Chapter 15
SAMAIRA
I parked the car at the side of Thunder Claw, and the silence that ensued was deafening.
My heart pounded in my chest, and the adrenaline coursing through my veins had me teetering on the sharpest edge.
I was on the verge of slamming Dominic against the window of the car and jamming my tongue down his throat.
The fact that he was a public figure, that he was my client, that he could very well be my ruin, seemed entirely inconsequential right now. All I wanted, all I needed, was his rock-hard body rubbing against mine. To feel his cock stretching me and fucking out the high of killing a man.
The high of killing a despicable piece of human garbage was otherworldly. It was sharper than any drug that I’d tried. The effects of it lasted for days. With each kill, the high got sharper and easier to manage. I knew what I needed.
A stiff drink, a rough fuck, and a warm bath. In that fucking order.
I knew I could find the first two things at Thunder Claw. I always did .
But today, my body wasn’t craving an anonymous, rough fuck. It was the man sitting beside me with an aura of danger and sin, wrapped in a suit that had me soaking my panties.
You cannot fuck him. He could put the Wildcats at risk. He could make you fall for him. He could destroy you.
Despite the warning bells ringing in my head, my heart was one stubborn, horny bitch in heat. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as I met Dominic’s eyes. “Do you wanna grab a drink?”
“Yes.” His answer was immediate, as if he were waiting for the offer.
He quickly unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.
“Fuck me,” I said in the empty car, knowing damn well I was screwing myself over this man.
With a defeated sigh—even though my heart was downright fluttering like a hummingbird—I climbed out of the car.
We stepped into the bar, and instantly, the soft music and the chattering of the patrons engulfed us. Thunder Claw wasn’t a dance bar. It was a place where people came to catch up with friends or drink in peace.
I made my way to the bar, needing that stiff drink to get myself under control. I could feel Dominic’s eyes trailing down my body as he stayed right at my back. My body was floating on the highest of highs, arousal and excitement roaring through my blood.
My hands tightened into fists as I tried to gain back some sense of control over my senses.
As soon as I took a seat at the bar, Dominic sat on the barstool beside me, his sinful scent of amber and sandalwood flooding my nose.
His warm presence beside me was overwhelming and comforting, making me want to curl up in his arms and also run away screaming and hide under my blanket.
Zoey approached me from across the bar. “Hey, Samaira, what would you like to have?”
“A Negroni for me. ”
She turned to Dominic. “And you, sir?”
I turned to find Dominic’s unwavering gaze stuck on me. He gave Zoey a glance. “Whatever she’s having.”
Zoey got a twinkle in her eyes, the same as the Wildcats got every time Dominic was near me.
I shook my head and turned in my stool so I sat facing him.
He mirrored my stance, and the proximity of his legs to mine was minuscule.
If he really wanted to, he could’ve enclosed my legs between his. But he didn’t.
And the urge to feel his body against mine was downright maddening. I fucking yearned to close the tiny little gap between us, but I didn’t. The fact that the man hadn’t touched me once —even accidentally—ever since I’d slammed him on his back was as frustrating as it was arousing.
The more he kept his distance, the more I wanted to close it.
“What are you thinking, Samaira?” Dominic’s voice was a gravelly rumble, and it made me want to purr. His eyes were as dark as thunderous clouds, and the crackling heat in them had my heart pounding.
I shook my head. “You don’t want to know.”
His hand on the bar top moved closer to mine, his fingers clenching tight as if he was stopping himself from covering my hands. His eyes were a storm of need and arousal as he looked at me with so much desperation. “Believe me, I do.”
Right then, our drinks arrived, and I was saved by Zoey.
He raised his glass to toast. “To powerful women saving the world.”
If I hadn’t been ready to worship his cock before, I was now. I clinked against his glass. “Cheers.”
The first cool, bitter sip of the drink burned down my throat. I chugged the whole glass down, and fire danced in my blood. Dominic’s eyebrows were up to his forehead, his glass still almost full. “Thirsty much? ”
Without moving my gaze away from him, I swallowed the last sip. “Very.”
He took a sip of his own drink and handed me his half-full glass. “You want mine?”
Arousal pooled low in my belly, and I could feel the wetness coating my pussy. The need to push my fingers in my core to relieve the ache sharpened to a painful extent. I clutched the glass he was offering, lightly grazing my fingers against his, and took it from his grasp.
His breath hitched, and he bit his lip. His chest heaved as he kept his gaze trained on me and watched me sip his drink from the same spot where his lips had touched. He straightened on his chair and leaned toward me. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Tigress.”
I handed him his glass back, keeping my eyes trained on him. “Am I?”
He did not touch his fingers to mine when he took the glass back.
Like me, he drank from the same spot I did.
My gaze moved lower, and the evidence of how much our dangerous little game was exciting him was very, very hard to miss.
I bit my lip and watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed the drink. “Delicious.”
I needed to pull myself off the horny train. Stat. “Tell me something that makes you angry.”
That should make me focus on things to get angry about.
His brows scrunched into a frown. “You want to know what makes me angry?”
I nodded, ending our little game of kissing on the glass—because that’s exactly what we were doing.
Dominic shook his head and gave a soft chuckle, probably at the abrupt change in direction. He gulped down the remaining drink and met my eyes, his own shining with amusement. “Let’s see,” he hummed. “Hmm. Incompetence. Yes. Incompetence makes me angry.”
He looked like someone who needed things done right. I nodded at him and was about to think of something else when he continued, “Also, dishonesty. I’d definitely take a bitter truth over a sweet lie. Laziness annoys me too. Don’t forget tardiness.”
Well, would you look at that? Dominic had a list. He placed his empty glass on the bar top, and boy, he was getting comfortable. His eyes were lost in thought as if trying to recount everything that made him angry. “Hmm. People who walk slowly on the sidewalk. Hate them.”
He literally had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to tie the laces of my heels.
I bit my lip to hide my smile, nodding along, as he continued, “Don’t even get me started on people asking to borrow shit from me. Especially Kai. I buy myself stuff because I want it. Not so you can borrow it and never return it. Or worse, return it in a worse condition.”
“Who’s this Kai, again?”
He rolled his eyes, but a fond smile stretched across his face. “He’s my maternal aunt’s son, and also my office manager at work. He’s about ten years younger than me and is an absolute menace.”
“Seems like you love him.”
A twinkle lit up his eye as he ran his hand through his hair. “He’s not so bad. He’s been managing the office pretty well in my absence. Don’t tell him, but I’d actually be lost without him.”
Fucking hell. How was I even more turned on by this man than before?
The only thing that could probably stop my gigantic crush on this man was scooping out my eyes.
Considering the man had a voice that made my panties melt, I’d have to shoot my head off to get rid of this massively irritating obsession.
Dominic looked at me with such puppy-dog eyes and a shy smile. I couldn’t help but play along and give him a wink, enacting the motion of zipping my mouth shut. “My lips are sealed.”
“Can I ask you something?” His face turned serious.
“Sure.”
Zoey came at that time and replenished our drinks.
Dominic took a sip of his drink and asked, “Who was your first kill?”
That was one way to crash my adrenaline and spike my anger, all at the same time. I took a sip of my drink. “Pass. Ask me something else.”
He gave me a kind, understanding smile. “Alright. Do you enjoy killing men?”
The memory of killing a man, of taking a life, was still very fresh in my mind.
I shrugged. “The act of killing itself doesn’t bring me any joy.
But knowing that by killing those monsters, a woman could finally be free of the abuse, finally get the vengeance she deserved, could finally shed that constant anxiety and panic, that she could finally start living, that brings me joy.
I’d kill those monsters a thousand times if a woman got to live the life she wanted. No regrets.”
He raised his glass in another toast at that. “To keeping women safe.”
I raised mine in return. “To eliminating the monsters who endanger them.”
We sipped our drinks in silence for a while after that.
I knew I wasn’t getting any fucking today, rough or otherwise.
So I’d have to make do with booze and a bath.
I finally started to feel my adrenaline slowly leaving my system after two more drinks.
The alcohol finally started to spread that pleasant buzz through my body, relaxing me and loosening my muscles.
“You wanna get out of here?” Dominic asked.
I gave him a wide smile. He looked so adorable with his face scrunched up like that. “Aw, I’d love to. But remember what I told you? I don’t mix pleasure with business. ”
He snorted. “Yep. Remember it very clearly. But that’s not what I meant. You’re drunk. I’ll drop you off at home.”
“That’s probably a good idea. Let me ask Zoey to put everything on my tab.” I should head home before I get too drunk to even walk.
“I already paid the tab. Maxim is waiting outside.”
I clutched my heart, totally impressed by his take-charge attitude. “You’ve thought of everything, huh?”
A laugh escaped him, and those sexy-as-sin dimples popped on his cheeks.
And I fucking couldn’t resist. I leaned forward and pressed my fingertips into both.
They were so soft, my heart gave a sharp ache in my chest. Every pore of my body urged me to lean forward even more and lick those damn things up. “I love these,” I crooned.
His chest heaved, and a loud groan vibrated in his chest. “Dammit. I hate myself right now.” With that, he took a step back and led me out of the bar.
He held the car door open as I climbed in, only to find Maxim in the driver’s seat. “Hey, Maxim. How are you doing?”
He gave me an amused smile. “Samaira. I’m good. You?”
“Fucking great. I feel great.”
Once Dominic closed the door behind him, they both looked at me. “What?”
“What’s your address, baby?”
Aw, he called me baby .
Dominic chuckled, exposing those deep dimples again, making me swoon and my heart just pure giddy. “Address, baby.”
Oh, yes. I rattled off my address, and we were on our way. I probably dozed off on the way because the next thing I knew, we’d stopped right outside my brownstone apartment.
“Let me walk you inside.”
Nobody ever entered my apartment. Even in my drunk state, I remembered that. “Absolutely not. ”
“I’m worried you’ll fall or hit your head.” His eyes were narrowed, and he looked really stressed.
I ran my fingers between his eyebrows, smoothing the vein popping up. “There, there.”
I heard Maxim chuckle from the front.
“Samaira.” Dominic’s warning tone had my pussy fluttering.
“I’ll be fine. See you later.”
“Call me when you get inside. If I don’t get a call within five minutes, I’m coming in.”
“Yes, sir,” I moaned, making him growl under his breath.
I giggled and jumped out of the car, only lightly stumbling.
As soon as I was inside my apartment, I stepped to the window overlooking the main road, only to find Dominic’s car waiting across the street.
I dialed his number. “Look up at the fourth-floor window,” I said as soon as he picked up the call.
“Good girl,” he growled. “Now, take a shower, drink some water, and go to sleep.”
Something loosened in my chest at the way he was caring for me. It made me want to obey him. Curl into a ball in his lap and lick his throat. “Yes, sir.”
He growled again, making me giggle.
I dropped the call and did exactly as he instructed. I went to sleep with the image of Dominic’s wide smile and his deep dimples.