Free Dimitri (Immortals of New Orleans, Book 6) by Kym Grosso Page B

man-bits, and she threw her head back onto the pillow in a huff. Seriously? It was as if someone had just laid him out on a platter and handcuffed her wrists. Even then, she supposed she’d happily use her tongue. Her fists pounded the bed in frustration.
    “Can you throw me a…” He was about to say, ‘pillow’ when a large white mass launched across the room at him. Catching it with one hand, he smirked. My little kitten has her own case of blue balls? Satisfaction that he wasn’t the only suffering party made his painful erection slightly more tolerable.
    Dimitri curled his legs, attempting to jam his six-foot-five body onto the cramped sofa. How the hell am I supposed to sleep like this all night? He caught the glint of amusement in her eyes as he struggled to make himself fit into the small space. Just punishment , he supposed.
    “Comfortable?” she asked through the darkness.
    “Yeah. All good,” he lied.
    “Wow, you do look so relaxed.” She grinned.
    Dimitri tugged at the blanket, which looked like it belonged in a toddler crib. He blew out a breath and closed his eyes, willing his dick into submission. Shit, shit, shit.
    “Something wrong?” she asked, the smile evident in the lilt of her question.
    “Tell me a bedtime story.” Dimitri stared up at the ceiling. Do not look at her. Resist.
    “A bedtime story?”
    “Yeah, come on.”
    “Once upon a time there was a very lonely girl. She wanted so badly to find love, but she was afraid.”
    “What was she afraid of?”
    “Shh…my story.”
    “Okay, okay.”
    “She was afraid of losing herself, her independence. You see she was convinced that if she met the wrong person, she’d never be the same.” Gillian stared at Dimitri, who appeared to be avoiding eye contact. “So she built herself a safe world. A bubble.”
    “Bubbles aren’t very sturdy structures. I guess she wasn’t an engineer.”
    “No.” Gillian laughed. “No, she wasn’t. But the bubble worked for her. It was very comfortable.”
    “Doesn’t sound too exciting.”
    “It wasn’t.”
    Dimitri listened intently as she spoke. Why would she live a cloistered existence? Why was she so afraid of wolves when she was part wolf?
    “But one day, she met someone who made her question what she was doing, even though she’d just met him.”
    “Did she start living?”
    “I’m afraid the story doesn’t have an ending. As it stands now, the girl leaves the boy. She’s deciding what she should do.”
    “Wait a second,” he said gruffly. “I wanted you to tell me a story.”
    “I told you one,” she said.
    “I like happily-ever-afters. Change the ending.” He wasn’t talking about make believe.
    “Yeah, I like happy endings too, but that doesn’t mean we always get one,” she teased, referring to how he’d ended their romantic interlude.
    “Touché. But for the record, I would’ve been glad to oblige. Being a gentleman isn’t easy. I’m hanging by a thread here, darlin’,” he replied. Little kitten was still upset that he’d removed himself, he thought. For all the talk about avoiding wolves, it appeared she was interested after all.
    “Dimitri?” Gillian wasn’t sure why, but she wondered if he was dating anyone. Of course he was dating someone…probably lots of someones, she reasoned.
    “Yeah.”
    “You promise to go see a witch?” She changed the subject, trying to distract herself from the fact that in the course of twenty-four hours she was wavering on her rule not to date wolves.
    “Why do you ask?”
    “No reason. I just want to see you well.”
    “Are you saying you care about me?”
    “Maybe.” She paused. “I felt him, your wolf. I haven’t healed many shifters.”
    “I don’t think I want to hear about you being with other shifters if you healed them the way you healed me,” Dimitri said seriously. It bothered him to think that she’d been intimate with anyone else yet he knew that she had to have been with other men.
    “I’ve