The Sacrificial Lamb (23 page)

“No!” Her eyes met his and then lowered again.

“Why not?”

“He creeped me out. I could tell he wasn’t a good man.”

“You think I’m a good man?” he asked, amused. “After what I did to you the first time we met?”

“Well, no. I thought you were pretty terrible the first time we met,” she said, smiling to herself. “But then you gave me your jacket when I was cold. And brought me clothes to keep me warm, and you comforted me when I cried.” She gazed at him, and Domenic’s amusement faded. “I knew you were different.”

“Alex,” he began, but stopped, at a loss for words.

“Don’t, Domenic. I don’t want to hear about you being a monster and all that bullshit. I see through your charade.” Her chin was jutted out in a very familiar way, as if waiting for him to argue. Domenic was too surprised at what she had said to oblige her. It hit too close to home.

“Anyway, that’s why,” she finished when he remained silent.

“Thank you, for trying to protect me,” he said, still trying to absorb everything. “Even though it wasn’t necessary. What you did was
extremely
dangerous. You could have been killed.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, ignoring the rest. “In a way, it worked out better this way.”

“How so?”

“Well, if I hadn’t tried to escape on my own, you would have had to try to deal with both of those guys at the same time.”

“And?” he scoffed. “That would have been easy enough.”

“Oh, really? Kind of full of yourself, aren’t you?”

Domenic just shrugged at her and smirked.

“What would you have done?” she asked haughtily.

“If they’d hurt you, I would have killed them,” he answered with no hesitation.

“Oh.” Alex blinked at him a few times, and he wondered if perhaps she was rethinking her idea that he was a good man.

“You seem surprised.”

“No…well…yeah. I just didn’t expect you to be so upfront about it.”

“Alex, you know that I killed Marco. Right?”

“Yes! But that was self-defense! It was different.”

“That’s partly true. But that’s not why I killed him.”

“Should you be telling me this?” Alex had caught her lip between her teeth and was looking at him with a worried expression on her face.

“Well, you’re right. It was self-defense, since he fired at me first. But the reason why I killed him instead of just incapacitating him was because if Marco had lived, you would never have been safe again.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that even if you had gotten away and were under the Witness Protection Program, he’d have tracked you down. He would have found you, and he would have tortured and killed you.” Domenic watched Alex very closely to make sure she understood. “I’ve seen him in action before, and he is unstoppable once he wants something. I couldn’t let him live.”

“Oh God.”

Getting up from the sofa, he kneeled in front of Alex and placed his hands on her knees. “You’re safe now. Do you hear me? I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“What about when you’re gone?” she whispered, her eyes large and round. His heart clenched at the thought of leaving her, but he pushed aside his feelings.

“Then I’ll have to teach you to take care of yourself,” he said lightly, giving her legs a playful squeeze. She gave him a watery smile. “From what I saw, you did a pretty good job at the warehouse.”

“You know it,” Alex said in a squeaky voice.

“Do you want to start learning now?”

“Sure.” Wiping her fingers under her eyes, she began to pull her legs out from under her. Domenic stood up and offered her his hand to help her up.

Alex watched as he began pushing furniture out of the way, creating a large space for them to work in. Once he finished, he went to stand in the middle of the room. Lifting his hand, he made a “come here” gesture with his fingers. Domenic gave Alex a little smirk that she returned as she came into the circle. She stood there, looking at him expectantly.

“We’re going to start with easy stuff today. Wrist breaks.”

“Wrist breaks?”

“Yes. How to manipulate your wrist to escape when your opponent grabs you.”

“Okay.”

Domenic went to stand beside Alex. “I need you to make a strong stance, feet shoulder-width apart, one foot a bit more in front, and knees slightly bent. Like this.” He got into a loose fighting crouch, and Alex copied him. “Good, stay like that.” He stood up and did a small circle around her, making small adjustments and then went to stand beside her again. “Now I’m going to show you how to pivot with your hips.”

“What does that have to do with wrists?”

“All the power comes from the impetus of your entire body, not from the arm itself,” he explained.

“Okay.”

For the next half hour Domenic showed Alex several ways to escape an attacker. Her moves were still more dainty than forceful, but she was a quick study, and what she lacked in power, she made up for in enthusiasm. After practicing a bit longer, he told Alex to take a break so he didn’t hurt her. She sank gratefully to the floor, and he went to get them bottled water from the fridge. Domenic returned, sat beside her, and handed her one of the bottles.

“How’s your wrist?” Domenic asked. He’d had her escaping various grabs and was concerned that the last couple of times he’d exerted too much pressure.

“It’s fine, maybe a little tender,” she said, moving it back and forth. Lifting the bottle, she took a few deep swallows.

“We’ll quit for today.”

“Oh, I was having fun!”

“Me, too. But I don’t want you getting bruised. We’ll practice that one more tomorrow.” Domenic smiled at Alex, and she seemed to be okay with that idea.

“Can we try something else?” she said in obvious excitement.

“Sure. I’ll teach you how to escape a chokehold next. But first we should eat something.”

After lunch, they went back into the open space in the living room. Domenic stood across from Alex, and she eyed him nervously. He smiled in a nonthreatening way and stepped closer to her, hands in the air.

“Okay, now we’re going to do a chokehold escape. I’ll show you first, so pretend like you’re trying to choke me.”

Alex swallowed and came closer. She reached up and placed her hands tentatively around his neck.

Domenic had time to register how soft and warm they were before pushing that thought aside. He brought his hands up and broke the hold in a measured movement. “Did you see how I did that?”

“Yeah.”

“Your turn. I’m going to put my hands on your shoulders, not around your neck, so don’t be nervous.” Alex nodded, and he took another step toward her. Domenic placed his hands on the juncture between her neck and shoulders. “Now, make two fists. Bring your hands up between my arms, using your outer wrists to push against my forearms.”

“Like this?” Alex pushed hard against his inner forearms and broke the hold he had on her.

“Exactly like that,” he said, smiling down at her pleased expression. “So this is like the other moves I showed you. You have to use the force of your body to brace your arms. Get into your stance. Good. Now again.”

They tried a few more times until he was satisfied with Alex’s progress. “Are you comfortable with me?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m going to hold your neck this time. But only at the back and sides, so don’t be frightened.” Alex lifted her chin to let him know she understood and was all right with it. Domenic slid his fingers under her hair until they were intertwined at the nape of her neck. His palms rested against her neck, and his thumbs cradled her jaw.

When Alex looked up at him, he realized this might not have been the best idea. It felt more like he should bend his head to kiss her instead of pretending to choke her.

“Is this okay?” Domenic asked her softly.

“Yes,” she whispered, looking at him with her big, trusting eyes.

“I’m not hurting you?”

“No.” Alex’s tongue slipped out between her lips to wet them. Domenic mimicked her, and her eyes went to his mouth.
Kiss her
, he thought, not quite coherently.
Just kiss her
.

Alex’s hands came up and broke the hold. Domenic stepped back, surprised. He looked at her standing there, chest heaving, hands clenching and releasing, and she wore an odd expression. She looked like she was fighting off some strong impulse, and Domenic was confused by why she’d pulled away so abruptly. He considered questioning her about it, but decided perhaps it was best to leave things as they were.

“That was good,” he said. “Why don’t we take a break? We can practice some more tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay,” Alex said in a low voice. “I’m going to go take a shower. I’m all sweaty now.” She pulled her shirt away from her body and fanned herself with it, making a face.

“All right. I’m just going to put everything back then.”

They stood staring at each other for a while longer, and then Alex started walking backward, toward the bathroom. She turned hastily and headed through the door. Domenic watched her close the door behind her, and he sighed.

Even though he knew he shouldn’t and even though he knew it was wrong, for once Domenic wished Alex would run toward him instead of away.

F
UCK
.

Shit.

Fuck.

That was all Alex’s brain could come up with as she paced around the bathroom. Why had she locked herself in this room, when she wanted to be out there with Domenic? She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes and kept walking back and forth, occasionally stopping to look at the bathroom door and consider going out there to face him. She would have to go back in the living room eventually, but at the moment, she just didn’t trust herself. Not to mention, she told Domenic she needed a shower.

It wasn’t a lie. All the physical exertion had made her hot, and perspiration on a girl was never attractive.
Domenic didn’t seem to care
, her mind whispered with glee.
Shut up!
Alex told her inner voice. She started to strip off her clothes with angry tugs and pulls. Padding over to the shower, she turned on the water and waited for it to get warm.

She had to get a grip before things went spiraling out of control. No matter how attracted she was to Domenic, she couldn’t act on those feelings. They had barely been alone for four days. What type of girl threw herself at a sexy mobster after four days? A horny one—that was who. One who hadn’t had sex in five months. One who was starting to not give a shit that she was holed up with a member of the underworld—especially when he gave her a look like the one that had sent her scurrying in here like a mouse that spied a cat.

Sticking her head under the tepid water, she tried to forget about it. Unfortunately, as soon as she closed her eyes, her mind conjured up his image. The look he’d given her had been unmistakable, and she knew if she didn’t do something, he would kiss her and all would be lost.

She wasn’t the type of girl who went around sleeping with every man who caught her eye. Alex had been with one person, and even though things hadn’t been that great with Shane over the last year, she had never been unfaithful. Not that there hadn’t been a handful of opportunities—it just wasn’t something she would do. Sure, she’d had passing crushes on some of her classmates, but for the most part that was all they were. Usually, once Alex got to know the guy better, her little infatuation faded. Since she had never acted on any impulses, she figured it was no harm, no foul. She seriously doubted Shane was a saint. He must have been tempted quite a lot as well, so she never felt guilty about letting her mind wander.

There were several problems this time around, however. The first one was that her attraction to Domenic was increasing the longer they were together. The second was that he completely intrigued her. He wasn’t like the men she’d attended classes with. He was exciting and different. He was complex. He made her question all her preconceived notions. Domenic was a mystery, and he left her wanting more.

When she thought about it, it wasn’t her relationship with Shane that kept her from acting on what she was feeling. What stopped her was her fear that when their time was over, Domenic would depart with her heart in tow. If she took the leap, she knew she would want him to have all of her, not just her body. That thought alone terrified Alex. She barely knew the man. How did he manage to have this kind of power over her?

As she shampooed, her mind wandered back to the self-defense lessons—specifically the last five seconds of them. With her eyes closed, she remembered how Domenic’s fingers had felt as they slipped beneath her hair and how he had cradled her head so gently. His thumbs had caressed her jaw unconsciously, creating a trail of fire wherever they touched. Locking gazes, he had given her a smoldering look, and when his tongue had wet his lips, she’d never wanted to kiss anyone as much as she had him.

Alex grabbed the soap and started cleaning the rest of her body. Keeping her eyes closed, she started to wonder what it would feel like to have Domenic touching her. He had artist’s hands with long slim fingers, soft to the touch and smooth. She ran her hands over her breasts and down her stomach. Humming softly, she moved one hand lower until she was touching herself intimately.