The Dominant's Obsession

Chapter 44

A L L I E

Days passed, in which Allie avoided Dacian at work and he didn't even try to text or call her. A solid ball of pain had taken up residence beneath her sternum, and Allie simply accepted that maybe she'd never be able to breathe properly again.

She wanted to go to him.

She never wanted to see him again.

She couldn't breathe without him.

She couldn't imagine being with him, damaged as he was and unwilling as he was to even try.

On Saturday she rose late, having no discernable reason to get out of bed. She sipped her coffee on her window seat, basking in the warm glow of the sun as she watched the city below with unseeing eyes. Idly she wondered what Dacian was up to. If he was feeling even a fraction of the pain she was.

Even now, in the bright light of a beautiful day, she was a zombie because her heart had simply stopped beating. He had become her whole world, and now that world was gone.

Allie shook herself out of her morbid thoughts, took her empty mug to the sink and padded into her bathroom. After using the toilet and brushing her teeth, she stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. She tilted her head back, letting the hot spray pellet her face.

The sound of the bathroom door brought her head down and her eyes sprang open.

Dacian stepped into the room.

Allie gasped and raised her hands to cover herself.

"What are you - Get out!" she stammered.

He didn't speak. His gaze was dark as he ran it down her body, slowly.

Her heart crashed against her ribcage as that animal awareness kicked in, heightening all her senses. Moving as though in slow motion, he dragged her dirty clothes out the door with his foot, then closed the door.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, breathless.

He didn't answer. He pulled her towel off the rack, rolled it up and placed it on the counter beside him. Then he leaned back against the wall opposite her, crossing his arms over his chest.

Allie's blood was racing. Her whole body trembled.

Dacian's voice was infinitely soft. "Do you remember your safe words?"

"Yes," she gasped.

He arched a single brow. A slow smile spread over his lips when she didn't utter one. He let his gaze wander again. Heat crept up her neck, her cheeks. She stood frozen, unsure, for a dozen or so tumultuous beats of her heart.

Did she want him to leave? Or didn't she? The silence swelled until the sound of the shower seemed deafening.

He wasn't doing anything threatening. He was just standing there, still and silent as a statue. The only thing moving was his eyes.

And they were quickly lighting a fire inside her that she didn't think she'd be able to put out on her own.

Eventually Allie turned her back to him, her breathing uneven, as she bathed. She glanced back over her shoulder at him occasionally to make sure he hadn't moved. She washed quickly, then turned off the water and wrung out her hair. Slowly, covering herself with her hands, she turned to face him and stepped out onto the mat.

"Give me my towel," she said.

He didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't bat an eye.

"I said, give me my towel," she repeated, louder.