She glanced up sharply, meeting Dominic's iron-gray eyes squarely. He was watching her with a sort of hunger, a strangely intent expression that she'd never seen before.
No, that wasn't true. Shehadseen it before, right before he kissed her that day in his office. Paisley's lips tingled at the memory, and the ache in her chest intensified. She felt as though she couldn't breathe, as if she was waiting for something to happen, but didn't quite know what.
Dominic's fingertips grazed the marks on the wrist, a feather-light turn that seemed to burn.
"Dae ye know why I threw that man out of me pub?" Dominic murmured.
"Because he was violent towards his father?" Paisley hazarded.
Dominic chuckled. "Nay, that's why I banned him from returning. Nay, I threw him out because he touched ye. I daenae want anybody else touching ye, Paisley. Naybody. Ye are mine."
Paisley could have sworn that somebody had just sucked the air out of her lungs in one gulp.
"Oh," she managed lamely. "Oh."
It was hard to tell which one of them moved first. They were already almost nose-to-nose, so close together that Paisley could feel the heat rolling off Dominic's body.
Then they were kissing, his lips pressed against hers, stubble grazing her skin in a familiar yet unfamiliar way.
Paisley threw her arms around his neck, thrilled that she didn't seem to be frozen in place this time. There was nothing soft or hesitant about the kiss this time. Dominic seemed to be trying to devour her, and Paisley felt equally thrilled to be devoured.
He wrapped his hands around her waist, hauling her up onto the counter with ease. With one careless swipe of his arm, Dominic knocked away a group of glasses, which shattered on the floor behind the counter.
"The glasses!" Paisley cried, despite herself.
"Glasses are easy enough to replace." Dominic said breathlessly.
With her sitting up on the bar, the angle was much better. Paisley's skirt had ended up rucked up around her knees, which should have been horrifyingly shocking, but somehow didn't bother her in the slightest. Dominic pressed up against her, kissing her everywhere he could reach, his stubble sending sparks of awareness and pleasure running down her body when he kissed her neck.
Paisley flinched involuntarily when she felt Dominic's warm, rough hand on her bare knee, his hand underneath her skirt.
"Are ye all right, lass?" Dominic murmured, his voice warm in her ear. "Dae ye want me to stop?"
"No," Paisley said at once, not entirely sure whether she was able to breathe or not. "Please don't."
Dominic's hand climbed higher up her thigh, where nobody had touched Paisley except possibly a maid by accident while she was dressing. When his fingers brushed the join between her legs, wherenobodyhadevertouched her, Paisley gave a gasp of shock. It felt good, in a way she could never have anticipated.
She felt, rather than heard, Dominic chuckle, the sound deep and rumbling against her neck. His hand underneath her skirt moved smoothly and rhythmically, a practiced movement that was making Paisley's legs tremble and her heart beat until it seemed likely to smash through her ribcage.
She found her climax with an undignified squeak, fingers digging into Dominic's shoulders. He nuzzled against her neck, and she felt him smile.
"I thought ye might like that." he murmured.
14
Dominic woke with a start. The room was dark, and he was in his bed as usual, but something was off.
For a split second, he thought that last night – what he and Paisley had done together – was just a vivid, cruel dream, and he was about to wake alone once again.
Then the warm body in his arms shifted and mumbled something in her sleep, and everything came back to him in a rush.
He and Paisley had gone no further than kissing and touching last night, which was more than enough. He'd guessed, correctly as it turned out, that she was a virgin, and it was never a good idea to rush these things.
It had been far too late to even contemplate the idea of letting her walk home in the dark, even if her legs hadn't turned to jellyby the time they were done. It had seemed entirely natural, at the time, to go upstairs together, hand in hand, and curl up on Dominic's office bed.
On further reflection, the bed was certainly not big enough for two people. It was barely big enough for Dominic. At the moment, he was pressed against the wall, the cold stone digging into his shoulder blades, Paisley's elbow in his ribs, and her hair in his face, tickling his nose.
I don't care,he thought with a start, tightening his arm around her waist.I just want her with me.
