Chapter Nineteen
Dominic's reminder of how I would be forced into completing the bond in two weeks put me in somewhat of an awful mood. So much so that after he mentioned it, I climbed out of his lap and put the book away before gathering my bag and leaving.
He quickly followed once he got his coffee, running to catch up with me. "Caroline, please," he grumbled in annoyance. "Don't do this right now."
"Why two weeks, Dom? That's completely unreasonable. You know that isn't fair to either of us," I replied sharply. "You're asking the impossible."
Dominic wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against him. "We will figure it out, okay? My mark should start to kick in any day now and we will start to truly bond. But there still has to be mutual work going into this."
"I just want to make sure you remember that it was you who forced me into this. I didn't want any part of this. I have had to make the sacrifices to fulfill your needs. What have you sacrificed?" I asked seriously, stopping in my tracks to look at him.
His eyes narrowed at me while he tried to think of something, but he couldn't. "Sugar, it has been weeks. Okay? Weeks. And you're still playing this 'you forced me' game? I know it's upsetting. I know you gave up a lot, but-"
"I'm not finished yet. Let me finish," I cut in. "Regardless of whether or not I was forced into this, which I was, I am stuck here. There's no reversing this. But to give me two weeks to try and come to terms with everything before having sex with me? Dominic, that's madness. That isn't right. You can't put a timeline on something like this."
"On love?" he said softly, a little hopefully.
"No. This isn't love."
He cupped my jaw with his free hand, forcing me to look at him. "But it could be, sugar. If you stop being so stubborn and afraid, you could learn to love me," Dominic claimed.
"Afraid? What am I afraid of?" I tested, raising a brow. He better tread carefully or else he'd be getting a backhand across the cheek.
"Vulnerability. You don't like being vulnerable. That's why you freaked out when Alfie had to leave, why you won't let me get close to you, or any guy for that matter. That's why you're still a virgin."
My hand swung to make contact with his cheek, but he caught it easily, holding it in midair. "But that's okay, gorgeous. There's nothing wrong with being a virgin. It's better for us, actually. I should be the one to take it anyways," he said soothingly, kissing the back of my hand. "I'll work on making you feel more vulnerable so you can be that around me. It'll be a process, though, I know. But I think we can do it in two weeks."
"Don't talk about my virginity ever again. You don't get to decide anything about it, got it?" I snapped, about to turn on my heel, but he kept a steady grip on my wrist.
"My car is this way," he said sternly, cutting me off when I tried to say no. "I let you walk here by yourself. You will come home with me as a compromise."
I wrenched my arm out of his grip, storming towards the direction he motioned to. "Fine, but I'm sitting in the back."
"That's fine with me," Dominic replied with a funny tone of voice, easily catching up and matching my pace. "I am happy as long as you're by my side."
"Say that again and I will puke," I muttered.
He laughed heartily, ruffling my hair. "You're so cute, sugar."
~ ~ ~
Dominic demanded I join him in his office once we got back to the house, even though he was going to do work on his computer for a few hours. It was totally ridiculous but he didn't leave any room for objections. I sprawled out onto the dark leather loveseat that was across from his desk, pulling the gray throw blanket on top of me so I could curl up on my phone.
My immediate reaction was to text Alfie, but I remembered what went down between us so I sighed and set my phone down again. After staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few moments, I placed my cell phone on the ground and rolled to face the back of the couch, closing my eyes.
"You just had who knows how much coffee and you're going to take a nap?" Dominic said skeptically.
"I didn't ask for your input on my nap schedule," I replied evenly.
He snickered but didn't say anything more on the subject, letting me relax. For two minutes. "There are books you can read in here," Dominic claimed. "A couple of them I really liked. Come look."
With an exaggerated sigh, I folded the blanket away from me and sat up. Dominic met my gaze for a few silent moments before motioning towards a bookshelf behind him. "The top shelf has the best options."
As I got up to the shelf, I realized quickly I couldn't reach the top shelf. Dominic's attention as back on his computer screen and I couldn't see a stool around that I could use. I took a deep breath of air before tapping his shoulder.
"Yes, Caroline?" He asked without looking.
"Can I borrow your chair for a second?" I quizzed, blinking down at him hopefully.
Without really looking, Dominic raised himself off of the office chair and I quickly shoved it against the bookshelf, clambering on top. "Dammit, Caroline, what are you doing?"
"Getting a book," I replied, examining the spines of the books for titles that were either familiar or interesting.
Dominic snorted, his hands grasping my waist nervously. "You could have asked me for help, silly girl. There's no shame in-"
"I did ask for your help. That's why I wanted the chair," I explained, smacking his hands off of me when I was content with my choice of reading.
Dominic instead wrapped his arms around me and carefully deposited me on the floor, narrowing his eyes at me. "Let me help you next time, okay?"
"I don't need your help, Dom," I reminded him, holding the book to my chest and looking away.
He was still holding me close to him, so close that I could feel the weight of his gaze and the heat emanating from his body. "Vulnerability, Caroline," he murmured, kissing my forehead.
"I'm not vulnerable."
Dominic's hold on my waist tightened and he spun until I was pressed into the nearest wall. I swallowed thickly, fighting back the strangled noise of fear in my throat. I kept my line of sight right at his chest, worried if I looked up at him he would see the terror this position put me in.
"Look at me," Dominic ordered softly.
I shook my head. "No thank you."
He chuckled, pressing his body closer to mine, angling his head down so his forehead rested on top of my hair. "If you weren't scared, you'd be able to look at me."
I gritted my teeth angrily before lifting my gaze. Dominic smiled at me, one of his hands skimming up my side. I thought he was going to cup my cheek, but instead, his fingers brushed over his mark on my throat. Chills fan through me at the tender contact, the mark itself tingling.
"You're much more transparent than you think you are, Caroline," he whispered. "That is your weakness."
"No," I replied. "You're wrong."
"I'm an Alpha, little one, a powerful one at that. You don't think I know what runs through that pretty head of yours?" He asked. "I know what you're scared of, even without you having to think about it. I can feel it in his your body tenses and the way your scent changes."
I wagged my head again, lifting my hands to push him away, but he easily pushed them down and dipped his head closer to mine again. "I know how lonely you've been without Alfie, my poor little girl. I hate seeing you so upset when you remember what happened. That's why I tried to push you to meet the other females, but they were so rude to you. You acted angrily, but I felt the hurt you held in your heart," he whispered knowingly, pulling the book from my grip and tossing it to the floor carelessly.
"Stop it!" I cried out, my voice trembling slightly. "Y-you're trying to make me upset. You're using y-your powers on me again!"
Dominic's chest rumbled against mine as he used one of his hand to press my face into his throat. "Shh, sugar, it's okay. Come here." Somehow he lifted me and got my legs to hook onto his waist, his hands holding my thighs. "It's okay to be upset around me. You don't have to be so tough all the time. Let's go upstairs and talk some more."
My body felt paralyzed. I couldn't find the strength or power to wriggle myself out of his hold and I knew that Dominic had something to do with that. He was going to force me to break, wasn't he? This was the only way he could weaken me, by forcing me into misery. I wasn't going to let Dominic do it, though.
Once inside the bedroom, Dominic set me on my feet to shut the door. While he was distracted, I stumbled towards the farthest part of the room to look for some way to escape.
"Caroline, come here."
"No! You're doing this on purpose!" I wailed, crossing my arms across my chest defiantly.
Dominic laughed gently, watching me with calculating eyes. "Doing what on purpose, kitten?"
"Upsetting me. You're trying to give me a mental breakdown."
He shook his head. "No, I am trying to show you how to be vulnerable around me. That you can rely on me and trust me to take care of you."
"That's the same thing," I snapped. "It won't work. I'm stronger than that, than your-"
"The death of your parents still haunts you. You still have nightmares. Very few people can get close to you because you're scared they'll leave you, just like your parents did," Dominic explained suddenly.
That was like a kick in the stomach. A low blow. No one had ever really talked about my parents with me, nor how their death affected me. Not even Alfie. I stumbled back a few steps, covering my ears with my hands. "Don't-"
"You blame yourself for what happened. If you hadn't wanted to go to the park so bad, they might still be here. But you cried for them to take you there, didn't you? You begged and even threw a tantrum, all because you wanted to go to the park."
He was talking in my head now. I couldn't escape him. Dominic was slowly stalking towards me, his face void of emotion. I fell onto my rear end and scooted myself back until I hit the corner of the room. "St-stop, p-please stop. It hurts," I whimpered. It did, a splitting headache was
Dominic knelt in front of me, reaching out to stroke my hair. "Caroline."
"No! You're hurting me on purpose! You want me to be hurt and sad and lonely. This is what you've always wanted," I gushed weakly, more trying to convince myself than anyone else. My throat was burning with the intense need to sob, but I was trying to keep it together.
"It's okay, Caroline. You can cry."
I tried to cover my face with my hands, but he caught my wrists and pinned them to my sides. Dominic leaned in so he could sponge soft kisses on my face, ignoring how I was trying to turn away from him.
"I'm all you've got, Caroline. You've lost everything." A single tear fell down my face and Dominic released a deep breath of air, as if he was relieved I was finally cracking. "You've lost, sugar."