~Dominic~
She turned.
Just like that. Just those small hands pressing flat on the cold metal like she’d already decided she was going to let me put my hands on her.
My pulse kicked hard in my throat. I didn’t even know this girl.
Twenty minutes ago she was a stranger across the bar with a red handprint on her cheek and a duffel bag full of whatever was left of her life. Now she was bent over my table breathing like she’d just run for her life, and every single instinct wanted to f**k her.
Mine.
I stepped in close. Close enough that my chest brushed her back. Close enough that she could feel how hard I already was if she pushed back even an inch. My hands settled on her shoulders first and the second I touched her she exhaled like something inside her finally gave out.
Fuck.
She was different.
I felt it the moment I looked at her. Different from every club girl who’d ever tried to climb into my lap. Different from Lilith and her cheap perfume and needy little games.
I dragged my palms down slowly. Over the delicate line of her spine. Along the soft sides of her ribs.
When my fingers brushed the outer curve of her t**s she went completely still, and the tiny, sharp breath she tried to hide went straight to my c**k.
I was already aching.
Already thinking about how easy it would be to shove these jeans down and find out exactly how wet she was for a man she’d just met.
I leaned in, mouth against the side of her neck, and breathed her in.
“You’re shaking,” I muttered.
“Is that fear… or is that something else, little girl?”
She didn’t answer. Just another shaky exhale that made my d**k throb against my zipper.
I smiled against her skin.
Yeah. Something else.
I kept one hand locked on her hip..claiming it, owning it and let the other slide around to her
stomach.
“You’re clear.”
She slowly pushed herself up from the table and turned to face me. Those big eyes were a little glassy, cheeks still flushed from my hands. She tilted her head, that smart mouth already loading.
“You’re done with the search?” she asked, voice soft but sharp. “Or you just love having your hands on my body, huh, Dominic?”
I stared at her.
Most girls in this room either got quiet or got bold in the wrong way. This one looked me dead in the face after I’d just had my hands under her shirt and called me out like she’d known me for years.
I leaned a shoulder against the wall, arms crossing over my chest.
“You always this mouthy after a search?”
“Only when the enforcer takes his sweet time and acts like he’s checking for weapons under my bra.”
My jaw flexed.
She noticed. Of course she did. A tiny, satisfied little spark lit in her eyes.
“You felt that?” I asked.
“Hard not to. Your hands are huge.”
“And yet you didn’t stop me.”
“Club rules, remember?” She shrugged one shoulder, but the movement was too careful. Like she was still feeling every place I’d touched. “You said new face gets searched. I followed the rules. You’re the one who turned it into… whatever that was.”
I pushed off the wall and took one slow step closer. Not touching. Just close enough that she had to tip her chin up to keep looking at me.
“Whatever that was,” I repeated.
“Don’t act brand new. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Enlighten me.”
She let out a frustrated breath and crossed her arms under her chest.
“You searched me like you were trying to memorize me. That’s not standard procedure and we both know it.”
“You’re very observant for a girl who just got her life flipped upside down,” I said.
“And you’re very interested for a man who claims this was just a search.”
That one landed clean.
I almost smiled.
Almost.
“You want me to apologize?” I asked.
“For what? Touching me like you paid for the privilege, or for standing there looking at me like you’re still deciding whether to let me leave?”
I took another step. The space between us shrank.
“I already said you’re clear.”
“Then why are we still in this room, Dominic?”
The way she said my name did something stupid to my chest.
I kept my voice even.
“Because you haven’t walked out yet.”
She glanced at the door. Then back at me. Her tongue flicked over her bottom lip once, quick, nervous, and I tracked the movement like a starving man.
“Maybe I’m waiting to see if you’re going to invent another reason to keep me in here,” she said.
“Maybe I am.”
“That’s not very professional.”
“Never claimed to be.”
“You’re one naughty boy, Dominic.”
The word hit me wrong.
Boy.
She called me a f*****g boy.
I moved before the thought even finished forming. One step. One hand. My fingers wrapped around the front of her throat not hard enough to scare her, just firm enough to feel that pretty little pulse go wild under my palm. I tilted her chin up with my thumb until she had nowhere to look but me.
Her eyes went wide.
Her breath stuttered.
And the soft, shocked sound that left her mouth went straight to my c**k like a live wire.
I leaned in until my lips were almost brushing hers.
She didn’t fight the hand on her throat.
Didn’t try to pull away.
Didn’t even look scared.
Instead she slowly raised both hands, palms open, like she was surrendering..
“Calm down, Daddy… is that better?”
The second that word left her mouth. f**k.
My grip on her throat tightened just a fraction — not enough to hurt, just enough to feel her swallow against my palm.
My other hand came up and braced hard against the wall beside her head, caging her in completely. I was breathing harder than I should’ve been. Harder than I’d breathed during any search in years.
I stared down at her, thumb still resting against the side of her neck, feeling every rapid little beat of her pulse.
“Say that again,”
. “Say it slower.”
Her lips parted.
“Daddy…”
The word came out softer this time. Sweeter tho. Like she was testing how it felt on her tongue now that she knew what it did to me.
I closed my eyes for half a second. When I opened them again, she was still watching me, cheeks flushed, eyes dark.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” I said.
“Maybe I do.”
“You walked in here less than twenty minutes ago.”
“And yet here we are.”
“Your hand on my throat. Me calling you Daddy. You looking at me like you’re two seconds from forgetting this was supposed to be a search.”
I let out a breath through my nose.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, little girl.”
“Then stop playing with me.”
I tightened my fingers just enough to make her chin tip higher.
“You want me to stop?” I asked. “Say the word and I’ll take my hand off you right now. You can walk out that door, find your friend, and pretend this never happened.”
She didn’t say the word.
She just kept looking at me, breathing a little too fast, that stubborn little spark still alive in her eyes.
“That’s what I thought,” I murmured.
Her tongue flicked over her bottom lip. I tracked the movement like a man starving.
“You’re still touching me,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“You’re still looking at me like that.”
“I know that too.”
“Then what are you waiting for, Dominic?”
The way she said my name while my hand was on her throat did something stupid to my chest.
I leaned in until my mouth was right beside her ear.
“I’m waiting to see if you’re brave enough to keep calling me Daddy… or if you’re going to run the second I let you go.”
She didn’t run.
Instead she stayed right there, trapped between my body and the wall, my hand still loosely wrapped around her throat, and she smiled. Like she had all the time in the world and zero intention of making this easy.
“You really like that word, don’t you?” she asked softly. “I felt it. The second I said it, your whole body changed. Your hand got tighter. Your breathing got heavier. You looked at me like I’d just handed you something you’d been starving for.”
She tilted her head, letting my fingers shift against her pulse.
“That’s interesting. Big scary enforcer melts over one little word from a girl he just met. What else do you like, Dominic? You want me to say it again? You want me to say it slower? Or do you just want to keep standing here with your hand on my throat pretending you’re still in control?”
I didn’t answer.
She felt the silence and used it.
“You’ve been staring at me since the second you walked into that bar,” she continued.
“You searched me slower than anyone needs to be searched. You put your hands under my shirt like you were already deciding how you wanted me. You caged me against this wall like you had every right to. And now you’re just… standing here. Looking at me. Breathing hard. Not doing a damn thing.”
Her eyes flicked down to my mouth, then back up.
“You talk a lot of s**t for a man who hasn’t touched me the way he clearly wants to. You put your hand on my throat and called me little girl, but you’re still being so careful. Like you’re scared of what happens if you actually take what you want.”
I exhaled through my nose.
“Careful.”
“Or what?” she whispered. “You gonna tighten your hand? You gonna kiss me? You gonna finally stop pretending this is still about a search?”
She kept going.
“I walked in here with a slap mark on my face and a duffel bag full of my broken life. You took one look at me and decided you wanted me. Don’t even try to deny it. It’s written all over you. The way you look at me. The way you touch me. The way you’re hard as hell right now and still trying to act like you’re in charge.”
Her eyes dropped.
Straight down the front of my body. She stared openly at the hard outline straining against my jeans, and the little satisfied sound she made almost made me c*m.
“You’re hard as f**k, aren’t you?” she whispered.
“Look at that. All that control you walk around with and one girl calling you Daddy has you leaking in your jeans. That’s almost cute.”
Before I could answer, her hand moved.
She reached down and pressed her palm against me before I could stop it. She felt the full thick shape of me through the denim and instead of pulling away she dragged her hand along the length like she was measuring it, learning it, owning it.
My fingers flexed hard around her throat.
She didn’t even flinch.
She just kept her hand right there, cupping me, stroking once, twice, like she had every right to touch what she’d done to me.
“I’m not just a little girl, Dominic,”
“I have my ways of bending men. I’ve always had them. You think you’re the first older man who’s looked at me like he wanted to ruin me? You’re not. But you might be the first one who’s actually worth the effort.”
She squeezed gently, just enough to make my hips threaten to push forward, and smiled when she felt me against her palm.
“And honestly… I’d love to get on my knees and see what kind of c**k you have. I’d love to take my time with it. I’d love to find out how loud a man like you gets when a girl who just met him decides she’s going to ruin him with her mouth.” Her thumb stroked the thick head through the fabric.
“But that’s too easy, Dominic. I’m not one of your cheap sluts. I don’t drop to my knees just because a man is hard and looking at me like he’s starving. You’re going to have to do better than a hand around my throat and a deep voice if you want me on my knees.”
She held my stare for another long second, still touching me, still completely in control of the moment.
Then she gently wrapped her fingers around my wrist and pulled my hand away from her neck like she was the one who’d been running this entire interaction.
She stepped out from between me and the wall, smooth as anything, fixed her shirt like nothing had happened, and walked toward the door without looking back.
“Catch you later, Dominic.”
The door clicked shut behind her.
I stood there breathing hard, staring at the empty space she’d just occupied.
Then I looked down.
I dragged a rough hand down my face and cursed under my breath.
That f*****g little girl got me worked up as f**k.