Love Her or Lose Her

But . . . no. That hadn’t happened, and her equilibrium hadn’t recovered.

Apparently Dominic had no intention of letting that happen anytime soon, either.

Her nerve endings were just beginning to zap in anticipation of being pressed up against her husband when he shocked her again. They reached an open spot in the center of the dance floor and despite the upbeat tempo of the music, Rosie assumed he would pull her close. Claim her, like he’d always done when they danced in the past.

That’s not what happened.

Rosie held her breath at the sight of him as he turned, his strong teeth sinking into that sculpted lower lip. His mouth was curved in the beginnings of a smile, but his eyes were blazing hot as they tracked up her body and back down. Heat was already a living, breathing thing inside her, but fire shot straight to her loins now. Down the insides of her thighs. She was wet. So wet she almost couldn’t bear it. Her desire was so prepared to pop like a firecracker that when Dominic snagged her hand and pressed his thumb into the small of her wrist, she moaned and swayed toward him.

She caught his wink a second before he spun her in a full circle and dipped her back so far the ends of her hair almost reached the floor. Laughter bubbled from her lips as he pulled her upright again. Their foreheads found each other, their lips ticking up into smiles.

“We going to show these kids how to dance, or what?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly, finding it hard to speak at all while an awakening took place inside her. She’d been here before. With Dominic. A long time ago. This side of him was so familiar. It reached into her and found the counterpart she’d buried. The piece of her that embraced fun because she had a partner in crime. His smile coaxed it back into existence, spreading confidence and joy to her darkest corners.

The change inside Rosie must have shown on her face because Dominic seemed transfixed, his hand tightening in what felt like an unconscious move on her wrist.

“Dance for me,” Dominic said, his gaze running over every inch of her face. “Dance for yourself.”

Excitement bit at her ankles, her hips, encouraging them to move. Dominic’s hands found Rosie’s waist and squeezed it tight, allowing her to raise her arms up in the air and lean back, just a little, rolling her body and watching with racing breath as Dominic enjoyed the show. She could see how desperately he wanted to tug her close, feel that writhing motion on his lap, but he dragged his hands down to her hips instead, helping her move them in a figure eight. His own hips slowly began to do the same, and finally he eased his arms back, disconnecting Rosie and him physically, though their eyes remained locked tight.

They moved in perfect rhythm with each other and the music, lower bodies ticking to the right, then left, his circled back and Rosie’s cinched forward, mimicking sex, creating a flush on both of their necks, high on their cheekbones. Dominic licked his lips and trailed his attention down to her breasts as they picked up the pace of the dance.

Wow. She’d almost forgotten how he could move. He’d proven his abilities at that very first middle-school dance and had only improved during high school, but this was different. He was a man. She was a woman. And there was more at stake.

Their marriage hadn’t worked. Was this his way of fighting for it?

Maybe it was the vodka. Or the champagne. Or the dress, the club, her sexual frustration, or the situation as a whole. Take your pick. But her rebellious streak from earlier that day was back, and she had the sudden urge to push. She knew Dominic better than anyone and this wasn’t easy for him. Having her on display. Encouraging her to do it. What would it take to break him? The tiniest nudge? Or had he really shown up wanting to change?

A new song pumped through the club, and she closed her eyes. She twisted a tight curl around her index finger and swayed her hips provocatively. Her fingers left her hair and trailed down the front of her dress, narrowly avoiding the tips of her breasts, coasting down to her thighs. She cracked her eyelids to find Dominic watching her intently, his big chest rising and falling with fast, deep breaths. But he didn’t stop her as she threw her hair back and turned in a circle, her lower body bumping to the music—and then she took it down to the floor, grinding her hips in a circle on the way back up.

Dominic’s fists clenched, then loosened. Looking her in the eye, he snagged her wrist and yanked her close, up against his chest.

This is it. He’s going to hustle me out of here.

“You’re incredible with or without me,” he rasped beside her ear. “I can do my best to learn to live with both if it means I get to keep your heart.”

His mouth skated down the side of her neck to her clavicle, openmouthed kissing her there, before he pulled away and spun her in another circle. Dizziness wrapped itself around her mind, and she couldn’t get her rhythm back. Not with the waves of emotion crashing inside of her. Thank God for the music. It swallowed the small sounds she made while gasping for air. And her husband must have sensed she was ready to be held, anchored, because one second she was mentally free-falling—and the next? He’d pulled her up against his strong body and tucked one muscular thigh between her two, leaving a strategic ridge of muscle right there.

“Oh my God,” she whimpered, sliding her arms around his neck to keep her balance. Her need had been burning bright since Dominic had approached her at the bar looking so rough and ready among the polished boys in the club. Jeans, boots, and a relaxed-fit, long-sleeved shirt that was lived in. Worked in. This was the man who turned her on. He always would. There was no question about that. With his words echoing in her ears and his body so sturdy and solid against hers, that need skyrocketed now.

Should she be perched on Dominic’s thick thigh when their marriage had been declared unsalvageable? The jury was out. But he’d revealed something at the bar. A genuine revelation when she knew he wanted to react differently. He’d tried, even though exposing a weakness was difficult for him. Really tried. And that meant something. It hadn’t been easy for him—he was used to keeping it inside—and now he was checking his possessive urges to let her shine.

What else was there? If she could still wait with bated breath for another admission or more progress from Dominic, maybe . . . maybe it wasn’t the end?

Was that too much to hope for?

“If I’m going too far too fast, let me know,” he rasped, his hand trailing roughly down her spine, fingers spreading right above the beginning of her bottom. “But I think you need this as much as I do. Am I right?”

“Yes,” Rosie said before she could stop the admission.

Here in the dark club, the lines were blurred. Some rule laid out by a therapist seemed silly and arbitrary up against the heat their bodies were generating. What he’d shared. The past. The future that hung in the balance. Their attraction was an elemental thing and it was roaring down on them like a category five storm. Was it any wonder she was scared to jump in headfirst, though? Every time they took a step forward, something seemed to knock them off course. He’d handed her a way to maintain a small barrier, hadn’t he? She grasped onto it now.

“I know we just met, but . . .” she whispered, twisting her fingers in the material of his shirt. “Can you hold me tighter?”

His arms turned to steel, his nose moving to her hair, inhaling roughly. “I’ll do anything you ask me to do,” he said in a gravelly voice. “Except walk away.”

Rosie slid higher on Dominic’s thigh, pressing her hip to his erection and listening to him hiss a breath through his teeth. “I’ve got a room downstairs for the night.” She dragged her fingernails down the center of his chest, stopping just above his belt, tracing the leather with a pinkie. “Convince me to bring you with me, Dominic.”

The muscles in his arms flexed hard at the revelation that she had a room in the hotel, but instead of commenting, he stooped down a little and came up between her thighs in a hard grind, loosing a curse in her ear. Getting that friction exactly where she needed it made Rosie’s eyes roll back in her head, and she couldn’t stop, couldn’t keep her hand from sliding between them to palm his erection.

“Rosie,” he growled, sinking his teeth into her neck. “I need to fuck you. I’m going out of my mind here. The way you move. The way you smell.” He thrust his hips against her center once, gripping her backside to hold her still while he did it again, again, again, his breath turning shallow in her ear. “I could come just like this after watching you dance. Don’t let me. Bring me to your room and I’ll stay hard, stay fucking until you’re ready to tap out. You should know that’s how I do it. It’s never over until you stop screaming for more. Convinced?”

Her nod was uneven, her blood turbulent with lust. “Th-the key. It’s at our table—”

Dominic cut her off with his mouth. His hold on her bottom urged her against his huge arousal, his tongue dipping into the deepest recesses of her mouth and retreating in a slow, sensual drag. A kiss that was pure worship.

“I’d offer to go get your purse for you, but this is what you’ve done to my cock.” Another thorough kiss that had her thighs scrambling against his, gasps building in her throat. “Go get the key before I find a dark corner of this club, hike up that dress, and do something illegal.” His right hand dropped from her backside, his fingertips brushing the back of her bare thigh. “After seeing how those hips move, you better believe I’d risk getting arrested to be nine inches deep next time you dance.”