Cataclysm (40 page)

She had hoped he wanted to talk about the baby—that he would apologize for acting like an ass and tell her that he was happy. The fact that he didn’t only solidified what she already knew. He wasn’t happy about the baby. She had been so stupid to believe his feelings had changed in such a short time and as much as she tried not to be, she wasn’t only hurt, she was angry.

But if their rendezvous with his ex and his father was what he wanted to talk about, that was fine. At least that way she could get her anger out without looking so pathetic. The wind picked up as a thunderous clap roared above them. “I’m going to the graveyard.”

Dominic took her by the shoulder and forced her to turn around and look at him. His eyes blazed with emotion and a look that said she was being impulsive and stupid was written all over his face. It only served to enrage her further. “You can’t be serious. After what happened to you just in the training session alone? Are you crazy? You could get killed.”

She stuck her chin out defiantly, steeling herself in her decision. “It’s my duty as a Guardian, and I am going to be there tomorrow when Drew takes Colton to Sinclair. End of discussion.”

“I’m not going to let you do that.” Fat droplets of water fell from the tips of his hair with each adamant shake of his head. His body was rigid with pent-up frustration, his cotton T-shirt soaked through and showcasing the rippling muscles that defined his upper torso.

The storm’s anger seemed to mimic Dominic’s as bands of rain carried by gusts of wind whipped around Kerrigan. Petals that had been shaken from the magnolia blooms above them drifted to the ground. Raindrops fell onto her face, and she batted her lashes to keep them out of her eyes. Her shoulders shook with a humorless laugh as if to say he had some nerve, and then she turned to walk away.

Wet tendrils of her long hair slapped at his skin when he grabbed her by the elbow and spun her around to face him. “Don’t turn your back on me. We need to talk about this.”

Kerrigan jerked her arm out of his grasp. “You don’t own me, Dominic. And you sure as hell aren’t going to tell me what I can and can’t do.”

“You’re pregnant with
my
baby!” he yelled while jabbing a finger into his sternum.

She guffawed at his audacity and narrowed her mascara-smudged eyes at him. “Like you give a damn.”

“What’s
that
supposed to mean?” he asked, backing her up to the tree and putting his hands on the low branches to cage her in.

“It means you couldn’t care less that I’m carrying your child. Besides, that has nothing to do with any of this, and you know it. You’re just trying to use our baby as a tool to control me. Well guess what, Dominic? It doesn’t work like that. You don’t get to walk around here regretting that we’ve created this life, and then when it suits your purpose suddenly act concerned just because you
think
it gives you a right to dictate my life. It. Doesn’t.”

“That’s not fair. If you had any idea what I’m going through...” He bowed his head. “I don’t regret our child.”

He lifted his head to look at her, his expression pleading with her to understand. “I love you. I love our baby. I’m just going through some shit.” Hell was more like it, and he didn’t know how much longer he had before Satan himself met him at the gate. “That son of a bitch father of mine has ruined everything.”

“Yeah, well you need to find some way to get over your daddy issues and step up to the plate, because I’m having this baby. With, or without you. And if you don’t get your shit together soon, it
will
be without you.”

“What are you saying?”

“I really don’t think I can make it any clearer.” Kerrigan sighed and pushed a tangled strand of hair out of her face, tilting her head back. With eyes closed to the rain that fell against her skin, savoring the feel of it, she whispered, “I love you, Dominic.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “More than you will ever know. And nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you, raising our child... together. But, I really don’t think you’re on the same page. And...” Her shoulders sagged in exasperation. “And I just don’t have the energy to do this with you right now. I’m wet. I’m tired. I’m emotionally spent. And I don’t know what else I can say that I haven’t already said. I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

She pushed on his chest, and he backed away without a fight. She had just moved past him when he took her hand and stopped her again. Without turning around, she sighed. Her voice sounded thick with tears, weary and exasperated. “Just let me go, Dominic.”

He tugged on her arm until she reluctantly turned to face him. For a brief moment, he just looked into her eyes, and then he shook his head. “I can’t.”

Dominic lowered himself to his knees before her, coming face to face with her rounded tummy, and slowly lifted her shirt. The way he looked at the place where their baby grew inside her—it was as if her navel was a magical doorway that allowed him to see the miracle of life with his own eyes. Cautious fingers hovered over her skin like he was afraid that if he touched her, he would somehow disturb the process. Raindrops fell onto his parted lips, but he paid them no attention. He was completely focused on what was before him. His fingertips ghosted over her flesh, leaving goose bumps in their wake, and he looked up at her, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Never had she seen so much unspoken emotion from him. She remained perfectly still, afraid she might spook him. What he was showing her was a side of himself not many people, if any, had ever witnessed.

Vulnerability.

It was deadly for a man like Dominic—the only weakness an enemy could use against him. That was when she understood. It wasn’t the fear of being weighted down by a child that scared him. It was the fear that his enemy, his father, would find some way to destroy what mattered most to him.

So soft she could barely feel it, he pressed a kiss to her womb. The warmth from his lips contrasted with the chill of the rain and the coolness of the breath he exhaled immediately afterward. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled to attention. Her chest felt constricted, like the air had been knocked right out of her, and if Dominic wasn’t the one to resuscitate her, she never wanted to breathe again.

He closed his eyes and the first tear she had ever seen him shed slid down his cheek, quickly lost among the camouflage of beaded rain. Then he wrapped his arms around her and laid the side of his head against her abdomen, hugging her to him.

“I can’t let you go, Querida. Please... don’t ask me to.”

Her heart plummeted. His assumption that she was denying him was like a punch to the chest with a fist of steel. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Abruptly forcing him to release his hold, she dropped to her knees to face him. He stared at her, stunned by her sudden movement, and all she could do was stare right back at him. Her bottom lip trembled as she placed one hand on his side and touched his cheek with the other in admiration.

“Kerrigan, I—”

“Shh.” Her fingers gently pressed against his lips to silence him. No words needed to be spoken because there just were none adequate enough to convey what either of them wanted to say.

Her fingers glided over his chin, and his head fell back to allow her to continue the trail over his Adam’s apple and down the center of his chest. His abdominal muscles flexed when she slid her fingertips along the groove that separated them and further down still. When she reached the hem of his rain soaked T-shirt, her hands spread out to his sides and then slowly slid under the material to push it up and over his ribs. Anticipating what she wanted, he extended his arms over his head, allowing her to peel off his shirt. She caressed the underside of his arms as she made her way back down to his waist.

He didn’t touch her, letting her do what she wanted; not pushing, but not pulling away either. She was stripping him bare, making him even more vulnerable than he already was, testing his limits.

His lips were so close, the chill of his wintry breath materializing as white puffs in the air between them before fading away. He closed his eyes and swallowed, his breathing irregular and his chest rising and falling with the anxiety and fear he undoubtedly felt.

With a slight tilt of her chin, she brushed her mouth against his to remind him that she was there, that she would always be there. He parted his lips to invite her to take more, but she didn’t. Without pulling away, she traced the features of his face—brushing her fingertips over his dark eyebrows, his long lashes, the crested bone of his high cheek, the bridge of his nose, and then the strong line of his bearded jaw.

Then she leaned forward so that her lips were at his ear. “I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered, and he trembled with a stuttered exhale.

Vulnerability. One could exploit an opponent’s weakness and use it to wage an attack to deliver a fatal wound to their enemy, but when given freely to a lover it showed just how much they were trusted. Dominic had given her his heart and even his soul, but his trust... that was the real gift. Circumstances beyond his control had taught him to hide all weaknesses or eliminate them altogether, but in that one moment, he revealed himself fully. Kerrigan was his weakness, and his inability to protect her—that was his kryptonite.

Determined to prove that he was not alone, and to make herself just as vulnerable, she pulled her own shirt over her head and tossed it to the side, followed immediately by her bra. Dominic’s eyes traveled slowly down her body to take in the sight before him as rain fell onto her naked breasts in an irregular pattern.

The waning thunder echoed through the night sky above them. “Touch me,” she whispered.

Magnolia petals landed on her wet chest, and Dominic sucked in a breath of awe before cupping her breast reverently. Her head fell back when his thumb swept over her nipple. His other hand joined the first, and he massaged her flesh, lifting the weight of them before slowly bringing them back down over and over again. He watched, hypnotized by his own actions.

Kerrigan lifted her head to look at him again, her lips parted in the same invitation he had given her just moments before. He accepted the offering, taking her bottom lip between his and tasting the rain that had fallen there with the tip of his tongue. His hands continued to work her breasts as he deepened the kiss. Thick and agile, his tongue moved against hers, stroking in time with his manipulations of her breasts. She placed her hands over his, encouraging him, and he moaned into her mouth.

Dominic removed his hands and wrapped his arms around her to pull her against him, his massive hands splayed across her back. She pushed her fingers through the wet hair above his neck and held him to her as his tongue became more insistent—tasting, probing, devouring. His hands moved down the small of her back and over the curve of her ass to urge her closer to the hardening length in his pants.

Unable to resist the call of his body, her hands slid down his sides until she reached the waist of his jeans. She pushed her finger under the waistband and moved them toward the center, popping open the first, the second, and then the third button. She was too anxious to work on the fourth, so she stuck her hand into the opening and palmed him.

Dominic moaned and broke the kiss so that he could pull back and watch her hand work him. Not nearly convinced she had enough room to move within the confines of his jeans, he pushed them down over his hips.

Her breasts moved in time with her languid strokes, and he licked his lips, wanting nothing more than to taste them. He leaned forward, cupping one and lifting it to his mouth. He pulled her nipple between his lips and teeth, taking long sucking draws while his tongue flicked back and forth. She moaned and increased the intensity of her strokes.

Dominic’s other hand went to her waist and moved down her thigh to lift the drowned material of her thin skirt. Deftly, he found what he was looking for and his fingers dipped under the waistband of her panties. At the first touch, Kerrigan cried out in pleasure, but he wasn’t done with her yet. Not by a long shot.

He moved his hand further down to cup her against his palm while his finger pushed inside her opening. The grip she had on him tightened and she held his head to her breast, begging for more. He gave her exactly what she wanted. He sucked and nipped at her breast, using the same rhythm as his hand. She fell into pace, moving her hand up and down his cock in time with his movements. He moaned, the resulting vibrations on her breast stimulating her further and causing her to cry out in pleasure.

Dominic released her breast, moving to her lips. He kissed her deeply, muffling the sound and taking it into himself. That sound was better than any guitar riff he had ever heard, and it went straight to his dick, making it impossibly harder. Once Kerrigan seemed to calm down, he removed his hand from her panties and forced her to release the hold she had on his cock.

With a muffled grunt of protest, she broke the kiss and moved to his neck. He pushed her skirt over her hips and froze in place when she found his mark with her mouth. With one hand pressed between her shoulder blades and the other holding the back of her head, he dropped his head back, relishing in the feeling only she could evoke from him. While still driving him to near insanity, she managed to kick her shoes off and wiggle one leg at a time out of her skirt and panties, leaving her completely naked in the back yard—vulnerable to the unrelenting elements, vulnerable to the eyes of anyone who ventured into their realm, vulnerable to the only man for whom she would ever take such risks.