Exposed Exposed (Dom Nation #1) - E. Davies Page 0,59
was.
I’d gotten that look from boys before. The awe and intimidation and the way they flinched afterward at my touch, their eyes free from the scales of naivety once they knew what I was capable of.
I didn’t mind. Or at least, I told myself that. Who cared what a stranger thought, even one I saw twice a week at DN? And when the need was strong enough, they came back to me for more of the ice-edged pleasure I wielded.
But someone who had already seen my home, my life, my very heart? That was a different story. That was a risk.
And that kiss.
Fuck me, that kiss! Intoxicating, everything it promised. Ripping me out of my comfort zone. Making my heart do stupid, fluttery things even remembering it.
I raised my knuckles to my lips and closed my eyes, breathing deep and steady.
What had unfolded between us was no doubt too much and too quickly. Yet it also felt like a drop of water to a parched man’s throat, too slow and laughably inadequate to my needs.
The room lit up when Slate was in it. And the way he looked at me, straight through my defenses, but he never once raised my guard about it. I’d always hated feeling exposed, but the gentleness in his spirit made me feel safe at the same time.
When he looked sad or tender or vulnerable, I couldn’t fathom having the strength—or even the cruelty—not to respond to his needs. Which was rich, for a man who feared his own coldness.
“Fuck,” I breathed out and straightened up, wiping a shaking hand down my face. It seemed like the only word in my vocabulary right now.
I’d always told myself that The One didn’t exist. He wasn’t out there waiting for me. Life was a string of convenient encounters and slammed doors.
But here he was. And I didn’t want to fuck it up.
It took a moment to realize where the angry buzz was coming from. My phone was ringing in my bag, which was still on the hallway floor. It was on Do Not Disturb, which meant only people from my contacts list should be able to call me.
I strode over to my bag and fished out the phone, and then I nearly dropped it, snarling at my former business partner’s name on the screen.
Christ. What on earth was Logan doing calling me?
I stabbed the screen and raised the phone to my ear, uncorking the unease that bubbled in my veins. “What do you want, cocksucker?”
“One of your freaky little friends dropped by.” I could picture Logan’s sneer through the phone line, and the pit of my stomach dropped in a familiar lurch. “Don’t let it happen again.”
Nobody in my life had ever taken the liberty of crossing the streams. Which meant it was someone who had it out for me.
“That would be a lot easier if you told me who the fuck you mean,” I bluffed, stalling for more info.
I kept my voice low. I sure as hell didn’t want Slate to get wind of this. He was only just settling here, losing the haunted look in his eye. Hearing that Isaac was hunting him down…
No. Better to make the problem go away without him having to know.
“He didn’t leave his name. Angry guy. Black hair. Leather jacket. Showed up at the office asking for you.”
“I have no idea who it is,” I lied, despite knowing exactly who it was. “So I’m gonna assume you’re lying and you just wanted to fuck with my sleep.”
“I doubt you were asleep, huh?” Logan countered with that ugly note in his voice again. And damn it, I hated that he was right.
My gut churned as I tried to slam the lid on the box of memories that threatened to leak into my life once more. Logan, Jake, and Taylor, the Three Fucketeers.
“Don’t make me get a restraining order.” I hung up on my threat, not letting him get another word in.
It’s Isaac. It has to be. I’m going to rip him apart, and he won’t get off on it, either.
My hands still shook as I plugged my phone in, then grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two tumblers. As I slid the cork from the neck, I almost missed the sound of the bedroom door gliding open again.
When I corked the bottle, balanced a glass in each palm, and turned around, I found Slate. He was sitting on my couch and wearing the pajamas I’d left out for him.