She laughed as Dominic dragged her further away. His grip on her wrist was loose enough that she could easily break out of his hold whenever she wanted. But she didn't, she didn't want him to stop touching her. Breeze whipped through her brown hair as they walked, strands of it falling on her face, touching her cheek and forehead.
Within minutes they stood in front of a blue lifeguard tower that stood a good distance away from Tobias and Elio. They might have stopped moving but Dominic still held on to her. His fingers that once circled her wrists now held her hand with a tenderness that made her chest weep. Dominic always had the ability to make her feel more. With him a single touch was a lit match tossed on dried kindling, a heated glance was enough to set her entire soul ablaze.
She had the same effect on him as well, she could see it in the way his stares lingered on her each time they were together, in the way he always found ways to keep touching her. Dominic wanted her as much as she wanted him. He never tried to hide it either. This song and dance they did around each other had lasted years but their friendship had lasted longer. One wrong move and the house of cards they had carefully built around themselves would come crashing down. Was it truly worth risking it all to satiate the lust, would they remain the same afterwards?
Before she could truly process the thought, Dominic had her pinned between him and the lifeguard tower, his hand resting on the wood right beside her head. The look in his eyes as he gazed at her was one that friends didn't exchange between each other. The look was of a man starved, an addict looking for his next fix. It was the look of a man that was ready to risk it all to have her all to himself.
" I've missed you. It was so hard staying away from you." His face was so close that they shared the same air. " I have wanted to kiss you for years."
He moved impossibly closer, his lips hovered over her. " Can I kiss you?" He asked.
They were so close, his body blocked her view of anything that wasn't him but she had all the power in the situation despite that. He had never made her question that fact. One word from her and all this would stop. She didn't want to stop.
She nodded. It was her first time kissing Dominic and it was like nothing she anticipated. She had expected gentle and sweet like he had always been with her but this wasn't that. This was indulgence. This was him feasting on her lips in ways he hadn't allowed himself to in years. This was him etching his name in her mind and soul.
Along with being a murderer, Dominic Kane was also a thief. He stole the breath from her lungs and her heart by just merely existing, then her body and soul by being one of the best people she knew. He wouldn't stop there, he would only keep taking if she didn't put a stop to this. She didn't want to think about it, not while his body pressed deliciously into hers, his mouth on hers.
He tasted of whiskey and smoke. The smell of his cologne made her lightheaded with lust. His finger slid into her mass of hair until he touched her scalp. He caressed the base of her skull all while never breaking the kiss. It was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. He was everything she had ever wanted and more.
Dominic rested his forehead on hers, breathing deeply. Claudia couldn't help it, she giggled. The sound broke them out of the lust-filled tension they were trapped in.
Dominic smiled. " You thought that was funny, huh?"
He placed his hand lightly on her cheek. His tan skin was stark against her pale one. Gone was the man who claimed her lips and in his place, was a man who treated her like she was one of those expensive glass vases in her father's mansion.
She shook her head at his question, mirth dancing in her hazel eyes.
" I have wanted you to kiss me like that for years." She said honestly. That kiss had unlocked something within the both of them that neither of them fully understood. After all this, she wasn't going to hide how she felt from him any longer.
" Now that I know that, I'm going to kiss you much more often. Soon I will be able to kiss you every day. I will kiss you anytime you want me to." His voice was as smooth as silk as his words washed over her.
She gazed up at him with wonder and curiosity. " What do you mean? What happens after this?" She asked what they were both wondering.
Dominic's other hand snaked around her when she tried to take a step back. He wouldn't let her go, not until she understood that things between them were never going to remain platonic. One kiss wasn't going to be enough for him. He wanted more. He wanted her.
" It means no more sneaking around to meet each other." He said and she frowned. " I'm going to do this right with you."
Claudia's mouth fell open. " You mean you're —"
He nodded before she could finish. " I'm going to arrange a meeting with your father and I'm going to tell him about us." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. " I'm going to tell him how much I admire his daughter, how much I want you as mine. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between us, Claudia. I, Dominic Kane, will be anything you want me to be but right now, I'm going to settle for being yours."
Her heart was pounding in her chest. She nodded eagerly, tears building in the corners of her eyes.
" Use your words, Claudia." Dominic softly chided.
" Yes, I want that. I want all of it, Dominic." Once again, she nearly knocked him over with how hard she jumped at him.
She wasn't sure how long they had been gone or how much longer they were going to remain alone before Elio came looking for them. With all that was said between them, Claudia realized that neither had spoken the word love. The four letter word was at the tip of her tongue, it had been there for years but once again, she pushed it back. So much had been said already. They still had so much time ahead of them and she was going to spend every second showing Dominic how much she loved him.
He was hers and she was his. Nothing would ever change that.
Dominic froze when he heard his name being called from a distance. He turned to find Tobias approaching them. There was no sight of the perpetual smile that always danced on Tobias' lips. Judging off the scowl on his face as he trudged through the sand, it was clear to everyone that he was pissed.
When Tobias was close enough, his eyes darted to Claudia. He saw how close she was to Dominic, how his arm still rested around her waist, how her red lipstick was smudged on both her lips and Dominic's, choosing to not say a word about it.
" Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of her." Dominic said when he noticed Tobias wasn't speaking because of Claudia. She now stood rigidly by his side. Dominic smiled at her to reassure her.
Tobias shrugged. He didn't bother protesting.
" I called home. Your father just left New York and Lorenzo has fucking lost his mind. He's acting out and demanding you return home."
Instead of getting annoyed, Dominic's tone remained leveled.
" Salvatore has been traveling out more than usual." Dominic mused. He barely called Salvatore father in conversations. Referring to him as father while speaking to other people had never came naturally to him.
" The fact that Salvatore always leaves your brother in charge of everything whenever he's gone is making it worse." Tobias gritted.
Claudia tried her best not to seem too interested in their conversation because she truly wasn't. But a fact she was certain of was Dominic's stay this time around wouldn't last as long as it usually would. He would have to return home because his family needed him and she would be here, waiting for him to return to her once more.