He smiled broadly. Seconds that felt like hours passed while James smirked at me, those blue eyes penetrating. “You want me to shut up? I’ll tell you exactly how you can shut me up.” He leaned into me, grabbed the back of my hair and pressed his lips against mine. His tongue was slimy, hot, and wet as it forced its way past my teeth. His breathing became labored, and I struggled to free myself.
I heard Dominick’s voice before I saw him. “What the fuck is going on?”
James and I pulled apart. My hands flew in front of my body. I wanted to slap him but I was too embarrassed to do anything but try and hide in plain sight. James said, “Can’t a man kiss his girlfriend?”
Dominick wore his wetsuit, his wild dark hair cascading around his face like a Medusa wig. He held his body rigidly, clutching his surfboard under his arm so tightly it looked like it would snap in two. His cheeks turned a deep crimson, his green eyes became ice chips.
He slammed his surfboard down on the grass and advanced on James, his fists clenched. My stomach lurched, and I thought I’d throw up as Dominick’s fist drew back and—before James had a chance to protect himself—he hauled off and punched James right in the jaw. I heard the most terrible crunching sound as blood spurted.
James’s hand flew to his face. “What the—” He drew his fist back. “You want to fight, man? Why don’t you get the hell out of here and go back where you came from?”
The sound that came from Dominick’s mouth pierced the air like a wild animal. I watched in horror as Dominick’s body flew through the air and landed against James’s body with violence, sending James hurling to the grass. He quickly forced James into a headlock. “Burro de merda!” James’s face turned crimson, and gurgling noises erupted from his lips.
I raced to their sides, my stomach churning, my head pounding. “Leave him alone! Let him up!” But Dominick didn’t let up; he only increased the pressure. “Dominick, stop! You’re going to kill him.”
It was like I wasn’t even there as the two of them rolled around in the grass. Dominick was stronger than James, his dark locks flying through the air, his athletic body pinning James to the ground.
James managed to free one hand long enough to grab a handful of Dominick’s mane. He pulled so hard he came away with a fistful of hair. The look on Dominick’s face was that of a lunatic. “Son of a bitch!” Caught by surprise, his grip lessened, and James scooted away.
James jumped to his feet his hands in front of him. “Slow the fuck down, man. Let’s talk about this.”
Dominick executed a perfect gymnast move, springing to his feet, facing off with James, his breathing heavy.
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Dominick, it’s not what you think!”
James sprinted to my side. “Yeah, we’re just old friends.”
Dominick’s eyes were ablaze with anger, and he shoved James hard. “Friends? What kind of friend kisses somebody else’s woman? You better explain real fast because I’m about one second from picking up your scrawny body and throwing you right off this fucking cliff.”
And then James did something idiotic. He started laughing, a taunting laugh. “Why don’t you ask your woman just how much she used to like me?”
A roar erupted from Dominick. “I’ll kill you!” He started toward James.
Adrenaline filled my body, and I threw my arms around Dominick, gripping him tightly. “Stop it!” He looked at me. Sweaty hair clung to his face and his eyes filled with tears. “James, if you don’t want the whole town to know what you did to me, you better tell him right this second.”
Dominick’s stared at me for long seconds, his questioning eyes on fire.
James’ angry voice yelled, “Yeah? I wasn’t the only one you were with. You’ve slept with half of Point Loma!”
Dominick fell to his knees, his head bowed, his shoulders shaking. When he looked up at me with watery eyes, my heart almost broke. “Is that true?”
I covered my mouth and let out a sob. Before Dominick had a chance to say another word, I stormed off, knowing I’d lost him.
Tears burned my eyes, my vision grew blurry as I ran all the way home.
I raced into my room, slammed the door, hurled myself onto my bed and sobbed. I’d seen the look of condemnation in his eyes. The hurt. It didn’t matter that he was the only man I wanted now. Dominick would never love me now that he knew I had a past.
I must’ve laid there for a good hour crying my eyes out. When my breathing finally eased, I picked up the phone and called Carissa.
“Hey Roz, what’s up?”
I told her the whole story, not leaving anything out. Her breath was a sharp intake. “Oh honey, this is terrible.”
I dabbed at my eyes with the edge of my bedspread. “My worst fears are coming true. I should’ve known better than to sleep with all those losers.”
Her voice was low. “You thought you could trust them.” She was quiet for a moment. “Can I give you some advice?”
“Go for it.”
“Maybe you need to take a break from men for a while. I know I encouraged you, but were you seriously considering going on tour with Dominick?”
I hung my head. “Yes, I was. I thought I loved him. It could’ve been a fun adventure.”
“Yeah right. Every time he gets a wild hair he’s beating somebody up. Roz, I know it seems sexy, having someone crazy in love with you, but that’s not love.”
“What do you know about love?”
“Maybe I don’t know much about love, but I worry about you. You fall in love too easily, Roz. What’s going to happen if you’re stuck in Indonesia, and he gets tossed in the slammer for brawling?”
I didn’t want to admit that Carissa was right. “He won’t. He just freaked out because he saw James kiss me.”
“Why are you suddenly defending him? You sounded pretty upset when you called.”
I thought of Dominick’s caring side, his passion for his sport, the way shivers covered my body when he gazed into my eyes, the way we fit together so amazingly well sexually, the feel of his hot tongue on my clit. I stammered out my reply. “Because, I see the good side of him.”
She sighed heavily. “So what are you going to do?”
“What can I do? Work on one of my paintings.” I stared at the collection of crystals on my dresser. “Meditate. I’ve wanted to experiment with the earth’s energies and how they work with my crystals. Maybe I’ll do a healing ritual and center myself.”
“Okay, hon. I’ll talk to you later.”
That night, I slept fitfully, nightmares of Dominick kissing me, pinning me to the sand as the ocean pounded the shore, then him kissing another woman. In the dreams I clawed wildly at his face, screaming for him to love me.
Chapter Thirteen
The following day was a Saturday, and the bright sun streamed through my bedroom window. I crawled out of bed, cranked the window closed and drew the curtains. I spent the gorgeous sunny day moping around the house, trying to work on one of my paintings, but it didn’t make me feel better.
That afternoon, as I pulled one of my meditation books out of the back of my closet, the phone rang. I dove for it before my mother had a chance to answer, my pulse racing. My heart skipped a beat when I heard Dominick’s voice.
His voice was low and husky. “Minh amor.”
I sat up straight on my bed, the phone clutched to my ear so hard it hurt. “Dominick, I can explain …”
He exhaled heavily into the phone. “You don’t need to. I’m the one with the temper.”
All the tension drained out of my body. “Oh, Dominick.”
“Shush. It’s okay. Love is about passion. I can see why James wants you. You’re a special lady, Rosalyn.” His voice raised slightly. “You don’t understand how angry I felt when I saw another man with you. The thought of him with his hands all over you … I can’t deal with that vision. I’m sorry I lost my temper. I need to work on that.”
“The thing is, James is jealous of you. He still wants me. But I don’t like him,
Dominick. He didn’t treat me well. I’m not with him anymore, no matter what he says. And yes, I’ve had other boyfriends. But I’m guessing you’ve known other women, too.” My body shuddered thinking of the makeup sex we might have. “We’ll get past this.”
Dominick was quiet on the other end for a moment. He cleared his throat. “Good. I think so too.”
I twirled the phone cord around my finger. I didn’t want to sound whiny, but I said, “Why didn’t you call me this morning?”
He sounded genuinely surprised. “I had to surf. The waves were killer today. We’re talking now, and that’s all that matters.” His voice became animated. “Guess who called me this morning before my session?”
“Who?”
“The Marine Institute.”
“Really? What’d they say?”
“They’re setting the baby sea lion free tomorrow.”
“The baby! How’s he doing?” My hand flew to my mouth.
“Great. They told me he recovered just fine. They release all the animals they’ve helped once a month, and they called to ask if we wanted to watch. Will you go with me? I could pick you up early. They start at six.”
I wanted to see Dominick right that second, wanted to feel his warm hands caress my body, his hot breath in my ear, feel him inside me, my legs clench around his sculpted body as we moved with delicious intensity. Instead, I settled for a sunrise date. “That sounds fantastic.”
“Okay love, then I’ll see you at five-thirty.”
The following morning, I woke up at four-thirty, jumped out of bed, opened the windows, inhaled fresh morning air, and touched one of my crystals in thanks as I made my way to the bathroom to ready myself for Dominick. I flossed and brushed my teeth, showered with lavender soap, smoothed body lotion on my skin, dressed in a gauzy skirt and tank top, then applied earthy sandalwood powder behind my ears.
Waiting on the front porch, my heart beat so wildly, I took deep breaths to calm myself. And then there he was. Dominick pulled up in front of my house in the dark. I raced to the car as he leaned over and opened the passenger door. He gave me a lopsided grin. “Hi, beautiful.”
We arrived at the beach just as the sun rose. Two technicians from the Marine Institute, a man and a woman, stood on the sand. I recognized the man as the person who’d initially helped us. He shook Dominick’s hand and gave me a hug. “Glad you could make it.” His smile was huge. “This is the best part of my job.” He motioned toward his truck. “Come on over.” Dominick held my hand while we strolled to the truck, a few seagulls swooping in front of us. The man opened the back of the truck, and there stood three cages. One held a large seal, one contained a medium sized sea lion, and there in the third cage sat our baby sea lion. His liquid eyes gazed up at us, in a look that I convinced myself was recognition. Dominick’s hand gripped mine tightly. “And here he is.”
Between the two technicians and Dominick, they hauled all three cages close to the ocean’s edge.
The woman smiled at me. “We love people like you. Thank you for bringing the little guy in. We kind of got attached to him.”
The man said, “Now, don’t go getting all teary-eyed on me like you always do.”
“I can’t help it.” She gave a nervous laugh. “My boss won’t let me name them, but I’ve got my secret names for all the animals.”
The man said, “Yeah, they do start to feel like family. Sometimes more than my real family.”
They nodded at each other. He said, “Ready?”
“Ready.”
It was the most glorious California morning, and I’ll never forget the way the air felt cool and warm at the same time. The ocean was glassy and still, the air smelled deliciously of jasmine and perfect waves broke over the reef. I inhaled, my lungs filling with the healing power of the magnificent sea.
Dominick and I held hands as the technicians opened the cages. The seal had already been working his nose against the lock, and when the cage opened, he scampered happily toward the water, with barely a look back. The medium sized sea lion sniffed the air once, looked straight ahead and made the slow trudge to the water’s edge, then slowly waded in. The baby went last. His whiskers twitched, he looked right, then left. He sniffed the morning air as the sun slowly rose behind us. His adorable face gazed at the technicians as if to ask if this was okay. Dominick and I inched closer. The baby sea lion’s skin appeared glossy, and his eyes held a brightness that made me feel everything in the universe was exactly as it should be. He peered into my eyes and his head turned slightly. Then, he took one tentative step, then another. The four of us followed his slow progression until finally, he was at the ocean’s edge, his fore flippers barely making contact with the water. It was almost as though once he realized he was home, there was a new enthusiasm about him. He took another step, then another, and finally, with one mighty thrust of his back flippers, he glided smoothly through the water. He dove under and his head popped up. His dark eyes looked straight at the four of us; his whiskers twitched, and then he ducked under the water again.
Dominick’s hand felt like a hot poker in mine. When I looked at him, I saw one slow tear roll down his handsome face. The female technician wiped at her nose with the back of her sleeve, while her partner wore a sentimental smile. My throat nearly choked me with emotion, and I wished I had a glass of water. Happy tears pricked the back of my eyes, and I expelled a small breath. The man said, “Way to go you three!” and he let out a whoop. The next thing I knew, the four of us were dancing, bumping hips and giving each other high fives. “They’re free!”
We gazed out to sea, and I spotted a shiny black sea lion happily swim through the early morning surf.
Both technicians hugged Dominick and me in turn, their hugs so tight I thought the air would squeeze right out of my lungs. The man said, “Can’t thank you enough for saving the little guy. See you out in the surf.” We bid our goodbyes, and they jumped into their truck and sped away.
Dominick faced me in the early morning sun and held both my hands. “That was incredible.” He wiped a tear. “I’m always in awe of ocean life, and I’m so lucky to be part of it.” He expelled a shuddering breath. “I don’t even want to know what would’ve happened to that baby if we didn’t help him.”
I looked at Dominick. He was just as alluring as the first time I’d laid eyes on him with those sexy green eyes contrasting against his olive skin, his high cheekbones, and his full lips. I placed one hand on his manly chest. “You’re a special man.”
He gave me a nervous smile. “Not that special.” He combed a hand through his wavy locks. “Let’s sit.” We sunk into the sand. “Let me look at you.” We turned so we faced each other, sitting cross-legged.
I trailed my fingers over his cheek and jaw. “Wasn’t that beautiful?” I was trying to process my feelings. I felt so connected to nature at that moment, realizing there was a rhythm and rightness to everything.
Dominick’s eyes flicked to the ocean, then he looked me in the eye and held both my hands. He cleared his throat. “Rosalyn, I’m so sorry for what happened the other day.”
“Stop. We already talked about this.”
“No. We didn’t even begin to talk about it. What I did was wrong.”
I knew Dominick had a temper, but it was part of what made him who he was. “It wasn’t wrong. You saw James kiss me, and you reacted.”
His fingers squeezed mine. “My father told me I had too much passion.”
“How can you have too much—”
“Let me finish. He told me I had to learn how to deal with my emotions. He said passion is what makes a man a great lover and a great athlete. He said that my intensity was a powerful gift, that my determination was admirable.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I thought my passion was my greatest strength, but it turns out, it can be a weakness. My father told me that passion could be a double-edged sword. The same force that makes me a good surfer is like electricity is what he said. He said electricity could light your home,
but it can also electrocute you.” He swallowed hard. “He was right.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Yesterday when I surfed, I thought. Hard.” His lips trembled. “I could’ve killed James. I didn’t even give either one of you a chance to talk to me, I swung.” He looked at his hands. “It’s what I do when something happens that doesn’t fit into how I think the world should work. I don’t let anyone get two words in before I start using my fists. I’m not proud of that. It’s what got me kicked off the tour. I’m sorry I hurt James, sorry I made you cry.”
I squeezed his shoulder gently. “Oh, baby. Don’t be so down on yourself.”
His chin dropped to his chest, and he peeked up at me. “I have something to tell you.”
My antennae raised. “What?”
“Yesterday my sponsor called, and they accepted me back on the tour full time.”
My hand flew to my mouth as my heart sunk into my stomach. I had a decision to make. “That’s great! Oh, baby, it’s what you’ve always wanted.”
His green eyes held uncertainty. “It is. And I promised my father.” He held my hands again. “What I’m trying to tell you is that I thought hard about my future. I have to make my father proud. And part of that means working on my emotions. If … if I had you on tour with me, what would it be like the first time I caught one of the other surfers chatting you up?”
It felt like the sand fell out from under me. “But I thought you wanted …”
His eyebrows knit together. “It is what I want. I care about you. And that’s why I can’t have you on the tour with me.” His gaze held mine. “Every time I look at you, I see an angel.” He smiled. “The first time I met you and looked into your big brown eyes, saw your smile, wondered what it would feel like when I ran my hands through your wild curls, I was taken. And then when I realized there was so much more to you with your artistic talent and your affectionate, easygoing way, I knew I could fall for you. And then I did. Rosalyn, I love you. And that’s why I can’t be with you. I know I’d never be able to control myself the minute I felt that jealousy. Next time I punch somebody, on tour, I’ll get kicked off for good.”
Pleasure Point: The Complete Series Page 8