I AM FROZEN IN PLACE.
Not just frozen — rooted. As if my spine has fused together and the air has thickened into something that makes it impossible to breathe. My skin prickles all of a sudden, and my palms feel suddenly too warm, too empty, too sweaty.
Strip.
The single word dances between us and wraps around my body, dragging over my body, deliberately down my back.
Dmitry, however, doesn’t move from where he’s standing before me. He doesn’t blink either. His face is just stoned into a composed look, and from the looks of it, no one would think he’s just uttered those five-letter words.
I swallow, and a nervous laugh bubbles from my lips. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Dmitry’s jaw flexes. “I don’t repeat myself, Anya.”
A cold shiver wracks through my body despite the heat rollin
