Page 76 of Hard Bargain

Knox didn’t hesitate. His hands fisted into Dominic’s shirt and pulled him closer, meeting the force with equal desperation.

Dominic’s pulse was pounding harder than it had in years. His grip was tighter than intended. He had never reacted like this. Never felt anything override instinct and logic so completely and so fast.

The kiss turned rougher. Hungrier. He pressed Knox harder into the wall, closing every last inch of space between them. There was no room left for pretense or denial, not here, not like this.

Knox kissed him back just as fiercely. Hands dragged him closer, like he was trying to climb inside his skin. Dominic answered by deepening the kiss—slower but more consuming. His other hand slid down Knox’s side, gripping at his waist.

The kiss spiraled, messy now, desperate in a way Dominic didn’t recognize. He dragged Knox’s lower lip between his teeth, then soothed it with his tongue. Knox’s breath broke against his mouth, hands sliding up into Dominic’s hair.

This wasn’t calculated anymore.

This was want.

Raw. Immediate. Unfamiliar.

Terrifying.

Dominic tore his mouth away. He stood there breathing hard, chest heaving as he stared down at Knox, hand still tangled in his hair.

Knox looked dazed, eyes searching, like he was trying to understand what had just happened.

The air between them felt unstable. Like something explosive had just gone off and neither of them knew where everything would land.

Dominic forced himself to step back. Release him. Put distance between them that his body immediately objected to. “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” he said, voice rough.

Knox’s breathing hadn’t evened out. “You’re the one who—”

“I know.” The admission came too fast. He dragged a hand down his face. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

The music thudded faintly through the walls. Knox’s back was still against the concrete. The silence that stretched between them was tight and unsteady. Knox watched him carefully now, trying to read him. Dominic had spent years making sure people couldn’t do that.

Knox was doing it anyway.

“Why?” Dominic asked.

Knox blinked. “Why what?”

“Why push me?”

Knox’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know.” And for once he didn’t sound evasive. He sounded like he meant it, which was somehow worse.

Dominic studied him: the lingering heat in his face, the confusion still sitting behind his eyes alongside everything else. “You’re not stupid,” he said. “You knew what pushing that far would do.”

Knox looked away, biting his lip. “I didn’t know it would do that.”

“But you wanted my reaction.”

Knox pushed himself off the wall, rolling his shoulders like he needed to shake the moment off his skin. “Fine,” he said, frustration breaking through. “Yeah. I wanted a reaction. Because I didn’t like it when you ignored me for two weeks.”

Dominic looked at him.

Knox lifted his eyes. “You keep asking why I wanted a reaction,” he said. “But you’re not asking the more important question.”

Dominic’s jaw tightened. “And what question is that?”

“Why it worked.”

Dominic said nothing.