Dominic catches another, this time settling it carefully in my hair.
I blink as he dresses me in little faerie glows, then I ask, “What are you doing?”
“Indulging.” He sets the tip of his finger against my cheek and lets another bug walk off. I close my eye against the sensation of it.
Indulging in what? Driving me mad, one sensory nightmare at a time?
How villainous of him.
Truly, my family’s animosity toward the vampires is well-grounded.
A swear whispers from his lips as the creatures glow against my skin. Blessedly the one on my cheek takes flight when he cups my chin and forces me to beholdhim. Backdropped by navy and hundreds of blinking lights, he says, “I’ve given what you said earlier some thought.”
“Oh?” I fold my hands together in my lap. “Have you now? And what have you concluded?”
“I’ve been needlessly anxious. I work in sales. I understand how to sell products and people.Makingyou love me isn’t impossible. I’m the only one standing in my own way, because thissellisn’t as emotionless as the ones I usually deal with. You’re reasonable, and you’ve already proven willing to give me the tools I need to become what you desire. You saytake chances, but I cannot picture you condemning me for a mistake so long as you know I’m acting earnestly. Youwantthings to work out. You wouldn’t be entertaining this at all if there wasn’t any hope in your mind that more could come of it. I’ve run the numbers. I’ve done the calculations. And you know what I’ve discovered?”
“I’m on the edge of my seat. Tell me.”
“We are already inevitable.”
My brows rise. “Are we now?”
“Yes. You sayobsess, and I do. You hand me a script, and I play in it. There is no limit to what I am willing to do—privately or publicly. You can test me on that if you’d like. I don’t have shame, and I’m working through my fears because they aren’t grounded in logic. I will become what you want, through trialand error, knowing that you don’t penalize error because it is often what makes a story that much more fascinating.”
My nerves tangle with the wingbeats. “You’d abandon yourself so easily to play by my scripts?”
“I am whatever I am. From moment to moment, my choices define my character. This is not abandonment—this is a revelation. I am the sort of person who takes the opportunities I am given. Inevitably, my interpretation of what you give me will taint my roles. Like before, in the kitchen when you handed me the knife, I rewrote that section in my own words. In that way, I can abandon nothing of what I am that matters. That will be how it is.” He lowers his face and his grip, until I find his hand locked around my throat.
The sensation trips across my tangled nerves, blessing them with firework sparks.
His lips touch my forehead, and my eyelids grow heavy. “You will learn to love me, because you will cover me in your fingerprints until I am someone you find lovable. You will learn to love me, because I will dress you in my fingerprints until you can’t look at yourself without seeingmeanymore. You will love me, August, because there is no world in which you do not. You said,make me.” His nose traces down mine, then his breath is on my lips. “I will. I willmake you, and I will go further thanmaking youbecause my character has always erred on the side of overachieving. I will make you love me, because that is inevitable, and I will make you beg, because that…might be a challenge.” The smile in his voiceignitesme. “You like slow burn, my darling lotus? Get ready.” His thumb caresses my pulse, then his lips nip at my throat. “This one shall be nothing short of suffering.”
He pulls back, and I’m left frigid on this warm, warm night. Body ablaze, breaths uneven, I behold him once more—surrounded by the swelling dark, glowing in the firefly light, andsmilinglike the wicked lead in any of my romances.
My lips tremble as they part, and then I exhale, “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Well. Cuss word. Basically.
“Dominic?”
“Darling?”
“Would you like to go out with me? Swimming maybe? Sometime? There’s a lake here. We can bring a picnic lunch.”
He arches a brow. “That sounds ratherdating, if you ask me, and I’ve been told we’renotdating somewhat recently, should my memory serve.”
“If you keep the dark promises you’ve just teased me with, I’ll allow dating.”
He hums, tucking his fingers into his pockets. “Dating…on night three… That’s not particularlyslow burnortrying to kill meof you, now is it, little saint?”
I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand. He’s so right. I’ve forgotten myself—and the plot. Intelligently, I say, “Oops.”
“You’re cute when you can’t help but want me.”
Hehehe. Toes wiggling, I sit there—like an idiot who very quite nearly might want him.Badly.
