Page 39 of Hard Bargain

This time, he didn’t look away. He walked toward them with a calm certainty.

Cassian glanced up. “Took your time.”

Dominic slid into the booth beside Knox. Close. Far too close.

“I was busy,” Dominic said.

Cassian laughed into his drink. “Yeah. We noticed.”

Knox didn’t say anything. He was suddenly, painfully aware of everything. The heat of Dominic beside him. The faint trace of cologne mixed with something warmer. The way the booth felt smaller now, the air somehow thicker.

Cassian took another drink. “Kid survived the week, by the way.”

Knox shrugged, aiming for indifference and probably missing. “Got hit. A lot.” He dragged a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face mostly because he needed something to do with himself.

Dominic’s gaze followed the movement and caught on Knox’s hand. “Let me see,” he said.

Knox barely had time to process the words before Dominic reached for him. His fingers closed around Knox’s wrist, turning his hand slightly. Knox’s breath caught. Not because of the grip, but because of how natural it felt. Dominic touching him like this should have been strange, but somehow it wasn’t.

“You got some punches in,” Dominic said, studying his scraped knuckles.

“A few.” Knox’s voice came out rougher than he intended.

Dominic’s thumb brushed over his skin. Pain flared, the bruising deep enough that even the light pressure lit it up. His fingers twitched, his body reacting before he could stop it. He should have pulled away, but he didn’t.

Didn’t want to.

Dominic’s thumb moved again, slower this time, tracing across each knuckle in turn. Not hard enough to actually hurt him, but not gentle enough to be innocent. Just enough pressure to make Knox feel every inch of it.

And somehow worse than the pain was the fact that Dominic was watching him. Not his hand. Him. Tracking every reaction, every involuntary shift in his breathing, every flicker of tension he couldn’t quite suppress.

Knox felt pinned in place by it.

Dominic’s grip tightened just enough to keep Knox’s hand where he wanted it before his thumb pressed down again, harder this time. Pain shot up Knox’s arm, dragging a loud breath from him before he could swallow it.

Dominic went still. Something in his expression changed. There was a flicker of recognition. Satisfaction, almost. Like he’d just confirmed something he’d suspected and was now turning it over in his mind.

And still, Knox didn’t pull away.

God knew he should have.

He sat there with Dominic’s fingers wrapped around his hand. Their eyes locked. There was nothing remotely safe about the moment. Nothing comfortable about the way his pulse was pounding against his ribs. But it didn’t feel like fear.

Dominic’s grip adjusted, fingers sliding from his hand to his wrist, lighter now, but somehow even harder to ignore. Knox had to bite back a ridiculous sound.

Then Cassian cleared his throat.

Loudly.

“Alright,” he drawled. “I’m starting to feel like a third wheel at my own table.”

Dominic let go. The abrupt absence of contact hit Knox almost as hard as the pressure had.

Fuck.

Heat crawled violently up the back of his neck. They hadn’t been alone. How the hell had he forgotten Cassian was sitting right there? Watching Knox behave like some complete idiot who apparently had no concept of self-preservation.

He dragged in a breath, forcing it even, forcing his expression into something neutral. What the fuck was wrong with him?