Chapter Thirteen #2
Dominic had never noticed it before. Never cared to. Perhaps the shape of his eyes did have a slight feral tilt to them.
“Can … Can I see them again?”
It took a few heartbeats for him to realize what she meant. “Are you sure?”
Erica nodded, her shoulders squared and ready to face the beast that lurked within his soul.
It didn’t take much effort to bring the wolf forward, for man and beast to share the same eyes, the same mind in a nominal way.
The cold rush infiltrated his pupils, and the blue gave way to the golden hue she asked for.
The colors of the kitchen and breakfast nook brightened, every detail in sharp relief, crisp and vivid to his senses.
With a steady heartbeat, Erica rose to her feet.
Dominic didn’t move, barely breathed. Anyone who had ever been on the receiving end of his golden eyes either shied away or threw up their defenses, knowing that they were about to incur his wrath.
She didn’t. Erica strode toward him with confidence, likely unaware of what danger she may find herself in under the stare of the wolf.
Yet, there wasn’t a single trace of fear underneath her vanilla perfume.
She was just a few inches away now, her breath warming the cold rainwater on his shirt that had yet to dry. A hand came up and touched his rough cheek. Smooth skin grazed over his stubble as their eyes locked.
Another scent joined the vanilla, the same one that plagued his memory every waking hour, the same one that drove him to kiss her the night before.
Warm, inviting, sensual. Her arousal paired so well with her natural musk, and it took all his self-control not to take her right there in the kitchen.
He could see himself grabbing her, pinning her to the counter.
He needed to take off these damp clothes anyway, and their heated lovemaking was the best thing to dry him off.
He resisted, though he could feel his erection harden and strain against the stiffening fibers of his jeans, eager to be caressed by those same fingers that brushed under his eyes.
He could see the tiny flecks of gold in her hazel eyes, those same eyes that Cole possessed, flecks and all.
That thought sobered him quickly, and he was able to enjoy this moment without the yearning for further intimacy.
Erica was his mate and Cole’s daughter, though she couldn’t understand that yet.
Her silky, enticing lips gave the slightest tremble as she took a stuttered breath and recoiled her hands. “This is insane,” she whispered, then took a few steps back to distance herself.
Dominic lost his senses and matched her step for step, staying as close as she would let him. “No, this isn’t insane. You know it isn’t.”
“But it should be!” Her fingertips covered her mouth as she shook her head, full of denial.
“You can change into an animal and I …” Erica bit back those words that he had been waiting to hear.
They were the words he needed to hear to know that things were going to go well between them, that she was willing to give them a chance and not turn him away because of what he was.
Instead, she stamped her foot like a frustrated child. “What is going on?” she demanded. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, but her face betrayed anything but anger. Hurt, confusion, desperation, but not anger. “I swear, I feel like I’m going out of my mind here!”
Dominic let his eyes change back to the docile blue and smiled at her in that sympathetic way.
Their mating bond did so much more than tell him how far away she was.
Her pain was his own, her feelings completely transparent to his spirit until it became almost infectious, and it could work the other way around.
He wished he could have pulled her in for another tender embrace to show her that she wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
“You’re not going out of your mind,” he said softly. “This is all real. What you’re feeling is real because I feel it too.”
“But I don’t want to feel this!” she cried, stopping his heart cold. “It’s like I’m coming apart at the seams and the only thing holding me together is … is you. And I hate that! I hate this thing between us that makes me want you so badly I feel like I’ll die without … without …”
Her hands waved in the space between them, her nose wrinkling as a sign that tears may come. Dominic couldn’t let them.
He grabbed her hands and held them tight until he could feel the bones in her slender fingers. He was ready to tell her that everything was fine, that this tormenting, but oddly pleasant feeling was totally normal. But she stopped him with a kiss.
As spontaneous as the one last night, she surged forward and seized his lips with her own with exacting force. He didn’t fight his lust this time and let his arms encase her, his hands exploring her curves as the kiss deepened.
Every rule that had been drilled into his head by his father, Hank, Cole, and every other mentor who tried to teach him what was right and what was wrong for the Prime Alpha of Tolstone, completely fell out of his head.
The world beyond this house didn’t exist. All that remained in this universe was him and Erica, and this undeniable need.
He slid her up onto the counter as he had wanted to do earlier. Dominic would give in to every temptation, every desire, as long as she didn’t resist him. But by the way her hands groped for the hem of his shirt, he knew that she wasn’t likely to refuse him again.
His shirt hit the tile floor in a bundle of sopping fabric.
The chill that crept along his skin was nothing when he pressed himself against her warm, supple body.
His cock throbbed harder in his jeans, and he slipped his way between her legs to ease the tension.
It was like they were picking up right where they left off the night before, almost in the exact same spot.
With his phone turned on silent in his pocket and Cole’s word that he would cover for his Prime Alpha, they wouldn’t be interrupted.
Erica let out a sigh against his mouth as he could almost feel the heat of her arousal seep from her crotch and onto his.
His hands found their way to cup her bottom and prop her up higher.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, instinctively knowing what he wanted.
The mating bond helped fuel the fire between them so they could rock in perfect synchrony.
But there was still more he wanted, more he needed from her, more he needed to give her.
*
The moment their hands touched, the dams within Erica’s heart and mind ruptured.
Every desire, every aching need for Dominic came forth in a rush that consumed her and culminated in that tender place between her thighs.
Trapped within the confines of her jeans, she could feel a gush of wetness that she never thought she’d feel this soon.
Dominic found his way beneath her blouse, the roughness of his palms tantalizing against the skin around her ribs and down the slope of her back. She shivered and bucked against him, unable to control herself any longer.
She forgot about everything. The fact that Dominic was a wolf shifter didn’t so much as touch the wealth of feelings she held for him.
She still couldn’t give a name to this fiery need for him.
As long as she could feel the ridges of his abs and the way his gliding arm muscles held her close while he rocked against her, she didn’t care.
None of it mattered except this burning, insane passion that she couldn’t understand.
He broke away to kiss down her jaw, his lips caressing the slope of her neck. Erica gasped when she felt the hard edge of his teeth.
A thrill of fear shot through her chest. “Don’t turn me.”
The rumble of his chuckle only intensified the carnal hunger that possessed her. “It doesn’t work that way, Erica. It’s a lot more complicated.”
Oh, the way he murmured her name. It made her ignore her curiosity about what he meant. She moaned when he nipped at that delicate, sensitive patch of skin. Her legs tightened around him, begging for more contact, more touching, more of this pressure that slowly intensified low in her core.
With one hand gripping his hair, feeling the slick strands laced between her fingers, the other explored, unable to see his incredible form as long as he was pressed against her. He pulled away for only a second, just long enough to rip her shirt over her head and let it join his on the floor.
There wasn’t anything in the world that could compare to the feel of their skin, smooth and hot, sliding together.
Erica felt herself be lifted away from the counter, his massive hands cradling her ass as he carried her out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the stairs.
Lips found one another again. Their tongues met and wove around one another, ravenous and addicted to each other’s taste.
She’d had sex before, but never had it been this fluid, so in sync as if they could predict one another’s movements.
With her eyes closed, she was vaguely aware of him climbing the stairs, but the sensation was blurred by the already light-headed, dizzying feeling that had taken over her.
Somewhere in the earnestness and preoccupation with his delicious mouth, they were in her bedroom, and Erica was on her back on the mattress.
The cool cotton of her comforter eased a bit of the fever she had contracted from his touch.