Chapter 14

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

Dom held his breath as his shedu hearing picked up Stella by the front door. She was leaving. His fists clenched, wanting to go and stop her. He knew he shouldn’t have pressed her about never calling back.

Is your ego that fragile?

It wasn’t, but they were so comfortable together when they weren’t fighting that he’d needed to know how she could walk away from that.

Now she was about to do it again.

Seeing Stella in his house, in his kitchen, laughing and eating strawberries, had unleashed the beast inside him.

Those goddamn strawberries.He had to leave the kitchen, so she didn’t see him getting hard as he watched her beautiful lips sucking on them.

She had to know what that would do to him, to any male. Dom had wanted to grab that golden braid of hers, wrap it around his arm, pull her head back, and kiss her until she begged him to fuck her right there.

Dom had retreated for a cold shower before he did just that. Like he needed more fantasies about her.

Afterward, Dom had still been worked up enough to try and pull the truth out of her. He got his answers, but it seemed he’d scared her off in the process.

Well done.

"Are you really going to let her leave, Master?" Antonio asked, his hearing just as acute as Dom’s.

"She has to choose to stay. I’m not going to force her if she doesn’t want to." The words felt true, even if they hollowed out a part of him. He never felt that coldness when she was with him.

And what will happen when she no longer needs your help on this case? Will you still be willing to let her go?

Dom honestly didn’t know. Then Stella’s footsteps sounded on the stairs, and his stupid heart leapt. Antonio raised a knowing brow at him.

"Don’t say it," Dom begged.

"Wouldn’t dream of it."

Stella came back into the room, her own pulse as rapid as his own. Usually, he blocked out those small peripheral sounds, but this once, he needed to hear her shared nervousness.

"What are you smiling at?" Stella said suspiciously. "Antonio, did he spit in my wine or something?"

"He wouldn’t dare." He pulled out a chair at the table. "Lady Stella." That cracked her up, a big laugh that made Dom’s smile widen.

Stella sat down and shot a heart-stopping smile at the older shedu. "Oh, Antonio, you keep this up, and I’m going to fall in love with you."

"And you haven’t even tried my crostata yet," Antonio replied, placing a napkin on her lap.

"You’re baking crostata?" she asked, her face brightening even further. She fanned herself. "Keep talking at your own peril."

"You really are delightful, Stella. It makes me wonder how Domenico found you."

"He hunted me down and blackmailed me into hanging out with him. How could a girl resist?"

Dom sat down at the table opposite her. "Don’t listen to her, Antonio. Would I really do something like that?"

"I have no opinion on this matter."

"Wise decision, Antonio."

Stella looked between them, amusement dancing in her eyes. "So is that kind of move classic Dom? Or is it a shedu custom?"

Antonio refilled her wine glass. "I wouldn’t know if it’s his usual way of attracting a lady as you are the first one Domenico has had in this house. Shedu, on the other hand, are known to be assertive when we want something. The more we want it, the harder we hunt until it submits. If there is a mating or two shedu involved, it’s even worse. The female delights in tormenting the poor male before she finally gives into him."

"Sounds like the males would enjoying the tormenting."

Antonio winked. "Immensely. Domenico has yet to experience this joy for himself."

"Please don’t encourage her, or she’ll never let it go," Dom said with a groan. Stella’s expression had turned thoughtful.

"You’ve really never had a woman here?" she asked, blunt as ever.

"And that’s my cue to leave. Enjoy dinner, Lady Stella," Antonio said, bowing out of the room.

Stella raised a forkful of steaming chicken to her mouth. "I like him."

"I can tell. And yes, you are the first woman I’ve had here." There. Let her think what she would of that.

"You really are nothing like I suspected, you know that?"

Dom tried not to look too smug. "I know. Are you disappointed knowing that you were wrong?"

"Not even a little bit." Stella quickly looked back down at her plate and focused on eating. Dom did the same, feeling like he was one step closer to winning her over.

"Are you going to tell me what alpha level you are?"

"I thought I said that was a third date question. Why do you want to know so badly?" Dom didn’t want it to be one more thing she tried to erect as a barrier between them. If she thought his name and position were a good enough reason to stay away, then the alpha level was bound to worry her.

"I want to know because I can feel you," Stella replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it’s my magic, but I can’t be sure. Nevermind. It sounds silly. I shouldn’t have said anything."

"Don’t do that. It’s not silly. I’m genuinely interested." Dom gave her his full attention, which seemed to fluster her more. "Tell me how you feel me."

"Stop making it sound dirty."

"I didn’t mean to. Please continue."

"My magic, what I can figure out anyway, picks up on power," Stella explained. It drove him crazy how she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. "I can sense you when we are in the same room. The other night at Silver Doves, I knew you were there before I saw you. It’s like hot static in the air. I can’t explain it better than that."

"Seven," Dom admitted quickly.

Stella put down her wine. "I’m sorry, what?"

"My alpha level is seven. They think. They didn’t have a way to properly measure it," Dom said. Stella’s mouth had popped open. He had just told her his biggest secret, and she knew it. "Say something."

"That explains so much," she said, collapsing back in her chair.

"It does?"

"Yes! This is huge. Why does no one know—" Stella cut off. "Rodrigo," she guessed.

"Got it in one," Dom confirmed. "Please, don’t tell anyone."

"I wouldn’t dare. No wonder he’s so threatened by you. Jesus, Dom, you should be the patriarch of your house by law."

"I know. But it wasn’t worth the fight, so I backed down. I’m an heir anyway. It didn’t seem like something worth fighting over. Besides, my mother asked me not to."

He was more than a little bitter about that. He thought that she would support him throwing out the man who had made them both so miserable.

"She still loves him?"

"I don’t think so. I’ve always thought she was waiting for something, but I’ve never been able to figure out what. I respected her wishes, and we kept the results a secret. As long as I submit to Rodrigo, he leaves me be for the most part," Dom explained. "I love my mother too much to make her life harder, and I’m looking forward to the day she does leave him."

Stella’s hand stretched across the table and took his. "I’m sorry."

"Don’t be. I wasn’t ready to take over as patriarch, and fifteen years later, I still feel the same way." Dom curled his fingers around hers, the small gesture taking the sharp edges off the memory. "Thank you, though."

"No wonder you’re so bossy," she teased.

"I’ve been restraining myself."

Stella bit her lip, trying to hold back a laugh. "I bet. Thank you for trusting me with this."

"I thought it might make you relax a little, now that we know each other’s most dangerous secrets."

She did laugh then, the joy in it infecting him. "Assured mutual destruction? Dom, that’s the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me."

"You’re welcome. You want to know something else?"

Stella’s hand tightened around his. "Absolutely."

"In the ancient shedu stories, the alphas were so strong that when they flew, lightning crackled along their wings, and they could use it to create storms," he told her as his thumb stroked the back of her hand. "I might not be as strong as the shedu of old, but if you have an affinity with power manipulation, that energy could be what you’re sensing."

"Definitely something worth investigating. Once we find out who the kidnappers are, of course," Stella said with a hitch in her voice. "That is, if you want to."

"I want to. My mother might even have some books about the shedu myths that we could borrow."

"Who knows? I might get your wings sparking yet, Aladoro," Stella said with a saucy wink.

Dom laughed, feeling lighter than he had in years. He lifted her hand and gave the inside of her wrist a playful nip. That one small taste of her skin was enough to make the beast inside of him purr.

"I’m sure you are capable of anything when you set your mind to it, misteriosa."