My throat tightens and my eyes fill with tears. I slip back into my bedroom and press my back to the wall, sinking down and crying. I’m crying not just because I can see how perfect Damian is going to be with Dean, but because I played a huge part in keeping him away from Dean until now. Even if I thought I had good reasons to leave, and even if I had no way of knowing I was pregnant when I left, I knew Damian had to be the father when I found out I was pregnant. Trusting what Faleena told me about him was a mistake I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life, and I only hope I’ve been a good enough mom to Dean on my own to make up for the gaping absence of a father.
But it’s going to change now. It’s all going to change. Whether I made a mistake in the past or not, Damian really meant everything he said. He wants to be with me. He wants to be part of Dean’s life. He wants to take care of us.
I feel so much relief and joy from that knowledge it almost scares me. No matter how much I may feel like I know Damian, the fact remains that I’ve spent less than a week with him in total. A few hours at the airport three years ago. A little bit of time at the party I went to with Alec and Melina. A few minutes in the office. Our dinner date. Then last night at the club. And now this… Just snapshots. I have nothing more than snapshots of this man, yet I feel like I know him. I feel like I can trust him.
Maybe that’s crazy. I just hope like hell it’s not, because I don’t think I can stop feeling the way I do.
“He’s the father, isn’t he?” asks Melina, who slips into my room and closes the door quietly behind her.
I wipe my eyes and sniffle. “Yes.” Admitting it feels better than it should, like I just dropped a weight I’d been carrying for so long I stopped noticing, only now that it’s gone I feel the relief surging through me. “Yes,” I say again. “It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you later. I promise. But yes.”
Melina kneels beside me and gives me a long, tight hug. “Good,” she says. “And whatever it is you seem to think you did wrong,” she adds, wiping another tear from my eye. “I’m going to need you to stop blaming yourself. I know you. I know you’d only ever do what you thought was best for Dean. So whatever it is that got you here, don’t play ‘what if.’ Just accept it. You made those decisions and now you’re here for a reason.”
“How do you manage to give relevant advice when you have no idea what’s going on?” I ask.
“I’ve always been pretty awesome.”
I laugh. I take a deep breath, wiping my eyes. “Do I look okay?”
“You look like you were just crying, but it’s okay. I told him you get really bad allergies sometimes and I was going to come make sure you had your medicine.”
“Great, now he’s going to be wondering why I am miraculously cured of allergies after today.”
“One problem at a time, chicka.”
I roll my eyes. “Unless you’re here. Then it’s like twelve problems per minute.”
“Ungrateful little…” she mutters with a grin. “Why don’t you go out there and let the man sweep you off your feet before I decide to pop you right in the kisser.”
I scrunch up my nose. “Pop me right in the kisser? What are you, some gangster from the 80s?”
“No. I’m your best friend who loves you and wants to see you happy for once. Really happy. And I’m also the friend who is going to pop your right in the kisser if you leave that gorgeous man waiting any longer.”
I smile and give her a quick hug before heading back into the living room.
“Everything okay?” he asks, moving to take me by the shoulders and inspect me, like he’s expecting to see a wound somewhere. His eyes linger for a long time on mine, which are likely a little red and swollen from the brief crying jag that I had. “Melina said you had allergies, but I never noticed any symptoms before. So I was worried.”
A few days ago, I would’ve lied and told him it was fine. I would’ve just played it off and taken the easy out Melina gave me. But if I felt like I had a right to make Damian jump through hoops to prove I could trust him, I also can’t let myself start lying to him. “Seeing you two together was really special,” I say. “That’s all. I didn’t expect it to hit me so hard but it did.”
He kisses my forehead, which prompts Dean to start making kissing noises as he hugs my leg. I know Angie and Melina are watching us and I feel all kinds of awkward having a moment like this in front of them, but somehow I can’t make myself care. Maybe it’s a new me. A version of myself that isn’t always trying to hide my emotions and just shrug things off. A me that doesn’t let worries about what people will think get in the way of really living. Whatever it is, I like it, because I know exactly what the old me would’ve done. She would’ve cleared her throat uncomfortably and excused herself from the situation.
Now?
I thread my fingers through Damian’s hair and pull him down so I can kiss his lips. “I love you,” I say. “I don’t care anymore if that’s crazy. I feel like I know you better than anyone I’ve ever known in my life, and I love you.”
My chest thumps with the rapid beats of my heart, breasts rising and falling as I suck in expectant breaths. Did I really just drop the “L” bomb after what was basically just one real date? He’s going to think I’m crazy. One-hundred percent, absolutely cra--
“I love you too,” he says.
Each word spikes through me like something visceral, so thick and rich with happiness I can actually feel the emotion blossoming through my body and leaving warmth in its wake. Damian has made it no secret that he cares about me and wants me to be his since he came back. He’s possessive and determined as hell. I knew all that. But love? Love is a completely different idea, and until I blundered and blurted my way to professing my premature love for him, I was pretty sure he was more of a lust kind of guy than a love kind of guy.
“Yay!” says Melina. She claps a few quick times before realizing it’s not exactly the moment for it. “I actually have to pee,” she says quietly before excusing herself.
Angie just winks at me and turns back to the dishes. Dean has absolutely no idea what’s going on, but he is tugging at Damian’s leg, wanting to be held.
“So,” I say. “About that date…”
12
Damian
“Ice skating?” Kylie asks. “Why is this place so deserted?
“I pulled a few strings. I figure Dean is probably too young to really nail the skating part, so…” I nod my head at the kid I spoke to over the phone, who comes out from the concession stand with a big black garbage bag over his shoulder. He lays it at our feet. “Just like you asked, sir.”
“Great,” I say, sliding a few hundreds into the kid’s hands. He looks at the money with wide eyes. “Now go man the DJ booth.”
He nods rapidly, running so fast toward the booth that he nearly falls over several times.
Kylie frowns at me in confusion. Dean is already squatting in front of the bag, grabbing it with both hands, and shaking it up and down while he giggles.
I kneel beside him. “Look at this,” I say, opening the bag and pulling out the costumes. One is a huge elephant costume big enough for Kylie. The other is the lion in my size. The smallest is a panda bear small enough for Dean. His eyebrows come down as he takes in the costumes. With a hilariously high pitched voice, he does a convincing imitation of a lion’s roar.
“That’s good,” I say, raising my eyebrows at Kylie.
She smirks. “He can do an elephant too.”
Right on cue, Dean blows out a raspberry that sounds a little like an elephant.
“This is adorable,” she says. “I can’t believe you thought of this.”
“They are pretty heavily padded, and I had them put a helmet inside the panda head for Dean, so he should be able to just fall and roll around as much as he wants without getting hurt. Think he’ll like that?”
Kylie nods. “Oh yeah. We may not ever be able to get him to leave.”
A few minutes later, the thr
ee of us are all skating on the empty ice rink to the sound of Staying Alive, by the Bee Gee’s. The skating rink had training skates for Dean, which have two little wheels set out wide from the blade to help him keep his balance. But Dean is having more fun crashing on purpose than actually trying to stay upright.
Kylie lets out a terrified scream when Dean sets his sights on her. He sets his course for a slow but inevitable collision, and Kylie can only watch as the little panda comes inching toward her. He actually lowers his head at the last minute and does his little version of a bear’s roar. Kylie throws herself back, bouncing harmlessly off the ice in her thick elephant costume. It’s so thick around the middle that she can’t get up without my help. I help Dean up first, which turns out to be a mistake because he mercilessly headbutts me next. I have no choice but to hit the ice right beside Kylie, roaring in mock pain.
“Oh no!” says Dean. “Boo boo!” he is tipped over too, so he can only wiggle and kick his legs uselessly to try to get closer to me to help my imagined injury.
It’s nearly five minutes before I manage to get all of us on our feet again. Dean gets distracted when he realizes he can skate into the wall and bounce off, which gives me a minute alone with Kylie.
We’re both breathless and smiling when we take off our masks.
“I would’ve never thought of something like this,” Kylie says.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
The look on her face grows more serious. “I’m sorry it took so long. I should have tried to look for you. I’m sorry that you had to miss so much.”
I shake my head. “Don’t be. I’m just worried about making the most of right now. We can’t change what happened, but we can focus on making every day the best it can be for him. For us.”
She tries to hug me, but the bellies of our costumes make us bounce apart. I barely keep my balance, but Kylie falls on her butt. I’m about to offer her my hand when a commotion draws my attention. I quickly help her up and we both watch the swarm of costumed moms and toddlers come storming in through the front doors.
“What the…” starts Kylie
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I thought it would be more fun for Dean if there were some other kids for him to ram into. I reached out to a local mom’s group and told them everything would be paid for. I guess there was some interest.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
Before long, there are at least twenty other toddlers in various costumes, all bumping and bouncing around the rink. The entire place is filled with old disco music and the high-pitched laughter of kids. Most of the moms are costumed as well, skating around and helping to police the kids. I nod to Angie, who I secretly got to agree to come keep an eye on Dean so Kylie could have a chance to relax and enjoy herself.
We eventually move outside the skating area to catch our breath and grab some nachos from the concession stand.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” she asks while we share the nachos and watch the kids have a blast. “On one hand you’re Mr. Dominant McPunisher, and on the other you’re pretty much the perfect dad.”
“Dad,” I say slowly, testing the way it feels to say it out loud. “I guess I am a dad, aren’t I?”
“You are,” she says seriously. “And you’re already making a really good case for dad of the year.”
“It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re wearing an elephant costume,” I say with a grin.
She looks down and clutches the paunch of her costume, shaking it around playfully. “You aren’t turned on?”
I slide my hand behind her, gripping what I can of her ass through the thick costume. “You could wear a garbage bag and still turn me on, Kitten.”
I love watching the way I can affect her. The simple touch and a few carefully chosen words and I can already see the hairs rising on the back of her neck. I know her pussy is heating for me, and I know I could have her wet enough to fuck in just seconds if I wanted to. But now clearly isn’t the time.
“Damian Price?” asks a woman I didn’t notice approaching us. She’s one of the few people in the entire building not wearing a costume. She wears her blonde hair in a tight bun and her clothes are even tighter. I recognize her immediately as one of the reporters who was always hounding me a few years back when it got out that I was dating Faleena.
“We’re trying to enjoy ourselves,” I say.
“Want to introduce me to your friend?” she asks, holding her phone up in a poor attempt at discretion.
“No,” I say. “I want you to give us some privacy.”
“Who is this?” asks Kylie.
“Privacy?” asks the reporter. “I can see why a beautiful couple like yourselves would want privacy. By the way, I notice your son bears a striking similarity to Mr. Price. Do you care to comment?” she asks Kylie.
I stand up, push her phone away, and place my body between her and Kylie. “You need to leave.”
She makes an expression that doesn’t look all-too-concerned and turns to leave. “We’ll be in touch.”
“No,” I growl. “We won’t.”
Once she leaves, Kylie looks at me with worry creasing her forehead. “What was that about?”
“She’s from one of those trashy gossip magazines. Don’t worry about her.”
“Gossip magazine? You mean like the kind that are in the checkout aisles at the grocery store?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Don’t worry about her? What if our faces end up plastered all over those things? What if Dean ends up on one?”
I grit my teeth. “I’ll do everything in my power to stop that from happening.”
Kylie looks toward Dean, who is in the middle of a pile of costumed toddlers who are all rolling around on the ice. “I hope so.”
13
Kylie
“Oh my God,” says Melina, who leans back in her chair by my desk during Steve’s extended break. “That sounds so fun. I can’t believe he thought of such a cute date idea.”
“I know,” I say, smiling a little too proudly. It’s hard not to be proud of Damian, though. As much as I don’t want to think of him like some kind of prize, he really is. He’s gorgeous, kind, great with Dean, and when he wants to turn me on he’s like a sex god. He also has more money than he could ever spend in a single lifetime, but that doesn’t even matter. Sure, it’s nice, but Damian could be even more poor than me and I’d still be head-over-heels for him. The money is just a crazy bonus, like hot fudge on a brownie. “But there was this reporter who hassled us a little yesterday. It was really weird. I felt like some celebrity with the paparazzi coming after me.”
“Sounds kind of exciting,” she says.
“Maybe if I didn’t have Dean. But she was clearly digging for dirt, or at the least something sensational and juicy. I don’t want my little guy dragged into that.”
“Yeah,” says Melina with a frown. “What did Damian say about it?”
“It sounded like he had seen the woman before. He said he’d do anything he could to make sure it didn’t go any farther.”
“He knew her? Was she pretty?” asks Melina.
I feel a stab of ugly panic shoot through me. I hadn’t even thought of it like that, but Melina’s question makes all kinds of dark thoughts bounce around my head. “She was beautiful,” I say. “And she was dressed like she knew it.”
Melina’s frown deepens. “How did Damian seem with her?”
“I mean, he seemed pissed. His eyes didn’t wander at all or anything, and he basically told her to fuck off.”
Melina relaxes. “Pshh. You have nothing to worry about. I shouldn’t even be bringing stuff like that up. Your man is perfect, Kylie. He knows he’s got something special with you and he’s not going to do anything to jeopardize it.”
“Yeah,” I say, but as much as I want to trust him one hundred percent, there’s the smallest, tiniest sliver of doubt that still remains. If I hadn’t had three years to stew over what I thought was the t
ruth about him, I’m sure I would’ve moved past this silly thing by now, but no matter how hard I try there’s the faintest fear in my chest, like Damian will really do anything to get this woman to leave us alone.
“Wow,” I say later that night when Damian leads me into a posh little bar near the center of the city. “I thought you had to have a reservation months ahead of time to get into this place.”
“I worked out a deal with the owner a few years back. He owed me a couple favors.”
I purse my lips. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Thank you by the way for paying to have Angie stay with Dean tonight while he sleeps.”
“Don’t thank me. It was more of a selfish decision than anything. I’m hoping if I play my cards right tonight, I may get lucky.”
I laugh, but decide to keep him on his toes at least a little. “We’ll see how it goes.”
He eyes me as we’re let in through the front entrance by two men in dark suits. “Well, I hope you remember the safe words.”
My eyes widen when I realize the inside of the club is absolutely decked out with BDSM gear. Whips, chains, and leather harnesses dangle from the walls. Full-body leather suits are on display by mannequins, and there are several areas lit by red spotlights where masked men and women are engaged in everything from intercourse to paddling. The clientele are dressed in business formal attire, but it doesn’t take much searching to find men with hands up women’s dresses, women with their hands inside men’s zippers, and even one man who is practically swallowed up by four writhing women in a corner near where the people under the red spotlights are having sex.
“I remember them, Sir,” I add at the last second.
“That’s good, Kitten,” he says. I can already see the change coming over him, like the energy of this place seeps into him and pushes all the carefree kindness I’ve come to know in him away. All that’s left is his primal urge to dominate and subdue, to make me his and to own me completely.
Knocked Up by the Dom: A BDSM Secret Baby Romance Page 11