Page 24 of Beauty and the Billionaire

He gave a sure nod. “I’ll wipe it. It’s nothing to me.”

“Why would you…?”

“But you are welcome to stay,” he said. “If that’s what you want. It will give you opportunities so you don’t depend on your parents if the day comes and you need an alternative.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

Dominic looked away and had another sip of his drink. “Maybe it’s too late for me,” he said softly, turning around to face me. “But you helped me understand something. That should be rewarded.”

“I didn’t do it for a reward,” I said. But what would a man whose entire life was built on contracts know about that? It chipped my heart.

“No. You did it because you care,” Dominic said. “Hell knows I didn’t give you a reason to care, but you do. So. You’re free to do whatever you want. And if you choose to stay, I would…like that.” He looked away.

“I’ll stay,” I whispered. “I enjoy it.”

He nodded, not looking at me, but his lips trembled for a moment before he turned away again. “It’s late. We should sleep.”

I nodded. That was my cue to leave, but something kept me here nonetheless.

I lingered in the sitting room for a few moments that felt like ages. I watched him lift his glass and drain it. My gaze trailed his broad shoulders, dropped down to his narrow waist, and followed the curve of his ass.

Within a heartbeat, I could see myself closing the distance between us, just like that night last week when he had stood inches away from me. But this time, it wasn’t as scary. He was much more human than he had been that night. His beauty wasn’t as dangerous. His eyes weren’t as freezing.

The yearning to touch him with the tips of my fingers filled me to the brim, and I had to shout at my body to turn around before I did something incredibly stupid. So I turned and marched out of the sitting room, wishing him a good night before I slipped through the door.

It was only when I reached the safety and privacy of my room that I exhaled the deep breath I had been holding and allowed myself to relax. My body tingled all over, inside and out, and the fire of perpetually neglected and restrained lust was burning brighter than ever before.

No wonder I was drooling over a handsome man in whose home I lived when I had suppressed so much of myself for so long. But maybe it wasn’t all so cynical after all. Maybe these feelings really did well from the fact that I found Dominic so devastatingly attractive.

The way he had held my chin returned to me now, and I found myself pressing my right hand against my flat stomach. My thighs pressed together tightly, bare where my shorts ended, and I closed my eyes while still leaning against the door.

I was trying to be good to him for the sake of it. I was trying to be something he hadn’t had in far too long. And yet, I wanted him. My body screamed for him.

Part of me knew it wasn’t right. I was using him in my own way. I was just like everyone else. Did it matter if my way of using him was purely physical?

I shed my doubts, my worries, and the voice warning me against it. I abandoned my fears and told myself that there was no harm in it. And as I made my way to the bed, I left a trail of clothes on the floor and let my hands move where they wished.

CHAPTER 7

Try and Resist

Dominic

Dawn foundme in the gym in the east wing of the house. It was a large, clean room with big windows and breathtaking views of the sloping hillside and the forest in the distance. The receding mist revealed a fine day ahead with a clear sky. The forest was slowly shedding its orange and brown canopy, and the dew clinging to the grass blades sparkled under the day’s first sunlight.

My treadmill faced the vast expanse of my land.

Sweat trickled down the length of my spine as I pushed myself to the maximum, burning off the indulgences of last night’s dinner. The treadmill was a test of will rather than endurance. After a challenging workout, the very last thing I wanted to do was climb it and run for half an hour, but caving in had never been part of my vocabulary.

So I let the sweat soak my hair, my shorts, my underwear; I let my calves burn with strain. Every ounce of last night’s frustration poured into the effort. Every grudge, every hurt, every slight I could use went into the run.

And when I was out of offenses, I resorted to the confusing and fiery feelings Zain’s restless, eager gaze provoked deep in the pit of my stomach.

I had successfully kept people at arm’s length for years. I knew they only ever wanted to come near me in order to hurt me, but that lesson fell apart when Zain looked into my eyes. For all the little discomforts of having to share my home with a relative stranger, the worst was the risk of being comfortable with him. Yet it was so easy to grow accustomed to his presence.

Zain had found my most painful spot. He had located it with surgical precision. And when he had all the freedom to rub salt and acid into the wounds, he hadn’t. He’d offered me something else entirely.

It threatened to destroy the very foundation of who I had made myself into.

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