Chapter 4 Sloane
Sloane
Now
The relief of having Dominic out of my personal space is immediate and intense.
My body was in danger of short-circuiting from the zips of electricity and heat passing between us.
They were so similar to what I felt in James’s office when I sat beside him, only more concentrated.
I assumed it was from the prolonged contact.
Our legs pressed together and my body nestled into his side, despite my repeated attempts to put space between us.
I couldn’t pull in a breath without touching a part of him, and he refused to move.
A man as big as Dominic knows when he’s crowding someone out.
He’s like six-seven, for crying out loud!
It should be instinct for someone that big to always be aware of the amount of space they’re taking up and adjust accordingly.
I mean, it’s just proper etiquette, but the man has proven time and again that when it comes to getting under my skin, he’s all too happy to throw etiquette, morals, and decency out the window.
I roll my shoulders and my eyes when Chase takes Dominic’s exit from the table as an invitation to maul Mal. Within seconds of his departure, they’re both moaning into each other’s mouths and smacking loudly every time their lips collide. It’s sickening.
“I’m going to the restroom,” I mumble to no one in particular, since the two people at the table certainly don’t hear me.
The backs of my thighs are stuck to the leather seat, so it takes longer than it should to slide out of the booth, but I still manage to escape before Chase’s wandering hands venture into indecent territory.
For the first time, I’m dismayed to find only a handful of people are waiting outside the bathroom.
I go through the line in record time, and while my bladder is happy, I’m dreading going back to the table with Mal and Mr. Tall, Bald, and Handsy.
And Lord help me, if Dominic is back, I’ll find myself smashed between his big body and the most inappropriate couple in the club.
Since I have no interest in that particular seating arrangement, I head toward the bar.
I’m cutting through a group of girlfriends who give me the stink eye for interrupting their girl-on-girl dance routine that’s meant to draw the attention of every man in the club when a sweaty hand grabs my wrist. My steps skid to a stop and then I’m moving backward, being pulled into an aggressive erection that hits me right in the center of my lower back.
“What the fuck?”
“Dance with me, baby.” The man pants in my ear and the stench of Cognac on his breath makes my stomach roll. “I’ve got you now.”
I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but my spine stiffens even more as I twist around and catch a glimpse of his face, which confirms he’s the guy I ran from earlier.
He flashes me a nasty smile, and I try to pull away again, but his grimy fingers dig into my waist, and it feels like he’s ripping through the lace of my bodysuit.
“Let go of me!” I’m shouting, but the words are drowned out by the music. In the dark shadows of the club, we must look like every other couple on the dance floor losing ourselves in each other, because no one looks our way.
“You smell so good, baby.” His nose is in the crook of my neck, and then I feel a rough scrape of teeth on my skin. A wave of nausea sweeps through me. “I’m not going to let you get away from me again, not when I’ve been waiting all night to get you alone.”
Panic grips me as he starts to walk backward, pulling us deeper into the shadows, where there are significantly fewer people. I score my nails into his hands, hard enough to draw blood, but he doesn’t flinch.
“Please,” I plead, but it falls on deaf ears.
Frantically, I search the crowd, looking for Mal, Chase, or even a friendly stranger who can stop me from being dragged into a dark corner to get groped by a drunken stranger.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to take very good care of you.”
My brain screams at me to fight, yell, or drop to the damn ground, but I’m frozen. Shock renders all of my limbs useless as a sick acceptance trickles down my spine.
This is happening.
Then my eyes land on Dominic. A hulking figure advancing toward me with danger and violence gleaming in his eyes, and for once it isn’t aimed at me. My heart stutters to a stop, and when it starts again, it’s beating twice as fast. I’ve never been so happy to see him.
“Get your fucking hands off of her.”
But he doesn’t give my captor a chance to move. Instead, he catches my hand in his and yanks me toward him. I crash into his chest. Somewhere in my mind, I note that he smells nice—a warm and spicy scent that calms my racing pulse.
“What the hell, man? Get your own girl, she’s mine.” The drunken man is leering at me. Staggering as he reaches out to grab me again. Dominic puts his hands on my hips, shifting me around his body so I’m standing behind him, safely out of my stalker’s reach.
Too bad for him, it puts him face-to-face with an avenging angel.
“Yours?” Dominic growls, taking a step forward. “You think someone like her could ever belong to a piece of shit like you?”
“Take it easy, man. It’s plenty of ass out here for everybody.” He leans to the side, trying to get a look at me. I shrink back, hiding behind the wall that is Dominic’s back. “You had all night to shoot your shot. She doesn’t seem interested.”
A strangled sound leaves the drunk, his voice breaking on the last word.
I peek around just in time to see one of Dominic’s fists connecting with the man’s jaw for what I can only guess is the second time.
The man stumbles, but Dominic catches him by his throat, long fingers wrapping around his neck and squeezing.
Gasps ring out around us. All of the patrons who couldn’t be bothered to pay attention when I was being assaulted are now riveted by the scene unfolding in front of them, but I can’t think about them now.
I watch in horror as the hands that were just digging into my flesh clutch Dominic’s forearm, staging a rather flimsy attempt at breaking his hold.
“Dominic! Stop. Let him go.”
His heavy gaze finds mine, and I falter.
I’m not sure what I was expecting to see, but it isn’t this.
A deathly calm. Every muscle in his face is still, except for his lips, which are curled into a snarl, like a rabid animal who’s just been interrupted in the middle of its meal.
When no other words come from my lips, he turns his attention back to the man in front of him.
“What she is,” he says brusquely, “is someone you will never touch again. In fact, you won’t even think about what it was like to touch her. If you do, I’ll find you and I will fucking end you.”
And with nothing more than a flick of his wrist, Dominic releases the man, letting him fall to the ground in a wheezing heap. He turns around and his eyes are pools of molten darkness and heat. Almost like he’s mad at…me?
I swallow. That can’t be right. Even he isn’t asshole enough to blame me for the actions of a drunk.
Somewhere in my mind, I know that to be true, but I’m struggling to make sense of the events of the last few minutes.
The man grabbing me. The scrape of his teeth on my neck, his fingers digging into my flesh.
Dominic coming out of nowhere. The relief I felt at seeing him.
And the rage.
His rage, and the way it coated the words he said to the man.
Words that dripped with a pure animal urge to protect, to defend what was his.
Except I’m not his. Dominic takes a step toward me, and my instincts tell me to take two steps back, shrinking away from the dangerous look that’s spearing me.
“Alright, folks, that’s enough. Break it up or I’m going to have to call the cops.”
A burly white man with red hair breaks through the crowd. He’s wearing a black shirt with the club’s logo embroidered on the sleeve and is holding a walkie-talkie in his hand. A security guard. Of course they would come when everything is over.
He ambles over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. Dominic glowers at him, and he removes it. “Anybody want to tell me what happened here?”
Dominic speaks first. “What happened here is you’ve got paying customers on the floor doing your job while you’re sitting on your ass letting predators run loose!”
Holy fuck, is he angry. It’s more evident now. In the slant of his brows, the flare of his nostrils, and the heat in his eyes that’s charring everything his glare touches. And right now, it’s focused solely on the security guard whose skin is now as red as his hair.
“None of my guys saw anyone doing anything predatory.” He spits the last word out like it’s an affront to his character to even say it. “They did see you punching another paying customer not once, but twice, and then choking him half to death though.”
A dark, sarcastic smile tilts Dominic’s lips. He takes two steps toward the guard, moving over the heaving man on the floor and looking like committing another act of violence in such a short time frame would mean nothing to him. “Are you—”
I step forward, putting myself between the two men. “Dominic, please don’t.”
My hand is on his chest, but I’m not fool enough to think I could stop him if he made a move for the guard. Slowly, as if he isn’t sure he actually wants to, Dominic looks down at me. The muscle in his jaw is ticking again.
“I’d listen to your girl if I were you, pal.” The guard laughs, bending down to help my groper up off of the floor. “If you’re not out of here in five minutes, you’re going to be spending the night in the drunk tank. Might even find yourself facing a drunk and disorderly conduct charge.”
“You’re really not helping, sir,” I say sternly, resisting the urge to tell him to shut the hell up. I mean, who thinks it’s a good idea to antagonize a man who’s just left another gasping for air? “Dominic, let’s just get Mal and go.”