Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow) (6 page)

Kelly felt all her blood drain from her head and her mind spun out of control. She fell to her knees and let the darkness consume her as the horror of his words took over her mind.

Chapter Four

Dominic showered and dressed as fast as he could. He needed to get to Adele before she left work for the day. He'd gone around on Wednesday night. He'd asked her out to celebrate her first day of work but she'd politely turned him down with a quiet smile. It was her quiet smile that gave him hope. She could feel their bond. She was just fighting it. So, now it was Friday night, the end of her shift. He knew she had the weekend off--Kit had been feeding him information. She would say yes. He wouldn't accept anything else. She was his mate; he knew she could feel the connection between them and if only she would stop fighting it they could get somewhere. He'd been waiting four long years for her and he really didn't want to wait any more. Tonight she would be tired, worn out and hopefully not in the mood to cook tea--or fight the attraction between them. He was sure of it. He bolted out of the locker room in a rush to the soundtrack of the rest of the crew laughing and cat calling. He figured his face must look like he felt: like a cat that ate the canary. Not that he cared. He was off to catch his mate.

~ * ~

Dominic stood silently by the door, watching his mate. She was so graceful; she glided around the office as she readied things to leave. He watched as she flopped exhausted into her chair with a sigh. She scrubbed her hands over her face. Damn, she looked totally worn out. He smiled. His plan would definitely work; no way did she feel like cooking dinner tonight. From the looks of things, she didn't look up to driving home, let alone function well enough to cook. She leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed. Dominic's instincts came roaring to life. The need to care for his mate had him knocking on the doorframe before he was aware he had moved.

Without her head moving, Adele's eyes opened slowly. As her eyes focused on his face her mouth twitched then grew into a full-blown smile that reached her eyes. He felt his heart swell; her beautiful brown eyes sparkled with happiness to see him. He felt like he was a mile high at the fact that his presence alone could make her instantly so happy.

"To what do I owe this pleasure Dominic?" she asked sweetly, her voice only giving away a hint of how tired she must be.

"Well, I thought I could take you out to dinner to celebrate your surviving your first week here. I know how by the end of the week, cooking just isn't high on anyone's list of priorities. What do you say? Want to join me for a bite to eat?" Dominic was surprised at how confident and strong his voice sounded as he did not feel either of those things. The way Adele's gaze softened made him think she'd read his fear that she would again reject him.

"I see that look in your eyes, Dominic. I'm not going to get out of it no matter what I say, am I?" Adele spoke softly with a little humor in her voice. He loved that even tired, she let her sense of humor shine through.

"Well, I wasn't planning on hog-tying you and dragging you along if you didn't want to come...but yeah, I really want to have dinner with you, get to know you better."

He followed that comment up with his lop sided grin, the one he knew melted her will to fight him.

"C'mon Dominic, I was just about to leave anyway, so lets go have some dinner."

He waited by the door for her to finish packing up, grab her bag and head toward him. He couldn't resist the temptation of placing his hand on her lower back to guide her out the building to the car park. He loved how his touch made her shiver slightly as she felt the connection between them. He could feel the sparks all the way up his arm.

~ * ~

Adele glanced over at Dominic as he guided her over to a small table in a quiet back corner. She suspected he'd planned this out, arranged this table to be left vacant. How sweet was that? On a Friday night most places would get too rowdy to be able to carry on a conversation. This out of the way table would stay fairly quiet she imagined. She sat in the chair that Dominic held out for her before tucking her bag under the table. She watched Dominic as he smoothly lowered his large frame into the seat opposite her. He caught her watching and gave her a cheeky grin and a wink. She quickly lowered her eyes to her hands resting on the table as she blushed at getting busted checking him out. Silently she repeated her mantra 'I do not need a man' over and over in her head. Maybe if she said it often enough she might believe it because it hadn't even been a full week and she was struggling to stay away from him. For some reason she just melted whenever he was near her. The effect his voice had on her was lethal. How strange she'd never felt like this around any other man before in her whole life.

Dominic rapped his knuckles quickly on the table, as if he'd known he'd lost her.

"Sorry, Dominic, I was a million miles away. Did you say something?"

"No, beautiful, I was just pulling you back to me and away from where ever your mind just went."

"Oh, yeah, when I'm tired I tend to vague out a bit, sorry. How about we grab some drinks?"

"I think since it's the end of the week and all, we should splash out. Would you like some wine, Adele?"

Adele looked up into his face as her mind finished the climb out of the hole it'd fallen in.

"The end of this week definitely deserves a splash out. But I have a confession; I've never really drunk wine before. Could you pick something for me? Only if you don't mind."

"I don't mind one bit Adele, be my pleasure to introduce you to one of the finer things in life."

Adele contemplated the look on Dominic's face. He looked like he was proud to be able to select her drink. He seemed so possessive around her; she would have thought she'd hate it. But she loved it, adored how she felt claimed when she was with him. She mentally shook her head at herself...she did not need a man and most certainly didn't need to be claimed by one.

While Dominic headed to the bar, Adele took her jacket off, slung it over the back of her chair and settled in. She closed her eyes for a moment to rest them...she was definitely going to sleep well tonight. She rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. She couldn't believe how much more draining full time work was compared to University had been.

"Are you okay, beautiful?" Dominic asked as he set her drink down in front of her. He ran his hand up her arm, over her shoulder and left it in a possessive grip on the back of her neck for a few moments before he dropped it away and moved over to his seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worn out is all. I only finished Uni last year, so this is my first full time job--I think it's going to take me a bit to get used to the hours."

"That it does, I remember it well. Try spending that week with your dad as your boss pushing you around while your little brother's under your feet trying to help." Dominic said with a grin. Adele watched his face loose all humor as she felt her eyes tear up.

"Oh hell, Adele. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. This is meant to be a celebration. Here, have a drink and I'll go order us some dinner. Daily special okay?"

All Adele could manage was a nod. Dominic headed up to the bar to order their meals, leaving her alone to allow her a moment to collect herself. He seemed so in tune with what she needed.

She blew out a breath. Damn, she hadn't expected to react that much. Now she felt like a fool. If every time she heard someone talk about family she freaked out, it was going to be hard to make friends. She took a few deep breaths, wiped away the stray tears and tried to calm herself down before Dominic returned. Deep breath...and more tears. Damn it. Maybe she should have said no to dinner, just gone straight home. She felt, rather than saw, Dominic come back. He pulled his chair around next to hers and placed his hand on her back then started stroking in lazy circles.

"I'm so sorry beautiful, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's alright Dominic, you couldn't have known. It's just my mother, she passed away four years ago. I've been on my own ever since. She was all the family I ever had; your talk of family just pricked a nerve. I'm sure if I wasn't so tired it wouldn't have affected me. I'm okay now, really. Can we please just talk about something else?"

~ * ~

Dominic was grateful Jenny picked that perfect moment to bring their meals out. Today's special was his favourite, beer battered butterfish with chips and salad. He couldn't help it. All cats love their fish. He was curious to whether Adele liked fish...he was curious about everything to do with Adele. Damn, Conner was right; he was acting like a love sick kitten.

"Oh, cool. Fish, my favourite." Adele chuckled. "I didn't even look at the specials board on the way in; I could have ended up with anything."

"You're pretty safe here. Generally the special is either battered fish or chicken schnitzels, sometimes soup in winter." Dominic said with a gentle smile. He was feeling better now he had her chuckling again; he loved the sound of her giggle. It sounded so carefree and relaxed. The fact she was drinking wine he'd selected and food he'd ordered for her made him want to purr in satisfaction.

They both proceeded to eat in comfortable silence until they were just picking over the last few chips on their plates.

"Well, that certainly feels better. I've never eaten as much as I have in this last week. At least with all the running around I'm doing I won't gain any weight." Adele said as she leaned back in her chair with her drink in hand.

"You would still be beautiful." Dominic said quietly. His mate was stunning, her classic hourglass shape with curves in all the right places. He didn't want her fussing about her weight. She didn't need to worry. She was perfection just as she was.

Adele's eyes flicked up to his. He could read her shock clearly in them. She'd heard his comment, apparently having difficulty believing it. He knew his eyes must be showing his emotions when a look of panic crossed her face. He needed to change the topic. Just pretend he didn't say anything about her being beautiful. He wasn't ready for the evening to be over just yet and she looked like she was going to bolt.

"Kit mentioned you're going to start keeping an eye out for your own place here in town. Does that mean you like it here and you're going to stay on?"

Dominic smiled innocently at Adele, waiting for her to register the change of topic to what was hopefully a safer one.

"Um, yeah, I am just going to keep an eye out in the local paper and check out the agents down Main Street. I won't be able to afford to move for at least another few weeks." Adele stuttered in response. "I love staying with Kit but I've always been independent and I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"I doubt you'd ever wear out your welcome, especially with Kit. But I certainly understand the need for some personal space. How do you like the job? I mean apart from the long hours, are you enjoying it?"

"I love my new job. I've always liked helping people. The work soothes me. I've been volunteering for years and it's great to finally be able to do it professionally."

"Yeah, fire fighting is a bit the same for me. I like being able to help people and I also love the thrill of the fire so fire fighting was the natural choice for me. As Dad's the captain, I knew when there were job vacancies so that helped make the choice even easier."

They chatted for a while longer about their jobs and the week they'd each had when Adele starting to yawn, her week catching up with her.

"I'm sorry Dominic but I really must head home. I'm about to fall asleep at the table." She exclaimed around another yawn.

"Ah well, we can't have that now can we? How about I drive you and your car back to Kit's? I don't live far from her place so I can walk home afterwards."

Adele meant to brush him off, meant to say "no thanks, I'll be right" but apparently her mouth didn't get that message and ran off on its own:

"That would be nice, thanks Dominic."

They both got up and put their jackets on and left the pub heading towards her Corolla. They drove to Kit's place in comfortable silence. Adele felt so relaxed. She was so tired that not having to worry about driving was a God-send. Dominic pulled her car into Kit's driveway and hopped out. He was around her side opening the door before she realized he'd moved--damn that man was fast. He held his hand out for hers and without a moments hesitation she slid her palm against his. He gently pulled her up out of the car, straight into his arms. He moved his hands so they rested on her waist, thumbs around the front, fingers splayed across her lower back. Again, his actions felt possessive, like he was claiming her. She could feel his heat searing through her clothes, sending shivers up and down her spine.

"I had a great night, Adele, thank you." His voice was low, deep and so damn sexy.

Adele raised her head to look into his eyes to voice a response but she didn't get the chance. Before she could get a sound out, his mouth descended upon hers.

Oh, wow. She'd never been kissed before, and even if she had she doubted it would have come close to Dominic's. She slowly put her hands on his chest, ran them up until she had her arms around his neck. He was so strong. His whole body was hard with muscle, except his lips. They were soft, so soft and gentle. His mouth was wooing her with seductive tenderness. He traced his tongue along the seam of her lips and she gasped as she felt it all the way down to her core. Her body came alive for the very first time. He took the invitation; he delved into her mouth, drugging her, pulling her further under his spell. When the need to breathe became more than they could ignore, they pulled apart both breathing heavily. Dominic rested his forehead against hers--his eyes were hooded and smoldering. For a moment, she wished she already had her own place so he could come inside with her.