Page 55 of Dominate

The knock comes before I’ve finished securing the towel around my waist.

Zane steps inside as soon as I open the door.

“I need to say something before I talk myself out of it.”

I shut the door. “Okay.”

He walks to the window, turns, then walks back.

I move out of his way.

“You can be pissed off here, Zane.”

He stops.

“I know.”

“Then stop trying to make it sound reasonable.”

He pulls his hands out of his hoodie pocket. Makes fists. Opens them again.

I sit on the edge of the bed and wait.

Eventually, he sits beside me, leaving a few inches between us.

“Four days,” he says. “I don’t think I can do four more days of this.”

I turn toward him.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I sat in that green room.” Zane’s amber eyes search my face frantically. “Dan stood over me for an hour. He broke down my last sparring session piece by piece. He told me I looked soft. He told me Ironside does not tolerate weakness. I wanted to scream. I wanted to put my fist straight through the drywall.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because if I shatter my hand, they pull the fight.” He drops his forehead against mine. “If they pull the fight, I lose my excuse to be near you.”

The confession hits me square in the chest. It knocks the breath clean out of my lungs.

He thinks this fight is the only thing keeping us together. As if I’d stop wanting him the second the cameras left.

Anger flares hot and bright in my blood. Not at Zane. At the entire suffocating machine built to crush the life out of him.

“Look at me.” I grip his jaw, forcing his head up.

He meets my gaze.

“You are not soft.” I keep my voice hard, driving the truth into his head like a nail. “Enduring that room takes more strength than Dan Kendall will possess in his entire pathetic life. You’re holding an empire together with your bare hands.”

Zane lets out a broken laugh. “The empire is crumbling.”

“Then let it burn.” I pull him down, pressing my mouth to his.

The kiss holds no gentleness. It’s a collision of teeth and heat. Zane responds instantly, his desperation fueling the aggressive claiming of my mouth. He tastes like copper and adrenaline. He forces my lips apart, his tongue sliding against mine, demanding absolute surrender.

I give it to him. I let him take every ounce of comfort he needs from my body.

He slides his hands down my chest and grips my waist. He drags his lips across my jaw, leaving a hot, damp trail down my throat.