Apparently Dom had gotten sick of her attitude though, because he came to her house that morning, tossed her over his shoulder in a firefighter’s hold, and strolled out of her house like he owned the place. According to him they were headed to his house. Not the Blackmoore estate, but his privately owned home outside of St. Louis. Felicity didn’t know anything about it; nothing had ever been mentioned about a private home in V-Society magazine, that’s for sure.

He didn’t try to draw her into conversation and she happily ignored him. Inside she boiled with rage. She wanted to scream, strike out at him, anything. How dare he steal her? What he did was against the law, but what could she do against Dominic Blackmoore? Nothing and he knew it. He had all the power and she had a mean set of design skills. The two didn’t really compare.

He looked tired, weary. Stubble covered his jaw and upper lip as if he hadn’t had a shave in a several days. Lines creased his forehead from strain and even his suit looked frumpy as if he wore the same one from yesterday. For Dom who always looked impeccable this was quite frumpy. She told herself she didn’t care. That he deserved it. And she hoped he looked terrible because he felt bad for being an asshole.

It took a lot for her to keep quiet, but she did it by biting her tongue. She had so many questions she wanted to ask: did they find Julianna? Why did she leave? Had he changed his mind about Felicity’s proposal? Did he forgive her for hitting him? Was he ready to apologize for what he said?

She felt terrible for slapping him.

She’d never hit anyone before. Especially not someone she cared about.

And that was the crux of the problem, which was why she trembled with anger right now, because she cared. If she didn’t care she could continue to hate him or be angry. Instead, she wanted to find out his problems and help him to work through it while also staying angry with him. She also wanted him to own up to his asshole remarks he left her with before storming out of her house.

God, she was a sap. A sap for Dominic Blackmoore. Life wasn’t fair.

Sighing, she turned to face him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

His head tipped to the side, probably hadn’t expected her to speak to him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She snorted at that. “It’s so obvious. What’s going on with you, really? You look like shit.”

He shook his head and went back to staring out at the night.

Felicity glared at his back. “Fine, don’t talk to me.” Under her breath she started muttering as she yanked her cell phone from her purse. “Bring me all the way out here and then you can’t even freaking talk to me. What’s that about? Trying to kill me via boredom. Well, thanks a lot for that ass.”

A low, masculine chuckle brought her head snapping around. She glared at his smile. “Do not laugh at me, Dominic Blackmoore. I am in no mood.”

He sighed; once again looking tired, then he leaned over, curled his arm around her waist, and pulled her into his lap.

 He didn’t kiss her or say any of his sexually laced growls. He just tucked her head under his chin and held her as if it brought him comfort. She let him, because...she was weak for his touch, and because it brought her comfort too.

God, she was so screwed.

A few hours later they arrived at a modern and very masculine looking house. Felicity didn’t know quite how to describe it because she’d never seen a house like this one. It looked custom designed and built just for him.

The house was long like a ranch and had two floors. Long, tall panels of wood more than two feet wide lined the house. The front door looked like a sliding glass door. No fancy heavy doors like at the mansion for Dom. There were many windows in the front. The windows were consecutive, not spaced apart so you could stand inside and look out into the beautiful fields and forest around them.

They hadn’t passed another house or gas station in many miles. Felicity found this curious and at odds with what she’d seen at Blackmoore manor. This house must be what he really preferred. Something unique and modern, but not excessive in the least. Of course she hadn’t seen the inside yet, but this house looked like it maybe had four bedrooms, not a dozen or more.

Dom came around to her side of the SUV and opened the door. He must have caught her impressed expression because he smiled down at her.

“You like it?”

“Yeah.” She wished she could say no just to irritate him but it’d be a lie.

A satisfied look came into his eyes. He led her into the house. “Good. I’ll show you around.”

Inside, her first reaction was warmth. This place had positive, warm energy. It didn’t have the ancient, museum impression that Blackmoore manor did. Felicity didn’t feel like she couldn’t touch anything lest she break it and be sent to debtor’s prison for insufficient funds.

Not that Dom hadn’t spared any expense. The floors were real hard wood, polished, and a beautiful dark color that matched the outside of the house. First thing in the house, she noticed an L-shaped staircase that went to the upper floor. Dom pulled her left and she stepped down into a large living room. At least he used it as a living room. A dining area could easily have been set up in one half to create two separate rooms, but Dom had made it one very large space.

Everything centered around a massive fireplace. Logs of pre-cut wood sat next to the hearth and burnt logs still rested in the chamber. They didn’t use the fireplaces at the mansion, but Dom must like his fires. The furniture wasn’t all leather here either, but large sofas with wooden frames and navy blue cushions. It all looked rustic.

“You like it?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s very you.” Surprisingly.

The strain still pinched around his eyes but it had lessened. It must feel good to be home, Felicity thought.

“Come on, you haven’t seen the best part.”

Little butterflies scurried around in her belly as he led her up the staircase. Bedrooms were always on the second floor, after all.

He tugged her right at the juncture of the hall and panic hit her. She could not be in a bedroom with Dominic. Bad things would happen.

She pulled back on her hand. “Hey, wait.”

He gave her a look that told her to behave, and tugged her into the room at the end of the hall.

Her breath left her on a whoosh. It was not a bedroom.

Thank god.

The room was a sun porch type thing. She didn’t know what you called it. Windows surrounded all three sides of the walls, and the room faced a spacious valley with rolling hills and trees. A little lake sat out in the distance with a small dock on it. Plants and flowers sat in pretty vases around the room and some hung from the wall.

Felicity frowned at him. “Is this a sun room?”

He nodded, a small smile on his lips. “You don’t have to look so confused, sweets.”

“But—”

“You want to know why a vampire has a sun room?”

She nodded slowly. “That pretty much sums it up.”

He put his arm around her shoulder, tucking her into the heat of his body. God it felt good...almost like they were a couple.

You’re just the decorator, Felicity. Don’t forget yourself.

“You ever heard of Philips Clarkson?”

Felicity struggled to put a face to the name. “It sounds familiar.”

“He’s a vampire on the council. He invents things. The man’s a crafting genius. He created a special kind of tinting that lets us see out into the daylight, but protects us from the UV rays.”

“I wondered why you had so many windows. You have the same windows at the mansion. That explains how you’re still living.”

His arm moved, curling her body front to front into his. Her breath caught as her face tilted up to look at his. “Felicity...”

He looked like he was drowning, like he was about to dip down and kiss her, and make her forget all the reasons she was angry at him. She couldn’t have that.