Chapter 9
9
A WEEK LATER
A full seven days had passed since everything had happened with Jake, then finishing off with Clara screaming at Dominic and the infidelity coming out, and her storming away. She hadn’t been back since. Chloe had overheard a phone conversation with Dominic and who she assumed was Clara on the other end. And it had ended with him saying that he agreed … it was best she didn’t come back.
Yet Chloe was still here. Maybe she should have left, because she had a feeling even if Dominic wanted her to go, he wouldn’t tell her. He’d let her stay here forever if she wanted to.
And things were tense, really tense if she was being honest. She tried to stay out of his way, to give him space, because she knew if she was going through that, she’d want to be alone.
Then why are you still here?
That was the question she kept asking herself. And as much as she wanted to give him that space, she didn’t want to leave because a part of her thought maybe he needed her here, too. Maybe he shouldn’t be alone right now, going through this, living with this pain by himself.
Although she attempted to make it not so, she knew Dominic was also trying. It was just a difficult situation that made everything awkward, no matter how hard they tried to ease the tension. Meals were eaten in silence, and when either of them did strike up a conversation, it was short.
But the idea of going back home was starting to sound better because maybe she was intruding.
As they sat at the dinner table, the only sound was the silverware clanging against the china. She glanced up as she brought her fork to her mouth and watched Dominic, who seemed distant, as if he were thinking. She went through the motions of chewing and swallowing, trying to push everything away. She reached for her glass, brought it to her mouth, and took a long drink.
“So … today really turned out to be beautiful,” she said after she set her glass down.
He nodded. “It was nice weather. We should have gone on the boat.” He didn’t raise his gaze to her when he responded.
She cleared her throat. “I was thinking about going back home.” He did look at her then. “I wouldn’t expect you to drive me back or anything. I can take the bus.” He carefully set his fork down and leaned back. She shifted in her seat, acutely aware of the thick tension. “I just think now isn’t the best time for me to be here. Things are just … weird. I hate to put it like that, but I want to be honest.”
“You hate being here?” His voice was calm and neutral.
She shook her head. “I don’t hate being here. I just hate this weirdness between us. It isn’t anyone’s fault. I know things are bad right now, and I just think maybe you need some time to yourself. I feel like a burden.”
When he ran a hand through his short, dark hair and breathed out, she felt guilt that she’d opened her mouth. Here she was, making things more stressful when he already had enough on his plate.
“Are you done eating, Chloe?”
She glanced down at her plate, a little shocked at the abrupt change of topic. “Yeah.” Grabbing her plate, she was going to clear her spot when Dominic was right in front of her, holding his hand out for it. She looked up at him, surprised.
As he took their dishes to the sink, she watched him. The plain white tee he wore stretched across the wide, muscular expanse of his back. The sinew and tendons were easily discernable beneath the thin material, and she couldn’t help the warmth that blossomed inside of her. She scowled at why she felt this way, especially at a time like this.
“Join me outside and watch the sun set?”
For a second she didn’t move, still surprised he’d changed the subject so quickly. “Yeah. Okay,” she finally said.
He grabbed a couple beers, and she followed him out the back door. The sun was already starting to dip below the horizon, the pinks, yellows and oranges meshing together to create a cacophony of colors that painted everything like a piece of art. The air was thick and hot, but the beauty of her surroundings helped to stifle the uncomfortable feeling the heat created.
They sat around the firepit, and Chloe stared at the cold, black ash. She remembered when everyone had been sitting around it just a few short weeks ago, the flames between them, how it could have been a happy memory, but then it turned dark.
Now it was just the two of them.
Chloe looked up and saw Dominic watching her. “Hey,” she said softly, trying to make light of the situation. Dominic smiled back, but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes.
“I’ve been rude, Chloe. I’m really sorry.”
“What?” She heard the shock in her voice. “You haven’t been rude.” He nodded before she even finished. “After everything that happened, I wouldn’t expect you to be all cheerful.”
“Yeah, but you went through your own shit.” His voice got harder after he said that. “Come here, Chloe. Sit next to me.”
She made her way over to him and sat down. They hadn’t started a fire, and the only thing that made any kind of light was the silvery moon above them.
After that, they were quiet for long moments, but it was more of a reflecting moment of silence, one that had her relaxing and feeling more herself. She hadn’t felt like that in far too long.
“The sky is so clear tonight. I bet you could count every star.” She elbowed him in the side. He made a mock grunt and grinned over at her. “I remember when you were a little girl and you used to tell me you were going to count every single star in the sky. Do you remember that?”
She smiled as that memory came to mind. “Yeah.” Chloe rested her head against the back of the chair. She stared at the twinkling, bright stars. “I actually tried one time, but the next thing I remembered was waking up in my bed and it was morning.”
They both laughed, and she turned to look at him. He stared at her intently, and Chloe could see the way his jaw worked under his skin, a light dusting of stubble across it.
She wondered what he was thinking about to have a look so brooding and almost haunted. How she wished she had the courage to reach across the distance that separated them and run her finger between his eyes, smoothing away the small crease there.
Chloe turned her attention away from Dominic and looked back at the stars. It wouldn’t do any good thinking those things. She needed to push away the emotions that threatened to consume her.
“I’m really glad I came here. Even though everything happened the way it did, I’ve always felt like this is home. Still do.” She changed the subject quickly. This wasn’t about any of that. She was a firm believer in things happened for a reason, and the ugliness she’d experienced with Jake had made her stronger, even in these short seven days. “You’ve always been there for me when no one else was, not even my parents.” She said it almost absentmindedly.
He didn’t speak, and she worried she might have said something wrong or overstepped her bounds. She tore her gaze from the stars and looked over at him.
“You know I’m always here for you. Always.” He stood and helped her up to stand, pulling her in a tight embrace.
Chloe couldn’t help letting herself fall into the hug. He was so strong that she knew he could make every bad thing disappear. He smelled like the wilderness that surrounded them, and she inhaled deeply. She wanted to imprint that scent in her brain so she would always have it.
“I’ll always be here for you,” he murmured again. He pulled her back slightly so they were staring at each other.
And as she stared into his eyes, Chloe felt herself getting lost. Unusual, foreign feelings rose up in her, ones that shouldn’t have felt as right as they did.
Arousal.
Desire.
Lust.
He held her, looked at her, and the heat she felt come from his body had her feeling dizzy.
“You’re so sweet.” His voice was low, so low she almost didn’t hear him.
He was so close all she would have to do was lean in and she could kiss him.
Kiss him? What was she thinking? But despite thinking that, she found herself lowering her gaze down to his lips, aching to do just that. When she glanced back up, she saw that he, too, was staring at her lips. The expression he held could have been interpreted a million different ways: arousal, fear, indifference, all of those filtering across his face in rapid succession.
It might be wrong, even inappropriate, but Chloe couldn’t deny how she felt about him. It was more than just loving Dominic; it was feeling protected and cherished. Maybe those feelings had always been there, waiting to be expressed.
She didn’t know, and she didn’t care, because they were here, ready, willing, and intense.
She was an adult, knew what she wanted, and didn’t care any longer what the result would be.
And when she leaned in those last couple of inches and pressed her lips to his, she felt how tense he was, how unsure he probably was when she ran her tongue along the seam of his lips. But after only a second, she felt his body soften. The deep, male groan he made had her nipples tighten and her pussy becoming soaked. When he opened his mouth and their tongues pressed together, she couldn’t help the small sound of pleasure that escaped.
He tasted good, so addictive. She’d never realized it could feel this way, so potent and intoxicating. Chloe tilted her head to the side and deepened the kiss. The sound of glass shattering on the cobblestone patio when his bottle hit the ground vaguely penetrated her lust-infused brain.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted so that her legs rubbed along his. Dominic tensed once again, and she thought he might pull away or stop, but after a moment he kissed her more feverishly.
Tongues dueling and breath mingling, they were like rabid animals trying to get closer, needing more. The kiss was wild, uninhibited. He gripped her waist, his big hands holding her still as he claimed her. And that was exactly what it felt like. Then he was sitting back down and pulling her onto his lap until she was straddling his legs. Her skirt rode up, and his roughened denim scraped along the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs.
It excited her further.
She moved closer to him and pressed her breasts against his hard chest. She could feel her nipples beading, becoming hard little points of pleasurable agony. When her pussy rubbed against his cock, pressed behind the fly of his jeans, he suddenly broke the kiss. They both panted and stared at each other. Never had she thought she would be doing this, but never had anything felt more right.
“Chloe.” His voice was gravelly and hoarse. “We can’t do this.”
She knew he was right, but despite all of that, she didn’t care. Why should she worry about what people thought? Not even her family gave a damn, never even acted like they wanted to know what was going on in her life.
She felt like this was right, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with being with Dominic.
“Dominic,” she whispered and leaned in, brushing her lips against his. Her pussy rubbed along his denim-covered shaft, and she felt it give a mighty jerk. Even through his pants, she could tell how big he was. It was slightly unnerving, but nothing on Dominic was small.
In the next instance, he rose up, which caused her to fall backward. She hit her head on the ground, the air leaving her. She looked up at Dominic, feeling a little dazed. Dominic had gotten up so quickly that she’d fallen right off of his lap.
“Oh fuck, Chloe. I’m sorry.” He bent down and helped her up. He kept hold of her upper arm, but as if he caught himself doing something he shouldn’t, he stumbled back from her, as if she were fire and he was about to get burned. And then he turned away from her.
“Wait. Please don’t go.”
He stopped and turned around to look at her. The haunted expression he wore tore at her heart. “I can’t, Chloe. This isn’t right.” The breath came out of him on a long exhale, and then he turned to go into the house.
“Dominic.” She took a step toward him. But before he made it to the door, she saw how his body stiffened.
He didn’t turn around when he spoke, but she saw the way he shook his head, how he hung it as if ashamed. “I’m your uncle for all intents and purposes. Not blood, but that doesn’t matter, does it.” He didn’t phrase that last part like a question.
The blood rushed through her veins, and her body felt like it was on fire. She was on the verge of tears, frustration and arousal waging war inside of her. She would have said anything to make him see that it wasn’t wrong. It didn’t feel that way.
It felt right.
Chloe knew what he meant, knew that although they weren’t related by blood, he was still her uncle. And for the first time in her life, she hated that fact.
He shook his head and finally turned around to stare at her intently. “I’ve known you your whole life, Chloe. This isn’t right.” His voice cracked on the last sentence, and she wanted to go to him, to comfort him and tell him everything was okay. That this was okay.
She took another step forward, but he took one back, holding up his hand up for her to stop.
“Please. Chloe.” His voice sounded strangled.
She wanted to say something, anything, but the words got stuck in her throat.
He turned and stormed inside, and she flinched when he slammed the door shut. She shouldn’t have gone after him, shouldn’t have followed him, but she couldn’t stop herself. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Chloe had initiated the kiss, had started all of this. If this was as far as it went, if he wanted nothing more to do with her, well, she understood, but she needed to know the truth.
Chloe couldn’t let it end this way, not when he’d kissed her back.