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Dress

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Chapter 29: Dress (Christian's POV)

Resisting the urge to groan and roll over one more time, I ground my jaw while staring at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. The jet lag had me wide awake and I was too afraid to move and disturb Jules or make her uncomfortable. Despite the pillow wall being in place. "Red," I mumbled in the dark. 

I almost flinched when she suddenly removed a pillow from in between and stared at me in annoyance. "What?" she snapped. 

"I can't sleep," I admitted. 

"So? There's nothing I can do about it." 

"You're clearly just as wide awake as I am, Milaya." 

She laughed dryly, "What do you suggest we do instead? Bond?" 

I stared at her before hesitantly replying, "Maybe." 

"Go to sleep, Christian. We have a long day tomorrow and only nine hours left until we leave. Get your eight hours of sleep. Shut up and go to bed." 

"I would if I could." 

She ignored me and put the pillow back up, tugging at the covers a bit and going quiet. 

I nudged her foot with mine. "Jules." Nothing. "If you don't listen to me, I'm breaking down your stupid pillow wall," I threatened. Waiting to see if she would react, I peeked over the barrier but when she continued to lay there with her back facing me, I grabbed the two pillows and threw them on the floor, still on my side of the bed so she couldn't reach them. 

"Christian!" She rolled over and sat up, holding herself up on her palm before leaning back and turning her lamp on. "What is your problem?" 

I propped my elbow up and held my head in my palm. "I can't sleep," I repeated. 

"There's nothing I can do about that," she groaned, "let me go to bed." 

Rolling my eyes, I turned onto my back. "Fine." 

"Bring my pillow wall back." 

"No. It's your pillow wall, you bring it back." 

"I'm not the one who shattered it in the first place." 

To retaliate, I turned my back to her and remained silent. 

"I hate you so much," she scoffed before shuffling and lying down, leaving the pillows on the ground once she turned the lamp off.

Quietly, I rolled back over, staring at her in spite of the darkness. My eyes repeatedly traveled over the braid her hair was in, the light lavender-colored satin camisole she wore, and however much of the matching satin pajamas I could see. Huffing faintly, she pushed the covers away, pulling her legs on top, and the hem of her top rode up just a bit, revealing an inch of the bare skin at her waist. After pausing and deliberating, I reached forward, pinching the fabric between my fingers, and tugged it back down. 

"Christian," she warned. Letting out a loud, agitated groan, she spun back around, facing me. "You're bothering me," she stated. 

"I haven't done anything. If my existence bothers you, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." 

"Let me kill you." 

Thoughtlessly, I slid closer to her, hearing the sharp intake of breath she took as my face came within inches of hers. "Go ahead," I whispered. 

Placing a hand on my chest, she pushed me back. "Go to hell." 

I was already living in it, being so close to her yet still feeling like I was so fucking far. I had her again but I truly didn't. It was all for show and at the end of the day, I already lost her. 

I might never get her back. That is my hell. 

She held my gaze, both of us breathing steadily in the dark silence. "Just go to sleep," she whispered before closing her eyes and pulling the covers up to her chest. "I can't look at you like this," she added quietly. 

"Like what?" I questioned. 

Clearing her throat, she muttered, "Like I used to." 

Deciding not to say anything, I let my words die in my throat and watched her until she fell asleep. Just the sight of having Jules in a bed with me was overwhelming. Hell, forget that, the sight of Jules, in general, overwhelmed me. Reality rained down on me all too suddenly. 

This was probably my last chance at getting her back. If I couldn't do it this time, if I couldn't do it before she decided to walk out of my life again, then I knew that she would leave and never come back. If I lost her now, I lost her forever. And that was a thought I couldn't fucking stand. 

I fell asleep at some point and was knocked out completely unconscious but I woke up the next morning to a phone ringing that wasn't mine. Grumbling in annoyance, I squinted my eyes open and huffed, taking in the room around me. I looked at Jules who lay soundly asleep... on me. 

The woman was sprawled across me, her legs tangled under the covers with mine, an arm loosely around my waist, with her hand cozied up on my chest, her lips brushing against my throat. 

"Fuck me," I whispered, slowly lifting my hand from her thigh despite every nerve in my body that told me to hold her tighter. My eyes snapped over to her phone that was ringing on her nightstand. 

I need to get to that phone before she wakes up and realizes the position we're in. 

Taking a hold of the back of her leg, I cautiously removed it from mine before proceeding to do the same thing with her arm and then taking her waist to roll her onto her back and to her side of the bed. 

She must have been really tired because generally, Jules was an extremely light sleeper, but there were occasions like this one where her exhaustion got the best of her. 

Grunting faintly, I moved forward and braced a palm on the mattress beside her head, holding myself above her and hovering as I stretched out to reach her phone. Struggling to reach it, I inched closer to the table and in the process, to Jules, before my fingers finally grasped the iPhone. My fingers touched the screen but just as I went to answer the phone... 

"What are you doing?" I glanced down at her, my palm slipping out from under me as I collapsed, barely catching myself before I fell directly on her. 

She watched me in confusion for a moment before she comprehended the situation and her confusion morphed into amusement. Lifting a brow at me sharply, she reached for the phone and took it out of my hand, answering it. "Hello?" Sheepishly, I moved to get off her but she grabbed my t-shirt in a fist, holding me in place, her gaze threatening. 

My eyes almost widened but I kept it together, watching her in anticipation. 

"Yeah, we just woke up... Dining hall at nine, right? Sure, we'll be there. See you then. Bye, Naomi." She hung up and put her phone back on the nightstand before turning her attention to me. 

"I'm sorry," I said almost immediately. 

"You should be," she sassed before letting me go and leaning back on her elbows, coming in closer to me. 

My breath hitched as I held her gaze, feeling my heart pound. 

"Get off," she said sharply. 

Swiftly, I moved off her and lay on my back, taking a shaky breath. 

I thought I heard her chuckle as she got out of bed and told me, "Breakfast ends at nine. We have thirty minutes to get dressed and meet everyone downstairs before we leave for dress shopping." 

"Dress shopping?" 

"Naomi needs to buy her wedding dress and all the other ladies need to buy a dress for themselves too." 

Does she know how we fell asleep or...? 

"Why is she buying a wedding dress last-minute?" I questioned. 

"There's a special boutique here that Naomi's always wanted her wedding dress to be from. I'm pretty sure she went and selected a few with Alex before we arrived." She glanced at me while picking out her clothes for the day. "Today, she's going to have another trial, finalize the dress, and get it fitted." She stopped at the foot of the bed and stared at me expectantly. "Did you bring a suit? A tux?" 

I paused, my lips pursing. "No...?" 

"You came to a wedding without a suit or tux?" 

"Yes...?" 

Rolling her eyes she huffed and then grabbed one of the pillows I threw to the ground last night and then she flung it at me. "You'll have to go and buy yourself one today while we're shopping at the boutique. There should be a men's boutique somewhere in the area, it's..." She shrugged while scratching her head adorably, "It's a street famous for boutiques... I think." Her eyes took in the bed before cutting back to mine, her gaze razor sharp. "Keep your hands to yourself in bed tonight. I'll let the first night slide." 

"Me?" I scoffed in disbelief before sitting up against the headboard, glaring back at her. "You were the one sprawled all over me, Ms. Declan." 

"It was your hand on my thigh, wasn't it, Mr. Lukov?" She challenged me. 

My eyes narrowed. "How long were you awake?" 

Avoiding my question, she replied, "I'm taking the bathroom first," and then disappeared inside, locking the door behind her. 

I stared off into space, contemplating the chances of her being awake and consciously cuddling up to me versus her having no idea what her body was doing throughout the night. But like I said, she was an extremely light sleeper so Jules either knew exactly what she was doing but did it all absentmindedly... or she knew what she was doing but craved me the way I craved her and only allowed herself one night of us. 

It took the life out of me to resist last night when all I wanted to do was hold her close. Maybe she just slipped up because something told me she wouldn't let the same mistake happen again.

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Chapter 29

I may not be able to update tomorrow since it's my Mom's birthday so we'll be going out for the day, I'm just telling y'all in advance lol

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