Page 17

DOMINIC

I showed up early, against my better judgment.

The studio looked like a war zone. Overhead lights buzzed with heat that had me wanting to take my jacket off the minute I walked in.

Wardrobe racks lined one wall, clothes draped and half sorted.

Some assistant sprinted past with two phones to her ear and a clipboard under her arm.

A guy with a headset asked me to sign a waiver, and someone else handed me water I didn’t ask for.

Everyone had a job, and nobody was paying attention to how absurd it all felt.

I hated this kind of thing. There were cameras, artificial backdrops, and lightweight props designed to look expensive.

It all felt manufactured. The press responded well to anything polished and curated.

The board trusted whatever earned headlines and stayed on message.

And Vanessa spearheaded it all into this insanity that felt forced.

But the numbers didn’t lie.

Since the Fashion Weekly spread, Raven engagement was through the roof.

And Knight Holdings’ approval rating was soaring.

Investors saw it and smiled. Analysts blogged about it like we were royalty—all because I’d let the PR team play dress-up with the one woman who still made me forget how to think straight.

I adjusted my cufflinks and walked toward the mark taped on the floor. I didn’t see Savannah anywhere, but she knew how important this was for the merger optics.

Her heels echoed across the concrete floor before she came into view.

She walked in from the back entrance, all calm composure in a pale blue dress that swayed over her hips like it was made for her body alone.

She didn’t rush, and she didn’t glance around for approval.

She walked straight toward the lighting setup like she’d already sized up the chaos and regretted walking in here.

“You’re late,” I said, shifting just enough so she had space to step in beside me.

“I thought I was right on time,” she said, glancing toward the camera rig. Her voice was even, but I caught the edge of nerves in the way she smoothed her dress. “Guess you beat me to it.”

“Didn’t want to give Vanessa any more reasons to lecture me about branding.”

She gave a quiet smile. “She already caught me at the elevator and reminded me to smile like I meant it. Twice.” Her half snort of laughter was sweet; it made me chuckle because I could definitely see Vanessa saying something like that.

“Glad I missed that part,” I said. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

“Dominic,” she chided, eyes still on the set. It seemed she was still resisting my attempts to show her I was very interested in her, and I wondered if David had gotten to her already. My meeting with him was still a few days out.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but someone clapped behind the lighting rig.

“Okay, let’s go. Dominic, Savannah—on your marks, please.

We’re starting with a wide shot under natural light.

Give us a soft connection between the two of you.

” A woman with frizzy hair and bright red lipstick waved a notebook in the air as she spoke, and we listened to her.

A male photographer with a trimmed beard and glasses called out next.

“Savannah, shift right two inches. Dom, hand on the backrest. Don’t square off.

We’re not shooting mugshots.” I cringed at his use of a nickname I hated to hear on any lips but hers, but I didn’t protest. Following his commands meant getting closer to her.

She stepped into position beside me and lowered her voice. “Try not to make this painful.”

“Just follow my lead,” I said.

The photographer’s voice broke through again. “Closer now. Pull her in a little. Make it feel intimate.”

I shifted behind her and pressed my hand to the small of her back. She didn’t flinch, but her breath caught just enough for me to notice.

“You’ve got this,” I murmured, low enough no one else could hear. “You’re the sexiest woman in the room. Probably the building.”

Her mouth twitched like she was fighting a smile. “This is a serious shoot.”

“So am I.” My hand drifted up slightly, a gentle slide that hovered just long enough to make her pause. I felt the clasp of her bra under my thumb and pressed into it.

“Savannah, soften your expression. Dominic, tilt your head toward hers. Less boardroom, more bedroom,” the photographer snapped.

She glanced at me, and for a second, something real broke through her polished look. I leaned in. “You’re blushing,” I said. “You trying to distract me?”

She exhaled slowly. “Stop talking.”

“Why?” My lips were almost at her ear. “You like when I talk. Especially when I tell you how bad my cock wants inside you.” That comment made her shudder.

“Closer,” the woman with the clipboard barked. “More tension. Dom, rest your hand at her waist.” Then the photographer glanced at Savannah and added, “And Savannah, lean in a little. Let it feel like you’re reaching for him—you love him, right? Let the camera see it…”

I didn’t stop at her waist. I let my palm slide lower, fingers tightening around the curve of her ass.

She stiffened and let out a quiet hiccup as her jaw dropped open. Her posture shifted almost imperceptibly, but I felt it. She stopped resisting me.

The photographer clapped again. “Savannah, turn your chin toward him—yes, like that. Let it feel earned, not forced. Hold it.”

“I said follow my lead,” I said gruffly as I squeezed the fleshy globe of her right cheek in my hand and watched her swallow hard.

She didn’t pull away or call it out. She held still, eyes fixed on mine, her chest rising and falling in slow, deliberate rhythm. She was holding it together, but only just—and I could see every ounce of control it took not to react to the way I touched her.

“Perfect,” the photographer said. “Don’t move.”

A phone buzzed. The clipboard woman muttered something about a lighting change and waved the photographer out of the room. He blurted, “Be right back.” Then he darted off the set, followed by the crew, leaving us under the lights and out of focus.

I saw the opening and I took it, and Savannah didn’t stop me.

I slid my hand up her spine and bent toward her ear. “We’ve got a few minutes,” I said. Then I turned, walked to the door, and flipped the lock.

“Dom,” she protested, but when I leaned in to kiss her, she didn’t push me away.

Her breath hitched as my hands found her waist, and when she didn’t tense, I tugged her closer until our hips aligned. She looked up at me, hesitant but not afraid, her fingers brushing my chest like she didn’t know whether to pull me in or push me back.

“We shouldn’t be doing this. They could come back,” she whispered.

“Then tell me to stop,” I said in a low tone. I dipped my head until our foreheads touched. “I think about you all the time. I can’t stop thinking about you. Every day you’re on my mind. I need you…You undo me.”

Her hands slid up around my neck, slow and unsure. But she stayed there, her fingers curling just enough to draw me in. I could feel her pulse where our chests touched. She didn’t speak, but she looked at me like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to breathe or burn.

“Dom,” she whispered, and I leaned in.

I kissed her again, deeper this time. She kissed me back with hunger that didn’t match the tension from earlier. Her body pressed into mine, her lips parted beneath mine as I backed her toward the dark edge of the backdrop.

She moaned into my mouth, her hands gripping my shirt like she needed me as much as I needed her.

I slid my hand up her back, fingertips trailing over the exposed skin of her neck.

She shivered and arched into me, pressing herself against me.

Her hips ground against mine, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core.

I slipped my hand under her dress, tracing the contours of her thighs, inching higher and higher, and I felt her shiver.

Savannah moaned into my mouth as my fingers found the lace of her panties.

Her hips bucked forward, silently begging me for more.

I obliged, slipping my index finger beneath the fabric to find her hot and wet for me.

She gasped, a broken sound that only spurred me on.

“We have to be quick,” I cautioned, and she nodded furiously as she started undoing my belt.

I groaned low in my throat as she freed me from my pants, and my mouth found hers again, kissing her with a desperation that had been building for weeks.

Her tongue darted out, teasing mine, and I growled against her lips.

My hands were everywhere, caressing her curves, memorizing the dip of her waist and the swell of her breasts.

The silk of her dress sliding against my fingers was intoxicating, but it wasn’t enough.

“Please,” she whimpered, pulling on me, guiding me to her center.

I raised one of her legs until she wrapped it around my hips, and I lined myself up to her core.

She pulled her panties to the side and held them there while her fingers pressed and rubbed on the swollen nub hidden in the thick moisture.

I slid inside her with one long, slow thrust, feeling her strong hot muscles enveloping me. She grunted, her hands grabbing onto my biceps as she arched her hips to meet mine. I could feel the evidence of how much she wanted this too, her body clenching around me, drawing me in deeper.

“Jesus, Savannah,” I growled, my self-control hanging on by a thread. “How do you make me so hard?”

She responded with a breathless moan, her hips circling against mine in a primal rhythm.

I braced my hands on either side of her hips, keeping us connected as our bodies moved together in a desperate dance.

Her dress hiked up around her waist, baring her thighs as her head bounced on the wall behind her.

I picked up the pace, my hips slamming into hers with a force that made the entire set shake. Savannah’s moan of pleasure only fueled my desire more. I could feel her walls clenching around me, her body on the verge of orgasm, and I wanted to be there with her. I wanted to experience this together.

“Come for me, Savannah,” I growled in her ear, brushing my lips along her neck. “I want to feel you come apart in my arms.”

That was all it took. With a sharp cry, she arched her back, her body tensing as she came undone around me. Her walls squeezed me tightly, milking every drop of pleasure out of me as I followed her over the edge. We both jerked and spasmed, and I held her up as she unwound.

We stared at each other, panting and breathless, as our heartbeats slowly returned to normal. Savannah was the first to break the silence. “We can’t…we can’t keep doing this,” she said, her eyes avoiding mine.

I pulled out, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and let the pressure out of my chest. She shimmied her skirt down while I reached for a tissue from the prop desk. Thankfully, there were a few in the box.

Handing it to her, I said, “Don’t you think we should talk about what this is instead of just dismissing it?”

She took the tissue and bunched her skirt back up to wipe herself clean, as she spoke. “Dominic, my father is demanding that I speak to him. The fake relationship thing is bad enough. I just can’t…” Someone knocked on the door, but thankfully, I had my back turned.

Scurrying, we both redressed, and when I stood by the door, I glanced back to make sure she was decent before unlocking. The moment the lock clicked open, the crew spilled back in with renewed urgency. The photographer strode ahead of them, pointing toward the rig without missing a beat.

“Swap the lens. Give me a 70 mm—this next sequence needs to feel tighter, more intimate.”

He barely looked at us as he walked past. “Dominic, you’re going to anchor from behind. Wrap her up like she belongs to you. Savannah, I want you in his space—chin tilted, eyes soft. Think surrender.”

A stylist touched up Savannah’s hairline. Someone else adjusted a panel, and I tucked in behind her just like he told me to. “I think we need to talk,” I whispered in her ear.

“Later,” she said, and I could tell it was through gritted teeth feigned as a smile, though I couldn’t see her face.

The photographer turned back to us. “You ready? Good. Hold her waist like you mean it. Savannah—touch his hands. Look in love.”

“And when is later?” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her ear.

“Christ,” she breathed, so I didn’t push her further.

I let the bossy publicity team order us around while I tried to keep a calm expression.

Vanessa appeared at my elbow just as the crew began packing up the lights. Her tablet was in one hand, and her mouth was already tight.

“They’re moving the vote up,” she said without greeting. “Hopefully less than a few months now. But if we get hit with another leak, Dominic, they’ll walk. They’ll kill the whole thing.”

I didn’t answer right away. My attention stayed locked on Savannah across the room.

She stood by the makeup station, dabbing her cheek while a stylist said something that made her laugh.

It was soft and unguarded, the kind of laugh I hadn’t heard from her in a long time.

The way she tilted her head back, the ease in her shoulders—it didn’t look like an act. That smile looked real.

It reminded me that the closer she let me get, the harder it would be to keep the personal stuff from bleeding into everything else. The merger, I might still survive. But this scheme—I wasn’t so sure I would.

Vanessa followed my gaze. “I need your head in this. No distractions.” She snapped her fingers in front of my face and I blinked a few times, realizing that Vanessa hadn’t yet caught on that things between Savannah and me were heating up, but her wheels were turning now.

“You have it,” I told her, and I pried my eyes off of Savannah, as hard as that was.

I slipped out while the crew barked gear lists and zipped camera bags.

One assistant knocked over a tripod and cursed under her breath.

Someone else called out for a lens cap. A clipboard smacked the edge of a table as they reset for another round.

None of it registered. My focus had already shifted.

I reached for the door, pausing mid-step when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

David: 3:12 PM: Don’t be late. We have things to settle.

I read the message twice as I felt the tension build at the base of my neck. I slipped the phone into my jacket pocket and stared at the floor as I replayed what he wrote while walking out to my car.

David didn’t offer pretense or pleasantries. He wanted a confrontation, and I would be walking into it, whether I was ready or not. I had two days left. And every part of me knew he wasn’t coming to talk.