Page 54 of Down Knot Out
“Come here.” I tug at his shoulder until he settles beside me, drawing me into the circle of hisarms. I crush my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent of our lovemaking.
We lie together for long minutes, our breathing slowing, our heartbeats returning to normal. His fingers trace patterns on my back, and my hand rests on his chest over the steady thump of his heart beneath my palm.
“You’re still really good at that,” he says with a note of wonder, as if he can’t quite believe what just happened.
A giggle bubbles up. “So are you.”
His expression softens, hunger giving way to tenderness. He brushes a strand of pink hair from my face, his touch feather-light on my cheek. “I missed you every day.”
A sweet ache spreads outward from my chest until it fills every part of me. “I missed you, too,” I admit, the truth easier to speak in the aftermath of pleasure, secure in his arms. “More than I let myself admit.”
He draws me closer, his lips brushing my forehead. Our legs tangle beneath the sheets, skin against skin, our bodies trying to reclaim the time we lost.
“Sleep,” Dominic murmurs, heavy with satisfaction and approaching drowsiness. “I’ll keep the nightmares away.”
I believe him. Wrapped in his arms, surrounded by his scent, the fear that chased me from sleep earlier feels distant now, unable to touch me in this bubble of contentment we’ve created.
“Goodnight, my Alpha,” I whisper.
His arms tighten around me. “Goodnight, my Omega.”
I drift toward sleep, my body sated, my heart fuller than it’s been in years.
Chapter Fifteen
Chloe
Warmth envelops me, chasing away the lingering fragments of nightmares as I wake slowly.
Dominic’s arms encircle me, his chest a solid wall of heat at my back, his breath stirring the fine hairs at my nape in a steady rhythm of untroubled sleep. The bond hums between us, no longer the faint whisper it once was but a persistent, vibrating chord that resonates in my very marrow.
I lie still, savoring the weight of his arm across my waist, the way our bodies fit together, two halves of a whole. My mind drifts to last night, to the taste of him on my tongue, the sound of my name in his mouth as he came undone, and heat blooms low in my belly at the memory.
If I had been in Heat last night, if his teeth hadbroken the skin at my nape, I have no doubt we would be bondmates now. The thought should terrify me after so many years of hurt, but instead, it settles in my chest, heavy with possibility.
Behind me, Dominic stirs. His arm tightens around my waist, drawing me closer until not even air exists between us. His lips brush my temple.
“Morning.” Sleep roughens the greeting. “How are you feeling?”
Such a simple question, yet it catches me off guard. How am I feeling? Physically satisfied, my emotions raw, and uncertain about so many things that have nothing to do with the man holding me.
“I’m not sure,” I answer honestly.
His body tenses, muscles going rigid. Even his breathing stops, as if he’s bracing himself for rejection.
I twist in his arms to face him, my palm sliding up to cup his stubbled cheek. “Not about what happened between us last night. I’mverysure about that.”
Relief washes over his features, the tension melting away.
My fingers trace the ridge of his cheekbone. “It’s everything else I’m unsure about.”
Dominic’s brow furrows. “Everything else?” His hand finds mine, fingers interlacing with afamiliarity that closes our years apart. “Does that include bonding with the pack?”
The question hangs between us, heavier than it should be. I should say no. I want to, but the words stick in my throat, tangled with complications I haven’t shared yet.
My silence stretches too long, and Dominic’s expression shifts, not to anger but to a careful neutrality that hurts more.
“Chloe.” He cups the back of my head, fingers threading into my tangled hair. “Look at me, please.”
