Page 10 of Dominic

He smiled briefly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Glad you like it. You can change anything you want. Just let me or one of the girls know and we’ll make it happen.”

“No need to change anything.” I smiled up at him, though I felt the distance between us now. “It’s perfect. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have asked about something not my business.”

“It’s human nature to be curious. If I’d minded you asking, I wouldn’t have left the pictures out where you could see them.”

“But you didn’t know I was coming.”

“No,” he conceded. “But my daughter would have been happy to remove them for me. Suffice it to say I’ve had to come to terms with the past I missed out on. At least, I missed being part of it. Tina made sure I got pictures of Calista as often as she could send them.”

“Calista is your daughter?”

“Yes. She came to me when her stepfather tried to sell her to pay off some debts.” Dom looked me directly in the eyes and held my gaze with his steely one. For the first time, I began to truly see how dangerous this man really was. “We protect our own, Annie. I don’t know what you went through or what Venus pulled you out of, but you’re safe here.”

I swallowed, unsure how to proceed. “There’s something I need to know. I mean, it’s not like I’ve got much of a choice, but I’d just like to know going forward how things work.”

“What’s your question?”

“Why are you helping me? What do you expect to get from me?”

He gave me a startled look. “Girl, I don’t want to get anything from you.”

“I don’t have any money, but you’re welcome to my next paycheck if you want it.”

“Jesus,” he snarled at me. Then, the oddest thing happened. Dominic moved the distance separating us and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to his body and holding me tightly.

I was stunned. What was he doing? I stiffened, intending to push him away, but, after the initial confusion, I registered the warmth of his body seeping through my skin to warm something inside me I hadn’t known existed.

I sucked in a breath. Then let it out. When I did, I relaxed into his embrace. It was instinctual and felt more right than anything I’d ever felt in my life. It was like, after a lifetime of lies, I’d finally found the truth. And the truth was, no matter how stupid it might seem or how unrealistic the chances were, I never wanted to leave Dominic’s arms.

Chapter Six

Dominic

Shit.

Fuck.

Fuck!

What the fuck was I doing? But, God-fucking-damnit, the second my arms were around Annie, they locked and there was no way I could let go, even if I wanted to. I didn’t want to. This woman belonged right where she was. In my arms. And, by God, that was where she was gonna stay.

She relaxed in my hold, inhaling a breath, then letting it out with a contented sigh. I thought she might push away or try to get free, but she actually curled her little hands into my shirt and clung to me. Also, I thought she might be sniffing my chest.

“Mmmm…” Annie moaned, her hot breath heating the skin beneath my T-shirt. She turned her head and inhaled again, this time not even trying to hide what she was doing. She buried her nose against my chest and moaned again. This time with feeling.

“Christ,” I bit out, my arms tightening around her without my consent even more. “You can’t make noises like that, girl.”

My words had the effect of throwing a glass of water in her face. Annie jerked, then looked up at me in shock. Her face blossomed with two spots of color on her cheeks, then a red flush crept from her neck to the roots of her hair. Sweat sparkled on her upper lip.

She stumbled backward and would have fallen on her ass, but I lunged for her without thinking. Again, she was plastered against me, but instead of that glorious desire on her face, now there was wariness and a hit of fear. We stared at each other. I knew I needed to make sure she had her balance, then let her go, but I couldn’t. I thought I might be able to let her go if she pushed away again, but the jury was still out on that.

“I-I…” She cleared her throat. Her hands were on my shoulders, and she alternated between curling her fingers into my muscles and relaxing her grip so it ended up feeling like she was kneading like a kitten.

The urge to grin was strong, but I didn’t feel much like smiling. I felt the need to wrap her up again and make it clear to her she was never to push away from me again. I needed her close. Insane. I was going insane. It was the only explanation for these feelings swirling inside me. I let her go once I was certain she had her balance, but it was fucking hard. “It’s all right, honey. Come on. Let’s sit on the love seat and talk. Want something to drink?”

She nodded her head a couple times. “Water.” Her voice was rough. She was obviously overloaded and I wasn’t sure how off balance I could push her. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel like she didn’t have choices.

I nodded to the love seat. “Go. Sit. I’ll be right there.” She didn’t answer out loud, but nodded and did as I told her.