“Either one.”
“No, I guess not. I —” I stop.
“What?”
Lord help me for the ego this man is about to get when I admit this to him. “I like it. I think I like when you call me your wife. It’s like an ownership thing, I think. You’re letting everyone, including me, know that I’m unavailable.”
“Unavailable for what, Katharine?” he asks huskily, his voice dropping an octave. His gaze drops to my lips, and I subconsciously lick them. The action makes him emit a very soft growl.
“Unavailable for men,” I stammer. “To date. To fuck. Anything.”
“That’s right. Because you’re mine,” he growls, making me shiver. I can almost feel the vibration of his words skim across my skin. “Do you want to know what it feels like to be mine? For me to own you, completely?”
His eyes grip mine with intensity. Feral need comes off him in waves as Dominic moves his hand to grip the back of my neck. God, I want to know. So badly. I want to experience everything this man can offer. But it would complicate things so much.
“Answer, Katharine.” That authoritative voice, so commanding and distinct, makes me moan. “Let me have you, wife.”
Dominic leans down and kisses my shoulder, his hot breath sending goosebumps down my arms. “This complicates things, Dominic.”
He peppers kisses along my skin, and I find myself elongating my neck to offer up more area. “I want you, Katharine. I want to feel myself inside of you, and know how you will break apart because of me. I want to fucking own every last bit of your pleasure. Give me this, please. Give me tonight.”
“Just tonight?” I ask uncertainly. Only tonight? I have a feeling he’s going to destroy me for any other man, and I won’t know how to move on from him when the time comes.
As he’s about to answer, his phone rings. I feel an odd sense of relief to be saved from immediately answering. I don’t know what I want right now. I’m overwhelmed. On one hand, I want to take away the miserable ache I feel in my soul, and I think a night of letting Dominic have his way with me would probably do an excellent job of that. But, it’s hard to know if I’ll regret things in the morning. How will Dominic treat me after? Will our interactions go back to being somewhat cold, or will sex bring us closer together?
“It’s my mom. She’s probably calling to confirm you’re alright,” Dominic murmurs as he answers the call. “Hi, Mom. She’s fine, I swear — wait, what? When? Did you see it happen? Are you on your way … I’ll be there in three or four hours. No, I’m coming home. I’ll get there as fast as I can. No, Mom. I’m her father, and that’s where I should be.”
When he ends the call, he frantically stands up, swiveling around and staring at the floor. “What’s going on? Is it Sienna or Aspen? Is she hurt?”
“I need my fucking shoes,” he mutters.
“Dominic.”
“Did I bring my wallet in here?”
“Dominic.”
“I wonder if the expressway is open yet, I could save thirty minutes or so.”
“Dominic!” I shout. His head pops up as he locates his shoes, slamming his feet into them. “What happened?”
“Aspen fell down the stairs at my parents’ house.”
I gasp. “Oh my God! Is she okay? How did she do that?”
“With her, who knows?” he murmurs. “She’s my most accident-prone child, that’s for damn sure. My parents don’t think her ankle is broken, but she can’t put weight on it, so they’ve taken her to the emergency room to get it x-rayed.”
“Poor kid,” I whisper. “I’ll follow you back.”
Dominic finds his wallet and shoves it into his jeans. “Isn’t your stuff still at Matt’s?”
“I forgot about that.”
Dominic comes toward me, crouching next to where I’m sitting on the bed. “Go spend some time with your brother. Get out of this motel. Enjoy his kids, and come home tomorrow. I’ll handle Aspen.”
“Will you …” I trail off.
“What?”