Blazing Desires - A Dark Romance Story

Chapter 9 - Breathe: Davina

I'm not a fucking dog.

I want to shout it so loud that it echoes off the silent walls as we walk through the empty hall. The words are all I can think of so it takes me a moment to realise there is nobody out here.

Strange.

I usually always have Noel waiting outside my room, unfortunate for me.

I don't voice the question in my mind of where everybody has gone but my heart pounds with anxiety. I continue following Blaze, using his sure steps to breathe in tandem.

In one, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four. Has something happened? A break-in? Is my father hurt? One can only hope.

My thoughts spiral as we make it to the staircase leading us down to the ground floor. The gold railing sweeping down with the steps as the black marble with gold vein glistens in the chandelier lights.

I always hated how my mother decorated the house. She was obsessed with the era but part of me always wondered if it was a way to get back at my father. I was surprised he hadn't redecorated it already.

There was nothing wrong with the style per se, it just felt too in your face. Everything had to sparkle and gleam, so many patterns. It felt noisy and loud.

I was much more comfortable with soft and cosy, textures you can sink into and snuggle in. Like a warm hug. I know I only craved it so much because I was lonely. Affection wasn't something I had much experience with since mum left.

I flick a glance to Blaze and the tense lines of his back as he descends the top step. He turned slightly, raising his hand to me, palm up.

I drank in the lines of his palms, noted the hard callouses dotted there. Wondering what they felt like as they passed over my soft skin. The contrast of sensations that picture elicited has me swallowing a little harder.

Stupid girl, you're annoyed at him remember!

I cleared my throat and placed my hand in his. It would have been childish to not take it, he was only helping me down the stairs. I suppressed a shiver as our hands touched and avoided eye-contact while placing my left hand on the banister attached to the wall.

Still no words pass between us as we descend. My heart thumps in my chest from my growing anxiety that I'm about to have dinner with my father and that could go either way. He never lasts long around the new security detail before he shows his true colours.

My breath becomes shallow as I imagine him making a scene in front of Blaze.

Will he just stand there and let it happen or will he intervene?

There's a sad part of me, the one that ignores the reality of my life that wants to imagine him stepping in and saving me from my father's latest punishment but the logical side of my brain tramples over it.

Seriously, where the fuck is everyone?

My grip tightens in Blaze's hand as we reach the final steps, my panic taking over my body as my palms starts to sweat and the counting for my breathing isn't woking. The urge to flee back to the confines of my room rather than facing whatever is in store for me is so strong, I half turn without letting go of his hand.

My hand is suddenly turning over and I snap my gaze to where Blaze now hold's my wrist with his free one. The hand that had been holding mine is now fingers, gently tapping against my palm.

One, two, three, four.

Then my wrist.

One, two, three, four.

"Breathe, my love." Blaze's low gravelly voice reaches my ears over the wooshing sound that threatens to block all noise.

So I do, I breathe in time to his tapping as he goes up my arm and back to my palm. All while encouraging me to breathe time to the tune of his taps.

"In." Four taps.

"Out" Four taps.

Slowly, my breathing becomes even and the wooshing in my ears abates. My heart rate is still elevated but part of that is from this stupidly gorgeous man touching me.

Once I feel calmer, I carefully pull my hand from his and rub them down my skirts.

"Thank you." I whisper, not trusting myself to say anything else to him.

I was so confused by this man, one minute he's treating me like a dog and the next, he's comforting me. I don't know what it means but I can't shake the feeling that he's doing this for some reason other than the kindness of his heart.

"Anytime, Davina. Shall we?" He gestures to the ground floor foyer in the direction of the sun room.

Out of all the rooms in this house, I loved and hated this one the most. It was a new addition in contrast to the rest of the house. My father had it built not long after my mother left.

I always thought it odd. What would a man like him, who was all smoke and mirrors, darkness and destruction want with a sun room?

He never used it unless he was hosting a dinner which was baffling. A man with known enemies in the business of being able to take people out and make it look like an accident, enjoyed hosting dinners in a room full of windows.

He was either dumb or didn't think anyone would actually try it.

I glance through the foyer, noticing that once again, it's still empty. Part of me is glad there was nobody aside from Blaze to witness my near panic attack but the beginnings of a new one felt close by at their absence.

We start walking, turning left from the staircase and down the long hall. The sunroom was added to the side of the main building due to that side getting the most daylight. My shoes clicking on the shiny floor, the only sound accompanying us.

Thirty steps, that's all it was between me and my father.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself.

You will give nothing away, you will not react, you don't even exist.

I raise my hand to knock, shutting out all thoughts of my annoyance and appreciation for Blaze. The anger I feel towards Noel and the rest of the detail who do nothing to help me. And most of all, I push all of the hurt my father has done into the small box in my mind bolt it shut.

I am a vessel.

Three sharp raps on the door and I'm ready to have my fate delivered to me by my father's hands.