Chapter 276
Ellie’s POV
The kiss was soft and gentle at first. A light brushing of our lips against one another, tender and tentative, like our mouths were testing each other.
It didn’t stay that way for long.
The moment Dominic’s hand slid from my chin into my hair, I stopped thinking about whether or not this was a good idea and 1 just… let go. The mate bond surged the moment I stopped fighting it, and suddenly my hands were in his shirt and his body was pressed flush against mine and the cold of the brick wall was biting through the thin fabric of my dress.
He kissed me the way he did everything: with complete, single-minded focus, like there was nothing else in the world worth his attention right now. I hated that about him. I also, in that moment, loved it entirely.
My fingers found the hem of his shirt and slid underneath, and I felt the muscles of his abdomen contract under my hands. He made a low sound and pushed closer, one hand braced against the wall above my head, the other sliding down my side, over my hip, and then further still, finding the hem of my dress.
His palm was warm against the outside of my thigh.
I should have stopped it there. I knew that even as it was happening. But the mate bond was electric, and when his hand pushed the fabric of my dress up slightly and hooked my leg around his hip, pulling me in, I let him.
My hips pressed against his, and I felt the evidence of his desire, straining painfully against the inside of his trousers.
That was definitely when I should have put an end to this.
Instead, for one very long, very stupid moment, I considered just letting the rest of it happen too.
I reached down. Curled my fingers around the hard mound in his pants. Echoed the sound he made in his throat with a softer
one of my own.
And then the door banged open.
A group of people spilled out into the alley, loud and laughing. A girl gasped and pointed when they saw us, They snickered all the way down the alley, and I heard their laughter long after they were out of sight.
My cheeks flamed as I realized what we had nearly just done. I pressed my hands flat against Dominic’s chest and shoved.
He stumbled back, breathing hard. I yanked my dress back down and whirled on him.
“How dare you,” I hissed.
“How dare I what?”
“Use the mate bond against me like that.” I jabbed my finger into the center of his chest. “You know exactly what it does You know I can’t think straight when you -”
His lips curled. I looked away.
“I’m not going to sleep with you, Dominic. No matter how many times you try to use that bond to cloud my head, it’s not happening.”
He let out a huff. “You really think I took advantage of you?”
I shrugged. “I think you knew exactly what you were doing.”
“You had every opportunity to stop kissing me, and you didn’t,” he pointed out. I opened my mouth, but he added, “The bond doesn’t put words in your mouth or feelings in your chest that weren’t already there. It amplifies what exists. You know that as
1
well as I do.”
I didn’t say anything to that, because I did know that, and I hated that he was right.
“You want to talk about manipulation?” He took a step back, running a hand through his hair. “You’ve had other men trailing around after you since the day we got married. Lucas. Now Colt. You danced with that guy just because you’re angry with me. And I’m the manipulative one.”
“Oh, please,” I snapped. “You have been paranoid since two weeks into this sham of a marriage. You accused me of having an affair before we had even been married for a month, you put a woman in the house to spy on me, and every single time Vivian whispers something in your ear you take her word as gospel over mine. You have never, not once, trusted me. So don’t try to make it out like I’m the problem, because I’m not.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“I have gone out of my way,” he said slowly, deliberately, “every single fucking day since our wedding to give you space, to be patient, to try and show you that I wasn’t who you seemed to think I was. And what did I get? Cold shoulders and excuses and you sneaking out of the house at midnight. You didn’t keep up your end of anything, Ellie. Not once. So forgive me for being a little goddamn paranoid!”
“Maybe I was cold and distant for a reason!” I shot back, voice rising now. “You’re cruel and controlling! You haven’t changed at all from my last-”
I cut myself off abruptly before I said the words. My past life.
Dominic stared at me. “Your last what?”
“Nothing.” I stared at my feet.
Dominic was silent for a long moment. “You really think that of me,” he finally said. “You think I’m some kind of controlling monster from your nightmares.”
I folded my arms. “I know it.”
A growl rumbled in his chest at that. He closed the distance between us in two steps, pressing me back against the wall again, the bricks biting into the backs of my arms, and put one hand flat against the wall beside my head. Our chests were nearly touching. I could feel the heat radiating off of him.
“You want controlling and cruel?” he whispered. “I can do that. Since you’ve seemed so intent on making it happen since our wedding day, why don’t I truly trap you in this marriage? Force you to remain mine forever, forget the contract, and make you give me heirs until we both kill each other? Is that what you want?”
I stared up at him. My heart was slamming against my ribs. I couldn’t tell if it was lust or hatred that was making it race. Maybe both.
We stayed there for a long moment, both of us breathing hard, the air between us wound so tight it was almost thick enough to choke on. His eyes dropped to my mouth for half a second and then came back up.
Then, slowly, he stepped back.
He exhaled through his nose and looked away from me, jaw tight. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter. Tired, almost
“But I won’t do that,” he said. “Because I’m not the fucking monster you seem to think I am, Ellie. I’m not ”
He looked at me again.
“But I’m not sure if I know who you are anymore,” he muttered.
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Something in my chest had cracked open, and I didn’t trust my voice.
He looked at me for another second, then turned and walked to the mouth of the alley. He raised one hand and a cab that had
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been idling at the curb pulled forward. He opened the back door for me, and I climbed in, and then he slid in beside me and didn’t look at me even once as he told the driver where to take us.
Neither of us said a word on the drive home.
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