Ashley's Bend

by Roop, Cassy

  “Grant Park. I wanted to show you something. You mentioned a few weeks ago that you have yet to experience all of Chicago’s famous spots. This is one of them.”

  The Buckingham Fountain was one of the places I had always come to when I needed to think or relax. We walked hand in hand through the park until we reached our destination. Ashley looked at the fountain in awe.

  “Every hour on the hour for twenty minutes, the fountain produces a major water display and the center jet shoots one hundred and fifty feet into the air. It is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles,” I explained to her.

  “Wow, it is beautiful,” she said as she stood staring at the beautiful work of art.

  “Starting at dusk, the water display is accompanied by a light and music display. It really is quite extraordinary to watch. The first show should begin in about ten minutes. Want to wait for it?”

  “Yes, of course she smiled, and this time it was her true, heart stopping smile. I reached out for her and brushed the back of my hand down her cheek. I had never been tender with a woman. I had always worked hard and fucked harder. But Ashley coming into my life had changed me. Something I thought that I never wanted, was something I craved more than anything. When I looked at Ashley, I saw a future with her.

  “How is it that you have broken through to me when no one ever has? What is it about you that has me letting go of all my control?”

  She looked at me through glistening eyes. When she closed them, a small tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. I caught it with my thumb before I leaned in and ever so gently touched my lips to hers before I leaned my forehead against hers.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you, Ashley.”

  Buckingham Fountain had to be the most romantic date that I had ever been on. What made it even more special was that Dominic was the one who took me. It was no question that I had fallen head over heels in love with him. I never thought that I would want to be in a relationship again after what happened with Jared, and to meet Dominic on the same night of Jared’s betrayal was even more unexpected.

  I was prepared for the consequences of what would happen if I allowed my heart to get involved with Dominic, but I was not prepared for the consequences of what would happen when Dominic’s heart was involved, as well.

  I had been distant from him since he showed up at the apartment with fear written all over his face after he said he couldn’t locate me. I took a nap trying to recharge my batteries after my visit at the Laundromat. I needed to prepare myself for what I was going to have to do, but when he showed up at the apartment unexpectedly, I was not prepared like I thought I would be. I had to do it, I had to pull away.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you, Ashley,” Dominic admitted to me in front of the fountain just as the music and lights began. What should have been one of the greatest moments of my life, turned out to be one of the worst. The lights and music sent a crescendo into the dark Chicago night. Inside I should have been exploding with joy, but I was feeling darkness, and pain. How was I going to force my head to let go of a man that my heart screamed out to me that I loved?

  I had to keep telling myself that I was doing it for him.

  Dominic and I sat and watched the fountain show from the grass. He sat behind me with me placed between his legs. I leaned into his chest and let my head fall back to rest against his shoulders. Dominic wrapped his strong muscular arms around me and held me tightly, lovingly. The changes I had seen in him were nothing short of phenomenal. This dominant, control freak of a man, had surrendered himself to me. He had offered his heart to me, and I had to destroy it.

  We walked hand in hand back to the Aston Martin after the fountain show concluded. I never said anything back to Dominic after he confessed to falling in love with me. If I told him that I felt the same way, it would only cause him more pain in the long run, and I needed to do this as cleanly as possible.

  We pulled up to Dominic’s apartment and he walked around the car to open my door for me. After extending his hand out to help me out of the car, he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my neck.

  “Stay the night with me,” he said. It was his way of asking me to, but the man who had a need for control said it as a demand. I looked at him and tried to put on the best game face I could. I would allow him and myself, one more night. I wouldn’t be able to express my feelings for him verbally, but I could show him with my body.

  “Okay.”

  He smiled his glorious, panty melting smile and then took me by the hand up toward his apartment. Walking in, I took in my surroundings once more. I knew it would be the last time I would set foot in there. I knew that it would be the last night I would ever get to spend with Dominic, and my heart physically ached. I clutched my chest in a desperate appeal to ease the ache, to ease the hurt that began to take over me.

  After placing his keys on the counter, Dominic walked into the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of wine and two glasses. Approaching me again, he gestured to the cream-colored sofa in the living room. He sat the wine and glasses down and picked up a remote on the coffee table. Punching a few buttons, the curtains in front of us began to automatically open and the Chicago skyline came into view. You could see all the lights and buildings go on forever. Pressing another button, the fireplace to my right came alive giving off an orange glow that bounced off the dark walls of the apartment.

  “I’ve never done this before, so I hope this is ok. I know I told you I am not a romantic guy, but I want to try, for you,” Dominic said almost shyly. My heart swelled. Under normal circumstances, I would have pounced on him and allowed all the feeling I was experiencing inside come out in my actions as I kissed him, but it was no longer normal circumstances and I had to remain as distant as possible.

  “It’s perfect, Dominic, thank you.”

  He popped the cork on the bottle of wine and gingerly poured both of us a glass. I tried to concentrate on the bubbles of the sparkling wine as they fizzed and then became stagnant. Anything to help keep my mind occupied on anything except the pain and hurt that I knew was coming.

  We tapped our glasses together and I took a large gulp of the wine trying to get the alcohol into my system faster to numb me. Maybe if I got drunk, then the pain wouldn’t be as hard.

  “I have to go out of town tomorrow,” Dominic said into the silence. My ears perked up. It was unexpected and wouldn’t go with the plan. I felt a sense of panic start to set in.

  “Oh, why?” I asked acting interested. I needed to find out as much information as I could so that I could relay it to him.

  “There are a few issues going on at the club in New Orleans, and the manager has requested that I come down to straighten things out. Knox will stay here to make sure that the club here runs smoothly.”

  He paused for a brief moment before he added, “I want you to come with me.”

  I nearly spit out the wine in my mouth. He wanted me to go with him?

  “I...I can’t Dominic. I just paid the tuition for my art classes. They start in two days, I’m sorry.” It wasn’t a lie. I actually did sign up for the classes before I went to the Laundromat and my world bottomed out. I made the classes during the day so that I could still work at the club in the evening. I hung my head in defeat.

  “It’s ok. I’m glad you finally signed up. I know it is something you have wanted to do for a long time. Congratulations, Ashley. We should celebrate.”

  He reached for the wine glass in my hand and sat it on the coffee table along with his. Leaning into me, he threaded his fingers into my hair and pulled my lips to his. His kiss was needy and hungry. I was instantly wet and ready for him as my body always seemed to be ready for him. He pulled back from me and smiled.

  “Ashley, when I first laid eyes on you at the club, I knew I had to touch you, taste you. I cannot explain it. When I chose you to come on stage to do the lesson with
me, it was the first time I had ever pulled someone from the audience to do it with me. Normally, I used one of the house subs.”

  My eyebrows arched in surprise. This was news to me. I thought that was normal for him to choose a random person.

  “I admit I freaked out afterward when I found out that you weren’t a submissive, hell, you weren’t even a member.” He chuckled. “But when you left, I knew that I had to see you again. I cannot explain it. You are the first woman I have ever had that experience with. I have always left my desire at the bedroom door.”

  He shifted us so that I was now lying back on the couch and he was suspended over me. Dominic was devastating. Not just his looks, but with his personality, and with the strength that he had found to overcome some of the control he had held so tightly on to. I couldn’t help but smile up at him. His dark brown eyes shined back at me as he spoke his next words.

  “I must confess that I used the training program to get you to come back. I normally leave the training up to Knox and Madam V, but I wanted to be the one to train you. I wanted to be the one to experience those firsts with you. But mainly, I just really, really wanted to fuck you.”

  He started to pepper hot, opened mouthed kisses to my neck. Pulling down my sweater, his kisses lingered as they pressed to my collarbones. This was an erogenous part of my body that always made my core clutch in need and Dominic knew it. He was teasing me. Priming me in the way that he did.

  “Kelly...ah...thought that…oh God…” I tried to spit out as he continued his torture on my sensitive skin. He laughed at my inability to form a complete sentence. He lifted up off of me slightly to look directly into my eyes.

  “There is something that I want to do with you that I’ve never done before,” he admitted. Reaching for the hem of my sweater, he pulled it up and I lifted my arms to help him remove it from my body. When it cleared my head, he leaned in placing his lips right next to my ear.

  “I want to make love to you.”

  I stiffened momentarily before I forced my body to relax. Yes. I wanted it. I wanted for him to make love to me. He had gradually become tenderer with me in our sex life, but I still felt like at times it was fucking. I wanted that memory with him. I wanted to feel the passion he had for me so that when I had to walk away, I would have the memory with me, always.

  “Please, I want that too, Dominic.”

  We undressed with a sensual slowness. Teasing each other like it was the first time revealing our bodies to one another. In a way, we were, but not as a dominant and his submissive, not as a contracted, premeditated relationship, but as lovers.

  Dominic placed his arms under my knees and lifted me up to carry me down to the bedroom. There he placed me on the bed with gentleness before he crawled his way up my body. It was dark with the shades drawn, and it was quiet. The only sounds in the room were of our breathing. I reached up and touched his chest to feel each hard muscle, every line that formed on his gorgeous body. I wanted to commit it all to memory, the feel of his skin, his scent, his pleasure. I wanted to be able to look back on the moment as the most memorable moment of my life. The night that the man that I loved shifted his control, to surrender. The night that he gave all of himself to me.

  Dominic entered me with a slow tender push. It was so sweet and painstakingly slow that I could feel each ridge and vein of his cock as he slid into me and we finally joined together, sealing ourselves and sealing our fate. As Dominic began to move inside of me and our breathing both grew heavy, I was thankful for the darkness of the room, so that Dominic could not see the hurt in my face, and the tears that wouldn’t go away as they flowed down my cheeks.

  I waited until I could feel Dominic’s labored breathing, signaling that he was asleep. Slowly as to not wake him, I lifted his arm from around my waist and slipped out of bed. My body grew instantly cold at the absence of his warmth. I padded quietly down the hall and into the living room to retrieve my cell phone from my purse. I walked into the kitchen so that I was as far away from the bedroom as possible. I didn’t need to risk having Dominic overhear the conversation. I wanted to scream. This all had to be some sick dream. It wasn’t fair and it was the worst form of torture, misery. How could this happen to me? To him? It was almost too much to bear.

  Sliding a shaking finger over the screen to bring my phone to life, I took in a deep breath and told myself that I was doing it to protect him. To keep the evil away from him, and to protect the ones that I loved. It wasn’t just Dominic that I had to worry about, but Knox and Kelly, as well.

  Punching in the number that I was given, I brought the phone up to my ear with a shaking hand.

  “Ashley,” the eerily familiar voice said on the other line.

  “We-we have a small problem, “I stuttered through sobs.

  “What do you mean we have a problem? I thought my instructions were clear?”

  “They were. Dominic just told me something tonight that might put a snag into your plan.”

  The voice on the other end blew out an angry breath. I didn’t want to get him riled up because I knew what the consequences of his anger could bring to the ones that I loved.

  “Ashley, if you are trying to stall for time, it won’t work. I have told you what I want. My plans will go as planned or do I need to remind you of what will happen if they don’t?”

  “I promise, I’m not stalling. He told me he has to go to New Orleans tomorrow to take care of some issues at another one of the clubs.”

  He seemed to ponder the bit of information that I had supplied him with.

  “Well, I think I can use this to my advantage then. It will make it even more eventful because he won’t be expecting anything when he comes back. One more week, Ashley. That is all I am giving, but mark my words, you better do as I say. If I hear of you even giving one tiny hint of what’s to come, I’ll do it. I will kill them all, Ashley.”

  Then he hung up.

  I felt a blinding light try to pierce through my eyelids. I was warm, comfortable. What is this light trying to invade my eyes? A shrilling noise sounded and I leaped up straight in the bed. Ashley was next to me tossing in the bed and moaning. Her body was covered in a sheen of sweat. I reached over to turn off the alarm off to stop the screeching annoyance of notification that I had to leave for New Orleans. Shit. It was already seven am. I had just a little over an hour to get ready and head to the airport to catch my flight.

  Ashley kept tossing and turning next to me and I gently shook her shoulders to try to wake her up. I wanted to take her one more time before I left for New Orleans, but given the time restraints, that wasn’t feasible.

  “No!” Ashley yelled as her body bolted upright and she clutched to the comforter for dear life. Her breathing was rapid, almost to the point of hyperventilation. She looked to be in the midst of a panic attack and I tried everything I could to soothe her.

  “Are you okay, Ashley?” I asked as I rubbed her back, “must have been some dream.”

  She looked over at me and the panic in her eyes started to dissipate and her breathing began to calm.

  “Want to talk about it?” I comforted as I continued to rub her back.

  “What? No...I...I don’t remember what I was dreaming about,” she defended. I could tell she was lying, but I didn’t want to push her if she didn’t want to talk about it.

  “I have to get ready to go to the airport. Go with me?” I asked and she seemed to hesitate for a moment and I thought that she might refuse, but she nodded her head to agree. I kissed her on the cheek and rushed to the shower.

  “You can join me if you want,” I said teasingly as I undressed and opened the red curtain to reveal the bathroom. This was what sold me on the apartment. I know it sounded stupid for a guy like me to say it, but I loved the bathroom.

  “I think you will be late if I join you. I will go make us some coffee and a quick breakfast while you get ready.”

  She didn’t even look back at me before she left the bedroom. What the hell happened b
etween last night and now? Last night she was full of passion and need as we made love. It was my first time ever allowing any emotions into sex and it was the best sex of my life. My dick suddenly stood at attention just thinking about it. As much as it hurt me to think about what my mom went through when she was dealing with my father, I couldn’t help but feel that the situation with Ashley was different. I knew she would never betray me. I just hoped that the distance she was putting between us was not because she didn’t feel the same. Maybe I came on too strong.

  I thought about it the whole time I was in the shower and when I finished getting dressed. I walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to find Ashley toasting bagels and pouring two mugs of coffee.

  “What are you thinking about in here all by yourself?” I asked her as I walked up behind her and placed my hands on her hips. She nearly jumped out of her skin, and as she did she tipped over one of the mugs of hot coffee spilling it onto the counter and all over her foot.

  “Ouch!” she yelped as the burning liquid fell on her bare foot. I quickly scooped her up and sat her down on the barstool at the counter. I grabbed a plastic bag from the cabinet, and put several ice cubes inside of it before I walked back over to her and placed it on her foot.

  “Here hold this on your foot while I clean up.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you to be directly behind me like that, I’m sorry. You just scared me.”

  “You seem to be a little on edge this morning. Is everything ok?” I asked her as I wiped up the remainder of the coffee from the floor and counter.

  “Yeah. I’m just nervous about you leaving I guess.” Another lie. She always crinkled her nose slightly when she wasn’t telling the truth. I spun around to face her.

  “I am sorry if I came on too strongly when I told you I was falling in love with you, Ashley. I have never had to confess my feelings to anyone before and I don’t know if it was the right time, but it is how I feel. I’m not sorry for telling you, I‘m just sorry if it wasn’t the right time.”