Page 81 of Ruined

“The sex?” he pressed. “The way you feel when I’m close?”

I let out a shaky breath.

His dark gaze searched mine, stripping me bare. He saweverything—every crack I tried to hide, every broken piece I’d buried.

Weeks ago, I’d broken into his house with the same knife. I’d meant to kill him. I had the perfect opportunity. I couldn’t do it. I told myself it was a crack in my control that I’d patch up later.

It wasn’t a mistake.

It washim.

“You tear me apart without even trying. I don’t know what to do with that. I don’tknowhow to want someone like you.”

Dominic’s gaze never wavered. “You think you’re the only one who feels that way? Ihatehow much I want you. You piss me off. You make me crazy. But I can’t stop wantingyou.”

I stared at him, my throat dry.

“I don’t want anyone else,” he said, pressing his forehead against mine. “Only you.”

Warmth flooded through me. I’d given him every reason to walk away, but he stayed. He kept looking at me like I wasn’t broken. Like he’d made up his mind about me.

“You shouldn’t…want me.” I hated how fuckingweakI sounded. “You’re wasting your time.”

Dominic’s lips twitched. “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

“I’ll hurt you.”

“Luca, I don’t need you to be perfect. I just need you to choose me.”

My throat tightened. He said it like it was simple, like I could reach out and take what he offered without killing us both. Alexei was still out there. What if he found out about us?

The ache in my chest sharpened.

Ineededto let him go. It was the right thing to do.

My palms flattened on his chest. I saw myself pushing him, but my hands wouldn’t move. Rejecting Dominic felt like slicing a blade across my wrist. I couldn’t anymore.

I yanked him forward, crashing my mouth against his. My teeth sank into his bottom lip before sucking on it. Dominic gasped,the sound shooting straight to my cock. My tongue fucked his mouth as his hands tangled in my hair.

He groaned.

I broke from his mouth, panting. “I want you.”

His face lit up with a grin. “Say that again.”

“I want you.”

Dominic’s smile softened. “You’re going to kill me, Luca, but I don’t care. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear that.”

I let him pull me closer again. His lips brushed mine. I kissed him harder, one hand threading into his hair as my other hand slid down to his hip. Dominic kissed me back, his body pressing into mine.

“You drive me crazy,” he muttered between kisses. “You?—”

I swallowed the words with another kiss, pulling a groan from deep in his chest. He stepped out of my reach, his hands dropping from me.

“Get on your knees.”

My knees touched the floor. I never thought I’d kneel for anyone. It went against every lesson beaten into me over the years. Submission was a death sentence. And yet, I didn’t feel weak.