Chapter 6 A presence that lived in his heart

Chapter 6

Dimitri’s POV

It was a lie, the pain never faded with time.

The door to my study was shut tight, leaving me alone with my dark hunting memories. I sat behind the long, sleek desk, staring into space.

A half-empty glass of whiskey sat in my right hand. The yellow liquid danced back and forth in the small glass, spilling a few drops onto my knuckles as my hand shook.

I could feel my vision swimming in front of me, but the alcohol did nothing to numb the deep ache that my heart let out.

The only sound that broke the silence was the heavy drops of rain slamming against the tall glass window behind my chair.

I raised my glass to my lips and took a big swallow. The expensive liquor burned my throat as it swam downwards, but when it hit my stomach, the coldness inside my chest came back again.

Two soft knocks sounded against the heavy wood of the door.

My head snapped to the door. My hold tightened on the glass. I did not answer.

The handle of the door turned after seconds passed by, with the slow clicking sound bouncing round the study room.

The door swung open, letting a trail of light from the hallway outside cut into the dim light where I was. A woman stepped in, the dim light immediately illuminating her as she slammed the door shut behind her.

She wore a bright red robe that hung loosely off her slender body. The thin, see-through fabric did nothing to hide her abundant curves as she moved.

The soft outlines of her breasts and the tight pebbles of her nipples pressed straight against the red material.

She closed the distance between us, her bare feet making no sound at all.

Funny how I didn't care about her body or the way the robe slipped off her shoulders. Instead, I kept my eyes fixed on her face, letting the dim light blur her features until all I could focus on was her long, lush red strands dancing over her shoulders, just like Ruby's.

She came to a stop right in front of me. A familiar scent of vanilla perfume hit my nose, the scent was like hers but still managed to feel different.

"Don Rossi, you should take a break," she softly purred.

She reached closer to now place her hands on my chest, and then slid straight onto my lap, wriggling slutty on my dick before settling down.

With her face this close to mine and the help of the dim light, her features began to blur ever so slightly.

Now the woman sitting on my lap disappeared, to now be replaced by a ghost that lived rent-free in my head once I was surrounded by the cover of darkness.

Lush red hair. Glowing green eyes that held defiance and strength. She was beautiful, yet dangerous.

My heart slammed against my ribs before tightening as a wave of old memories rushed through my mind, making my hands clench tighter on my glass of whiskey.

"Ruby," her name slipped through my lips in yearning before I could stop it.

The woman in my lap did not care about the name I mentioned.

She only smiled, her fingers moving slowly down to my waist as I felt her small hands grip my belt buckle, quickly snapping the metal free.

She tugged the leather out of the way and pulled down my zipper, slipping the robes she wore off her shoulders in one swift move to now leave it pooling at her waist and exposing her palm-sized, soft breasts for me to feed on.

My cock sprang hard out of my briefs, the warmth of her soft touch gripping my thick shaft harshly as she let out a moan, biting her lips made my teeth ground hard as I fought back a groan.

"Let me please you."

She slid off my lap and dropped straight to her knees on the floor between my feet. Her fingers wrapped tighter around my shaft as she took me into her mouth, my length disappearing into her small, parted red lips.

She began to move, her head bobbing back and forth with fast, warm strokes.

My eyes slammed shut, head thrown backwards.

Behind my eyelids, Ruby’s face was right there, like she was back alive and breathing.

I could almost feel the cold night we stood in front of a priest exchanging our vows, with only Lucas as our witness.

I could almost see her holding that tiny black-and-white ultrasound picture in her trembling fingers, recalling the single tear that had escaped my eye for the first time in thirty-two years.

But the peaceful memory didn't last, it twisted violently into our final night together, her face pale with rage, her fingers cradling her swollen belly as she screamed at me, the sharp crack of her hand across my cheek echoing in the room.

A deep, low growl tore out of my throat, my eyes snapping open again.

I reached down, shoving my fingers deep into the woman's red hair, and yanked her off me, tossing her body harshly onto the desk.

She slammed down hard, my glass of whiskey and files going smashing onto the floorboards.

I stepped up behind her roughly, kicking her legs wide open and leaving her ass wide open for me, her dripping entrance gliding wet for me. Without a word, I forced myself straight inside her in one heavy stroke.

Anger burned in my veins as I began to thrust deeply into her.

I slammed into her again and again, my hands gripping her hips so tightly her flesh turned white in the shape of my hand. The woman buried her face in the papers on the desk, screaming out without restraint in pleasure.

Every groan leaving her throat was a noise I tried to drown out. I closed my eyes, forcing the image of Ruby's furious face out of my mind, driving myself deeper to numb the burning pain in my chest.

I just kept driving my hips forward, using her body to burn away the rage tearing up my insides, until the pressure built up in my lower stomach. With a heavy groan, I shoved deep into her one last time, pulled out, and released my hot cum right against her ass.

I pulled back, stepping away from the desk. My chest heaved up and down as I stood in the middle of the room, taking in deep inhales of air while reality settled back into the room.

The woman moved slowly on the desk. She rolled onto her back, a satisfied smile spreading across her painted lips as she sat up, reached for my face, and laid a soft kiss on my cheek.

I stood still.

My right hand moved up slowly, my fingers coming to rest on her right cheek as I stared down into her eyes. She looked similar to Ruby, but didn't, all at the same time.

She leaned her head into my touch as my left hand reached out, brushing my hard palm lightly along her jawline, letting my fingers thread slowly into her long red strands.

Her hair feels just like Ruby's, I thought, the exact same texture.

Sonia must have misread the gesture as a sign to push further today.

She lifted her small hand and traced the outline of where a silver chain rested on my neck.

"You should let the dead remain dead, Dimitri," she whispered, her fingers stroking the edges around the silver locket. "She is gone, let her go, I can replace her, I will do such a good job to make you forget."

Her words sounded like a bucket of freezing water had been dumped right over my head, and the entire illusion I had built inside my mind shattered at that moment.

I went ice cold again in a split second.

"How dare you?" My voice vibrated through the study as my hand slid straight down from her cheek to her throat. My grip locked around her neck, my fingers digging into her skin and cutting off her next breath.

The smile left her face and her eyes went wide with terror, seeing she had made a wrong move.

Her hands snapped up fast, her long nails clawing frantically at the back of my hand and wrist with wide eyes pleading for mercy.

I tossed my arm out, flinging her naked body and sending her flying off the edge of the desk, hitting the floor, and sliding across the polished wood until her back smashed hard against the stiff base of the corner mini bar.

Strings of sobs left her lips as she clutched her ribs, whining in pain as she tried to drag air back into her lungs.

"Get out," I ordered, the words sounding like she had a timer for her life.

"Don Rossi, please," she whispered, tears cutting lines through the dark makeup on her cheeks. She fell onto her hands and knees, trying to crawl back across the floor toward my boots.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please, I didn't mean it that way… it's just she’s…she’s a ghost, and I’m right here…I will do such a good job, I’ll make you forget her name."

My back stiffened at her words. I turned my back on her, walked over to the desk, stepped over the scattered papers, and reached down.

My hand closed around the cold handle of my gun sitting near the lamp.

I turned back around, raising my arm and pointing the nozzle straight at the middle of her forehead, and my finger tightened on the trigger, watching her face snap into a look of horror.