ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (287 page)

In the shock I dropped the cards over the Blackjack table and they scattered messily across the small space. “Well that’s one way to shuffled them I suppose,” Dominic laughed as I scrambled to pick the deck back up.

With a glare I turned to him realising that he was no longer quite as close as he had been. Casually he leant against the table, eyeing me curiously, clearly amused by my clumsiness. “I’d say I shuffled them pretty well,” I shot back, gathering the last of the cards together.

Dominic reached out and grabbed the deck from my palm, our hands connected for just a second but it was long enough for a fresh wave of shivers to be send pounding through me. “Could be worse,” Dominic shrugged, “but I’m not quite sure how,” he added with a smirk.

Frowning I shot my elbow out connecting it with his arm, catching him off-guard he almost dropped the deck in his hands. “Not so professional now,” I laughed as he glared back at me, not amused in the least.

He shook his head and his face softened slightly before what looked like an evil grin overtook his face. “Let’s see how you fair,” he said, holding the now slightly less messy looking deck out to me.

I stared at the deck with reluctance finally giving in and taking the cards from his hand. I was careful though not to touch him, the display from before while pleasurable was not something I wanted repeating. Drawing on my experience from the few times I had held cards before I roughly shuffled them in my hands, doing the best I could not to drop them. It was unimpressive but at least when I had finished the deck was somewhat shuffled, at least in my eyes.

“Not bad,” Dominic stated and to my relief there wasn’t the humour I had expected in his voice.

“But maybe try this,” he said softly enough for me to be a little taken aback.

Slowly he walked behind me so his chest was pressed firmly against my back. It took me a second to become accustom to the feeling and even then I knew my heart was beating faster than it should be as his muscles brushed against my spine. The shivers were different now, more intense and a lot less controllable.

Before I could really get used to his closeness two arms wrapped around my waist, clutching me closer to his body and the warmth it brought. I couldn’t speak as my mind fogged over, I could protest the closeness or the intimacy but a very large part of me didn’t want to. As heat pounded me suddenly my hands were in his and he was clutching them delicately. The cards loosened in my grip as he took control of my hands, wrapping his fingers around them in such a way that he could guide them easily.

A chin pressed down against my shoulder and soft brown hair brushed at my cheeks, he was resting his head on me. It was all I could do not to reach out and trail my fingers through his hair but under his careful touch I was almost stuck against him. “Trust me,” he whispered with his lips back against my ear.

I shivered as I relented to his touch, letting him unwind my fingers from the cards. Too fearful to look at the man who now held me tightly instead I looked at the deck in front of me. With the same expert guidance he had shown at the table his fingers worked magic on mine and in turn mine worked magic on the deck. With just the most softest of touches from him my hands moved automatically shuffling the deck in a way that looked remarkably professional.

The touch was intimate, the way he held my hands let me feel that cards, let me judge there movements and work with them rather than against them. His touch loosened but his lips remained close to my neck, his breathing causing subtle caresses to trace my skin. All too soon his hands left mine but my fingers contained to move the deck with the same expertise as it had done under his guidance. “I’m doing it,” I whispered excitedly as I watched the flourish of the cards and the way they spun under my gentle touch.

“I knew you could,” Dominic said softly. His finger brushed down on my hand again, the movement was so gentle that I faltered and the cards toppled to the table. The moment lasted far longer than the lifespan of the cards and by the time Dominic pulled away from me it definitely wasn’t only the cards that were a mess.

Chapter Seven

“It’ll be so much better this time,” Dominic exclaimed, his voice rising slightly now at my continued reluctance.

I stared at the bike between us and shook my head stubbornly. “No,” I stated firmly, I did not want to get back on that thing.

Dominic quickly stepped around the bike to meet me, standing little more than an inch in front of us. “You trusted me once,” he said bluntly.

He was right, I had trusted him to guide me with the cards but this was different. It was getting dark now, together we had spent the day in the casino and after my shuffling attempt I had actually begun to enjoy the day, perhaps even more than enjoy it. “I did,” I whispered, feeling my own voice and willpower waver slightly.

“Then trust me again,” he said, his voice was full of need, even a little urgency, he desperately wanted me too.

My resolve didn’t fail completely until Dominic grabbed my hand and placed it firmly against his chest. He didn’t let his finger trace my skin nor was his touch gentle instead it was strong and tight, I could feel the beating of his heart beneath my palm. “Do you feel that?” he questioned.

My mouth was dry as my mind focused on the soft steady beat of his heart. “Yes,” I managed to whisper.

Dominic’s mouth twitched into a half-smile and his grip relaxed just a little. “Do I seem worried, alarmed or unsure of how to drive?” he asked quickly.

His heart beat remained steady, not faltering in the slightest. “No,” I said, a little louder this time.

The tension in Dominic’s touched faded completely so he was simply holding me, gentle and caring like he had done more times than I could count today. I looked up at the brown haired man and saw the calmness in his bright eyes. My own heart fluttered slightly and I was thankful that our touches weren’t reversed and that he couldn’t feel it. “I trust you,” I whispered.

The small smile on his lips grew until it met his eyes and in an instant I was against his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around me. It was a brief hug but one that left my cheeks flushed and my breathing faster than before. His scent had engulfed me, sweet and tainted with leather, it was a scent I was starting to get used to being around, one I would be sad to leave. “Then let’s go,” Dominic exclaimed.

It took me mere minutes to realise that he had been right, so painfully right. The ride was like nothing I had ever experienced before, it was a world away from my experience this morning; this was completely exhilarating. He was taking it slow, that much I could tell from the speed of this morning but still the thrill was there and this was a speed I could cope with.

The corners we took we grace but it was the long stretches of road that allowed me to open my eyes and relish in the scenery that flew past us. I wasn’t completely comfortable, my tight grip of Dominic’s leather clad body was testament to that but I was comfortable enough to see the ride for what it was and to know that I wouldn’t be against riding again.

“Thanks for not trying to kill me this time,” Dominic shouted over the roar of the engine. With the reduction in speed I could actually make out his words.

Teasingly I gripped him a little tighter, earning a groan. “I do my best,” I shouted back loudly over the sound of the bike.

Dominic vibrated under my touch and I could tell he was laughing. The sensation was a nice one and his own laughter contagiously spread to my own body. “You’re enjoying the ride?” Dominic shouted and I smiled.

“Yes,” I answered with little reluctance.

“Great, let’s pick up the pace,” he exclaimed and the bike rumbled beneath us.

“No!” I screamed, this I could handle, this I could do, anything more and that sense of safety would go out the window.

The bike didn’t slow instead it was building speed at an incredible rate, there was no longer scenery flying past us but a greying black blur. “Please Dominic, I trusted you, trust me now and slow down,” I begged.

My eyes slammed shut as my words were met with a silent response and my own terror was only increased with the rapid speed. I did not stay on the bike when it stopped as I had done before but I flew from it the second the engine hummed away into silence. Solid ground found my feet but it did nothing to calm my racing heart or the fearful shivers that claimed me. “I hate you,” I shouted as I ripped the helmet from my head and tossed it to the ground.

Dominic watched as his spare helmet landed heavily on the rough ground and dove quickly to spare it from any further damage. His eyes darkened and he glared at me with anger. “Why?” was all he said, the word though was fuelled with anger.

“I trusted you,” I spat.

“I didn’t let you get hurt,” he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

“No but you didn’t trust me,” I said quietly, my anger dying down slightly but not forgotten.

I turned away from him, not sparing the man who I had thought I had trusted a second look. Underneath the leather and the arrogance I thought he was different, a man I was starting to like, perhaps like more than I should but I was wrong. “Don’t tell them where I work,” was all he said as I stormed away, wishing I had never laid eyes on the man who had hurt me more than I thought he ever possibly could.

Chapter Eight

Two days went by with no word from Dominic; it wasn’t like I had expected anything but I had hoped. He hadn’t apologised that night, he hadn’t come after me; no, he let me go angry with what little shards of trust that had formed completely broken. We had only spend a short time together but despite that I was angry, it took a lot for me to trust someone and for that to be broken so easily was hard to swallow. He hadn’t cared about me, to him the day had been a means to an end and in it he had done more than toy with my emotions. We had gone in as strangers and come out as worse.

Regardless of everything, putting aside the anger I had felt when I had stormed into my house and the tough conversation explaining why he wasn’t with me I hadn’t breathed a word about what he really did for a living. I had told myself at the time it was to spare his mum the knowledge that he had lied to her, two days later though and I was finding it harder and harder to ignore the fact that it was not her that I truly did not want to hurt, but him.

“Lucy!” my dad shouted my name from downstairs.

I rolled over in my bed and groaned, reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort of my covers and venture out of my bedroom. Knowing though that if I didn’t I would have little choice when he came barging in, I tossed the sheets away and dragged myself out of bed. “Coming!” I yelled as I threw on my jeans and a shirt, straightening my hair with my fingers at the same time.

Reluctantly I walked downstairs, dragging my feet as I went; I was in no rush to actually have to wake up properly and face the day. In a scene similar to that of two days previous my dad was leant against the kitchen table but this time my step-mum was there to greet me as well. I nodded tiredly to them both as my eyes landed on the large parcel in the middle of the table. “What’s that?” I questioned curiously, naturally wandering closer to the mysterious package, nobody ever got parcels like that delivered and the sight of it peaked my curiosity.

“It’s for you,” my dad said with a shrug but I could tell he was just as curious as I was.

With more excitement than what was probably fitting I pulled the attached card off the top of the rectangular box and opened the envelope quickly. There were two words written on the card ‘thank you’ and that was it.

Anger filled me once more and I tossed the card back onto the box and turned to leave, after two days all he could be bother to do was thank me for keeping his little secret. “What does this mean?” my dad said curiously before I could properly leave the room.

“Nothing,” I muttered, knowing but not caring that it wasn’t exactly an explanation.

“I’m sorry,” my dad said slowly. Confused I turned to face him, surprised to see he was reading off the card.

I dove across the room snatching the tiny card from his hand and twisting it over in my fingers. Sure enough on one side there were the words that made my blood boil but on the other were the words that gave me hope ‘I’m sorry,”.

With nothing more as an explanation I grabbed the box and left the room, slipping out of the house to sit on the doorstep, perhaps the only place I would get at least a couple minutes worth of privacy. With a renewed hope I tore the brown paper packaging off the box and a grin spread across my face. In miniature, at least in comparison to the only other one I had seen, was a small blackjack set.

Written on the top of the box were the words ‘Blackjack for beginners’. I read the words aloud and laughed quietly, where I should be offended I was amused. The laughter didn’t last long before guilt found its way to the pit of my stomach and I knew I had to see Dominic, at least to let him explain. I stood back up, the Blackjack set dangling in my hands and considered my options, face the questions inside or leave as I was; the latter was definitely the least unappealing of the two.

Straightening my shirt out I made my way out of the garden and into the street wondering how exactly I was going to find the casino and whether or not he was even going to be there. It seemed though that it didn’t matter, the second I turned the corner he was there, sat on his bike waiting.