Page 25 of Laced With Secrets
I heard him moving things in the storage area, the scrape of wood against wood. A moment later he emerged carrying my tall ladder, maneuvering it through the curtain with ease.
“Where do you want it?” he asked.
I pointed to the spot beneath the highest hook. “Right there.”
Dominic positioned the ladder exactly where I indicated, making sure the feet were stable on the hardwood floor. He tested it with a firm shake, nodded with satisfaction, then turned away to retrieve the garland swag from where I’d laid it across the counter.
The ladder was right there. Perfectly positioned. Ready.
I climbed the first rung. Then the second. Then the third.
“Okay,” I called down cheerfully as I reached a comfortable height. “Now hand me the garland.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
I looked down to find Dominic frozen in place, the garland swag clutched in his hands, his expression cycling rapidly through disbelief, shock, and dawning horror.
“What are you doing?” His voice came out strangled.
“Hanging the garland?” I offered innocently. “You set up the ladder for me.”
“I set up the ladder for ME.” His scent spiked sharply—protective aggression flooding the shop so intensely I could taste it. “Get. Down. NOW.”
The alpha command in his tone vibrated through my bones, and made my omega instincts war between submission and defiance. “I’m only four rungs up?—”
“You’re four rungs too high while carrying our baby.” He dropped the garland and closed the distance to the ladder in two strides. His hands locked onto my hips like steel bands. “Get down, or I’m pulling you down.”
“You’re being ridiculous?—”
“Ridiculous?” His voice cracked on the word. “You’re three months pregnant and you climbed a twelve-foot ladder the second my back was turned?—”
“Your back wasn’t turned, you were right there?—”
“—and you think I’m being RIDICULOUS?” His fingers tightened possessively on my hips. “I swear to god, if you don’t climb down right now?—”
“What?” I challenged, even though I could feel the genuine fear rolling off him in waves. My heart squeezed inside my chest as butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “What are you going to do?”
His answer was to simply lift me off the ladder entirely. One moment I was standing on the fourth rung, the next my feet were in the air as he pulled me down and against his chest with zero regard for my protests.
“Dom! I was perfectly safe?—”
“No.” He held me pinned against him, my feet dangling, his face buried in my neck as he breathed harshly. “No, you weren’t. You’re never climbing anything again. Not ladders, not step stools, not counters, not anything higher than the ground floor.”
“That’s completely unreasonable?—”
“I don’t care.” His voice was rough, shaking. “I can’t— Leo, I can’t watch you take risks like that. Do you understand? The thought of you falling, of our baby—” He broke off, his grip tightening. “I can’t.”
The raw emotion in his words cut through my defiance.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered against his shoulder. “I didn’t think?—”
“You didn’t think because you’re nesting and your brain is focused on making everything perfect.” He finally set me down but kept his hands on my waist, keeping me close. “Which I understand. Which I love watching. But—” His forehead pressed against mine. “You have to let me do the dangerous parts. Please.”
“Climbing a ladder isn’t dangerous?—”
“It is when you’re pregnant.” His thumbs rubbed circles on my hip bones, soothing now rather than restraining. His fingers swept across my forehead, nudging a wayward strand of hair. “I need to win this one, baby. Iwillwin this one.”
My breath caught at the intensity in his voice.