Page 5 of Reign

I march Libby out the back door, across the pool deck, down the stairs, and down toward the water where there are no cameras and no devices that can hear our words over the sound of the waves.

Halfway down, she tries to rip her arm out of my grasp but I don’t let go. “Jesus, Dominic, I can walk on my own,” she huffs.

“I don’t trust you not to run away from me,” I tell her truthfully. “Although since you’re being a brat, I wouldn’t mind the chase and I definitely wouldn’t mind dishing out the punishment that comes once I catch you.” Maybe she needs that spanking after all.

The sun is hitting her iridescent blue eyes just right and I can easily see her pupils dilate with lust once the words are out of my mouth. Her nostrils are slightly flared and I can tell she’s trying to get herself under control. Annoyed that even when she hates me, she still wants to fuck me.

She surveys the families with young kids and the couples down the beach. Probably trying to determine if they’d care if she either beat me or stripped me right here in the sand.

Our section of the beach is private – just for our small neighborhood – but we can see the others just beyond the private property signs.

Still being able to read me like a book, she says, “I’m trying to figure out how to tackle you without drawing too much attention, notfuckyou, Dominic.”

I can’t stop the bark of laughter that escapes from my throat. As if she could tackle me and do any damage. She could run at me full speed and wouldn’t even take me to the ground. Hell, she’d probably knockherselfout. I, on the other hand…

“Shit!” she screams, taken by surprise when I lunge and wrap my arms around her thighs, easily hoisting her body over my shoulder. She’s pounding her fists against my back.

“You have to stop being so mad at me, Libby. I need you on my side,” I say as calmly as I can while I carry her down to the water, doing the only thing I think will work.

“Then stop trying to be all cozy with Camila every time I turn my fucking back!”

I smack her on the ass, hard.

“Youasshole!” she wails, causing me to chuckle even more.

“I wasn’t beingcozy,you crazy woman. I was warning her that there’s a camera in the living room light and that she needs to watch what she says and does while she’s in there. I’m not sure if I want Mateo to know I’ve found it yet or not so Iwhisperedit so the audio wouldn’t be picked up,” I explain right as the surf licks the toes of my shoes. I kick them off in a hurry and walk farther in the water.

“Dom! What the fuck! I just took a shower!”

“We’re not getting out of this ocean until you let it wash away your anger.” I know the sea does the same thing for her as it always has for me. This baptism is for us both.

“This is crazy!” she squeals right as I gently toss her in. She stands up easily, still angry until I dive for her, pulling her under the waves again. It’s the beginning of August and the ocean feels like bath water.

When she breaks the surface, she’s still trying to be angry so I lunge for her again, throwing her backwards into the waves. This time when she bobs up, I pull her to me and growl in her ear, “Come on, Princess. Let me in. I miss you. I miss the way my name sounds slipping between your lips on an exhale.” She stops fighting me so much and I know I almost have her so I keep going, wrapping one hand gently around her throat. “Fuck me out of anger. Fuck me out of hate or fear. Just let me back inside.” Her groan hits me first and I lose my breath when she slides out of my grasp and dips her head back, brushing the hair out of her face and wiping her eyes, finally giving in to the sea around her. Her white shirt is clinging to her like a second skin and fuck me, she isn’t wearing a bra. I feel a tent start to rise in my waterlogged cargo pants, which is no small feat.

I rip my drenched, black t-shirt over my head to give it to her for cover, but pause when I see her taking me in. Her lips are parted and her eyes are locked on to my torso. They narrow slightly as she breathes my name the way I like so damn much.

“Dominic.”It comes out uncertain, like a question, and I engulf her in the blink of an eye.

“Libby.” I swallow her exhale as I bend to pick her up and wrap her legs around my waist, walking us farther out into the water so she can grind her hips against me without an audience.

I knew the sea would come through. It always does.

Three

Libby/Daniella/Isabel

THE BRINY SCENT OF THE ocean surrounds me, calming my anger, jealousy, and short-sightedness like a salve to burning skin. The pain is still there, it’s just numb for the time being.

Tucked in Dom’s arms with my legs around his waist and the water lapping at my back, I give in to the desire coursing through me and I grind against him as if I’m seeking entry into his soul.

“I’m sorry…” I whisper as I tuck my face in his neck and inhale. Even wet, with the scent of the ocean all around us, he still smells like the man I met at kite boarding school.

Coconuts and gun oil.

“Cas.” His nickname rolls off my lips on a sigh as our environment pulls me back to when we first met. I’m struggling so much with my own identity right now that I haven’t even thought about what to call him. I want to tell him more, apologize for more, but I don’t know what to say yet and I don’t want to offer forgiveness prematurely and give him false hope. My brain and my heart are constantly at war. One is arguing that no one is perfect, and he did what he thought he had to in order to keep me safe. The other is grabbing weapons and marching for blood, arguing that his dick didn’t accidentally find its way to Camila’s mouth. They could have stopped before his zipper was down. They could still have stopped before he was exposed, and he is definitely strong enough to have stopped her from latching on if he’d wanted to. And that’s the kicker.

He didn’t want to stop her.

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