ADDISON

It takes every ounce of courage I have to give Dominic my address. Not only is he the first person I’ve allowed to know where I live since I ran away from my father a few years ago, but he’s also the first person I’ve purposely seen beyond a professional capacity in the same timeframe.

I’ve spent the last hour bouncing back and forth between even going through with seeing him tonight and calling him to tell him I’ve changed my mind. But by the time his black SUV pulls into the driveway, and he texts me to let me know it is, indeed, him, there’s no time left to second-guess my decision.

Now, though, as I sit here in the bleachers with a coffee in my hand—he’d picked it up on the way over to my place, and remembered exactly how I liked it—I’m actually glad I chose to come.

“Get your ass over here, Kent!”

I laugh at Dominic, who’s standing just inside the batting cage, and I shake my head. There’s no way in hell I’m getting up there in front of a bunch of people I don’t know and swinging a baseball bat, only to catch nothing but air and be laughed off the home plate.

“Not happening!”

Dominic drops the bat he’s holding and jogs toward me, making me laugh again. If nothing else, he’s definitely persistent.

“I said come and swing the damn bat,” he chuckles, sliding onto the bleacher beside me.

His hip and thigh push up against mine, and I breathe in, suddenly aware of the heat emanating from his body in waves. I feel the sudden shift between us before I glance up to meet his gaze.

Even with the sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead from the physical exertion of running and playing the game, his chest doesn’t heave. Neither of us moves for a long moment, and I realize then that he’s holding his breath, too. Simultaneously, we both breathe out slowly, as though doing it together will help steady the axis of our world that’s been tipped to the side. I’m still mesmerized by the steel grayish blue of his eyes when I feel his fingers graze over the skin just above my knee.

“I said come and play the game,” Dominic says softly, but no amusement or demand is in his instruction. “I’ll show you how.”

“But those people—”

“Ain’t nobody here but you and I, Princess.”

He runs his thumb just a bit higher, dragging it along my thigh. I can’t breathe. Or speak. Instead, I just nod. Jesus Christ, he could be asking me to run away with him to his island getaway on Bora Bora and I would submit. As long as his fingers stay on me, teasing my senses, I’ll do whatever he asks of me.

Dominic Kerr is dangerous.

And just when I thought I’d had all the dangerousness I could handle.

* * *

“I thought you said you’d never played baseball?” Dominic asks, glancing over at me as he pulls his SUV out of the parking lot and heads back toward my place. “You could’ve fooled me.”

“I swear, I haven’t.” I laugh, holding my hands up in surrender once my seatbelt is buckled in. “Must have something to do with the excellent teacher I had.”

I didn’t realize how dark it is outside. The stadium lights at the batting cages stave off any remnants of nighttime, allowing the brightness of the daytime to go on indefinitely. Now, with only the glow of the dashboard lights, everything feels so much more…intimate.

And it had definitely been intimate enough as he “taught” me how to play baseball. With his arms locked securely around me, his hands enveloping mine at the base of the bat, and his obvious arousal wedged tightly against my rear as he thoroughly showed me the proper stance at the home plate, it’d been a wonder I’d hit the fucking baseball at all.

“You did good, Addison,” he praises softly. “Real good.”

“Thank you for bringing me along tonight. I know I wasn’t too thrilled about it in the—”

“It was no problem. I had a good time.”

“Me, too.” I realize I’m desperately willing him to reach for my hand, just a gentle little gesture that confirms in my mind that I’m not crazy. That I’m not reading this whole thing the wrong way.

But he doesn’t. Instead, his fingers tap in time to the music playing so low on the radio that I can’t hear which song it even is.

There’s complete silence between us as we drive back to my place, and each second of it drives me further and further into a mental frenzy. Is he aware of the physical tension I feel between us? Of the sensual tingling that buzzes through my veins as my body recalls the feel of his body against mine? Does he feel it, too? Is he losing his goddamn mind the way I am right now?

Dominic pulls his SUV into the driveway and throws it into park. Both his hands are firmly on the steering wheel, and even in only the glow of the dash lights, I can see that his knuckles are white with the pressure of his grip. He’s staring at his fingers intently, straight ahead. The dashboard glow reflects back in his eyes, and I begin to wonder if I’ve actually done something wrong. Maybe I should’ve said more on the way home, or maybe I—

“I have a question for you, Addison.” His voice is a low growl, and there’s a faint hint of unsteadiness to it.

I turn to him. “Y-yes?”

“Am I still an asshole?”

His question takes me by surprise. “What? No! Of course not. I just—”

Dominic tears his seatbelt off and pushes the center console away in one fluid movement, lunging forward to crush his lips against mine as though seeking out a lifeline in a life-threatening situation.

A startled yelp escapes my throat, but it’s muffled by his mouth on mine. It quickly turns into a moan as the desperate heat of his kiss renders me unable to comprehend anything else around me.

Ain’t nobody here but me and you, he’d said. Right now, he couldn’t be more right.

I feel his hand grope against my hip, then past it, and the passenger seat jerks back. It startles me, and I gasp into his mouth. He holds me firmly, assuring my safety, and I melt into him as he presses himself against me as much as the awkward position will allow.

Reclined as far back as the seat will go, Dominic’s body has room to pin me right where he wants me. And that’s fine, because I have no intention of protesting. His tongue explores me with such hot, feverish desire that I can feel the liquid heat pooling within me, and I moan again, begging for him to take me, possess me…own me.

I can feel his hardness as he pushes his hips against me in an attempt to get as close as possible. “You are…fucking gorgeous…” His teeth nip down my jaw, and a whimper of submission falls from my lips.

If this is what it feels like to be possessed by someone, I don’t want to be anything but.

“Oh God, Dominic…”

“I fucking love hearing my name on that sexy little mouth of yours.”

I gasp when his teeth graze my collarbone. “Oh, Dominic, I want—”

My cell phone in my jacket pocket rings shrilly between us, causing us both to go completely still.

“You don’t need to answer it,” he breathes against my skin, and I instinctively tilt my head to give him more access.

I’m panting, barely able to breathe, but I have to answer that phone.

Because I know what it means.

No one—no one—has that phone number, except for Dominic, and he only got it a few hours ago.

My heart’s pounding out of my chest now, and it’s not just because of how irrevocably turned on I am by the man on top of me. I reach a hand up to push him away gently, retrieving the phone with my other. His eyes are dark, unreadable, and he watches me with an intensity that makes me second-guess my decision to stop him.

I want him to devour me, and the predatory gleam in his eyes tells me that he would, in a heartbeat.

I hope the apology in my own eyes is evident, and I lift the phone up, flip it open, and…just listen.

The fragile walls of my world crash down around me as I hear the words on the other end of the line.

“Hello, Addy. Miss me?”