Dominic's POV

"Dominic, this is a helicopter pad." She looks at me in confusion.

"I understand that." I state.

"What are we doing here?" She asks.

Shit, is she always this naive?

"Going for a helicopter ride around the city." I answer.

"Oh my God! You're serious?" She's grinning to her fullest.

I smirk. "I am."

Once we get inside the helicopter and it takes off, Inaya suddenly grabs onto my arm, tightly squeezing it.

She slowly softens her grip and looks out. Her eyes are filled with wonder and amusement. Her smile pulled at my chest, filled it with a foreign feeling.

I couldn't look away, her lustrous orbs have me on a dead lock. It was almost as if I couldn't breathe but in addictive, intoxicating way.

Oh, fucking hell, this can't be good.

• • •

Inaya's POV

This is absolutely insane. I can't believe I'm on a tour of my city on a helicopter.

I'm sort of afraid of heights or more like falling off of heights and I hadn't realized I had a death grip on Dominic's arm.

We can't see the pilot because of the privacy black screen separating the passengers from the cockpit.

I look up into the sky as I see the glowing stars against the darkness of the background, making them shine brighter. I look down to see the busy city, bustling away as I watch from a far away distance.

This is somehow very calming. The quietly watching the variety of coloured lights twinkle away in the dark.

"This is beautiful..." I say. I couldn't look away from the window.

Dominic tugs me closer to him and places a finger under my chin to make me turn towards him.

His eyes are soft again. The rare kind of softness where the usual, thick darkness that lingers clears up for a bit.

There's a hint of something in his eyes... compassion?

He licks his own lips, making my heart beat so hard that I thought it would pop out of my chest.

"Are you enjoying this, amore mìo?" He asks gently.

Yes, a lot better than the other time.

Instead of saying anything out loud, I nod.

He hovers over my lips and whispers, "How the fuck do you drive me so fucking insane?"

I gulp.

"All I want to do is taste your sweet honey." He smirks, then proceeds to kiss me.

But this time it wasn't harsh. It was careful, gentle and almost loving.

I'm melting at his touch and there wasn't a single thing I could do to stop it.

My right hand automatically places itself on his cheek and I do the unimaginable—I kissed back.

I can tell it caught him by surprise because he stopped, just for a second, only to deepen his kiss after.

My whole world stopped spinning, I was so high on this feeling that I don't even remember where I am.

His hands snake over my body, resting on my hips. His tongue is at the edge, asking to be let in but I wasn't comfortable.

His lips go from moving gently to becoming rougher, more demanding.

A small moan escapes my lips, making him stop.

"I want to fuck you so fucking bad. I could take you right here, right now." He whispers right against my lips.

My eyes widen, "I... don't..."

It's almost as he forces himself away from me. "Whatever..."

He slides over to the window and rests his chin on his hand.

I'm sure it took a lot of control to not do to me what he can freely do to other willing women.

Why do I think like this? Why do I reward him for thinking like what decent man is supposed to think like?

But I can't help it. He doesn't seem like he was raised in a decent environment. This reminds me... I wonder something at night: what about his parents?

I heard mentions of his father but nothing more.

For his mother, I hear nothing. Not one word. Just the little bit I know from Nicholas. But it doesn't seem like he likes speaking about either too.

Curiosity sparks in me again.

This is dangerous waters I shouldn't be swimming in. But, if I think about it, am I not already swimming in the vicious ocean by just stepping into his world?

We sit in silence, however, I try to enjoy the rest of the ride because who knows if I'll get a chance to leave the house again after this.

I stare at one of his hands on his lap and other one resting on the arm of the seat; he's resting his chin on that hand.

I rest my hand on top of the back of his hand and he whips his head in my direction so quick that I almost forget my train of thought.

"Thank you for tonight. I haven't had such a wonderful day in a very long time. I genuinely appreciate the fact that you took time out to show me how beautiful our city is." I smile, my heart thudding in my chest; my vocal cords shaking uncontrollably.

I've never been so forward about anything like this before. Especially, not to a man. But there's a little bit of selfishness attached to it. I'm hoping this softens him to me, maybe get me closer to freedom.

He tilts his hand to have mine slip off as I frown.

But he does this only to grab it again and lace his fingers with mine. He leans in to give me a soft, lingering kiss on my cheek.

At that very moment, that small gesture had me explode into a million giddy pieces.

For the rest of the helicopter ride, he doesn't say another by but he also doesn't let go of my hand. It's as if he finds some temporary comfort in it. It's a gentle yet protective hold; the one where it feels like if you let go, they'll instantly slip away.

I don't let go either. I know I should. This isn't right. It's wrong under so many circumstances but I'm sure I'm way past the right versus wrong ethics.

Besides, even I find some kind of comfort in this. This is so odd, something in my wishes we could stay like this for longer than just tonight. Something about tonight changed my heart towards him.

And you know what's scary about these sudden feelings? I'm not sure if these will build me up or destroy me to the ground.

I'm afraid yet so electrified.

I grew up in an family where I didn't receive much parental love but I always had Caterina and Mehar who tried their best to fill in the gap. But who did Dominic have? There's Nicholas but it seems like he doesn't even let Nicholas in.

Maybe this is the first time he felt something. Maybe I can push this feeling a bit further until he won't push anyone out of his life anymore. Maybe he'll start embracing the support he gets from others. And maybe, just maybe embrace me into it too.

- - -

A/N: I know I dipped but here I am. 👀

I wrote this chapter, then I hated it so I deleted it and then rewrote it to something better. Thank you for being patient with my indecisive butt. 😂

Next Update: Thursday, November 21, 2019, Insha'Allah!