weren’t different. Joel had made his choice, and that meant Mila was none of his fucking business.
The blonde who Dominic was guessing was Adele tried leading Joel away, but he kept his glare locked on Dominic as he said, “I’m Mila’s friend—”
“And if she wanted you to stay, she’d have said so,” Dominic pointed out. “Just as she’d have told me to leave if she wanted me gone.”
Grinding his teeth, Joel took an aggressive step toward him. “I read those articles about you. Yeah, both seemed to be piles of shit. But that list of names—that long, long list . . . I don’t want Mila added to that. I don’t want her to be just another woman whose name you probably won’t even remember a few years down the line. She deserves better than that. Better than you.”
Dominic couldn’t even blame the asshole for thinking Mila was no one to him. Hadn’t he in fact forgotten a lot of those women’s names? But Mila was different. Since he had no intention of explaining himself to Joel, Dominic lifted a brow and asked, “Are we done here?”
Again, the blonde tried leading Joel away. Again, the asshole resisted. “She’s got enough problems right now—as evidenced by the attack on her earlier. She doesn’t need to be dealing with your problems as well.”
“And what do I need, Joel?”
Wincing, Joel turned to look at Mila, who was standing a few feet away. He cursed, taking a moment to weigh his words. Yeah, telling a dominant female what they did or didn’t need wasn’t wise. “I just don’t like that he’s bringing more trouble to your door,” Joel said carefully.
“Well, thanks for sharing that,” said Mila. “But it’s my door, Joel, not yours. I say who can and can’t walk through it—not you or anybody else.”
The blonde gave her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Mila, he’s just a little tense after hearing—”
“You almost died, Mila,” Joel clipped. “If Tate hadn’t heard that whistle, you’d be dead right now. So fucking forgive me if I’d rather that someone wasn’t piling more danger on you.” With that, he pivoted on his heel and stormed out.
“Sorry,” the blonde repeated, backing out of the apartment.
Closing the door, Dominic turned to Mila. Her face hard, her body rigid, her eyes closed, she just stood there. He slowly crossed to her, eating up her personal space, and skimmed his fingertips down her throat. “Open your eyes, baby.”
He’d expected to see torment there. After all, the male who would have been her mate was acting like he had rights to her—rights he’d given up—and just wouldn’t back the fuck off and give her the space to truly heal. Because despite what she liked to think, she hadn’t truly healed. Not fully. And her cat had a long way to go before she’d feel at peace.
What Dominic hadn’t expected to see when she lifted those eyelids was her cat staring back at him. There was a warning there. The feline had been badly hurt, and she was letting him know that she’d tolerate no more of it. He wondered if, unlike Mila, the cat had sensed from his body language that he wanted “more,” and she wanted him to know that she’d be watching him closely. She wasn’t warning him to stay away, though, so he took that as a win.
His wolf strained against Dominic, wanting to get to the cat, wanting to reassure her. But the feline withdrew, and Mila’s blue eyes took him in.
“I thought you were supposed to be keeping your distance from me,” she said.
He slid his hand up her arm. “Tried it. Didn’t like it. Won’t be doing it again.” He nuzzled her neck, needing a lungful of her scent. It felt like weeks since he’d last been inside her. He wanted to bury his cock deep in her pussy, wanted to taste and touch and take her hard. But she was strung tighter than a bow. Needed comfort. Needed to forget what a shit evening she’d had so far.
Taking her hand, Dominic led her to the bathroom, where he slowly peeled off her clothes, keeping his touch light and easy.
“I already had a shower,” she told him.
“I haven’t, and I don’t want to take one alone.” He shed his own clothes and pulled her into the shower stall. The spray of hot water drummed at their skin and pattered the tiles and frosted-glass door. He soaped her body, working the fruity gel into a creamy lather,