Stop thinking,I urged myself as I walked up the stairs, but I didn’t feel better until I was on the second floor and Derek couldn’t see me anymore.
The house was strangely quiet. Too quiet for a place with that many kids. It was still not even ten a.m., and they were apparentlyin class,but I’d have been so much more at ease if I’d seen another soul in there. As it was, I made it all the way to the third floor and to the first door right in the blink of an eye.
The white wooden door taunted me. Behind it was Dominic—sleeping.
My nerves were getting the best of me. If I could just stop and have a talk with myself, this would be over in minutes. But I was in a house full of werewolves, and no matter how low I whispered, someone was going to hear me. Probably Dominic. Or even Derek.
So, I sucked it up and put my hand on the round knob, expecting it to burn my skin for some reason, and pushed the door open.
Silence.
The blinds were drawn almost all the way. Only a tiny bit of sunlight streamed in through the two windows in the room that smelled unmistakably like Dominic Dane. Leather and woody andhim.
My traitorous body reacted to it the way it always did, and my thighs clenched even before I saw him sprawled over his bed on his stomach, his naked back on full display, pale green sheets wrapped around his hips and legs. Even if I tried, I couldn’t convince my eyes to stop analyzing him—every line of his back, every curve of his muscles, the way his ass rose under the sheets, perfect for grabbing, the way his skin looked exactly as smooth as it had felt under my fingers…
His hair was all over the place, his swollen eyes closed, his back rising and falling slowly. Both his hands and forearms were tucked under the pillow. My God, he looked so peaceful like that. No bruises or cuts anywhere that I could see. He was completely calm, like I’d never seen him before.
An ache developed deep in the pit of my stomach suddenly. Why in the world did he have to be so perfect? Why did I have to like every part of him, even the way heslept?
Forcing myself to tear my eyes from him was painful, but I stepped into the room slowly and closed the door behind me as silently as I could. By then, I expected him to open his eyes, but he still didn’t. It gave me a moment to inspect his room.
The wide space didn’t have much in it, which was typical Dominic. No picture frames or paintings or decorations of any kind. The walls were plain white, the three square rugs on the hardwood floor black, and the frame of his king-sized bed was black, too. There were two doors opposite the bed, both open halfway so I could see the bathroom with white and grey tiles behind the first and a closet behind the second. There was a desk in the left corner with a lamp on it and some folders. I wanted to look in the drawers underneath it, just to see what he kept here, something personal maybe, something that would make understanding this man a little easier, but I didn’t want him waking up to find me snooping in his bedroom. Near the bed was an old armchair, the black fabric of it now grey with time. A hoodie was draped over it, and it was far enough from the bed that I felt confident sitting on it.
Why am I holding my breath? I knew this man. We’d worked together before. We’d been together, too, once. And the reminder had my heart racing again, just like that. Ugh, how I wished I had Sandra’s bracelet right now to keep my scents shielded.
That’sifhe even woke up.
My mouth opened to call out his name. I had to get this over with sooner rather than later. I had to get back to work soon, and he’d already slept enough if Derek told the truth.
But he just looked so peaceful. So relaxed, like a different man altogether. No voice left me, so I clamped my mouth shut again and leaned back in the armchair. My fingers itched to run down his back. My entire body was burning, and my idiot mind kept imagining what it would be like to slide in the bed with him, slowly take his huge arm and put it around me, rest my head on his pillow, and listen to his breathing before I fell asleep, too.
My cheeks felt even more flushed than when I first came here. No amount of talking to myself in my head was doing me any favors. I was really starting to think I’d be sitting there all day, forced to breathe in his scent and watch him sleeping, half naked, but…
“Teddy.”
His voice sent chills down my spine, and I sat up straighter instantly, my heart skipping a long beat. My eyes had been stuck on his back, wondering if he’d feel it if I pulled the cover all the way off him, so I hadn’t noticed that his eyes were open.
Now, I did.
I wanted to sayhi. I wanted to saysorry to come to your room while you’re sleeping.I wanted to say a lot of things, but my brain cells were already dying a slow and painful death, so all I had was: “You owe me answers.”
He pushed himself to the side, and I noticed the way his biceps flexed for a second before I took in his half-swollen eyes, so green they shone like beacons. His hair was still all over the place, and I’d be damned if it didn’t suit him perfectly.Everythingsuited him, and even though the bags under his eyes didn’t look as pronounced, he still pulled it off.
Freaking wolf-ass.
He took his time turning over on his back, the covers still wrapped around his hips. I forced my eyes on my lap just in case they would wander off to forbidden places—andthey would. God, my cheeks were going to melt off my face any second.
“Hey,” he whispered, and my eyes immediately found his face. He was looking at me—reallylooking at me, like he only ever had that night at the hotel. And he seemed…confused. Surprised. Shocked even. As shocked as me.
“What?” I asked, terrified to think I had something on my face, or worse yet—myteeth. Had I eaten something that morning? Just some almonds, and it didn’t feel like something was stuck in my teeth.
“Nothing,” Dominic said and sat up, looking around his room the same way again—like he was surprised to find it there. To find himself in it. He was no longer looking at me, which was a relief. Except now I was looking at him.
At his back while he pushed his legs off the other side of the bed, then reached down on the floor for a shirt—plain black—and put it on, taking away the view of his muscles and curves. I instantly breathed a little easier. Not for long, unfortunately, because when he grabbed his sweatpants, he had to stand to pull them up, and I saw his black boxer shorts and his ass long enough for my heart to pick up the beating again.
It occurred to me that this had been a bad idea when he faced me again, running his fingers through his messy hair. A disastrous idea, actually. I hadn’t seen him in a month and a half, and I’d forgotten what he did to me when he was so close and we were alone.
Now I remembered. But it was too late.