Previously in the Wild, Wild West
As soon as I step into the open room I notice the atmosphere seems tense. Mason has stopped playing the piano.
Everyone in the room is silent and staring in the same direction. I look at Dimitri he sees it and looked at me with anger in his eyes. He sees what's going on. He's so tall he can see right over the top of everyone. I let go of his hand and weave my way through the crowd. There's an opening ahead. As I step through I find Victor Dashkov and Abe Mazur face to face.
Chapter 8 Trouble
From what I can tell Victor and his boy's have just strolled into my Saloon lookin' for trouble. Abe must have just gotten here a few minutes before him that is probably why Jill came back to get me.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Abe Mazur. How long has it been?" Victor says acting all friendly like.
"Not long enough for me." Abe sneers
"Oh Abe, don't say that, no need to be rude." A smug smile on Victors face.
"You would know, wouldn't you Victor, you've had plenty of practice at being rude and obnoxious." I spit his vile name. As I step up next to Abe with Dimitri stepping up right behind to me.
"There you are my beautiful Rose." Victor says sickly sweet.
"I'm not your anything Victor!" venom dripping from my words.
"Awe Rosie, don't be like that, you and I, we've always had a special connection."
I take a step in Victor's direction. "Connection… we have NO connection." My voice raising a few octaves. "Why don't you and your boys just mosey the hell out of here? You don't need to be causing any more trouble in my Saloon. I've had enough from the likes of you!" I say poking my finger in his chest, getting angrier by the second. By this time I am in his face.
Victor stiffens and his face hardens, his control slipping a little. His men become tense while watching me poke my finger at him. Behind Victor I hear the click of the hammer being drawn back on pistols. A few men draw their weapons and point them at me.
What should have scared me, only made me angrier, I was about to push my limits, but Dimitri reached up and grabbed me back by the shoulders. He pulls me back against him. I can feel the warmth of his body pressed against my back and it calmed me, having his hands on me distracted me from my anger for a moment. It took all my effort to keep my eyes on Victor.
Victor eyed the maneuver that Dimitri just made. His eyes narrowed as they roam over me with intense curiosity and then to Dimitri's hands on my shoulders and finally up to Dimitri. I saw something flicker in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly.
"So who's your new side kick?" Victor says lightly as if no guns have been drawn.
Dimitri tenses and his hands tighten on my shoulders when he feels me lean away from his body. "Roza" he says quietly, at the sound of my new nickname I stop. A second later Dimitri steps out from behind me, in the silence the only sound I can hear is Dimitri's spurs hitting the wooden floor. He moves me back so he can stand in front of me in a protective stance. Directly in the line of fire.
"Sheriff Dimitri Belikov." Dimitri says placing his hands on his pistols.
Victor smiles widely "Isn't that nice. Did you here that boy's there's a new Sheriff in town" Behind him his posse gives a menacing laugh. Everyone now has their hands on their pistols. Out of the corner of my eye I see Abe has his gun drawn, Eddie and Mason have approached from the sides with their guns drawn too. I hear the crowd shift as they back away.
"Why don't you boy's do as the lady asked and head on out for the night." Dimitri says calmly.
There is a pause as Victor seems to be thinking it over. Something in his eyes tells me that he has had some sort of revelation. With a smirk on his face he turns his head to look to one side, then the other and back at Dimitri. "Alright Sheriff, we've seen enough for tonight. We'll do as the lady asks." He reaches up and tips his hat to me. "Until we meet again, Rosie." He says all sweet, but you could hear the underlying threat. He looks at Abe and Dimitri then says "Abe, Sheriff" he nods to each of them curtly. He turned on his heals and strolled out. His boy's stood there staring us down for a moment until Victor shouted "Come along boy's" They slowly backed out the saloon door.
We all stood still for a minute. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. Dimitri's posture seemed to relax a little. I glance at Abe he appeared to be thinking it all through. I could hear the buzz of voices around me. I could hear snippets of conversations, hearing things like….. wonder why he left so easily?... What was that about?...He's up to no good I can feel it in my bones…..its not over.
"Ok folks, let's get back to enjoying your evening." I say loudly. I look over to Mason and give him a nod and he returns to the piano and begins playing music again. Eddie heads back behind the bar. I see people huddled together no doubt talking about the whole thing. I scan the Saloon for any signs of trouble, when I find none I turn and look at Abe. When I turn I feel Dimitri turn around he is standing only inches from me just behind my right side.
"Old man, what are you doing here, I thought you had an early day tomorrow?"
"I just had a feeling Victor might show up and I wanted to make sure he knew I was here." He said gruffly.
"Well, he knows now, doesn't he?" I say sarcastically. "But thank you, I appreciate you making yourself known." I say in a nicer tone.
"Thanks for backing me up, you two." Abe says with a nod to me and Dimitri. He seemed to be watching us closely.
"I think we need to have a town meeting AND we need some Deputies to back us up AND maybe we can form a patrol of local men to keep an eye on the outskirts of town. Maybe it would give us some warning when Victor and his gang are around." I said fervently to Abe.
"We both know that this is only the beginning now. We will have to be on constant watch." I continued. I was kind of thinking out loud. But I felt like we had to act, we can't just sit around waiting for his next move.
"Dimitri, what do you think of Rose's ideas?" Abe asked bringing me back from my inner thoughts. I was still standing very close to Dimitri. Abe seemed to notice. I look up at Dimirti who seemed lost in his own thoughts until Abe had addressed him.
"Rose is right, we have to band together what's that saying together we stand, divided we fall." He said with his brows furrowed. I could tell he was trying to think of ways to protect us.
"That's right my boy, exactly right." He says patting Dimitri on the shoulder. "We will call for a town meeting Friday night. I will be gone all day tomorrow, but I will make sure the word gets out. I don't think he will be back tonight. But Rose you need to be careful, did you hear the threat behind his words?" He looked at me seriously.
"Yes, I heard him." I grumbled. "But I will be out of town most of the day tomorrow too. Lissa and I have plans to go to Missoula shopping."
"Well that's probably a good thing. I will see you two Friday." He steps to me and wraps an arm around me and says quietly for only me to hear "watch your back, don't do anything reckless, and don't go out alone." I nod. He kissed my forehead and said 'good night' to me for the second time tonight. He put a hand out to Dimitri and they shook hands, they shared a nod and he left.
I watched as he walked out, the noise of the crowd seemed to come back to me now. I looked at Dimitri he was watching me. I gave him a small smile and gestured for him to follow me. We walked outside, the street was empty. The noise level dropped. I looked around for a private place and decided to step around the side of the building.
I stepped into the shadows and turned around to find Dimitri right behind me. I could see him in the moonlight. He looked extremely sexy. I ran my hand up his arm and wrapped it around his neck. His arms surrounded me immediately. His warmth was intoxicating. He pulled me close "are you ok?" he asked "yeah, I'm ok" I said quietly. We stood there a few minutes just holding on to each other. My head was resting on his chest listing to his breathing and heartbeat. Taking in his amazing sent. He was stroking my hair. I could stay that way forever.
"Roza" he said. I looked up at him. "Will you do something for me?" confused I said "like what" he hesitated like he was trying to figure out how to say something. "Well, I need you to promise me you'll stay as far away from Victor as you can" not sure what he's getting at I say "why would I want to go anywhere near him?" He shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. I think he's coming after you. You have to promise me to be careful. Don't go anywhere alone. Please promise me you won't be reckless." I laugh not exactly the reaction he was expecting.
"You sound just like Abe. He just said almost that exact same thing to me." He had a really worried look in his eyes. "Ok, I promise I will try to be careful" He sighed and closed his eyes. I reached up with my hand and put it against his cheek. His eyes opened and he looked into my eyes. His eyes seemed to hold so much emotion, fear, sadness, desire, lust and so much more.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine as his grip around me tightened. He backed me up to the wall and pressed himself to me. He deepened the kiss and our tongues explored each others mouths. Every time we kissed my body reacted like a lightning storm. The passion was so intense. I just wanted more.
His mouth left mine and traveled down my jaw and my neck with little nips and sucks his tongue licking my skin. I arched my back and let my head fall back. My breathing getting heavier, a small moan escapes from my throat. His lips by my ear he whispers "Oh god, Roza, what you do to me." His accent so thick and sexy I almost don't understand him. He moves back to my mouth and kisses me hard, full of want, of need. I kiss him back with the same vigor, my hands griping his soft beautiful hair between my fingers. Our kisses slowly turn from ones of hunger to gentle and loving.
We both know we need to say good night. But I can tell he doesn't want to anymore then I do. He breaks the silence once again "We should….." He whispers and kisses me. "I know…" I whisper back against his lips we kiss again. We both sigh heavily at the same time which makes us laugh. He smiles so beautifully at me he touches my cheek with his thumb. "I don't want to go…." I nod "I know…" I say again. He looks into my eyes for a long moment then he drops his hand down to mine. He pushes himself off me pulling me from the wall by my hand.
We step out of the shadow and he walks me to the door, he kissed my forehead and said "good night, Roza."
"Night" I say as he walks away. I watched as he walked to the Inn across the street. When he walked through the door he stopped and looked back at me he stared at me for a long moment he smiled and nodded and walked inside. I smiled and looked down without much of a thought I brought my fingers to my lips. I could still feel his mouth on mine. I hear a throat clear behind me. I spin around to see Adrian staring at me with a smirk on his face.
"Wow little lady, you're almost glowing." He says a little cocky. "Looks like you got yourself an admirer." He comments as he looks across the street where Dimitri had just gone. "Actually from the looks of it you got yourself a few." He smirked again. "You may include me as one." Cockiness showing through once again.
"I'm sorry, if you will please excuse me, I have things I need to tend to." I say sharply as I walk past him into the Saloon.
"Not a problem little lady, I just wanted to bid you 'good night'. He said and strolled away without waiting for any reply. I just shook my head and continued on with my night not giving him another thought.
The rest of the night went as normal. Jill kept looking at me and when I looked back she would give a small smile. Eddie asked a few times seeing the smile what that was about. I just blew it off and shrugged my shoulders. He was very observant and was looking at me with a glint in his eyes, I think he has some suspicions, but kept it to himself for now. The crowd dispersed fairly quickly, after the little show, the atmosphere was a little off. We closed everything up quickly and said our good nights.
I decided to stay in town once again, partly because I didn't feel safe riding out to the ranch with Victor's little threat hanging out there. I also knew that Lissa would come get me bright and early so I needed my beauty sleep. I went upstairs to the small room, I did my normal routine in a daze, and all I could think about was the kisses.
I could still feel it, just thinking about him sent a tingle through me. I crawled into bed closing my eyes and reliving every moment of each kiss. I drifted off to sleep with the thought of his hands on me, his mouth on my lips, the warmth of his body pressed to mine, the feeling of his teeth grazing the skin on my neck sending a thrill straight to my core. I fell into my dreams.
Go to Dimitri a voice said in my head. Something was pulling me to him, urging me closer. I ran to his room and knocked on his door, he opened it. "Rose?"… " Let me in. It's Lissa." He stepped aside and let me in. His chest was bare, standing there in just cotton bottoms. "What's wrong?" The sound of his voice thrilled me, I couldn't answer. I wanted him to touch me. I knew somewhere something was wrong but it didn't seem important. I stepped to him and kissed his chest. "Rose, what are you doing?" … "What do you think?" ….. "Are you drunk?" …. "Don't I wish" "I thought you wanted to- don't you think I'm pretty?"….. "Rose, I don't know what's going on but you need to go back to your room." I moved toward him, he reached out and gripped my wrists. Something seized him, he wanted me as much as I wanted him. "Do you think I'm pretty?" … "I think you're beautiful"…"You're so beautiful it hurts me sometimes." His kiss consumed me. His hands slid down to the edge of my dress. He pushed it up until he'd pulled the dress over my head and tossed it on the floor. "You.. got rid of that dress fast. I thought you liked it." …. "I do like it, I love it." And then he took me to the bed.
I sat straight up in bed. I was gasping for air. Sweat was causing my hair to stick to my body. The desire was aching within me. I could still feel his touch on my skin. I could feel his chiseled chest under my fingertips. The passion was coursing through me like fire burning in my veins. It felt so real. I don't know what was wrong with Lissa, but oh god the rest felt so right.
I sat there for a few minutes trying to catch my breath. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest. I looked at the clock it was only 2 AM. I stood up and walked to my window. The refreshing night air blew across my heated skin cooling it. I closed my eyes feeling the tremble of my body as I went over the dream. It reminded me of the kisses we shared. The dream was strange, I didn't understand it. It was like the other dream I had last night. So real! I was overwhelmed with the whole thing.
I had this urge to go to him now. Looking across the street I wondered which room he was staying in. I have been there many times since Ms. Alberta took care of us for so long. We lived there many a winters. I wondered if he was in my old room.
God, I wanted him more then I have never wanted anything. I knew in that moment I would give myself to him if I was given the chance. I have never been with a man and I really had never even considered it. But Dimitri, my god what he did to me. The way he touched me, I knew he felt it too. He described the feeling earlier he said "I feel this undeniable pull towards you and when I touch you I get this amazing warm tingle feeling run through me." That is exactly how it feels to me. It has to be destiny.
I decided I just needed to go back to bed. I let my mind drift through all the kisses and touches again while I drifted back to sleep.
I was drifting in and out of consciousness when I heard his voice whisper "I love you, Roza. Please wake up." My eyes snapped open expecting to look into those beautiful brown eyes. The eyes I dreamt about all night. I couldn't get him out of my head. He is all I can think about its all consuming. I have only known him for 2 days but I feel like it has been forever. He was my past, is my present and future. My forever.
This is so crazy! How? I have to be losing my mind to let something like this happen to Rose Hathaway. For god sakes I have never let anyone get under my skin. This just can not be happening. But….. I can't help it, I can't stop it, and it's a force beyond my control. I think…no….. I can't be….. I think I'm in…Love? Oh my god!
I shake my head at the realization that is bouncing through my mind. I have to stop thinking about him for a little while. I will talk to Lissa today on our trip to Missoula. Shit I gotta move.
I rush around to get myself all dressed to go to the city. Knowing Lissa she has the whole day planned and we will do it all. It's fun to be pampered once in a while. It will be only the best for us today. Lissa must live up to her status as a princess.
In the old country her family is royalty. She of course never really had to deal with that too much, but it follows her in the family name. So when she goes anywhere she has to play the part. The Dragomir name is well known. The family crest is the dragon; of course, it is one of the 13 Royal families. Her private carriage carries the crest so people know when they see it and the fan fair begins. Lissa doesn't really like it, but she wants to be proud of her name because she is the last Dragomir.
I am ready to go and I realize I still have some time before she gets here. I woke up so early because of my dreams. So I decide to go see Jezebel. I walk to the end of town to the stable and enter the big doors I see it's still all quiet because it's so early. As I approach Jez hears me and pokes her head out of the stall. She snorts and nickers at me to say hello.
"Hi, my pretty girl I brought you a treat." I rub her nose and pull the sugar cube from my pocket. She lips it from my palm with out a second thought happily excepting my gift. I decide to brush her for a little while. It always gives me peace of mind. It's so relaxing. I grab the brush and set to work down her neck. I'm in my own little world when I hear whistling. I smile cuz I know it's Mason so I whistle along with him. It's hard to whistle when you're smiling though. He stopped and I kept going. I heard his soft chuckle. He knows it's me.
"Hey, what are you doing here so early?" He asks with a big grin on his face. His head pops around the corner of Jezebel's stall. Jez whinnies it almost sounded like a little laugh. I smile big and pat her neck "did you think that was funny?" I ask her. She bobs her head up and down, snorts and blows air out her nose. I laugh out loud. "You're so funny pretty girl." I look over to Mason and he is grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm going to be gone all day so I wanted to come see my baby." I said brushing her some more. "Awe, well I'm gonna miss you to baby." He says with a little laugh. "Mason! You know what I mean!" I growled playfully. He laughed a big hearty laugh. "I know, I just couldn't resist." Smiling full out, now. I punch him in the arm. "Hey!" he says, but grabs me by my waist. I was laughing until I heard someone clear their throat.
I look up to see the man I have been dreaming about, Dimitri. He is not smiling. He looks mad, no jealous. Oh shit!
"Ahh… Dimitri! Hi! Um…..good morning?" I say sort of babbling and pulling away from Mason as fast as I can. Mason has a huge smile on his face. Oh god this looked bad. What am I gonna say. "Ummm….I just came to see Jez…. for a few minutes before….. I leave for the whole day. Ah….. Mason was just giving me a hard time about something I said. Ahh ….yeah." I cover my face and then run my hand through my hair, closing my eyes because I really think I sound lame.
"Good morning he says stiffly." Wow no emotion on his face what so ever. Oh shit, shit, shit!
Mason steps up "What can I do for you Dimitri?" he asked politely.
"My horse Shadow needs new shoes" He says all business like. Not even sparing me a glance.
"Not a problem I can do that today." Mason says all cheery. "Just put him in the stall next to Jez."
Dimitri walks past me with his horse, not even a word or a look in my direction. My heart is thumping in my chest I'm surprised they can't hear it. I watch as he put Shadow in the stall says a curt "thank you" and walks out.
I look at Mason he is obvious to it all. "Well Mase I gotta go. See you later" I say in a hurry.
I get out of the stable, I see Dimitri just a few feet ahead. Dimitri is walking fast away from me. I run and catch him. "Dimitri wait!" I grab his arm. He froze. He looked at me, but now I wish he hadn't. The glare was killer. "PLEASE! It's NOT what you think!" I say breathlessly. "Mason and I are just friends, I swear!" His eyes soften a little bit, but I can still see the hesitation. "Please! Believe me" I beg. "Come here!" I say pulling him between buildings, out of the street, for some privacy. He lets out a heavy sigh.
"What?" he says harshly. I cringe at the tone. I looked into the beautiful brown eyes I have been thinking about constantly. I just want to kiss him "please forgive me its not what you think I swear to god Mason and I are just friends please don't be mad at me I have been thinking about you all night and I just want to kiss you and feel your arms around me, please." I finish in one breath of air rushing through it so he won't stop me or walk away. I look up at him with a pleading look and my best puppy dog eyes I can manage.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. I'm waiting for him to yell. So I close my eyes scrunching them up readying myself for it. When I feel the sweetest thing I have ever felt. His warm soft lips crushing against mine. Oh thank god! I kiss him back with just as much force. My arms wrap around his neck drawing him closer. His arms snake around my back holding me tight. I deepen the kiss by opening his mouth with mine and using my tongue to explore his, aggressively and hungry.
After a few minutes of intense kissing, I pull back. "I swear, there is nothing…" He cuts me off with another kiss. I melt into his arms. "Are we ok?" I ask hesitantly. He leans his forehead to mine. He takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Yeah, were ok" he says in a husky voice. I reach up and touch his cheek, I look deep in his eyes. I'm not sure we're ok yet. I hold my gaze "I promise you there is no one else." He smiles a small but sweet smile. I pull him into a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't mean for that to happen. I promise I won't let that happen again" He squeezed me tighter. "It's ok, we're ok really."
He leans back with a smile "did you just say you have been thinking about me all night?" I smile now too. "Yes" I said in a breath looking down and shaking my head. "All I could think about was you, all I dreamt about was you!" He pulls me back to him for another hug. He laughs "that's funny because all I could think about was you and all I dreamt about was you!" I giggled. Yes, I actually giggled!
I lean back and put my hand up to his cheek again I stroke my thumb across his sensual lips. I sigh, "I'm sorry, I have to go. I'm sure Lissa is going to be here any second to pick me up, if she's not already, in which case I'm going to be in trouble for holding us up from our trip." He kisses my thumb and leans his head into my hand and closes his eyes. "I know. You can go, I'll see you later" But he didn't let go of my waist. I smiled "you actually have to let me go." He shook his head "I don't want to." I laughed. He said that so child like. It was very cute. "I know will you come see me tonight when I get back?" I asked hopefully. "As soon as I see you're here I will be over." He kisses me before I can answer. "ok"…."come on" I take his hand in mine and walk towards the street.
It's still very early morning so no one is around. We walk close together hand in hand to my saloon. Smiling and laughing and having small talk. It was very comfortable. I looked up to see Lissa's private carriage coming to a stop. The driver climbs down and nods to me and opens the door for Lissa. I smile as she steps out seeing Dimitri and I standing together hand in hand. I see her eyes dart to our hands and then my face. I must be glowing like Adrian said because Lissa lights up like a Christmas tree when she sees my face.
"Good Morning!" She says very happily. "Good Morning to you." I say just as chipper.
"Lissa Dragomir I would like you to meet Dimitri Belikov." I say with a big smile. Lissa puts out her hand. Dimitri nods his head tilts his hat to her and takes her hand. "A pleasure to meet you Miss Dragomir." He says all formal like. She blushed "Oh, no need to be formal, please call me Lissa." She said smiling. "Then you must call me Dimitri" he said politely. "Agreed" she said with a nod.
He stepped back and wrapped his arm around me she raised her eyebrows and looked at me surprised. I turn to him smiling "We need to get going. I will see you later?" He nodded his head then kissed my forehead and let go of me with reluctance. "bye" I said he smile "bye" he said softly. He looked at Lissa "have fun ladies." He smiled wider and walked away.
I was waiting for it. 5…4….3…2…1 "OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I MISSED!" she squealed. I laughed. "Come on let's go I will tell you on the way" I say pushing her in to the carriage. She happily jumped in and away we went.
I told her everything. The dinner, Abe's story, Dimitri's part of the story, Abe leaving early, Dimitri staying, all the kisses, Dimitri leaving, the night starting Dimitri coming back, the stranger Adrian and Tasha hanging all over Dimitri, our moment in the back room getting caught by Jill, the confrontation with Victor, Abe, Dimitri and I, our moment beside the building after the Victor thing, the dream, my obsession, the Mason thing, Dimitri finding us laughing, me chasing him down, and finally the make up kissing and him walking me back to the saloon.
She had the appropriate gasps and oh my god's and are you kidding me all in the right place and times. She really couldn't believe so much had happened in less then 15 hours. Neither could I really. It was absolutely absurd. Now that I look back I had a really busy night! Just plain crazy. I finished my story just in time to arrive in Missoula. I was right Lissa had it all planned out first lunch, then power shopping, then hair and nails done then dinner and home.
We had found the perfect dresses to wear to the dance. Mine was black strapless with a sweetheart neck line that was form fitted on top but was soft and flowing to my knees. It was beautiful and fit me perfectly. I think Lissa was more excited about Dimitri seeing me in that dress then I was. But he hadn't ask me about going to the dance or anything so I wasn't sure that I would have a date, but I planned to go anyway weather someone had asked or not. The dance was a lot of fun, so I was going regardless. We had found some other cute items to buy too. My hair and nails were done to perfection as were Lissa's. The food was great and we ate too much, but it was wonderful. It was a really long and busy day. I was exhausted.
On the way back Lissa and I were very tired so we rode in silence most of the way. We had talked a little but we had talked ourselves out today. We had laughed and cried and oohed and ahhed, screamed and jumped up and down. It was a busy day! It was getting really late darkness was setting in. I was a little worried because of the rumors of the attacks on travelers.
Suddenly I felt the carriage jerk and speed up. Lissa and I try to hold on because the ride just got extremely bumpy. I look out the little window and see we are being chased. We were just outside St. Vladimir in a small wooded patch. The driver was whipping the horses to run as fast as they could. The carriage was bouncing hard our packages were flying everywhere inside with us. We could barely hang on.
The race was intense. We had to make it to the edge of the forest area just to get away from whoever was chasing us and they were closing in I could see riders to the sides of our carriage. But we weren't stopping. The driver knew better he was not going to let that happen. We flew out of the trees like a bat out of hell. The edge of town was approaching fast. Just as we hit town I looked out and they were gone, just like that they had disappeared. They faded right into the shadows. I couldn't believe it. We actually made it. But the ride wasn't finished. The driver pulled back hard on the reins. The carriage jerked and jumped and slid until we had finally stopped.
I opened the door of the carriage and found we had stopped directly in front of the Sheriff's office. Dimitri, Abe, Eddie and Mason came rushing out to us. "What happened?" someone shouted. Lissa and I were a bit shaken we just couldn't talk yet. I waved my hand for them to wait a minute, but the driver started to speak. He told them of the chase. Dimitri came directly to me he put his hand out to help me out of the carriage. Eddie helped Lissa down. Dimitri escorted us into the office his hand never leaving my back.
This was the first time I had come in here. It had been closed up for a long time. Dimitri had it all cleaned up spick and span. We walked into the main room it was fairly large there were 4 small jail cells in the back, 2 on each side with a little hall way between them. A desk stood where we had entered. There was also another small room with a door. I could see another desk in there.
I had regained my composure now and looked at Dimitri he was looking at me with a worried expression. I caught his eye and nodded. Silently answering the question "are you ok" that he was asking me.
"I need to speak with each of you individually in my office, I will start with Rose" He looked at me and motioned for me to follow him. He took me into the little room with the desk and shut the door. As soon as the door was shut I was in his arms. He held me tight telling me its ok, he's got me. He continued to murmur things to me as I calmed down.
"Roza, are you sure you're ok" he asked needing to hear me say it. "Yes, really I'm ok, just shaken." He kisses me on the forehead and then on the tip of my nose. Finally his lips reach mine and it blocked out all the other things that had just happened. No other thoughts came to mind except his lips on mine.
"Thank god you're ok" He said relief flooding his features. "You look absolutely beautiful." He says with a smile. I blush, he presses his hand to my flushed cheek and places another soft kiss on my lips. His thumb stroking my cheek as he gazes into my eyes. "What can you tell me?" he asks quietly. I tell him what I saw. I described the riders the best I could. It was dark and really hard to see. He stands there with his arms wrapped around me never letting me go until we have to. He kissed me long and deep one more time. "I have to talk to the other two maybe they saw things you couldn't." I nod he lets me go but puts a hand on my back to guide me out of the office.
He asks Lissa to come in and tell him what she saw. She nods and looks at me I give her an encouraging smile and she walked into his office. They are only in there a matter of minutes when they come out and the Driver goes in. He's in the office with Dimitri the longest because he saw it first hand. He could see them coming at us before we even got to the woods. After Dimitri had gotten everyone's story he suggested that Lissa stay in town. It could be dangerous for her to be out in the open this late at night. She agreed so she and her driver went over to the Inn for rooms.
Abe talked to me briefly but after he was satisfied that I was fine he headed off to the Inn too. Eddie and Mason headed home which left Dimitri and I alone. He walked me back to the Saloon and up to my room. He stayed for awhile just holding on to me, kissing me, caressing my hand and talking. It was very late so he said good night and went back to the Inn. I was so exhausted I just fell into my bed ready for sleep to take me. I couldn't help but wonder what could possibly happen in the next 24 hours. Oh yeah the town meeting, that should be loads of fun! I thought sarcastically. I closed my eyes and let the blackness envelope me.