“Hey,” he said, a bright smile on his face. “There you are.”
I wasn’t sure how to react, but I didn’t need to think as Dom reached out, tugging me into a hug. “I was looking for you,” he murmured into my ear, the brush of his warm breath setting off a fresh round of heat that was almost as strong as last night.
The chaos of feelings that had been churning inside me burst to life again, and I let myself soften in his arms. That’s all I would give myself. His light scent, his hard chest against mine, the strength of his arms around me. And he smelled of sex.
“I thought you’d be at the fireworks, but I guess you slipped off at some point.” He gave me a squeeze before he leant back. “I was going to come to your room and check on you, but I figured you were knackered after everything.”
A bolt of fear spiked through me as I realised how close I was to being discovered. If he’d knocked on the door, if he’d called my name when I was fucking myself. Christ, if I’d opened the door…
“How are you?” Dom asked, his hands stroking from my shoulders down to my elbows. “Did you get some sleep in the end?”
I stared up at him, trying to find any trace of remorse or even some sense of what he’d done to me, since he hadn't cared about it last night in his room.
But there was nothing there. He was just smiling down at me without a care. Dressed in the same clothes as yesterday, with light blond stubble, his hair frazzled, and bloodshot eyes.
He didn’t even have the decency to wear a clean suit. It was unlike him, but maybe Darcy really was just that good.
My desire was sending me out of control. So I simply pulled myself from his grasp and walked away, heading for the stairs to the upper deck, and away from him. Fists clenched, jaw tight, chest heaving as I reminded myself that Dom had done nothing wrong.
These were my feelings to deal with. Not his.
“Harry!” he called after me, catching up, grabbing my arm from behind. “Hey,” his voice softened. “What’s wrong?”
I turned on him, fully aware that we were in public, though we were partially hidden by the stairs.
“Really?” I hissed. “You’re asking me that after last night?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Darcy,” I said, glaring at him. “You kept me up for hours.”
His eyes widened as he backed down. “I’m sorry, handsome, but that wasn’t me.”
I tried to back away again, but he held me firm.
“Don’t call me that,” I said. It was too much. Too close. His pet name forced any kind of resistance or anger I might have had to waver.
“Harry.” Dom’s tone lowered as he moved towards me. “It wasn’t me, I promise.”
“Then why are you wearing yesterday's clothes and smell like you were fucking in them, too?”
His response was to move closer, standing right in front of me. But this time, I stepped back, only to bump against a hard wall behind me.
“Harry, I—” He squeezed his lips together, looking away from me, the same hurt from yesterday creeping into his gaze. He blew out a heavy breath. I forced myself to stay focused on his eyes, and not drop my gaze to his lips. “I’m not… I’m not fucking around anymore.”
I shook my head, bunching my fists to stop myself from wrapping my arms around him to take away whatever pain he was in. “I honestly don’t care, Dom. Do what you want. Just don’t do it like that.”
Something inside him snapped, the darkness returning to his face as he moved quicker than I could react.
Suddenly, his hands slammed into the wall beside my shoulders, caging me in as he bore down on me.
I gasped as his presence surrounded me, blocking me out from the world. Shock shuddered through me, joined by raw fire in my veins as he drew closer.
We were in public, and one wrong word to the wrong person could be deadly.
I lifted a hand, pushing against his chest, pressing him away from me. My brow creased as I looked at him in confusion.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, questioning the harsh glare that replaced the need in his eyes.