by Rina Kent
“What’s up?” I smile.
“Samir told me to help out with the boxes.” He kicks one as if he’s offended. “He says I draw too much attention. I don’t!”
“Sure you do.” I nudge his side. “You know Sam is conservative, so do whatever you do behind his back.”
He lifts boxes and shoves them in a totally non-neat manner. “I think he was cool with it until I started flirting with his daughter.”
I laugh. “Oh, mon Dieu. You had the audacity to do that?”
He grins in a golden boy fashion. “She’s cute.”
“Wow. I’m surprised he didn’t fire you.”
“Me too.” His brows knit together. “Do you think he will if he finds out I kissed her?”
I gasp. “You didn’t!”
“I kind of did.”
I pat his shoulder in mock condolences. “It was good knowing you, Will. I will cry at your funeral.”
“Don’t jinx me.” He grumbles. “I’ve been having nightmares about Sam running after me with a fucking axe!”
Both of us laugh so hard, my stomach hurts and I bend over.
Sam’s shadow shows up. Will stifles my laugh with a hand on my mouth. His shoulders are still shaking with laughter and I’m doing my best to remain silent, but I just can’t. I’m imagining Samir running after Will with an axe like in those horror films.
Will must be imagining something similar because he keeps snorting while trying to suppress his laughter.
“I think he’s gone.” He turns to stare at the door and both of us freeze.
Dominic.
He’s standing at the entrance like a grim reaper.
Bordel.
17
Camille
Dominic’s broad shoulders forbid the light from coming inside the storage room. It’s also blocking my intake of air.
He’s in a fitted dark brown suit that flatters his developed chest and sinister look. I would be drooling if it weren’t for the harsh glare in his eyes. He appears every bit the devil he is.
After a moment of silent intimidation, he strides towards us and easily, too easily, yanks William off me. It’s like my colleague is a sack of rotten potato.
“Get out,” Dominic grits out. His punishing eyes measure William like he plans to dissect him and dance in his remains.
I’ve never seen his shoulders so taut with tension. His strong jaw ticks and his fist is clenching and unclenching by his side.
Dominic was never a violent man – the kinky sex aside. I’ve never seen him prone to any type of violence. He’d rather use his brain to manipulate anyone to do his bidding.
But this Dominic? He looks so out of control like he’s ready to commit murder.
Even Will casts a wary glance his way before addressing me. “Camille? You’re going to be okay?”
“What are you going to do about it? Hmm?” Dominic’s tone is calm but it’s hiding a raging hurricane that will take everything in its wake.
“Go, Will.” I start to guide him to the door but stop when Dominic cuts me a glare so harsh, I squirm.
Oh, Dieu. He can be so scary. His power is seeping underneath my skin, claiming me, suffocating me, exciting me.
On good days, Dominic is intimidating. Angry Dominic is lethal.
Will gives an unsure nod then exits. I release a breath. I just saved him from whatever Dominic was planning to do to him.
I close the door and face Dominic. “What was that all –”
Words cut in my throat when Dominic stands in my face and slams his hand on the side of my head on the door. I flinch, and I hate, hate this, but a throb starts between my thighs just witnessing this side of him.
“No other people.” He’s calm. Too calm. It’s dangerous. “No other fucking people, Camille, hmm? Do you remember your condition?”
Over the little time I knew him, Dominic only calls me by my full name when he’s either angry or annoyed. This is the rage-filled version.
“He’s a colleague.” I try to be nonchalant but I’m struggling to keep my thighs closed.
Dominic’s hand shoots and closes around my neck. It’s firm and unyielding. Panic bubbles in my throat. He can choke me. Kill me. But he isn’t. A shiver of pleasure draws down my spine. His other hand surround my jaw. His thumb presses against my bottom lip, and I’m so tempted to suck it.
“I don’t care who the fuck he is. You don’t let anyone touch you. Is that clear?”
He doesn’t wait for a reply. He uses his grip around my neck and jaw to make me nod.
“Did he do anything?” He sounds murderous. It’s like he’ll go out and punch Will to death if I say yes.
“No.” I croak. It’s too hot in this little place, and I’m loving Dominic’s unhinged reaction a bit too much.
Maybe his madness is rubbing off on me.
His thumb caresses my jaw, but it’s not gentle. It’s as cruel as the monster inside him. He grunts while he leans and bites my lower lip. I whimper and pleasure pools between my legs.
“You’re lucky, you’re damn lucky, he didn’t do anything, Camille. I don’t react well to people touching what’s mine.” His hot, murmured words leave a trail of goosebumps along my skin. “You’re mine, aren’t you, baby girl?”
“Are you mine?” I counter, my voice breathless.
“When I ask a question, you answer. You don’t ask your own.”
“I won’t answer unless you answer me.”
He growls. “Camille.”
I cut him with a defiant glare.
With his hand around my neck, his other one fumbles with the button of my shorts and he yanks them and the underwear down my legs.
I gasp, my eyes widening. “I’m at work!”
He smirks. It’s dark and so damn delicious. “Should’ve thought of that before you antagonised me.”
“Dom!”
“He was touching you.” He leans over again and bites my lower lip so hard, I’m scared it will bleed. “He had his fucking hand on these lips. These lips are mine.” He cups me harshly, and is met by my slickness. “This pussy is mine. Every inch of your skin is mine to fuck, to pleasure, and to own.”
I whimper against his touch. I’m shivering and going out of my mind with how arousing his words are.
Dominic doesn’t stop. He works his own belt and trousers. I have no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist. I’m breathing so heavily, I think I’m going to hyperventilate. What if Samir comes over? Nancy? What if Will brings someone? I’ll never look at them in the face again.
My thoughts evaporate when Dominic thrusts inside me in one go. Oh. Dieu. My throat closes. His firm hand around my neck builds a claustrophobic, strangely pleasurable feeling. The fact that my boss can walk in on us causes my legs to tremble with thrill.
Being with Dominic is like taking a rollercoaster ride with no landing in sight.
It’s dangerous.
He’s dangerous.
Why do I love it this much?
He thrusts into me harder like he’s punishing me. He stretches me from the inside. My walls clench around him like a vice. My back hits the door with each raw, gritty pound. I’m a mess. My nerve endings are shivering with tingles of arousal. I can’t think. I can’t even breathe properly. I can only feel. Need. Fall.
“You.” Slam. “Are.” Slam. “Fucking.” Slam. “Mine.”
I stifle a scream by biting his shoulder over the jacket. My eyes rim with tears at the intensity of what’s building inside me. I’m going to explode and faint or something. I’m so, so close, it’s tearing me apart.
“Say it,” Dom demands as he slows his thrusts.
“Je suis à toi.” I breathe against his mouth. I would tell him anything as long as he relieves the ache.
“Say it again.” His thrusts increase in tempo.
“I’m yours…. Yours… Aaaah.” A violent wave takes me over. I scream.
Dominic swallows the sound with his mouth.
At this moment, I don’t ev
en care if someone comes in. I’m so pleased and elated. It’s like I’m flying out of my skin. Dominic’s shoulders shudder before warmth fills my walls.
Just feeling his strong body cave in for me almost drives me to that place all over again.
He lets go of my neck, and it feels empty. I will ask him to do that tonight while my hands are bound. My core twitches just thinking about it.
Dominic’s heated eyes swallow me whole. “Next time, when I say you’re mine, you say it back or I will bend you over any-fucking-where and remind you of that.”
I open my mouth to say something – I don’t know what – but Dominic cuts me off by slamming his lips against mine.
Kissing him has become a drug.
He’s become a drug.
I’m so doomed because I don’t want to detox.
Two hours later, after taking the rest of the evening off and having dinner outside, Dominic and I walk into his flat’s building.
It’s only ten, which is super early in Dominic’s usual schedule. Perhaps he will work from home.
He’s holding my hand in his larger one. Tingles shoot down my spine whenever his thumb strokes the back of my hand. These little gestures are frying my brain.
Sometimes, when he thinks I’m asleep, he’d cover me and just watch. When I wake up and he’s already at work, I’d find a note that breakfast is ready. When we’re outside, he’d keep a hand around my waist as if he can’t stop touching me.
At times, I wonder if this is part of his strategy to make me fall then laugh in my face. Everything will be a play for him. I’ll be the one left with a broken heart.
A woman dressed in an expensive dress and a large hat exits the revolving doors. She must be one of Dominic’s neighbours, but I’ve never seen her before. He offers her his full of shit grin and she gives him a fake smile back.
Once she’s out of ear shot, “You lot are so hypocritical. Why smile if you don’t want to?”
“I’m not a hypocrite.” He’s nonchalant. He actually believes his words.
I stop near the revolving door and Dominic does the same. “Uh… no offence, Dom, but you are. I do try to see the best in you, but I know what you are. There’s no need to lie to me.”
“I’m not lying to you, baby girl. I don’t need to when with you.” He pauses as if measuring what he just said. “I’m also not a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who lies to themselves that every single atrocious thing they’ve done is right. They know it’s wrong but try to disguise it as right. I don’t. I own up to everything I did and will do. I know I’m wired differently and I use it to my benefit. I don’t give a fuck about what’s acceptable and what isn’t as long as I get what I want.”
A sociopath. That’s what Dominic is. I really should stop being biased by only seeing the good in him.
“Are you using your nature with me?”
He raises an eyebrow and strokes the back of my hand. “Why don’t you tell me, Cam? You’re smart, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know. The line blurs sometimes.”
“Do you think I will hurt you?” His voice is deadpan. Completely neutral.
“I know you’re non-violent.”
“Hmmm. I wouldn’t say I’m completely non-violent. I’m just good at suppressing the urges.” His eyes narrow with frightening darkness. “Unless someone touches you again. I’m not sure I will suppress myself.”
Wow. So he was suppressing the urges today? He sure looked close to murdering Will. Worse part? I don’t think he would’ve felt any remorse.
This is the type of man I got myself entangled with. So why am I not running away? I’m thirsting for more of him like a morbid animal for his next prey.
Although I’m the prey in this case.
Dominic lifts my chin so I’m staring up at his darkness, unleashed and out in the open. He doesn’t bother to conceal himself when with me. “Remember when I said I understand you?”
I nod.
“You understand me, too, Cam.”
My breath catches in my throat. It could be a deflation method, something he uses to ease the interest off him, but I believe that. All I care about is that he doesn’t put a mask in front of me.
We resume walking into the building. David stands at the reception counter and bows upon seeing us. Dominic nods, and I shrink into his side.
“Why do you do that whenever you see David?” Dominic asks as soon as the lift’s doors close.
“He’s a bit weird.”
Dominic narrows his eyes. “Did he do something to you?”
“No. I just get a strange vibe, that’s all.” I think he watches me a bit too long and I don’t like it. I opt to change the subject. It’s something I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, but Dominic always has my body in a haze. I don’t find time for it.
“You don’t use a condom.”
He shrugs. “We’re both clean. We don’t need a barrier.”
“You didn’t need a barrier with the other women, too. I suppose?” I try to sound unaffected.
He shakes his head one. “I never went bare before.”
“Why with me?”
His forefinger rubs his bottom lip in contemplation. “The first time, I wanted you so fucking much, I actually forgot about it. After that, I figured we don’t need it.”
I bite my lower lip to not smile like an idiot. Wait. I never mentioned being on the shot.
“How about I fall pregnant?”
“So be it.” His face and voice are completely nonchalant.
Quoi…?
I don’t think I heard him correctly, because he’s fine with me being pregnant.
Before I can question him, his phone rings. Dominic retrieves it. The name ‘Hades’ flashes on the screen. Weird name. Is this some sort of a joke between friends?
Dominic’s brows furrow and his jaw ticks.
“What is it?” I ask carefully.
“Nothing you should worry about.” He powers off his phone and throws it back in his pocket. He faces me and smiles. My toes curl. “More importantly, since you’re a nerd –”
“I’m not a nerd.” I scowl. He’s been calling me that since he saw all the books I borrow from the library.
“Okay, non-nerd. Do you want to help me search some nerdy books?”
I tuck a strand behind my ear. “I will think about it.” Kidding. I will do it. I love searching for information.
“I have some rewards.”
“Like what?”
“Like…” His finger trails along my jawline. “Making you come so many times you won’t be able to go to work with that wanker tomorrow.”
I swallow and bite back a smile. “Can I get a preview of my reward now?”
His hand surrounds my waist and he pulls me against his erection. “Let me see what I can do about it.”
As I laugh, I don’t know why I feel evil, malicious eyes on us.
18
Hades
The plan is in motion.
Dominic had his fun.
It’s time I have mine.
19
Camille
I feel him watching me.
If I open my eyes, I would be swallowed whole by Dominic’s magnifying presence. I’ve been hooked on that easy charismatic power and natural charm since I’ve met him, and time hasn’t eased the spell yet.
I don’t open my eyes.
I have lots of thinking to do. Getting lost in Dominic would distract me – again. I’ve been lost in him for two months.
Two whole months.
Every day, I tell myself, this is the last time. Tomorrow, I will grab my suitcase and go back to France. Every day, I find myself in his arms, in his bed, in his shower.
Basically, anywhere where he exists.
Sometimes, he does the watching thing all night. He has a chair across from my side on the bed. He just sits there – naked or half-naked.
The first time I was aware of it, I was crept out. Even if he wants to watch, he could’v
e done it while in bed with me.
But then, I came to another realisation about Dominic; he barely sleeps. If ever. He said it’s become a habit since his intern days.
Sometimes, when he’s driving me crazy with need, I think I know him, but at other times, like right now, I’m not sure.
My curiosity is my doom.
Here I am. Right in his trap. Just like one of those gullible friends who had no clue what was happening to them.
Only I did. I do.
I jumped in, knowing exactly what was waiting for me.
I’ve become addicted to each layer he offers.
Yes, he has a huge circle of friends, but I can sense how lonely he is with them. He’s always fake and only gives them full-of-shit smiles.
It’s in this flat that I’ve seen the real man. He’s enthusiastic about his research. Meticulous in everyday life. Intense as hell during sex. I can never expect what he has in store for me.
It’s impossible to think straight when he’s watching me. Even though a sheet is draped around my torso, there’s already a humming between my legs. The bastard enchanted my body to his.
I sigh and crack my eyes open.
There he is. A king on his throne. The chair is simple, but the man sitting in it adds tenfold charisma the thing.
Faint, early morning light filters from the huge glass windows. The grey hue casts an eerie shadow on Dominic’s strong features, but I can make out the piercing brown of his eyes on me. He’s only in black shorts. His hard chest is relaxed. His long legs stretch in front of him, crossing at the ankles. Tendrils from the tattoo on his side coil to his cut abdomen.
He’s forming a steeple at his chin. Both his elbows rest on the chair’s armrests.
His gaze is calculative which means trouble. He never shows that expression to anyone, and if he does, then it’s for mere seconds before he masks his true self and proceeds to manipulations.