Page 75 of Monster

I took in his naked chest, from the colorful ink I had been fascinated with since day one, to his hard abs, trim waist, and the appealing V-shaped muscle on his abdomen that was so prominent on him. In fact, I had thought it was a myth before I’d seen it on Dominic, considering I had never actually seen it on another man in real life.

I swallowed.

This was the worst time to be getting turned on, and I twisted away, showing him my back, when I realized my thoughts were heading toward a more dangerous,dirtyterritory that I had no business being in.

The bed shifted as he climbed in, then the lamp clicked off, bathing the room in a lighter shade of darkness, considering the streetlamp a short distance away.

I tensed when I felt his arms go around me, and then he pulled me into the warmth of his body and buried his face in the back of my neck.

He breathed me in.

I should be repulsed.

But that was the last thing I was feeling right now.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm my racing heart.

“Goodnight, wildcat,” he said.

My breath caught as I looked straight ahead. I opened my mouth and spoke softly when I replied, “Goodnight, Monster.”

12

EMMY

I woke up feeling…restless.

My legs shifted, and I pressed my thighs together, unsure why I was feeling like this.

It took a moment for my brain to shift from sleep to awareness and realized Dominic was cupping one of my breasts under my shirt, his fingers clutching a nipple, making it hard.

There was a noticeable wetness between my legs.

How did we end up in this position?

I gasped and turned around to a sleeping Dominic, though he didn’t let go of me.

Fuck.

I took a deep breath, but that only made the fact that his hand was right there much more noticeable.

I bit my lip to keep from making any noise. His face was relaxed in a deep sleep. He made a small noise between his lips that I should not have found adorable before settling down once more.

I didn’t want him to wake up.

Not only because I was still working out why I wasn’t feeling as disgusted with his hands on me as I should—or at all, really—but because, for once, he seemed so relaxed.

So different from the man he was when he was awake, always calculating and trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else.

I supposed he had to if he wanted to stay alive, but I thought that had to be… stressful.

If Dominic could go back to his younger self, would he make the same decisions that led him to the life he had now?

That was a question I thought about a lot.

If I could go back, which decisions would I change?

I knew the big one I would change.

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