new persons cloths shifting and sliding as if they were coming off, I knew who it was. I sprung out from the curtains and threw myself at his back, clinging to him as if he had knowingly saved me.

"What the-" Dominik looked beneath his arm at me slump around his waist, breathing rabid and my mouth as dry as a desert.

He looked down at me with a smile, his brows pinched and oddly mused as if he had been rubbing his face too much. He had been in the middle of unbuttoning his cufflinks when I had latched onto him. I watched him resume, wondering what had just happened. It was possible I had been imagining it. It was possible it was just a night terror. Because the truth was, whoever it had been, still had to be in the room.

The door had only opened once and that had been Dominik entering. The odds were slim that I had actually seen someone breaking in and trying to do who knows what. So, I breathed a sigh and continued to hold onto him. I let him fill me with a sense of security as he rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt.

"Roza, what are you doing?" He chuckled softly as he emptied his pockets into a big metal tray.

"I had a nightmare." I released him, finally. Feeling safe enough, I turned around and wondered back to his bed, leaning against one of the posts to watch him. "It was silly."

"What was it about?" He turned around, fingers gliding his hair back and I swear for a moment I was breathless. He looked at me as if everything was normal but I stricken by his beauty.

He mimicked me, crossing his thick arms across his chest and leaned up against his dresser. It didn't hold the same effect. I imagined I looked weak and spineless in the way I stood. Him, he looked like a true king. He looked as if he towered over everyone, that no one could touch him. Even the smile that he flashed me was dazzling.

I had to clear my throat and look away before I was caught drooling.

"Doesn't matter. I don't remember much of it." My fingers fiddled with the drapings. "How did it go in the office? Did everything get sorted out?"

He groaned. I heard him rub at his weary face as he crossed the room. I turned with his approach but he sculpted himself to my back, pressing in and trapping me against the canopy post. With his arms wrapped gently around me, I felt safe, like nothing in the world could touch me. He became my second skin, molding around my form and encasing me with a safe warmth.

I hummed in relief, reveling in the feeling of him.

"I don't want to talk about work." He sighed into my neck, his lips laying a soft kiss there. It shocked me, sending a bolt of electricity to jumpstart my heart. "What did you do today?"

I had to suppress an embarrassing laugh. It was funny but I didn't know how I felt about telling him of my failure. I tried so many times to get near it, had even worn myself out. It was sad to think I was such a coward.

"I wanted to see you today, so I tried to go to your office but there was a wolf guarding the door." I mumbled. "I didn't get close."

He laughed, the vibration of it gliding along my skin and tickling me. I squirmed around in his hold, which only made him bring me in tighter.

"You got scared off by a little wolf?" He hissed in my ear. "What are you going to do when you see me? I'm the biggest of them all."

He squeezed me, clutching me like some scary beast as he bit at my neck. I squealed, fighting his grip until he let me go. I stood there, ready to run, ready to pounce on him. And he did the same, knees bent and hands ready to grab me. I could stop the steady stream of giggle tickling at my throat.

There was a long stretch of waiting until he jumped, flying at me with such speed I was blind-sighted. He pulled back the curtain and flung my flailing body onto the bed, tumbling in after me.

It was dark, little rays of light only fluttering through holes in the old curtains. I could see him, could feel him moving around even without my eyes open. I didn't fight him, not in here. I let him lay on me, gently cloaking me with his body and his radiating warmth. It felt so natural, so wholesome.

I hugged his head to my chest and listened to the sound of our breathing.