Page 165 of Hard Bargain

Knox lifted a brow. “That's all?”

Dominic didn’t answer right away. He kept looking at him, taking in the flushed skin, the split at his lip, the way the fight’s energy hadn’t left him but had settled just below the surface. He looked lit from the inside.

Dominic stepped closer, drawn in by him. He reached up and brushed his thumb across the split in Knox’s lip. He didn’t flinch—didn’t move at all—except for the slight shift in his breathing, quickening under Dominic’s hand.

“You enjoyed that,” Dominic said. “That’s going to make you unstoppable.”

Knox’s whole face brightened, looking at Dominic like his opinion was the only thing in the world that mattered. It still caught Dominic off balance every time it happened. A possessive, terrifying satisfaction unfurled inside him. “I need to go down to the security hub for a few minutes,” he said, voice rough.

Knox didn’t look away.

Dominic’s gaze darkened. “I want you in my bed when I get back.”

* * *

Knox was on top of him, hips rolling with a single-minded intensity that made Dominic’s vision blur. His head tipped back, throat bared, lips parted around sounds he’d stopped trying to control.

In that moment he looked so achingly alive that Dominic could only stare. His fingers dug into Knox’s hips. “Harder.”

A shiver raced through Knox at the command. He rode him rougher now, the slap of skin loud, relentless—perfect. He let Knox set the pace, let him take what he needed, as he watched from underneath with a hunger that bordered on reverence.

Until the need for control grew too strong to ignore. He surged upward, caught Knox behind the knees, and flipped him onto his back in one fluid motion. Knox landed sprawled on the sheets with a startled sound, eyes glazed over, chest heaving as Dominic settled between his legs.

“Thought you wanted me on top,” Knox managed, voice husky.

“I did.” Dominic leaned in, his breath ghosting over Knox’s mouth. “And you were so good, baby. But now I need to make you scream.”

He drove forward.

Knox arched off the mattress, head knocking back, a broken cry tearing out of him. He met every thrust, desperate for it, the bed thudding against the wall. “More,” Knox whispered. “Don’t hold back.”

The last of Dominic’s restraint disintegrated. He laced their fingers together, pinned Knox’s hands above his head, and drove deeper. Faster.

You’re mine. Anyone who tries to take you from me dies screaming.

He pressed closer. Wanted to fuse them together—bone to bone, heartbeat to heartbeat. He wanted to own every breath, every stuttering pulse, every dark corner Knox had never shown anyone else.

Pressure built, barreling toward the edge. Knox was trembling beneath him, lashes fluttering, his body pulling tight in a way Dominic had learned to read like scripture.

He pressed their foreheads together. “Now,” he ordered.

Knox came, Dominic’s name tearing out of him as his body seized. Hot spurts of cum painted Dominic’s abs and dripped down between them.

That sound.

That motherfucking sound.

His rhythm broke as he chased the burn coiling low. He drove into Knox who whimpered beneath him—oversensitive, legs trembling, taking it anyway, taking everything Dominic gave him the way he always did.

His orgasm detonated through him. He roared as he buried himself deep, grinding against Knox, filling him up, every pulse claiming what was already his.

He eased out of him slowly, fighting the urge to sink right back in. He went to the bathroom, ran a towel under warm water, and came back.

He cleaned them both. Careful. Thorough. The same way he always did. He tossed the towel and stretched out beside him.

Knox had gone still. Too still for a man who’d been begging a minute ago.

Dominic brushed damp hair from Knox’s forehead. “Talk.”