Fix the ranch, then your relationship with Lilly. Then you can think about Saylor.
Right now, the focus should be on those, not on Dom.
The knock on my door startles me. I swear, if Lilly’s here on business, I will scream at her. That girl needs to rest.
I pull the door open, my smile falling as soon as I see Dom on the other side. A very torn, water dripping from his hair and soaking his shirt Dom.
“Dom?” I ask, as if I don’t know exactly who’s in front of me.
He keeps his hand on the doorframe, his eyes everywhere but on mine. He’s muttering something under his breath, but he shakes his head and stops.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” he replies immediately. “I’m so far from okay.”
“Okay, come on in. How can I help? Tea? Coffee? Water? Tequila? Beer? I don’t have any, but I can grab one from your cabin. Come on, I have towels.” I pull at his hand, but it doesn’t budge.
“That's the thing, Riley. I want nothing more than to come in, but I can’t.” He shakes his head. “I shouldn’t.” He clears his throat,his eyes finally finding mine, and holy shit, I don’t even know if there’s a name for the way his obsidian eyes look right now. He seems desperate, hurt, and a little hungry. I can’t put my finger on it.
I’m so lost in my head, trying to read him, that I almost miss when he says, “I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t wantyou, but I must like forbidden things, because I can’t seem to stay away. I’m going mad, and it’s been less than two days.”
I gasp. So many feelings and multiple words. The honesty behind his tone. All of it.
“What are you saying?” I ask.
“I can’t get you out of my fucking mind.” He shakes his head, fighting something we both want. A droplet of water lands on my lip as his eyes squeeze tight, and he swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Once wasn’t enough, and I want more.”
I take a step forward, getting all up in his space, holding his soaked shirt between my fingers and willing him to look at me. “There’s no need to torment yourself when I want the same thing,” I whisper.
His jaw tightens before he lets out a breath. “I can’t give you more than tonight.”
He said that two nights ago, but whatever. “We both are adults with needs. There’s no reason to make this complicated. I promise.” I trace his full bottom lip with my thumb, taking his face in my hand. “Kiss me, Dom,” I say, giving him permission without making him ask for it again.
I rise to my tiptoes, his minty breath caressing my nose as I whisper against his lips, “Kiss me. Take what you want.”
He hoists me up, wrapping me tightly against his solid wall of a chest, crashing his lips to mine. The sounds we make are instantly indecent, and the way my pebbled nipples touch his wet skin, even more so. He walks us in, shutting the door behind him, leading us back to my bedroom. I don’t have to look or let go of his expert lips to know that’s where we’re heading.
He tosses me on my bed, his eyes practically eating me alive, but I want to seehim. “Strip for me, Dom.”
He looks pained, and it breaks my heart a little. I don’t want him to do this just because I want to, even if he was the one who came here. I want him to do this because he can’t stop thinking about me and the other night. I want him to mean it. I want him to tell me he couldn’t sleep without dreaming about how perfectly we fit in each other's arms, just like me.
I want him to choose me. I want to be enough. But this, I can’t do.
“You know what? Why don’t you just go home? Clearly, you don’t want this, and you just had a second of weakness.” I stand, but I can’t get past this mountain of a man. He holds my wrist, looking down at me before bringing my hand to touch his hard length.
“Does this feel like I don’t want this?”
“Then why do you look like the sight of me might make you sick?”
He turns, holding my face this time. “Do you think Iwantto want you this badly? Do you think Iwantto stay up all night thinking about my hot young neighbor who’s driving me wild?”
I snort, and he cocks an eyebrow. “Sorry. Me? Driving you wild? Please.”
“I owe so much to your family and this place. I didn’t want to disrespect it by falling into bed with the youngest sister.”
He owes my family things? The hell? Also, it always boils down to this. The little sister. Baby Riley. Not trusting that I know what I’m doing and that I am a goddamn adult.
“If age wasn’t a thing. If I was thirty something like you, would you still be fighting this?”
