What the hell is going on here?
She knows about the lie, you ass.
He wanted to roar and take off heads, and most of all, he wanted to tear that blank expression off her face until she was smiling up at him again. He jammed the car into park then hopped out of his seat.
“What’s going on here?”
Graham stepped in front of him blocking him from Felicity. His body tensed as he locked eyes with the bodyguard. A deadly cold came over him, readying him to fight.
“Step aside, Graham.”
“I can’t do that, Dom.”
Dom took a step forward ready to let his fist get acquainted with the stupid bodyguard.
Then she spoke. “It’s okay, let him up.”
Dom glared at Graham as he slowly stepped to the side, then Dom mounted the steps to her front door. He kept waiting for her to smile and tell him with was a game or a joke, but she didn’t.
Instead, she stood in her doorway, blocking it. She looked incredible. She wore a flowing black skirt that fell to her knees, a pair of high heels that did incredible things to her calf muscles and showed off trim ankles, and a soft pink blouse that fit her breasts perfectly while showing off her slender neck. A lovely neck that he wanted to curl his hands around so he could feel her pulse pound as she rode him; a neck he wanted to lick every inch of until he finally, slowly, sank his fangs into her and tasted her.
“Going out?” he said.
“Yes, I am.”
One hand curled into a fist. He looked away to reign in his temper then looked back down at her. “You mind explaining how I left here this morning after nearly fucking you and now you’re giving me the cold shoulder?”
A blink was the only sign she gave that she heard him. “Stay here.”
She walked into the house, grabbed something off the kitchen table, then held it out to him. His gut clenched. It was bad. Whatever was on the paper was the cause of all of this change.
Dom grabbed the paper and felt his blood run cold.
It was a picture of him and Julianna at a campaign ball. She was smiling demurely up at him and he had his hand tucked around her waist. The picture was taken at one of the balls he’d taken Julianna to after he told Felicity that he’d broken it off with Julianna. The headline above the magazine article read: V-Society’s most glamorous new couple!
Fuck.
“I can explain.”
Could he? He had lied, after all. He would have done anything, would still do anything, to keep her close.
“I’d love to hear that, but if you’ll excuse me I have somewhere to be.”
She squeezed past him and locked the front door.
“Where are you going?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Bullshit it isn’t.”
Still she didn’t scream at him, she didn’t hit him, she wouldn’t even look at him. The pain in his chest was crushing.
“Felicity, please—”
“Don’t,” she said, and then strode down the steps. Toward Graham
He followed her, panic and anger mixing into something desperate and ugly. “I can explain this.”
“I really don’t care.” To Graham she smiled softly. “I’m ready now.”
The bodyguards filled the SUV as they prepared to take her wherever she was going. She looked ready for a night on the town.
Dom considered his options. He could stand there like an idiot and watch his woman drive away with her guards or he could do something about it.
He decided. In a flash, he had Felicity over his shoulder and shoved into the passenger seat of his car. Graham rounded on him and Dom let loose a punch that broke teeth before the guard had a chance to move. The other guards hesitated. After all, Grayson might have hired them but Gray was Dom’s brother. He could see the apprehension of attacking their boss’s brother glinting in their eyes.
“She’s coming with me. You can follow us or not, that’s up to you.”
He stared them down. Graham wiped the blood from his mouth looking furious and ready for a fight, but he turned and nodded to his team. “We’ll follow behind. Do anything stupid, Dom, and I’ll take you out. You hear me?”
Felicity tried to get out of the car, but he shoved her back inside and slammed the door shut. Racing to the other side, he had the car in drive and peeled out before she could try to jump out.
It took several minutes before he felt calm enough to speak. “I deserve an explanation,” he said.
She snorted. “I don’t think you deserve anything.”
“So you know about...”
She let out a laugh that sounded a lot as if she was trying not to cry. He cast a glance at her to make sure she wasn’t. He couldn’t handle her tears right now. Right now he needed to fix this, he needed to be as close to her as possible. He had to bring them back together. He needed her. He loved her.
“Yes, I know that you lied to me, Dom. I know that you didn’t really break off the engagement with Julianna. I know that you’re still mating with her in a matter of days, and I know that the reason you didn’t want me to stop working on the decorations for the mating ceremony is because there will still be one. And here I thought everything was finally going my way.” She laughed bitterly, the sound cracking a place in his heart.
“I did lie—”
“I know you did,” she snapped.
He continued over her interruption. “I lied because I know I need to mate with Julianna to help secure enough votes for the presidency, and I can’t let you go. You’re mine Felicity. I’d do anything to keep you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this.”
She laughed again. “You’re not sorry. You’re smart and you were smart enough to know exactly what you were doing when you did it. You got what you wanted, for a short while anyway. Lady Julianna will still be yours but I guess I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. You didn’t get to fuck me.”
“I have not fucked either of you,” he growled.
“At least there is that.”
“I care nothing for her.”
Suddenly, she spun in her seat to face him. Her eyes blazed with raw, bright pain. “Then why don’t you leave her and take me instead!”
Her outburst stunned him. Not that he hadn’t thought of the very same thing himself, but at her enthusiasm at the idea. She wanted him as much as he did her. That knowledge made the pressure over his heart ease considerably. If she cared then she wouldn’t really leave him.
“Felicity, it’s not that easy. Our people need a strong vampire as president. You know this.”
“Don’t tell me what you think I know.”
He grinded his teeth as his patience slipped a notch. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I never meant to. I’m asking you to forgive me, please.” God, it hurt to say the words. To beg and plead, but for her he’d do it.
“What did you think would happen? Honestly? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think that come the day of the ceremony I wouldn’t figure out that it wasn’t a presidential party, but a fucking mating ceremony? I’m not stupid, Dom.”
“I don’t think you are,” he said between tight teeth.
“Apparently you do. What does Julianna have to say about this? I’m sure as your bruid she’s none too happy that you were in my bed this morning.”
“She doesn’t know anything about it, and I haven’t touched her.”
She glared at him with bright eyes. “You’ll have to after the ceremony to make it complete. I guess it won’t be so hard for you having been so long without a woman and all.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Did you do all of this just to sleep with me? You had to have known I’d find out soon with the mating ceremony only days away. Did you tell me that you broke it off with her just so you could fuck me?”