“Dante?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Most definitely submissive.
Heat simmered beneath my skin. I felt an instant connection, but I knew without asking that it was one-sided. Dante regarded me with hesitance, as though I was a viper getting ready to strike.
It was the curiosity, not the fear, that attracted me to him.
Yeah. I was bisexual, so was my brother, but we rarely played with male submissives. Every now and again, it would be an entertaining endeavor, but I had yet to be knocked off my feet by a man, wasn’t sure it was in the cards. Didn’t mean I wasn’t keeping my options open.
I took the steps down until we were on even ground, scanned Dante’s handsome face briefly. He was a few inches shorter than I was. At six four, I pegged him closer to six, maybe six one. “Who would want to hurt you?”
That spark of fear ignited into an inferno before he managed to mask it.
Interesting.
I waited to hear what lie he would try to feed me.
Dante swallowed hard but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Either he wasn’t forthcoming with details, he didn’t know anything, or I intimidated him enough for him to keep his mouth shut. If it was the latter, we’d have to work on that.
“PB!” Everly yelled, barreling out of the screen door and running right into his arms.
PB? What the hell was PB? I glanced at Isaac when he stepped outside to join us.
In a protective manner, Dante wrapped Everly in tight, enveloping her tiny body in his. His body language reflected his desire to keep her safe, but there was something else, too. Love? Lust? Both?
“I’m okay,” he assured her.
When she tried to keep her face buried in his chest, he forced her head back, stared down. His forehead wrinkled, his breaths ragged when his thumb ghosted over the bruise on her eye.
“You can’t stay here,” she mumbled.
“He hit you.”
She shrugged him off. “It’s fine. I’m fine. I promise.” Her quivering voice hardened. “You can’t stay here.”
“I know. I’ll find a place.”
“Everly’s staying with us,” I told him when his eyes lifted to mine again. “We’ve got plenty of space.”
I wasn’t sure he realized it was an invitation. Since I hadn’t phrased it as a question or a command, he seemed to wait for something more.
All the more intriguing.
“Please?” Everly begged. “Stay with us. At least until they figure out who did this.”
Dante glanced down at her, back to me.
“You’ll stay with us,” I decided for him, keeping my tone firm.
“Yes, Sir,” he said softly, releasing Everly when she took a step back. “What about Heaven? Is she okay?”
“She went to her sister’s,” Everly informed him.
He nodded, as though satisfied.
“Was it Danny?” he asked, his eyes imploring her. It was clear he was hoping for a specific answer.
“What?”
He motioned toward her face.
“No. God, no. Danny’s a douche, but he wouldn’t hit me.”
“Is there something wrong with Heaven’s boyfriend? You think he’s behind this?”
Dante’s eyes narrowed and I suspected he was curious as to how I knew Danny was their roommate’s boyfriend.
“No. I don’t,” he declared, tearing his gaze from mine.
I watched the pair as Dante stepped to Everly once more, his fingertips gentle as they brushed over the bruise. I could see the anger behind the mask. He knew something.
“Pack a bag,” I instructed, then nodded toward his car. “You can follow us back to our place.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Everly held on to his arm, following him into the house. They passed Isaac on the way and I watched my brother’s eyes rake over Dante. When they met mine, there was the same interest I felt reflecting back at me.
“Submissive,” he stated as though it was written across Dante’s forehead.
“Very much so.”
“Not a member of Dichotomy.”
“Nope,” I agreed.
“She cares about him,” Isaac muttered. “Perhaps loves him.”
Based on his tone, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Isaac looked at me. I held his stare, an entire conversation taking place without a word being spoken. We were on the same page. Whatever was happening here, it was as though it was meant to play out this way.
Not that I cared for the circumstances. Any man who put his hands on a woman in anger deserved a beat down of the most heinous kind.
No doubt, we would find him, and he would get what he deserved.
I only hoped it was before that bastard hurt anyone else.
Dante Novak
Hearing Everly’s voicemail had put me on high alert, fear and anger coalescing into a dangerous concoction. I’d returned her call immediately, only to be told by the gruff voice that answered that she was fine, and I needed to meet them at my house. He hadn’t gone into detail, hadn’t shared with me the story Everly just outlined as I rummaged through my room for the essentials.
“Do you know who it was?” Everly asked, her concern evident as she sat on the edge of my bed while I packed a few things into a duffle bag.
