He doesn’t actually want you. He’s just killing time in a small town.
You think I don’t know that?Another voice—the broken and furious one—fought back.Derek just lectured me about how delusional I am!
The light flickered once, and my hand was already turning the lock.
Just tonight.I could lie to myself for a few hours. I stared at my reflection—at this desperate creature I’d become.
Please let me feel wanted. Let me pretend someone could want me too. Let me feel beautiful, even if it’s just an act.
The lock clicked.
Tomorrow I’ll be smarter. Tomorrow I’ll remember this was just pity. But tonight… Let me believe the lie.
I pulled the door open, and there he was—my destruction.
Dom filled the doorway, his shoulders so broad they blocked the light from outside. His eyes were so dark I almost didn’t recognize him. Before I could blink, his hands gripped my hips, lifting me just enough to move me backward into the small room. The door slammed shut, the lock clicking, and my back hit the cold tile with a thud.
His knee wedged between my thighs, forcing them apart, and suddenly, I was reaching for him, fingers twisting into his jacket as though he was the only anchor keeping me from drowning.
“You ran,” he murmured, thumb swiping my bottom lip. “Are you scared?”
Yes. Terrified. Of how much I want this. Of how stupid I’ll feel tomorrow.The confession trembled on my tongue, but before I could shape it into words, before I could tell him, his mouth crashed into mine. All teeth and tongue and demanding heat.
“Tell me you want this.”
More than I’ve ever wanted anything.The thoughts screamed in my head, begging for a chance.
His hands slid under my jacket, under my blouse, his fingers brushing the loose cup of my bra, and my breast spilled into his waiting palm, molding to his touch as though I was clay. His tongue dove deeper, all the way to my throat, and I couldn’t breathe around the want.
My brain tried to form a protest—the ugly fluorescent lights, the grime on the floor, the fact that anyone could knock—but his thumb swept my nipple, and a humiliating sound escaped my throat.
No one had ever touched me like this. Like they couldn’t get enough. It should have shamed me, being this needy, using one man to erase another. Seeking validation from a stranger’s hand. But I was already arching into Dom’s palm, begging for more of this beautiful, terrible lie.
“Dom—”
His name dissolved into a moan the moment he started trailing his wet tongue down the column of my throat. His teeth grazed the frantic pulse there, a gentle bite that sent a shock straight between my legs.
Then his mouth found my nipple, hot and wet and insistent. I grabbed fistfuls of his hair to keep from crying out. His tongue circled once… twice… a maddening tease before he drew me deep into his mouth.
“Dom,” I panted, tipping my head back, my voice sounding raw and unrecognizable.
My own hands were moving without permission, sliding under his shirt, my palms flat against the hard, warm planes of his stomach. He groaned against my skin, and the vibration traveled through me, anchoring me to this moment. This feltreal… more real than my own good sense screaming at me to stop.
His hand slipped lower, skimming my waistband, fingers pausing there for a second before sliding under the fabric. My stomach clenched, and I bit back a whine.
“Still thinking about him?”
The question startled me, and as if summoned, Derek’s face flashed in my mind.Don’t make it weird… dial it back, all right?
“No,” I whispered.
“Good.” Dom’s teeth nipped my earlobe, sending another shiver down my spine. “Even if you were, I’ll fuck every trace out.”
Then he was kissing me again, deep and wet and consuming. I focused on the sensation, on the slide of his tongue, the ache between my thighs.
He turned me around without warning, and suddenly my palms were hitting the wall. In the mirror above the sink, I could see him. His dark head was bent, his jaw tight with concentration as his hands worked me out of my clothes. Thehunger in his eyes… I wanted to believe it wasn’t just for anyone, but forme.
Is this real?The question burned.Or is he just this good at pretending? At making women feel special?
