Page 96 of For the Love of the Gods

I wanted him to suffer as much as I did.

“This is nice,” Dominic said, moving his hand around my head to where the scarf was knotted at the base of my neck. His finger slipped into the knot, loosening, then fully untying it.

“You like it?” I asked as he pulled it from my hair, the cold silk caressing my neck and collarbone. I spoke barely above a whisper. Any louder and the quiver in my voice would give away how turned on I was.

“Hmm.” The sound dripped down my skin like water droplets. “Did you wear it because it was pretty or because you wanted me to use it?”

“I…” I began, then had to cut myself off. My stomach and chest were tight with something close to hope and I knew my throat would constrict too, forcing my words tense.

Dominic took my gaping as an excuse to speak again. “Because I think you wanted me to use it. Bringing me here, to an alcove that conveniently has grappling hooks nailed to the rocks. Wearing a piece of fabric in your hair that would make it all too easy to tie your wrists together.”

My heart—and my stomach—clenched painfully. Based on Dominic’s smile, my arousal was all over my face, obvious to him.

And when Dominic dragged the scarf through his fingers, curling them in the same way he did when they were inside of me, I decided at that moment I didn’t just want him to suffer, I needed him to.

“I think I’m gonna go for a swim,” I said, wiggling out from where Dominic had me pressed into the wall.

“Oh, really?” His chuckle saidbullshit.

“Yes, really.” And then I reached behind my back to pull open the strings of my dress. Dominic’s eyes narrowed on my chest, looking at the way the fabric loosened as I worked the strings open.

“Rose.” It sounded like a warning.

“What, Dominic?” I pulled the dress over my shoulders and let it fall down around my waist, exposing me to Dominic’s black stare.

I was greeted with a growl and the sight of his hands curling into fists at his side. Good, I was getting to him. I tackled the zipper next and when that was open, I let the dress fall into my hand, pulling it off my feet one at a time.

Dominic’s jaw got that familiar little stone in the corner which meant he was biting down.Hard.

But he didn’t move. Just stared at me like he was trying to commit the sight to memory. Or to see if I would launch myself at him.

“Not going to join me?” Silence. Dead silence. “Okay, then."

He stood still, so I shrugged and gathered my dress up in a ball.

“Rose,” Dominic grumbled, muffled by the sound of my dress hitting him in the face. It dropped into his waiting hands, then he said, “Don’t taunt me. It won’t do you any good.”

“I fail to see the threat there.” And then I was off, walking quickly over the short expanse of beach and into the warm water. With a final look over my shoulder at Dominic, who, quite frankly, looked fucking terrifying standing in the shadowed alcove like he was waiting to take your soul, I dove under the waves.

The salty water felt amazing against my overheated skin, slipping over my limbs. I broke the surface on a heavy exhale, pushing my wet hair back.

I spun around at the sound of heavy footfalls on the sand. Dominic was marching down the beach, gloriously free of clothing and deliciously ruffled.

He snapped,finally. And I felt victorious.

I stood up as he approached, the water hitting only to the cinch of my waist. Dominic’s eyes glowed black and the vein that ran over his bicep popped out.

“Under the fucking water, Rose. Before someone sees you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. He was standing on the beach stark naked. “Get in the water before someone seesyou.”

The rough texture of my voice seemed to break whatever sanity Dominic had left and he charged toward me like a man possessed. The splash of his thighs moving through the water pelted me, giving me a glimpse of the force about to crash into me.

The second I was within arm's reach, his hand shot out and clasped around my neck, pulling me towards him, reminiscent of the times he’d done the same in bed.

“Do you enjoy being a little brat?” Dominic asked, lightly squeezing his fingers into the side of my neck but leaving my windpipe free.

“I do when it finally gets you to show a little emotion,” I taunted. “You’re so stoic. For all I know, I don’t affect you in the slightest.”

---