Dominic: The Protectors Trilogy - Book one

by Anne Marck

  “You can’t stop me …”

  A flash of anger runs through his cast-iron face.

  I lick my lips nervously, not understanding the way he’s looking at me now.

  Slowly, Dominic presses his body back against mine. “I can try, can’t I, baby?” His words are like melted honey as he slides a strand of hair behind my ear.

  The intensity of his stare removes all air from my lungs. I find myself disoriented, not knowing exactly when his ferocity became hungry desire. I have practically no experience with men, but even a blind nun could sense the sexual tension in this moment.

  He presses his thumb to the base of my throat, over a vein that is gaining speed at the look of lust in his gaze.

  I watch, motionless, as he approaches the curve of my neck. Then he presses his lips to my skin and chills take over my body.

  “Dominic,” I hiss, confused.

  He moves his mouth, sweeping down to the base of my ear provocatively. Suddenly, I’m invaded by the hard heat of his lips. My mind, my ability to make decisions flies out the window. My body trembles, sparking fires exploding in each small cell, one by one.

  I moan, softening, begging Dominic to take me to a place where I can stop this urgency ripping through me.

  He settles his hands on my ass, lifting me off the ground and directing me to circle my legs around his hips. The position puts me in the line of fire, causing friction. I rub myself against Dominic, seeking more and more contact, until he stops me, holding me still.

  When he pulls his face away from me, I see something that I’ve never seen before—an expression of savagery so crude and primitive that it’s as if he’s not the Dominic I know. He’s been replaced by a ferocious animal, determined to take everything that belongs to him.

  Abruptly, my back leaves the wall, and before my next breath, I am thrown onto a soft mattress.

  I watch him tear off his T-shirt, salivating as he displays his bare chest that doesn’t contain a single ounce of fat, only hard muscles and various tattoos decorating his arms and chest in beautiful artwork. His eyes never leave mine. I’m afraid he can hear the rhythmic drumming of my heartbeat.

  Wordlessly, the silence is broken by the cracking of his jaw as he climbs on the bed menacingly and mounts my hips.

  “Dominic?” My tone reveals the torment I’m feeling.

  I no longer know the difference between desire and anger, between right and wrong. I fear what I see reflected in the gray storm of his eyes, yet I long for it.

  Without breaking the connection of our gaze, and with a deep breath, seemingly in a sort of internal conflict, Dominic leans toward me and slides his hands beneath my shirt, gently familiarizing himself with the territory. I groan in satisfaction and need when he touches my breasts.

  “Luna, Luna,” he chants from between his teeth.

  I arch my back, loving the feel of his hands.

  Without any warning, he then pushes the shirt up to my chin, and I watch his hungry eyes admire what my clothes once hid.

  “So beautiful.” The low rumble causes chills to break out over me.

  Dominic pushes my bra aside to play with my nipples … Damn! He slips his tongue over the peaks. So hot. So … God in Heaven. The sensation is so perfect that the poor flesh stiffens, sensitive, crying out for him to take everything.

  I close my eyes, throwing myself even more at him, trying unsuccessfully to cross my legs and bring some relief to the indescribably insidious tingling.

  He abandons my breasts and descends, creating a hot, wet trail over my belly, going directly down there. Lord, what will he do?

  Confusion, shivers, pain, need—how do you manage so many feelings when you’re not even able to reason?

  “Do you trust me?” His question breaks my reverie, forcing me to open my eyes and look at him.

  Do I trust him? With my own life.

  “Yes, Dominic,” I whisper.

  My jeans are slowly, torturously removed. Then he teases me with his hands while dragging kisses up my leg that make goosebumps sprout along the way.

  He moves his hands to the sides of my panties, where they falter.

  No. Don’t stop now, please!

  “Dominic …” I plead.

  “What do you want, baby?”

  “I want you to do … that,” I falter.

  A low chuckle vibrates from his chest. Then the panties are torn from me, turning into rags.

  Oh shit, that is so sexy!

  I hold my breath when I feel his warm breath on the most intimate part of me. This is so much more than I can bear. The expectation is pushing me toward a cliff, my heart racing.

  I call his name softly, not knowing what to expect. And I’m rewarded by his mouth on my skin, focusing on a specific point.

  I jerk off the bed, thrusting up for more, not knowing what that entails.

  With his strong hand, he holds me in place by my hips, while the other joins his tongue in the torture.

  I’m one step away from falling off the cliff, unable to describe everything that’s happening to my body.

  Dominic realizes this and delays the pleasure, stopping me from reaching the place that will give me glory.

  “Don’t stop!” I implore without shame.

  “Will you leave me?” His voice darkens.

  What? Why this now?

  “Oh, Dominic, please …” I gasp.

  “Tell me, Luna, are you going to leave me?” There is no compassion in his tone.

  Tears spring forth. “No-no,” I cry.

  “No, what?” he teases.

  “I won’t leave!” I surrender with a shout.

  What I finally receive throws me to a distant place, one without colors, without sounds, only perfection.

  • • •

  Dominic took me into a parallel world and let me live every part of it. However, now his darkened eyes seem tormented as he puts on a T-shirt.

  “We’re going to the community center,” he warns, grounded in a deliberately constructed tranquility.

  I’m weak, taken over by a feeling of relaxation so deep and intense that I can barely keep my eyes open. “I don’t think I’m going tonight,” I whisper, licking my dry lips.

  Dominic stops on his way to the door and looks back at me. “You can’t stay here alone, Luna. And I can’t ask Simone to manage everything there without me.” His tone doesn’t allow for argument.

  The message is clear: I put myself in danger with Dirty, and now Dominic won’t let me out of his sight, even if I wanted him to.

  I nod, letting him know I understand.

  Sitting on the side of the bed with my head in my hands, I feel guilty for bringing more trouble to this man’s life. I wipe away a lone tear.

  Although the idea of distancing myself from him hurts, nothing has changed. I still need to carry out my plan. But …

  I-I … I … I think I love him.

  Luna

  “I’m ready,” I say, approaching the couch.

  Dominic looks up and simply stares at me. His countenance is beyond mere exhaustion; he looks dejected. The defeated expression makes me anxious.

  “Please sit down, Luna. I’d like to talk to you before we go.”

  I do as he asks then take a second to observe him. His hands are intertwined, his forearms resting on his thighs, and his body is bent forward, allowing a glimpse of his sculpted shoulders.

  “What I did to you was …” He stares at the coffee table, searching for words. “I had no right to go that far.”

  At first, I don’t understand.

  “Are you trying to say that you regret what we did …?” I whisper, acknowledging my own apprehension.

  His face twitches. “I shouldn’t have thrown all my shit on you like that, Luna. I acted like an idiot by pushing my will.”

  “No, you didn’t,” I murmur.

  His gray eyes finally meet me, and I see a great burden weighing on him.

  “The whole thing with Dirty, and then you tell
ing me that you’re leaving …” He sighs heavily and shakes his head in disgust. “I should have kept myself in check.”

  I bite my lower lip, preventing the tremor from being noticed. “You consider losing your control as a bad thing, Dominic. To me, it was like closing all that distance you put between us, the indifference you’ve been showing me.”

  His eyebrows rise in surprise. “I’ve never been indifferent to you.” With his intense eyes, he stares at me. “And I don’t want you to leave. I may not have expressed myself correctly, but the truth is this: I want you to stay here … with me.”

  I’ve never been indifferent to you. Oh, I feel my chest about to explode. But then reality sets in.

  “Staying here has been the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.” I look away, hating to acknowledge the truth. “But I need to get my life back. I owe it to my mother.”

  He grips my face gently, as if I were fragile. It touches me in a place so deep that I can’t breathe. “Trust me and let me help you, Luna.”

  I swallow the knot in my throat and let a tear slip out. “You don’t understand, Dominic. Vincent is dangerous. I can’t get you involved in this.”

  “Luna, whatever you think, I’m already involved. There’s no turning back for me.”

  I rub my face, wiping away the moisture. “I need to think.”

  I know it would be much easier with his help, but I also now know what my stepfather is capable of. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to Dominic.

  “Don’t think, baby; just let me help you.”

  I smile unwillingly, a swirl of emotions tearing me up from the inside out.

  “Can I ask you something?” I say, moving to another subject that disturbs me deeply.

  His gaze flickers, scanning my face, until he consents.

  “Why haven’t you …?” I clear my throat, watching his eyes darken, but not in a bad way. “You know …” I hope for him to understand without having to say it out loud.

  Nothing.

  “Why haven’t you fucked me?” My face is on fire.

  The sudden intensity in his gaze dries my mouth.

  “Is there something wrong with me?” I lick my lips, more ashamed than ever and not wanting to look even more foolish.

  A strange sound escapes his throat. His expression changes to an intimidating gleam, and then a humorless half-smile crosses his lips. “Baby …” The smile disappears. “There is nothing that I want more than to make you mine.” His voice lowers. “When I take you, I want nothing in our way.” He slides the tip of his finger over my lips. “When you’re ready, I’ll give you exactly what you want.”

  “Dominic …” I sigh, trembling softly. “I’m sure of this …” It takes everything in me to appear composed and not resort to begging. It would be too shameful.

  He stares at me for a while, decrypting me like an enigma. Then he sternly says, “There’s no hurry, baby. Let’s solve one thing at a time.” With a light touch to my cheek, his hands leave me. “We need to go now.”

  Well, there is hope after all.

  Dominic

  If she knew the mess tearing at my chest, she wouldn’t have asked me if there’s anything wrong with her. No, there’s something fucking wrong with me! I should take care of her and not with so much desire.

  The stupid way I acted—using her needs to get her to stay—is driving me crazy. I should never have done that.

  Damn, where the fuck was my head?

  • • •

  “Boy.” A well-groomed Simone catches my eye as I enter the small office to check the inventory.

  “Simone,” I greet her tired face, probably having come straight from a shift at the hospital.

  “There’s a boy out there wanting to talk to you,” she warns quietly. “He’s waiting in the alley.”

  I nod then head for the corridor where the trashcans are.

  Standing with a hoodie covering his head, he soon registers my tense presence.

  “Raid,” I greet him.

  The dark boy looks from side to side, checking to see if the place is safe. “I shouldn’t be here, but you’ve done a lot for my old lady, so I owe you this.”

  I raise an eyebrow and lean closer, waiting.

  “That guy was a girl, and she screwed up, bro,” he says frenziedly.

  I don’t need any more explanation to know who he’s talking about, but I choose to let him continue.

  “I don’t know what she is to you, Dominic, but she knocked out Dirty with a blow to the head, bro, and he already knows she’s a woman and that you know her.”

  I clench my jaw to the breaking point, feeling my body vibrate violently at his words. “You told him, didn’t you?” I see the guilt in his eyes.

  “I work for him, man. You know what he does to traitors, don’t you?” The boy stares at his sneakers. “I owed you one for what you did for my mother, and now I’m paying you back by coming here to give you a heads up.”

  I take deep breath. “Neither you nor your mother owe me anything. Anyway, thank you for the warning.” I keep it civil so as not to strangle the unfortunate fool.

  It’s not his fault.

  The boy waves and, with his head down, begins to walk away.

  “There’s always a choice, Raphael,” I say as he walks past me.

  “Not for me, Dominic. I’m a hopeless case.”

  I clench my fists, but I avoid saying anything else. When the time is right, he’ll realize it’s never too late.

  Luna

  Peeling potatoes, I follow Dominic’s movements with my eyes. He seems tense, and I don’t know if it’s because of everything that happened today or because of some problem here at the community center. I must be a nightmare for him. I want to laugh at admitting it.

  I’m in love; I can’t deny it. My heart races like crazy when he touches me. In fact, so much more happens. Dominic awakens things in me that I did not even know I could feel.

  “You’d better clean up,” a sweet voice cuts through my thoughts.

  I look to my side and … well, where did she come from?

  I blink a few times, swallowing the sudden fear that Dominic has also seen her and that my chance with him is now gone.

  She’s definitely impressive. Eyes big and clear, like a cat’s; her skin soft and flawless; red, plump lips. She’s not wearing any makeup, except for mascara. Sexy—that’s what her appearance makes me think. The most striking feature is her platinum blonde hair.

  “Wh-what?” I ask.

  She smiles and … crap, she looks even more beautiful. “Are you drooling, hun?” She makes me laugh without knowing why.

  “Excuse me?”

  “It was a joke. Calm down.” Her smile doesn’t diminish. “By the way, I’m Gabrielle.” She reaches her hand out.

  I put down the knife before envy makes me commit a crime here.

  “Oh, I’m Lu,” I say awkwardly.

  Her warm grip breaks my barriers.

  “I’ll join you with these potatoes. This is almost like therapy.” She laughs and sits down with me.

  I bite my lip and accept it.

  “I don’t remember seeing you here before.”

  “It’s been a while,” I say softly.

  “I noticed the way you look at him.” Her little smirk makes me blush. “And I’ve also seen the way he’s always keeping an eye on you.” Now I get a wink.

  “I think it’s more to make sure I’m not getting in any trouble.” I shrug, not knowing why I said that.

  She looks at me with interest, studying me. “Look around you, Lu, at all the women here today.”

  I stare at the woman in front of me like she’s crazy, but then I do as she asks and look at the volunteers. There are definitely a lot of women helping—more than men. I had already noticed. It’s not surprising.

  “Look over there,” she whispers in amusement. “To the right, next to the sinks. Those two,” she says, and I obey.

  Two wome
n in their early thirties talk and giggle, both looking at Dominic, who is apparently the subject.

  I bite my lip, loathing the jealousy I feel.

  As Gabrielle points them out, I notice almost twenty women, each in her own way, looking or trying to get his attention. Except for a group of three really beautiful women, who are watching us as if they know what we’re doing.

  “Those are my friends, Katy, Alice, and Julia.” She throws a kiss at them, and then concentrates back on me. “Dominic is the soul of this place, Lu. And I’ve never seen him look at any of them like he does you. And I’ve been here a long time, too. If that isn’t like getting a winning ticket, girl, I don’t know what is.”

  Crap. She’s not just beautiful; she’s cool, too.

  “How about you?” I ask suspiciously.

  She tosses her head back and laughs. “I won’t lie. The first time I saw him, my ovaries almost melted.” She raises both hands in surrender. “And I can’t be blamed for it. I mean, just look at the man.” A beautiful blush spreads up her cheeks. “However, he certainly wouldn’t give me the time of day, you know? So, I opted for dreaming from afar.” She gives a what-can-you-do? shrug.

  I can’t even say anything. It’s totally understandable.

  “I like him,” I decide to open up. “I think he only sees me as a girl. I don’t know …” I can’t form a coherent line of reasoning.

  Gabrielle narrows her eyes. “Why do you think that? Your question is worthy of a psychological evaluation.”

  I need to open up with a woman who has experience, or I’ll drown.

  Feeling the heat take over my face, I go on. “He doesn’t want to …” I look at the potato, trying to find the right words. “You know …” I stare at her, waiting for her to understand. “Do …” With my head, I indicate a you-know-what.

  Gabrielle puts her hand over her mouth. I’m not sure if it’s to stifle a sound of surprise or a laugh. “He won’t have sex with you?” she whispers. “Why?”

  I bite my lip. “Because I’m involved in some problems, and because I’m …” I bring my face closer to whisper, “a virgin.”