by S Gonzalez
“Be creative.”
Creative, huh. What could I possibly do to-I got it. I don’t think it is exactly what he was talking about but he said be creative. I give him a quick peck on the lips and hop off the bed.
“Where are you going? Come back,” he whines.
“Being creative, now hush.”
I turn the dimmer up slightly so there is more light in the room. Not too much, because if I can read the expression on his face I may die of humiliation during my performance. I grab Dominic’s shirt from the floor and slip it over my head. Doing this naked isn’t going to help the humiliation factor either.
Next stop is my iPod. After I am done flipping through my library I grab the remote to the sound system and click on the song that I have expertly selected. When, I Would Do Anything for Love by Meat Loaf, starts to pour out of my speakers Dominic laughs hysterically and sits up straighter in the bed. As I get closer he leans against the headboard to enjoy the show with a very enthusiastic smile on his face.
Without consideration that it is only 3:27 A.M. I belt out every word to one of my favorite songs. A song that exemplifies what it means to love someone so deeply you would protect them even though it causes you pain. A song about love, and finding that one person who is selfless enough to save you from the outside world. A song that portrays my deepest feelings for the man in my bed.
When the lyrics speak of dreaming about him for the rest of my life his face falls; he realizes the
significance of this song…for us. Us being apart, us being together, us falling in love, and us fighting for each other, the things we will have to do be together. This song is the epitome of our existence together. As long as we have each other, we have it all. Others be damned.
As it comes to the final verse Dominic sits up on his knees and sings the male part as I continue to sing the female part. I get emotional when it talks about everything my father said would happen. Him tiring of me and leaving me for another woman, him cheating on me, and just simply not wanting me for me. If those things were to ever come true I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I keep saying I love him, but love is too common a word. I more than love him. I breathe him. I live him. I feel him in my veins pumping through my body like a live wire.
Dominic grabs my face and looks deep in my eyes as he continues to sing with me, promising he would never hurt me. Tears stream down my face and fall onto his hands. I didn’t know singing this song would be so emotional for me. For us. Dominic wipes my tears away and pulls me against him. His strong arms hold me as I cry on his shoulder.
“Are you two done now? Some of us are trying to sleep,” Wanda yells down the hall in the direction of my bedroom.
“Sorry!” Dominic yells through a laugh causing me to giggle through my tears.
“Yeah, well, you are lucky I like you. I have to be up in two hours. Between the sex screams and the singing, who the hell can sleep,” she says right outside my door.
“I’ll keep her quiet, Wanda.”
“Her? I was talking about you. Your singing is good, but you sound like a grizzly bear when you fuck,” she adds.
Still laughing he replies, “Thanks, roomie. We will fuck quietly from now on.”
“Oh God, goodnight.” Wanda stomps down the hall and shuts her door-or rather slams it.
I look up at Dominic shyly, embarrassed that I just broke down crying when I was trying to be funny. He brushes the hair away from my face and cups his hands under my chin, forcing me to look at him in the eye.
“Wanna’ talk about what just happened?” he questions, looking seriously concerned about my emotional state.
I shrug my shoulders in response and try to turn my head away but Dominic won’t let me.
“Talk to me, Emma. Don’t shut me out.
Jesus, how do I even start this conversation? Tell him I am emotionally damaged? He knows that much already. Tell him I am a mess since my father won’t speak to me? Tell him I am afraid everything my father says will come true? Tell him I hate him being away?
Nope. Those are my issues not his; my demons to deal with. I knew going into this, our relationship would not be conventional and the distance would be hard.
“I just missed you, is all. I am happy you’re home,” I lie. Not a real lie, just one that will end this conversation for tonight. My issues are my issues. I have always muddled through them on my own. I will get past this, too. I won’t put my insecurities on him. He has done nothing to make me think he wouldn’t keep his promises to be faithful to me.
“You sure? You know you can talk to me, Sweetness. You don’t’ have to deal with stuff on your own anymore. I’m here, if you need me. I’ll always be right here for you.”
Dominic searched my face to see if I was telling him the truth. I assure him I’m fine. I don’t think he believes me but he doesn’t argue. Instead he pulls his shirt off my body and lays me down on the bed before wrapping his body around mine like a protective shell. Somehow he knows that him being close to me was exactly what I needed from him.
The next morning I stretch my arms out the right side of my bed where Dominic should be sleeping, only to find it empty. If it weren’t for a deliciously sore part of my anatomy, I would think it was all a dream. I hear the shower and quiet singing coming from the bathroom. While making a failed attempt to leap out of bed, I get caught up in the twisted sheets and fall on the floor causing a loud “thump”.
The shower turns off abruptly. “Emma?” So much for the element of surprise.
“Yeah, just tripped,” I groan trying to pick myself off the floor.
“Ya’ okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Great. Now bring that sexy ass in the shower with me.”
With pleasure.
By the time I get to the bathroom my shirt is off, ready to take the first of many morning showers with my fiancé. I still can’t believe this is all real. If anyone had told me a year ago I would reunite with Dominic Ross and become his wife I would have said they were crazy. But here we are. Engaged to be married, with no secrets or crazy family to keep us apart.
Stepping under the warm stream of water, Dominic wraps his arms around my torso from behind like he is caging me from the world. His one arm is draped across my chest and the other is diagonal across my middle with his hand on my thigh. The water droplets from his hair are riveting down my chest, off the tips of my nipples and onto the shower floor. I put both my hands on his forearm around my chest and lean back into him, enjoying the feeling of having him here with me.
“My mother text me early this morning. She was sort of pissed I didn’t go home with Roc and Chris. I told her I wanted to see you and promised we would come first thing in the morning. She has an afternoon shift at the hospital but she wants to see me, and meet you before she goes to work,” he tells me in between kisses on my neck.
“Sounds good. I can’t wait to meet your parents.”
“Cool. I had my dad pick up my car from the Paul’s garage a few weeks ago and he is getting antsy about getting it out of the driveway. I can drive it back today.”
“Why did you,” I start to say as I turn around, but his face tells me all I need to know. “nevermind.”
“I didn’t want to see him, Emma. I don’t know how I feel about the shit he did to you, but I know if I see him I won’t be able to control myself,” he muttered through gritted teeth. His body no longer relaxed, instead rigid and tense.
“I understand,” I say as I kiss his lips.
Pulling us both under the stream of hot water Dominic kisses me as if he didn’t devour me at that moment he would go crazy. His hands are everywhere, as if he were trying to wipe away my past and replace Glens touch with his own. Reaching behind him he turned off the water and carried me to the bedroom, sliding on the wet tile floor in the bathroom and nearly dropping me along the way.
He needs me. At this moment he needs me as much as I need him. He needs to know I am okay. That despite Glens torture, I
am able to let him love me. I need to reassure him that I am strong. I am able to handle this even though he might not be ready yet. Dominic lays me on the bed and kisses me everywhere.
He takes his time kissing every inch of my wet, naked form. Savoring the feeling of his hands on me, I moaned in response to his touch. It is as if he is memorizing every inch of my body to keep it locked up somewhere in his mind. I feel a warm bead of water hit my stomach and trickle down my side onto the bed. Glancing down, I see the lines in Dominick’s forehead wrinkled up and I feel another drop slide across my torso.
“Dom, come here,” I say as I pull on his shoulders.
When his lips meet mine I feel them tremble and I can taste the saltiness of his tears. His arms wrap around me, pulling me closer. It is like he is trying to crawl inside my body and take away all the scars and pain that Glen caused. This man, this man who will soon be my husband, is trying to heal me with his touch. What he doesn’t realize is, the moment he told me he loved me, he healed me. He made all the ugly inside of me disappear. Not because of the words itself, but because I believe him when he says them. Because he not only says that he loves me, but shows me that he does, ever time he touches me. And I am not just talking about the sex. No. It is the gentle touches and gestures he makes. The way he holds my hand or plays with my hair before I fall asleep. The small things he does every day shows me how a man should treat a woman. Not as an object to be played wiht, but as the object of their affection.
For so long I thought the world could see my inner scars on the outside, so I hid from them. I pretended to be a strong, happy, confident woman; but on the inside I was a scared, lonely, sad child. The world failed to protect me. My family failed to protect me. But this man. This man I have knows collectively less than a year of my life is trying to protect me so fiercely, it is emotionally painful for him to think of any harm coming to me.
Tears well up in my eyes and my legs fall open, allowing Dominic access to my body. Between the tears and pain we slowly become one. We find a rhythm that is our own as our tears dry up and our eyes lock on one another. It is as if we can see each other’s souls. And in that moment, I find peace.
“I love you, Sweetness. You are the most precious thing in the world to me,” he whispers between thrusts of his hips. His body trembling as he hovers above me.
“I love you, too. So much more than I can ever explain in words.”
Dominick’s body begins to pick up speed. His eyes and his lips are on me at all times.
“Marry me. Tomorrow. Lets just go and get married. I need you to be my wife,” Dominic huffs, driving himself into me harder and harder.
“Ahhh…what? What…we can’t,” I respond in a fog of pre-orgasmic bliss.
“Yes. Yes. I. Need. You.”
“Ohhhh,” I moan as I explode hard and fast around him. Flashes of light from and momentarily darkness haze my thoughts as all the blood in my body rushes into my ears. “Fuck! Dominic. God, oh god.”
“Marry me, Emma,” he growls with one final thrust, emptying himself into me. The weight of his body presses me into the mattress and I can feel his teeth clamping down on my shoulder as he grinds out the last of his own sex concoction.
With shaky limbs I wrap my legs around his waist to keep him in place. I don’t want him to pull out just yet. I want to relish in the moment. I want to feel our hearts beat as one and hold onto him as long as possible. This man who could erase my past with a single touch, who needs me just as much as I need him, is going to me my husband.
Tomorrow!
“Yes,” I breathe into his ear.
“Yes?” Dominic looks back at me confused. “Yes? Yes! You will? Tomorrow?”
“Yes.” That is all it took. A simple three letter word to make all his insecurities and worries disappear right before my eyes.
Dominic rolls onto his back taking me with him. His grip on me is tight. Too, tight.
“Babe, I can’t breath.”
“Sorry,” he chuckled, releasing me. “I got carried away.”
“I see that. But if you forgot, you already proposed.”
“I know. I just needed to…be sure you still wanted to marry me,” he said meekly. I roll off him. I will never understand how he can be so confident and sure of himself to the world but with me he walks on eggshells and treats me like I am fickle.
“Dominic Ross why would you think I wouldn’t still want to marry you? Have I done something to make you feel that way?”
“You. No, not really. It’s just…I know the separation was hard. It is going to get harder once I go on tour for real, in January. You had six weeks to think if this is the life you want or not. I love you, Emma. But after last night, I think you have more issues with me leaving then you are letting on. You need to trust me while I am gone, I got the feeling you don’t.”
I wrap the bed sheet around me to have this conversation with a little more modesty. I don’t know why I broke down last night. Perhaps it is the falling out with my father or his words stinging just a little more than I care to admit. My own fears about if I can handle this lifestyle weighs heavily on my mind, but these are my issues. Mine and mine alone. I will not let my father or anyone else dictate my life.
To hell with everyone else. The alternative to not being able to get past this, is living without Dominic. That is certainly not an option. I can do this. I want to do this. I am a big girl and I can get through anything. I have never needed anyone to help me work things out before and I don’t need anyone to help me know.
Grabbing his face with my palms on his cheeks I look into his emerald green eyes and see an insecure boy, not a man. A very scared boy that would fall apart if I told him, I couldn’t do this. But I can. I can be strong. As long as we have each other, we can get through it.
“Dom, I love you. I want to marry you.
Tomorrow. Anything else is just stuff we can deal with as it comes. I want to be your wife.” His face cracks a grin and it looks like a thousand pound weight has been lifted off his shoulders. “Besides, if you think I am letting you go, knowing you can fuck like that, you obviously don’t know me at all.”
With a low rumble passing his lips, he tackles me back onto the bed, causing the sheet to fall open. He tickles me relentlessly until I am about to pass out from laughing. Yes, I can do this. If this is the reward I get for us being apart, I can do this. For both of us.
Chapter 17
“What are you doing?” Dominic asks me from the driver seat of my Mercedes. “Reading,” I simply tell him, not looking up from my phone.
“Reading what? You have blushed twice and haven’t taken your eyes off the screen of your phone since we hit the turnpike.”
“FanFiction.”
“What is FanFiction?”
I ignore him for a second, finishing the paragraph I was reading, before turning to look over at him. “It’s when someone rewrites a part of a book to their own liking. See, without a fiancé to keep me busy at night I have a renewed love of romance novels. One of the girls at the office turned me on to it.”
“Romance novels. Like porn?” His face lights up with a devilish grin.
“NO! Not like porn. Like a love story, with lots of hot sex,” I explain trying desperately not to blush but failing miserably.
“So, porn without pictures.”
“No, Dominic…like love stories. People in love have sex, yes. It is part of their story, just like anyone else’s.”
“So is a Dear Penthouse letter, and that’s porn.” I stick my tongue out at him before returning my attention to the, billionaire smack down, happening on the internet app of my phone. I finish the latest chapter and tuck my phone in my purse. I can see Dominic’s eyes are on the road but he is not there. He is far away, deep in thought.
“You okay?” I ask him, squeezing his thigh to get his attention. He flashes me a half smile and nods. I can see he is nervous about going home. He told me many times that his relationship with his father is strained beca
use of his career choice. Surely now that he has made it big his father will be more understanding.
“So, anything I need to know before I enter the lions den?” I quip, needing to bring him out of his own head.
“The lions den, huh. You nervous about meeting my parents?”
“Not really. I just don’t know what to expect. I have never met anyone’s parents before. Any tips you would like to share,” I quirk a brow, needing to know what I am in for. I know his mother is a firecracker, but from what Dom and the boys tell me, his father is a tough nut to crack. Opposites attract I guess.
Flashing a reassuring wink Dominic places his hand over mine on his lap. “Just be yourself. Besides, they know all about you. Between my stories and the guys stories, my parents are fully aware what to expect when your sexy ass walks in there today.”
“Yeah? So what can I expect from them. I mean, you told me your mother is the nicest person on the planet and your father is critical of…well, everything, but what are they like for real.”
“Sweetness, you are about to meet the two most honest people on the planet. Just in different degrees. My mother is brutally honest and has no shame it telling it like it is. My father, he is a bit more reserved but just as critical. He will tell you what he thinks if you ask him, so don’t ask questions you don’t want real answers to. They are great people. They will love you, no worries. They always wanted a daughter,” Dominic snorts before laughing quietly to himself.
“Why is that funny?”
“Its nothing”
“Tell me.” I shake his leg to urge him to tell me his secret.
“Well, since you are part of this family now I guess it is safe to share a family story with you.”
Turning in my seat to face him I release his hand and turn down the radio. “Share please.”