Silence for a heartbeat.
“Dominic?”
He wasn’treallygoing to break my door down, was he?
A fist slammed onto the wood making me jump. “Open the door, Theodora. Iwillbreak it.”
Oh, God. What the hell was wrong with this man?
And what the hell was wrong withme?
Another fist against the door, and I starting cursing under my breath as I turned the lock and pulled the door open. He was not going to break my door tonight.
He stalked inside, took my face in his hands and pushed me back until I hit the pillar between the bedroom and the kitchen with my back. Two seconds in—and I was already full of regret. His eyes were green, no gold in them still, but they wereon fire. His skin was so hot, it should have had flames dancing on it, and the way he breathed heavily, chest rising up and down as fast as mine, let me know that it had been a very stupid idea to open that door. I should have called Hunter. I should have run away through the windows, even. But I should not have waited for him to come in here and press me against the wall like this.
“You’re right, the wolf isn’t here,” he said, holding up my face while I tried in vain to push him off me, so weakly it was actually sad.
“Let go of me,” I said through gritted teeth, even though my hands had already wrapped around his wrists and I was keeping hison meinstead of pushing them off my face.
Ugh.
“ButI’mhere, Teddybear,” he said, almost violently, and leaned down until the tips of our noses touched. “I’m still here. It’s all me.”
“You don’t want me,” I said, and my voice was much stronger than I expected, which was a relief. I didn’t want to sound whiny—just wanted him to know that I knew. “Your wolf does.”
He closed his eyes as if I’d slapped him and pressed his lips hard on my forehead. “I always thought he wanted you more than I did. Until your scent woke me up today—me, not him. Until I found you sleeping in my fucking bed, Teddybear.”
“Sowhydid you turn me away?!” I cried, exasperated now. Why did he have to change so damn much all the time? It was impossible to keep up with him.
“Because I knew you wouldn’t stop me,” he breathed, moving his lips down to my eyes, then my cheek.
I wanted to stop him now, just to prove him wrong. I wanted to push him off me with every bit of strength in my body, and I wanted to tell him to get out of my apartment, too.
Except, I could feel him everywhere on me—his chest pressed to mine, his hands on my face, his lips on my cheek. Ugh, I was so weak it was pathetic. The way I wanted him made no sense—it wasn’t something I could explain. Just something I felt. And the feeling didn’t give a damn aboutprideorfair.
“You make no sense to me.” He never had, and he probably never would.
He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. “You make no sense to me, either. Just the sound of your voice gets me hard. You have no idea what you do to me.”
Those damn words I’d imagined hearing so many times, yet he said them withthatvoice.
“Are youaccusingme?” Was heblamingme for what he felt? Because that’s exactly what it sounded like, and it pissed me off.
“Fuck, yeah, I’m accusing you,” he said through gritted teeth, leaning his head back so he could look me in the eyes. “How the fuck am I supposed to function around you? It was all I could do not to take you in front ofeveryoneat the office that day, just to show them who you belong to. I go weeks without seeing you, fighting with myself, fooling myself into thinking that I can handle it.” He touched his forehead to mine. “And then I smell you—just smell your scent, and everything else goes out the window.”
“I don’t belong to you,” I whispered, and even I recognized the lie in my words. Of course, I belonged to him—I had since San Francisco. And the thought of him taking me in front of everyone at the office…
“Then stop me.”
He let go of my face with one hand and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me to his chest so I could feel every inch of him perfectly, including all those hard inches pressed to my stomach. Liquid fire went down my throat, burning me. My thighs clenched, and it was impossible to hold back a moan.
“If there’s any part of you that doesn’t want this, Teddybear…” He grazed my cheek with his teeth just a little bit, and my back arched into him all the way. “For the love of God, stop me.”
“I can’t.” Despite everything, there was no part of me that didn’t want him. As much as I hated how he behaved, I also understood him.
When he slammed his lips to mine, my eyes were squeezed shut, and I was on my tiptoes, holding onto his arms, wishing with every fiber in me that the moment never ended.
But…I moved my head back, sucking in a deep breath. “The wolf.” That was the reason why he’d shut me out in the first place—his wolf.