The Dominant's Obsession

Chapter 38

D A C I A N

On Saturday Dacian texted Allie that he was going to meet up with Nick for their weekly boxing match. She sent back a brief reply that he should have fun. Still he frowned as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

There had been a tension between them ever since he'd asked her to leave for the night. She'd not brought it up since, but he could tell that it still weighed heavy on her mind.

He hated that he had hurt her, but he didn't know how to be that vulnerable – with anyone.

"How do you do it?" he asked Nick as they circled each other in the ring. "You and Emily make it look so easy."

Nick chuckled. "That's the benefit of having been together for years, my friend. What are you struggling with?"

"My nightmares. My insomnia. I don't want Allie to see that side of me." When he woke up sweating and sobbing in the middle of the night. She'd think he was a coward. Or when he woke up with violence coursing through his veins, that terrible, destructive energy. What if he did something, said something to her when he wasn't himself?

"That's the leap of faith we all take," Nick replied. "To trust our loved ones with the darkest parts of ourselves and trust that they won't recoil at what they see."

"Easy for you to say," Dacian grumbled. "You're a knight in shining armor. You don't have any dark parts."

Nick chuckled humorlessly. "You would be surprised," he said mildly.

Dacian arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Mr. Right has baggage he's never told me about?"

Nick evaded. "Let's just say it wasn't as easy as it looks now. We had to work at it, and it was hard. But I'll tell you, it was worth all the pain in the world. Look at us now! About to be happily married."

"I'm happy for you, my man. I just don't know if that's in the cards for me."

Nick scoffed. "You and Allie are the real deal, man. I can sense it. You just need to try to trust her. Let her in past your walls. All of them."

They circled each other. "And just how exactly do I go about doing that?" he asked seriously.

"One step at a time. One day at a time. Whatever it is you're afraid of doing with her, try it. Try the smallest part of it that you can. Whatever that means for you – I'm sure you'll find it isn't as hard or as scary as you've managed to make it seem in your mind."

"You missed your calling," Dacian said with a wry smile. "You should have been a therapist."

Nick shrugged. "Try telling my better half that. She thinks I'm full of shit."

Dacian laughed, and they set back to boxing.

* * *

Dacian re-read the text before he hit send. "Would you like to go out tonight with me, Nick, and Emily?"

Allie's reply was nearly instant. "Sure! What did you all have in mind?"

Dacian smiled as he typed out a reply. "We're probably going to go to this bar called Travesty to play pool for a bit, and then we might go to a different bar to do some dancing."

"Sounds like fun!" she sent back. "What time should I be ready?"

"I'll swing by around six," he replied. He was still smiling as he slipped his phone back in his pocket.

"Did she say yes?" Nick asked, as he lifted his cup to take a sip.

"Yes," Dacian replied. "We are a go for tonight." He took another bite of his teriyaki.