Chapter Eight

Dominic

No. Nope. I didn’t just tell Annie I wanted to kiss her. And she didn’t just tell me yes. And I absolutely was not leaning close to follow through with that desire to kiss her.

Except I was.

Slowly, so she had time to pull back, I leaned forward until my lips brushed against hers in a silky glide.

Her response was hesitant at first, a feather-light testing of waters. Then, as if the last piece of a puzzle clicked into place, she melted into the kiss with a contented moan that sent a jolt of need straight to my cock. My heart pounded against my ribs like it wanted to break free. This kiss wasn’t just a kiss. It felt like a silent promise, a whisper of all the things I’d wanted my entire adult life but hadn’t acknowledged.

I slid my hand up to cradle her cheek gently, brushing my thumb over her baby soft skin. Her hands, those nervous little fingers that had picked at my shirt countless times before, now clung to my shoulders, holding her body close to me. This wasn’t the hungry kiss of the couple by the clubhouse. This was something… more. It was hope and starvation. Lust and admiration. She hadn’t told me everything she’d endured, but I knew she struggled with something in her past. It was there in her nightmares.

The kiss was soft and sweet but also fiercely determined. The thing was, I wasn’t sure which emotions were mine and which were hers. Her feelings were transparent, and during the last few weeks, I could tell she was interested in me. Which made me the worst kind of bastard because I wasn’t the type of man to settle down. I was too Goddamned old. Annie wasn’t, though.

She was vibrant and vivacious and had the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. And she was in my arms. Kissing me as I kissed her. And, fuck if she wasn’t fucking delicious.

When we finally broke apart, there was a softness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, a look of trust and something soft but vulnerable. We both were breathing hard. Annie looked up at me with a dazed expression filled with something like wonder. She was definitely not opposed to me kissing her. I wasn’t opposed to kissing her either.

For a moment, I just admired her lovely face, highlighted by the orange hues of twilight, her cheeks flushed from our closeness. Then I smiled reassuringly down at her. I stroked her cheek with my thumb before brushing my mouth over hers once more, then slowly sat back, moving away from her.

“Wow.” She actually looked giddy. Like this was all a grand adventure. “That wasn’t like what I always expected at all.” There was a nearly dreamlike expression on her face. Her eyes were half closed and she was so relaxed where she was pressed against me. Like a drowsy little kitten.

I narrowed my gaze. “Oh? How’s that?”

For the first time since Annie had come under my care, I saw that serene exterior crack. There were flashes of fear from time to time, but mostly in social situations. The other ladies put her at ease by just being themselves. This was different. Her expression blanked, and the color drained away from her face, her lips almost disappearing into her face they got so pale. She broke out in a sweat and I could see the pulse in her neck speed up and knew I’d fucked up but good.

“I-I’m s-sorry.” She stood up quickly and fled back down the path.

“Annie! Annie, stop!”

She didn’t. Running back toward the house, she seemed to go faster with each step away from me. At least she was headed back to the home we shared. I knew that’s where she’d go because it’s where she always went. She had expressed no desire to leave the compound for any reason unless I suggested it. Those times, I always went with her and she’d seemed grateful for my presence.

I’d known kissing her would be a mistake. Getting a taste of the delicate woman who had such a remarkable inner strength while still keeping a gentle nature meant the shriveled up part of my soul had been infused with her inner light. I knew there was no way she could keep giving that to me and not fade away to a shadow of herself, but I knew I’d forever crave that warmth and sweetness. I never wanted to hurt her. Especially not with this.

Considering the nature of cults and women, I had no doubt she had experienced some horrific things. She’d even told me some of it. I mean, she’d been trapped inside a box, for Christ’s sake! She’d specifically told me that and I’d been so wrapped up in just trying to absorb all she’d been telling me I hadn’t stopped to consider what she’d had to go through during those two years she’d been “reconditioned.” I now knew the pain she hid was deeper than I’d realized. And I should have thought to fucking check before I up and kissed her.

“Dom!”

Shit. Fuck. Shit. And piss.

Lemon.

I saw her and my daughter, Calista, headed in my direction with a full head of steam. Calista hung back slightly, frowning but hesitant, but she continued forward. Lemon didn’t hesitate. Her fists were clenched and the fine muscles in her arms bunched as if putting the point on her anger. I stuck up my hand in sheepish greeting like a lame-O, but honestly, there was nothing else I could do. I’d fucked up. Me. So whatever she dished out, I’d take with a bowed head, on my knees. Then I’d walk on my knees back to the house and plead, grovel, beg, or even borrow Falcon’s fucking pink monstrosity to ride her round, until she took me back.

Wait. We weren’t a couple. Right?

Fuck.

“Hey, Lemon.” Yep. I just kept getting lamer and lamer.

“What the fuck did you do to Annie, you bastard?” Lemon wasn’t slowing down as she approached and I braced myself for impact. Her hand cracked across my face almost before I saw it coming. Girl was getting good at not telegraphing her movements. Rocket would be proud.

“Lemon!” Calista stopped dead in her tracks, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Sour puss…” Rocket was close behind her, though he was trotting to catch up. Probably had seen or heard Lemon and took off after her. He didn’t often try to mitigate the damage caused by his vice president -- she was, after all, the vice president -- but he’d protect his wife with a ruthlessness matched only by the other members of Grim who had women of their own.

“Well? What did you do to her?”

“I kissed her.”

Again, Lemon’s hand shot out and smacked my face. The other side this time. And yeah, she was equally quick with both hands. I had to remember to compliment her on that. Once she’d calmed down. And no, I wasn’t telling her to calm down. I liked my balls where they were.

“Have you talked to her about what she went through before she came here? Do you know she was trapped in a compound, much like this one, with a cult?”

“I do.”

Slap !

“And did you discuss all the trauma she endured?”

I groaned. Hadn’t I just been thinking the same thing? “I think you know the answer, Lemon.”

Slap! Slap ! One side of my face. Then the other. No, I didn’t even consider protecting myself. I deserved this for being a horny, possessive, stupid-ass motherfucker who didn’t use his fucking brain.

Surprisingly, Rocket hovered, but didn’t interfere. I knew he would if he even thought I’d fight back, but my president knew me well enough to know I’d stand there and take whatever Lemon gave me, whether I thought I deserved it or not. I didn’t hit women, and if I wasn’t man enough to take what they dished out -- as long as no guns or knives were involved -- I was in the wrong position within Grim Road.

“Lemon, stop! Please!” Calista looked like she was near tears, but she only put her hand on Lemon’s shoulder.

Lemon slapped me one more time before stepping back. She still looked ready to gut me, but the fact her knife was still at her hip and not sticking out the front of my throat meant she didn’t believe I’d done something so bad as to warrant killing. If she’d thought I’d deliberately hurt Annie, or forced that kiss on her in any way, I’d already be dead. Because if she hadn’t already ended me, Rocket would.

A long silence followed Lemon’s outburst. I didn’t dare take my attention away from her lest I end up with that knife in my gut when she thought I wasn’t paying proper attention to her. Yeah. I wasn’t that stupid.

“Now.” Lemon stepped back just far enough to be able to look at me comfortably without craning her neck. “Start over. What happened?”

“Start ov-- You didn’t let me start to begin with!” I stopped. Took a breath. This was Lemon. She was pushing my buttons. This is what she did. How she operated. Lemon never made sense. You know. Until she did. “Look, Lemon. I was careful with her. I asked every step of the way. I gave her every opportunity to tell me to go fuck myself. Even encouraged it. She was fine until… after.”

When I didn’t continue, she stepped forward and slapped me again. This time with feeling. She actually used enough force to turn my head with that one. One thing about Lemon, she was smart when she unleashed her temper. By using an open hand, her palm might sting as much as my face, but it did neither of us real harm and she got to make her point.

“You can keep slapping me all you want, Lemon, but what happened is between me and Annie. I will make it right. I think I accidentally triggered something.”

“If you triggered something -- ” she made air quotes -- “why didn’t you fucking stop?”

“It happened afterward.”

“Gonna need to know exactly what you said to her.”

“No, Lemon. And you can’t bully me into it. Not this time. If Annie wants to tell you she will. Go ask her. But not right now.”

“And what happens right now?” She narrowed her eyes at me, daring me to give her the wrong answer.

“I’m going to go home. Annie will be there and I’m going to find out what exactly happened to make her run, and I’m going to fix it.”

She slapped me again.

“Christ, Lemon.” Rocket gripped her shoulder and pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “You gotta learn when to stop, sour puss.”

“I know exactly when to stop.” She never took her eyes off me. “I’m not sure he’s got the message yet.”

Rocket met my gaze. “He did.”

Lemon shrugged. “We’ll see.”