Chapter Seven
"If I can get you to surrender, I win. If you get me on my back, you win. Deal?"
I nodded, bouncing from foot to foot excitedly. "How long do I have to have you on your back?" I quizzed, envisioning myself smacking the absolute crap out of Dominic's stupid smug face.
"If I hit the ground on my back, that's it. Doesn't matter how long. If I'm down, I'm down."
Oh. This would be easier than I thought. He was a big guy, "What do you get if you win?"
"A kiss."
"What do I get if I win?"
"A kiss," he said with a wicked smile.
I clenched my fists, punching him softly in the chest. "That isn't fair, you big dummy! You win either way!"
He beamed down at me. "Exactly."
"Well, I-"
"Go!"
His sudden yell made me jump, and I looked up at him in confusion. "What are you-"
His body slammed into me, pinning me to the ground. The "That's it?" He growled. Dominic might've tackled me, but I knew he was holding back. He didn't want to fight me. But I wanted to fight him.
I lifted my knee, jutting it under his ribs, hoping that would be somewhat tender. He grimaced, but didn't move off of me. "Is that really all you've got, princess?" he taunted condescendingly.
My blood boiled. How dare he. "Imma kill you," I hissed. "When I get up, I swear-"
"Okay, baby, time for my prize," he hummed, his nose brushing against mine as he leaned in. .
I pushed at his shoulders angrily, grunting with effort. "I never said I surrendered!" I exclaimed.
My plan came into motion as he smiled softly down at me, his earlier temper had dissipated. I lifted my head and forced myself to kiss him, cupping his jaw. A soft, possessive growl exited his chest. I hooked my leg over his hip, and shifted that direction a little bit. He obliged, rolling us over so I was laying on top of him, his arms snaking around my lower back.
I lifted my head and grinned down at him. "So I win?"
"Yeah?" He quizzed. "I got you to make out with me. So who is the real winner here?"
I pouted. "You knew?"
"Of course. But I mean, I can pretend not to know, if that means I get to kiss you a little bit longer."
I sat up, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at him. "You didn't give me a real chance."
"Princess, if I gave you a real chance, you'd have surrendered the second we started."
He rubbed my thighs gently, before his hands skimmed around to my back, pressing me towards him again. "Kiss me more."
"Nooooo," I whined, arching my neck to evade him.
"Mine," he hummed. "You're mine."
"Dominic, stop it. I've already told you-"
I let out a loud "oof" as he rolled us back over, gripping my hands and locking them above my head. "I need to claim you," he said intensely. "I'm bored of you fighting and acting like I haven't already made up my mind. I have." The sudden shift of position knocked the air out of my lungs, so I was breathing hard while squirming around, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I ignored the way his eyes fell to my breasts, his lips fighting that smirk.
"But you're making the wrong choice. Look at me. I'm not what you want," I said tiredly.
His hips rolled towards mine, and I felt my eyes widen as I felt his... You know. His thing. "Here's the problem, sugar. I have been looking at you, and the longer I look at you, the more I want you. Can you feel that?"
"N-no," I lied.
"No? You sure, sugarbaby?" He added more pressure, this time lifting one of my legs around his waist. "How about now?"
"Dominic..." I said warningly. "Maybe you should-"
"Take you back up to our bedroom and have my way with you? Sure thing."
"Dominic, stop it. You need to listen to me for a second. You never hear me out. For once, let me give my argument."He frowned, but didn't stop me, so I went on. "First off, we despise each other."
"It's just sexual tension, that's all."
I shook my head. "You treat me like crap."
He grinned lazily at me. "I don't know how to deal with how I feel about you, is all."
"And now you do?"
"Mm-hmm," he hummed. "Want me to show you?"
I rolled my eyes, scoffing as I shoved him off of me, getting up to dust myself off. "Well I still won."
"Sure, princess. Whatever you say."
I punched his shoulder, glaring. "Stop it! I did! Don't act like I didn't."
"I let you win."
I folded my arms over my chest, storming away from him and towards the house. "Oh, come on, sugar. Don't throw a tantrum."
I ignored him, throwing open the back door and stomping inside. "Caroline, I'm sorry. I thought you wanted to win."
"I want to go home," I snapped.
His hand clasped my upper arm, yanking me back to face him. "You're mine," he hissed. "Your home is here."
"No! It's not!"
Dominic yanked on my arm hard, towing me up and over his shoulder. I slapped and punched his back as he carried me to his bedroom, flipping me back over onto the bed. "This is your home now. With me. You are home."
"This'll never be home," I claimed, getting onto my knees. "Nothing will make this home."
A low growl resonated through the room as he tackled me to the bed, one hand holding my chin up, the other holding my shoulder in place as he sat on my hips. "Wanna bet, princess?"
"Don't," I warned darkly.
"One bite and you are mine. You'll be stuck here with me."
I dug my nails into the arm that was holding my jaw. "You wouldn't."
His face ducked under my chin, his mouth claiming the sensitive skin of my throat. His tongue favored the spot straight in the middle, creating a hickey right where I couldn't hide it, where he would put the mark if I didn't stop him.
"Stop!" I squealed. "You can't choose me! It's wrong!"
Dominic was momentarily distracted, so I used all of my weight and strength to get out from underneath him. I hit the floor hard, but scrambled to my feet and out the door, shutting it and locking it from the outside.
An earth-shattering growl ripped through the door. "Caroline. I am not in the mood to play right now. Open this door."
I bolted down the hallway, opening multiple doors to throw him off. I got halfway down the hall when I heard his bedroom door splitting as he threw himself against it. My body hurled itself into a random room, and I dove into the closet, shutting it quietly behind me and burying myself in the boxes that were stored in here.
"You realize how strong your scent is, right? Come on, beautiful. It'll only hurt for a moment. I promise to make it as painless as possible. If you come out right now, I won't even be mad." His voice was getting closer as he stalked down the hallway. I could imagine him ducking his head in each room and searching for the strongest source of my scent.
The door to the room I was in creaked slightly and I flinched. "Caroline, I'm sorry I scared you. Come out of there, please."
I didn't say anything, and the closet door was ripped open roughly. I started wailing as he threw each box out of the way, digging his way towards me. My feet kicked out when he reached for me, his hands expertly catching my ankles and dragging me out of my hiding spot. Soon I was being cradled to his chest as he carried me back to his bedroom.
"No!" I screamed, punching his chest and shoulders wildly. "Dominic, Dominic, please. Don't do this to punish me. Anything else."
Once again I was pinned to the bed, only this time he eased himself on top of me, his face relaxed. "It's okay. You're okay, I promise." With his weight holding me down, his hands brushed my hair away from my face, tipping my jaw up. "Don't be scared, okay?"
"I'm-I'm not ready," I gushed. "It's gonna hurt, and I am not ready."
He shushed me, kissing my forehead. "Sure you are. I'm going to try to make this hurt as little as possible, I promise."
I felt the teeth before I felt the pain. They extended against my neck before slowly sinking through my skin, not meeting any resistance. It took a second, but the pain was unbearable. I screamed, fisting his hair in attempt to pull him off of me.
His voice hummed inside of my head, as he used one hand to push my hands down. "Calm down, princess. I've got you. It's okay."
Hot tears fell down my face as he latched onto my throat tighter, heat emanating from the spot along with the intense pain.
I squirmed helplessly, but he dropped his full weight on top of me. "Relax. The more you relax, the less it'll hurt," he whispered in my head. "Only for a minute longer, I promise, sugar."
I counted to sixty, and he still didn't release me. "Can't you feel that, Cara?" He asked me. "That bond, that connection we have now? The tide holding us together?"
His canines slipped from my skin, and he lifted his head, wiping his mouth on his sleeve to get rid of the blood.
He gently brushed the hair from my forehead. "Things are going to be a lot better now, gorgeous."
I shouldered him off of me, holding a hand over my bleeding throat and bolting into the bathroom, shutting and locking it behind me as I collapsed to the tile floor.
"Princess, don't do this to me. Don't be upset," he murmured through the door. "Let me clean you up."
"Stay away from me!" I cried, looking down at my blood soaked hand in horror. Was it meant to bleed this much? "I hate you."
"Cara. Stop. Open the door."
I crawled to the bathtub, hoping I could crawl into it and hide out. It didn't occur to me that he would force open the door. Which he did. He threw it open, the wood creaking loudly as it banged against the wall. I shrank away from Dominic, who reached out to me. "You don't have to be afraid of me!" He snapped. "I'm trying to take care of you, not hurt you!"
"Leave me alone, please, just go," I whined, curling into a ball.
Dominic gripped my arm and yanked me to my feet, before lifting me to sit on the counter by the sink. He tipped my chin up to look at him, gazing intensely at me. "This wasn't a punishment. This is good for us, sugar. Now you know just how serious I am about wanting you."
~ Later ~
"Hi, princess," he greeted softly. "Did you fall asleep?"
I shook my head shortly, hugging my knees to my chest as he neared the bed, looking away from him. "I told you that it would help you heal. It'll make you feel much better, I promise."
I squeezed my eyes shut, turning my body away from him as he climbed onto the bed. He ignored the way I moved away from him, sweeping the hair away from my neck to check on the bandage. "Do you want me to heal you?" He asked quietly. "Is it hurting you?"
I shook my head, still not looking at him. "Does it hurt?"
I didn't answer, which told him enough. He sighed deeply, resting his hand on the curve of my waist as he scooted closer. "I know you're upset, baby. But it was for your own good. For us. Our good." His lips pressed onto the shell of my ear affectionately as his hand slipped down my tummy, under my shirt to touch my bare skin. "You're so gorgeous, you know that? Our pups will be so beautiful."
I roughly pushed his hand away from me, getting up to try and leave the room. "Cara, no. I'll stop touching you. Come lay down, you need to rest."
"I'm not having anything with you - let alone stupid mutts," I hissed, moving over to the couch and sitting on it.
"Please don't use that kind of language, kitten. I want you back in bed, taking a nap. I want you well-rested for tomorrow."
I trudged back to the bed, getting into the space farthest from him. "What's tomorrow?" I squeaked.
"Tomorrow night, I'm introducing my beautiful mate to the world."
~ Later ~
I did take a nap, with the help of Dominic, who did that pass-out thingy. I showered when I woke up, but before I did, I decided to peel off the bandage covering my ticket to imprisonment. With misty eyes, I slowly tugged it away from my skin, gritting my teeth in pain.
Dominic told me it would heal a little quicker, since his saliva was in it, so it was just very red and irritated, with dark holes where his canines had pierced me, and already healed, raised bumps were left from the rest of his sharp teeth. I ran my fingers over them tentatively, biting my lip so hard that I was going to draw blood if I didn't stop.
So I stopped and showered. I made the water as hot as possible, as if it could burn off the scar that was going to ruin my life.
It didn't, unfortunately. I came out and it was still there.
And so was Dominic.
I held the towel tightly, refusing to look at him. "Come here," he murmured, leaning against the sink, a knife in his hand.
My eyes fell on the weapon and I took a hesitant step back. "I'm not going to hurt you, silly. Come here."
My feet moved on their own accord, and I stood myself in front of him, looking at his chest. One of his hands touched my lower back, pulling me closer to him, lifting the blade. I flinched a little bit, earning a hard stare.
"'Gonna heal you now, baby. Same as we did the other night," he cooed. He merely grimaced as he dragged the sharp blade through his skin, turning his head and yanking me up to him, my mouth on the Shifter's thick blood.
I forced myself to swallow it, trying to ignore the purrs of pleasure coming from him. "Good girl."
The cut healed over then, and he pulled me away, swiping away some of the blood from my mouth with his knuckles. "I like it when you behave," he murmured. "I also like feeling your mouth on my neck. Someday you can leave your marks all over my throat. Little love bites."
"I hate you," I whispered.
"No, baby, no. Don't say that. You're just a little hurt, is all," he claimed. "I know it's very sudden, but there are changes that come with bearing my mark, and one of them is a wide range of emotions. That's why it's so good to sleep often. Helps keep you on track emotionally."
"I hated you before you marked me, I hate you now. I'm not emotional. I'm kidnapped by a psycho."
I thought he'd get angry, but instead, he gave me a small half-smile, before leaning down to kiss my forehead. "Let's get you in bed, my queen."
He held out a large t-shirt to me, one I knew was his, and a pair of my panties. I shimmied the undies up my legs, and after he pulled the shirt down my body.
"You're so beautiful."
"Stop. Just... Don't talk to me."
I went to the bed, flopping down onto it, curling my body away from Dominic, holding my knees to my chest as he climbed in behind me. "I'm sorry you're upset, but I'm not sorry I did it."