That becomes increasingly obvious as we head inside. The way the light flickers on his face, I can tell that his mood is sour.
As he puts me back down on the ground, I’m overwhelmed by the intensity of the energy burning off of him. He’s like a live wire. I can’t take my eyes off him while he reaches for the first aid kit.
I don’t know who he’s got that for, himself or me.
He’s studying me as he crosses the room to join me once more.
But I’m studying him just as intensely.
Once I can reach him, I lightly brush my finger over the bruise on his cheek underneath his left eye.
This shifts the energy around us completely.
He leans into my hand, sighing.
Thank God, I feel us connecting. I much prefer it like this.
When Dominic’s eyes meet mine, they soften. I can finally see the silver fox I have been falling for blooming underneath his hard exterior. I can feel him once more…
But it only lasts the briefest of seconds before he’s pulling away from me, shattering our connection.
It’s like he’s trying to create a distance between us and I don’t know why.
This can’t just be because I tried to run away.
It definitely feels like so much more.
He treats my wounds, massaging all of me, even the fading welts that he has left on me.
I watch him as he works, seeing the sadness in his eyes.
What the hell has happened? I wish he would just tell me already.
How can I get him to talk?
Just as it feels like he’s about to pull back from me, I grip onto him and yank him towards me. I need him right now, I crave him, and I want to know if he feels the same way.
I can’t let him leave like this.
I crash my lips to his and we kiss. But this time, it isn’t possessive and bruising… it’s intimate and sweet. Romantic, almost. The softness of his lips makes me tingle all over. My pulse pounds with excitement. I want to know what else this man is hiding. Everything about him is a surprise and I can’t help loving unraveling more of him.
Especially with this kiss.
It’s very different to the way that we’ve kissed before.
But I can sense that he needs this just as much as I do.
I hope this brings us closer together and reconnects us. I want him to open up to me.
I might be his kidnap victim, but it feels like things are different between us that we can help one another.
“Should we talk?” I ask as I finally pull back from the kiss, but a loud clicking sound makes me jump.
I glance down.
A new ankle monitor is on the unbruised leg, tighter and stronger looking than the last one, reminding me exactly where I stand in all of this.
He’s above me.
He has all the control over me.
All I can really do is what he wants.
“Take an Advil,” he growls as he gets up. “That should help you with the pain, okay?”
But I want to talk.
I want him to kiss me again.
None of that happens. Dominic reminds me that he’s the one with all the power by stalking away from me, and locking himself in his bedroom, locking me out.
He isn’t even going to tell me where he’s been and what he’s been doing.
I feel like I have whiplash.
I bite down on my bottom lip hard, trying my best to stop any tears from falling.
The last thing I want is for this asshole to make me cry, but the emotions are overwhelming. I don’t know how to keep them inside any longer.
A single tear leaks down my cheek, splashing against my skin hard, making my head fall forwards.
What am I supposed to do now? Tonight has proven that I’m never getting out of here, not on my own accord anyway. Not until Dominic wants me to leave.
But that might never happen.
This might be the rest of my fucking life.
Fuck, this hurts more than I ever thought it could.