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being to maintain control. Intellectually, he challenged her in a way that kept her on her toes. Physically, he made her feel things that no one else in her life had ever made her feel. Emotionally, he made her want things that she had never allowed herself the luxury of wanting - or even entertaining the possibility of having, for that matter.
    It was scary as hell, Cristal didn't mind admitting it, and that was the main reason she tried to avoid him. She didn’t want to have to face the possibility that someone may have any sort of power over her, especially a power that she couldn't seem to control no matter how hard she fought.
    Because of that, she spent most of the time that she was around him trying to consciously act how she would with anyone else and treat him exactly as she would anyone else. But the problem was...he wasn’t anyone else, and she was finding it more and more difficult to not seem almost bi-polar with the erratic nature of her mood swings whenever they spoke.
    God dammit! He affected her. She might as well just accept it.
    Avoidance hadn't always been her coping mechanism of choice. In fact, once upon a time, she had had a fun little theory that once they had slept together, that would be it - he would be out of her system. The mystical spell he had somehow managed to cast over her would be broken.
    It wasn't as if she was a virgin, by any means. Cristal had plenty of experience with the opposite sex, and it had led her to believe that, even if you were insanely attracted to someone, once the deed had been done - well, the itch had been scratched. You could move on.
    Yeah. Not the case with Dominic.
    Her experience had also taught her that these encounters were never as good as you had built them up to be in your mind beforehand. Even the hottest couplings usually had some elements of awkwardness. They usually left something to be desired.
    Again. Not the case with Dominic. In fact, it had been quite the opposite. After their night together, she had wanted more. And more and more and more. He had been the starring act in many steamy, hot dreams...which had, in turn, led to many a restless and/or sleepless night since then!
    So, she did the only thing that she could think of to do to protect her inner self, that part of her that no one else would ever touch. She went into 'damage control' mode, and she had been there ever since.
    She tried as hard as she could not to think about that night. At all. That night – oh, God. The one night that she had given into him, had let herself go, had allowed herself to really feel .
    Not that she really had much choice in the matter. Once his mouth had touched hers, it was like an avalanche of sensations had swept over her, overwhelming her completely. But, now it seemed that pushing down those memories w as making them even more epic, and even more frightening, than they were to begin with.
    She had no idea what in the world Dominic wanted to talk to her about, but she did have a renewed sense of self-awareness, and with it, self-confidence. She made a decision then. She was no longer going to pussyfoot around him. She was going to handle this situation as an adult.
    She stepped out of the shower and toweled off, then pulled on her cutoff sweats and a tank-top. Her hair was still wet from the shower, but he was just gonna have to deal with it! She wasn’t about to spend fifteen minutes drying it into submission.
    Normally she never let anyone see her without her make-up on and her hair done, and certainly not without wearing presentable attire. But, hell. Since she and Dominic were being forced to live together like 'husband and wife' - he was just going to have to take her as she was. For better or worse.
     
    --- ~ ---
     
    As Cristal crossed in front of the television to take a seat opposite him on the L-shaped sectional, Dominic was struck momentarily speechless.
    This particular phenomenon was certainly not a normal occurrence in Dominic’s world. He was