Page 14 of Dominic

“Yeah. Some creepy guy ran his hand up my leg and you made him stop.”

He grinned, curling one finger under my chin while he brushed his thumb just under my bottom lip. “Yeah, I did. I also touched you without your permission afterward.”

“No, you didn’t. You just freed an aggravating strand of hair from my eyelash.”

“I still didn’t have permission to touch you. So I want to make absolutely certain you know you have a choice in what happens next.”

That was confusing. “What happens next?”

“Yeah. I want to kiss you. But I want you to know you don’t have to. You’ll still have a home. You’ll still have my protection. And you’ll always,always, have my friendship.”

My eyes widened and my belly did another one of those flips. Excitement. Anticipation. Dom wanted to kiss me?

“Kiss me like the man and woman who came out of the clubhouse the evening I first came here?”

For a moment, a look of confusion crossed his face while he thought back. Then he seemed to remember and grinned at me. “Yeah, baby. Maybe not exactly like that, but that’s the way I want to kiss you.” I opened my mouth to tell him that, no, that might not be the best idea I’d ever had. What came out was far simpler.

“Yes, please.”

Chapter Eight

Dominic

No. Nope. I didn’t just tell Annie I wanted to kiss her. And she didn’t just tell me yes. And I absolutely wasnotleaning close to follow through with that desire to kiss her.

Except I was.

Slowly, so she had time to pull back, I leaned forward until my lips brushed against hers in a silky glide.

Her response was hesitant at first, a feather-light testing of waters. Then, as if the last piece of a puzzle clicked into place, she melted into the kiss with a contented moan that sent a jolt of need straight to my cock. My heart pounded against my ribs like it wanted to break free. This kiss wasn’t just a kiss. It felt like a silent promise, a whisper of all the things I’d wanted my entire adult life but hadn’t acknowledged.

I slid my hand up to cradle her cheek gently, brushing my thumb over her baby soft skin. Her hands, those nervous little fingers that had picked at my shirt countless times before, now clung to my shoulders, holding her body close to me. This wasn’t the hungry kiss of the couple by the clubhouse. This was something… more. It was hope and starvation. Lust and admiration. She hadn’t told me everything she’d endured, but I knew she struggled with something in her past. It was there in her nightmares.

The kiss was soft and sweet but also fiercely determined. The thing was, I wasn’t sure which emotions were mine and which were hers. Her feelings were transparent, and during the last few weeks, I could tell she was interested in me. Which made me the worst kind of bastard because I wasn’t the type of man to settle down. I was too Goddamned old. Annie wasn’t, though.

She was vibrant and vivacious and had the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. And she was in my arms. Kissing me as I kissed her. And, fuck if she wasn’t fucking delicious.

When we finally broke apart, there was a softness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, a look of trust and something soft but vulnerable. We both were breathing hard. Annie looked up at me with a dazed expression filled with something like wonder. She was definitely not opposed to me kissing her. I wasn’t opposed to kissing her either.

For a moment, I just admired her lovely face, highlighted by the orange hues of twilight, her cheeks flushed from our closeness. Then I smiled reassuringly down at her. I stroked her cheek with my thumb before brushing my mouth over hers once more, then slowly sat back, moving away from her.

“Wow.” She actually looked giddy. Like this was all a grand adventure. “That wasn’t like what I always expected at all.” There was a nearly dreamlike expression on her face. Her eyes were half closed and she was so relaxed where she was pressed against me. Like a drowsy little kitten.

I narrowed my gaze. “Oh? How’s that?”

For the first time since Annie had come under my care, I saw that serene exterior crack. There were flashes of fear from time to time, but mostly in social situations. The other ladies put her at ease by just being themselves. This was different. Her expression blanked, and the color drained away from her face, her lips almost disappearing into her face they got so pale. She broke out in a sweat and I could see the pulse in her neck speed up and knew I’d fucked up but good.

“I-I’m s-sorry.” She stood up quickly and fled back down the path.

“Annie! Annie, stop!”

She didn’t. Running back toward the house, she seemed to go faster with each step away from me. At least she was headed back to the home we shared. I knew that’s where she’d go because it’s where she always went. She had expressed no desire to leave the compound for any reason unless I suggested it. Those times, I always went with her and she’d seemed grateful for my presence.

I’d known kissing her would be a mistake. Getting a taste of the delicate woman who had such a remarkable inner strength while still keeping a gentle nature meant the shriveled up part of my soul had been infused with her inner light. I knew there was no way she could keep giving that to me and not fade away to a shadow of herself, but I knew I’d forever crave that warmth and sweetness. I never wanted to hurt her. Especially not with this.

Considering the nature of cults and women, I had no doubt she had experienced some horrific things. She’d even told me some of it. I mean, she’d been trapped inside a box, for Christ’s sake! She’d specifically told me that and I’d been so wrapped up in just trying to absorb all she’d been telling me I hadn’t stopped to consider what she’d had to go through during those two years she’d been “reconditioned.” I now knew the pain she hid was deeper than I’d realized. And I should have thought to fucking check before I up and kissed her.

“Dom!”

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