Chapter 50 ATHENA
ATHENA
The club pulsed with an intensity that echoed deep in my chest, each beat of the music thrumming like a war drum beneath my skin. Lights flickered in bursts of violet and green, washing over the crowd, but I only saw him.
It was my twenty-first birthday, and yet all I could think about was Dominic Stone.
He stood across the room like he owned it.
Our eyes locked across the crowd, and I felt the pull instantly, that same gravitational force I’d felt the first night we met.
I tried to look away, but I was already caught, tangled in his stare like a spell.
Every inch of me ached to move closer. And guess where we were?
Back at the resort. The same one where it all began. Where my life turned upside down.
When Dominic told me he had a surprise for my birthday, I didn’t ask questions.
I trusted him blindly. It didn’t matter where we were as long as we were together.
Normally, I didn’t even like celebrating my birthday, but this one?
I’d been counting the seconds. He’d even rented the same villa from that night.
The one he broke into when I was alone. I still remember the sharp thrill that shot through me when I first saw him standing there in the darkness.
That feeling hadn’t faded—it had only grown.
A hand slid around my arm, cool fingers burning fire into my skin. His touch sent sparks up my spine.
“Come with me,” Dominic murmured, voice low and commanding.
The music, the chaos, the people—all of it vanished as he dragged me through the crowd and out into the night. The air outside was sharp, but he didn’t lead us toward the villa. His steps were purposeful, urgent. My brows furrowed.
“Dominic?” I said, trying to keep up. “The villa’s the other way.”
He didn’t respond as we walked in silence, the buzz of music and laughter fading behind us. The only sound was our footsteps and the rustling of palm trees swaying in the wind. Then I saw where we were headed, and my breath caught.
The garden. The place where it all began. Dominic stood in the center of the path, shoulders tight, jaw clenched, but his eyes soft.
“It’s been a hell of a ride, hasn’t it?”
‘‘That’s one way to put it.” A shaky laugh slipped from me. He turned to face me, and there was something different in his eyes tonight. Not the usual storm, not the fire. Something deeper and more honest.
“Who would’ve guessed?” he said, almost to himself. “The last time we were here, I wanted to kill your entire family.”
“And I was terrified of how badly I wanted you. Even when it was just physical, it scared me.”
The smirk returned, wicked and knowing.
“Some things haven’t changed.”
We stood there in the silence of the garden, the distant hum of the club fading into nothing. He lowered himself onto the same bench where we’d sat that night, where everything first started to blur. He looked at me and patted his lap.
“Sit on my lap, Athena.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I glanced around the dark garden, heart racing.
“Someone might see,” I whispered.
“Did that stop you last time?”
God. He was right. It didn’t stop me. That night, I had wanted him so badly it overpowered reason, and now I wanted him even more.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, legs trembling as I lowered myself onto his lap.
The night air bit at my skin, but I hardly noticed it; Dominic’s heat consumed everything else.
His arms wrapped around me like steel, pulling me closer.
His hand slid up my thigh, fingers rough and sure, a possessive touch that set fire to my already fraying nerves.
“Does this bring back memories, baby?” he murmured, his voice a low rasp as his grip tightened, leaving marks I’d feel for days. “You’re shivering.”
“It’s cold,” I lied.
I wasn’t cold. I was burning alive for him.
“You’ve always been such a bad liar.” His smirk sharpened as his hand slipped under my dress, fingers pressing against the heat between my legs. I gasped, clinging to his shoulders.
“Dominic…” It was meant as a warning, but it came out as a plea.
“What is it, dollface? Want me to stop?”
I shook my head, my cheeks burning. I never wanted him to stop.
“Would you let me fuck you with my fingers right here? On this bench that started it all?” His voice dropped lower. “Right out in the open where anyone could hear you come apart for me?”
Yes,” I whispered.
“That’s my girl.”
Dominic’s fingers slid beneath my panties, thrusting deep, and my moan tore through the quiet night. He knew my body, owned it, and each pump of his hand left me unraveling faster.
“Such a filthy little thing,” he growled, his breath hot against my jaw. “Dripping for me in the dark like you were made for it.”
“Only for you,” I gasped.
“Damn right,” he muttered, adding a second finger. I gasped, my hips moving of their own accord, chasing every ruthless stroke. “Prove it. Ride me, Athena, right here on this fucking bench.”
My breath hitched, eyes widening. It was reckless and insane, but the idea sent a thrill through me that I couldn’t ignore.
“This is crazy,” I whispered.
“But you love crazy,” he said with a grin. “You crave it.’’
And he was right. His fingers plunged deeper, harder, until I was panting into his mouth, one heartbeat away from losing all control.
“Don’t you dare deny it,” he whispered, pulling his hand away.
I whimpered at the loss until he slid those same wet fingers up my thigh and then grabbed my hips.
I fumbled with his belt, desperation making my hands shake.
His eyes never left mine as I freed him from his jeans, my palm wrapping around the thick, rigid length of him. He was hot and hard.
“Come on, dollface,” he growled. “Take me inside you. End my fucking misery.”
He moved my panties aside, slow and deliberate, then guided me over him. I sucked in a sharp breath as I slid down, the stretch overwhelming, delicious, perfect.
“Fuck,” he hissed, head falling back before locking on me again. “You feel like heaven.” He gripped my hips, forcing the rhythm, burying himself deeper with every thrust. “I’ll never get tired of how tight you squeeze me. You were made for me, baby. No one else. Just me.”
A laugh rang out in the distance, and for a moment, panic flared in my chest, but Dominic’s hands tightened, grounding me, his voice cutting through the chaos.
“Eyes on me,” he ordered, primal, possessive. “Only me.”
And I did. The world dissolved. Only he remained.
His body, his breath, the filthy rhythm of our bodies colliding in the dark.
The beat of the club pounded faintly from behind the alley wall, but it was nothing compared to the drum of my heartbeat crashing against my ribs.
I sank down on his cock, and his head fell back, a moan tearing from his throat—low, primal, wrecked.
“Focus on me,dollface. Forget the world, just feel me.”
And I did. Every pulse of pleasure. Every drag of his cock inside me.
Every filthy whisper made my body tighten and my mind slip.
He let me ride him at my pace, but it was an illusion of control; his hands were gripping my hips, guiding me, commanding me.
The pleasure was blinding. The kind that seared your soul.
“Fuck me, baby,” he rasped. “Fuck me like you love me.”
And that’s exactly what I did. I bounced on him with reckless abandon, chasing the high, addicted to his filthy praises and the way his eyes never left my face, like I was a drug he couldn’t live without.
“I’m gonna come,” I moaned, the pressure building, my body tightening like a bowstring about to snap.
But I never finished the sentence; his mouth crushed mine, swallowing my cry as I shattered around him, a full-body quake that left me limp and burning.
He fucked me through it, his thrusts deep and punishing until he froze with a strangled growl, spilling inside me, his climax stealing the air from his lungs.
Our chests heaved against each other, sweat-slick and breathless, until finally, he eased me off his lap and tucked himself back into his pants.
I could barely stand, my thighs slick with the proof of what we’d just done.
His breathing was uneven, hair damp and clinging to his forehead.
And yet, he still looked so composed and in control.
The only trace of ruin was the way his eyes burned when they locked onto mine.
But then he surprised me. Dominic stepped in front of me, gently taking my trembling hands in his and then, without warning, he dropped to one knee.
“Marry me, Athena King,” he said. “Make me the happiest motherfucker and be mine. In every possible way.”
I blinked, unable to speak, my body still trembling from sex mixed with shock. He’d just fucked me like he wanted to break me, and now he was kneeling in front of me. My lips parted, but nothing came out. My heart was sprinting inside my chest. His fingers curled around mine.
“I’ve lived my whole life in blood. I’ve burned, killed, and destroyed everything in my way. But you’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted to keep. I don’t want you as my girlfriend. I want to claim you as my equal and my wife.”
The words broke something inside me. Tears welled in my eyes, and I was powerless against them. It took me a good minute before I was able to speak with tears in my eyes.
“Yes,” I breathed. Then louder, stronger: “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
He rose in one smooth motion and kissed me, desperate and consuming, his hands holding my face like I was fragile, sacred, and his all at once. When he pulled away, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, velvet box.
He opened it slowly, and inside was the most exquisite purple diamond ring I had ever seen—a deep violet center stone, framed with glimmering black diamonds. It looked like sin and eternity all at once.
“Do you like it?” he asked softly.
I nodded, tears slipping down my cheeks as he slid the ring onto my finger, and it fit perfectly. It was perfect.
“My father’s going to lose his mind when he hears I’m becoming a Stone,” I laughed through the tears.
“You won’t be a Stone.” His smile twisted, shadowed.
“What?”
“I don’t want you carrying that name. It’s soaked in blood.’’ He held my hand to his chest, right over his heartbeat. “I know what family means to you. I know what your name means to your father, to your legacy. And if you’ll let me, I’ll take your name.”
“You want to be a King?” I stared at him, stunned.
“I want to be yours,” he said. “And that’s the only way I can truly be yours.”
My lips parted, but I couldn’t speak. The man who once wanted to ruin me and my family now stood in front of me, offering to kneel before my name, not because he was weak, but because his love was that strong. A slow smile crept onto my lips.
“Dominic King,” I whispered. “God, that sounds good.”
He smirked as he pulled me close again.
“Say it again.”
“Dominic King,” I murmured against his lips, teasing.
“Keep saying it, dollface,” he growled. “Because the next time I fuck you, I want you screaming it.”