Chapter Eleven

Annie

I was going to kill Dom.

The man hadn’t left my side in two solid weeks. I was barely able to go to the bathroom by myself. When I did, he was always nearby, waiting for the door to open. He took me to parties at the main clubhouse, though it was way more sedate than I’d expected. When I’d asked Dom about it, he said the wild parties happened in town at the new clubhouse they’d acquired so they weren’t constantly coming and going from their “hidden” compound.

None of that was important. What had me ready to kill the man was how gentle and careful he was being with me. He insisted on going slow and by slow I meant it was starting to feel like we’d be into the middle of the next century before he did more than kiss me. I thought he wanted to have sex with me, but he was holding himself back. And I was tired of waiting.

I was buzzing with a mix of frustration and anticipation. I knew what I wanted, and every inch of my body screamed for it, but Dom was playing by some rule book I hadn’t read. After the life I’d just left, being in the Grim Road compound had changed how I dealt with things. I’d always had to be patient and careful. Lemon and Calista especially had shown me that I didn’t have to weigh each decision I made. That it was OK to sometimes make the wrong decision. Most importantly, I’d learned I didn’t have to be patient all the time. So I was done. It was time to take what I wanted. If I had another panic attack, Dom would help me through it. There wasn’t even a question.

Dom was always up early. I hated mornings. Had come to loathe getting up before at least noon. Why? Because there had never in my life been a time when I could stay in bed if I wanted to. I had no idea it was even an option to not be up when the sun first climbed over the horizon. So, he never woke me when he left, but he did leave me a note on his pillow telling me where he’d be when I got up and was ready to go outside and today was no exception. But today, I wasn’t coming to him.

At twelve-thirty, I heard him enter the house. I took a breath to calm myself. This was the moment of truth. If he rejected me, there’d be no going back. I’d have to find somewhere else to live because I needed Dominic like I needed to breathe. I’m sure a psychiatrist would have a field day with everything rattling around in my head, but Dom was my choice. If I couldn’t have him, I knew I couldn’t be around him.

I’d prepared as carefully as I could, showering and shaving everywhere. That had been Lemon’s suggestion. No, I do not want to relive the conversation. I’d lotioned my body until my skin was soft and silky. Then I’d draped a thin sheet over my body and settled on my side in the bed facing the door and waited for Dom to come check on me.

“Annie?” he called out to me as he shut the door. “Honey? Where you at?”

This was it. “In the bedroom, Dom.”

I heard his heavy footsteps move down the hall toward me. I broke out in a sweat and it felt like my heart was going to pound through my chest. This was a bad idea. So fucking bad…

“Baby, you good?” he spoke as he rounded the corner, his gaze automatically focusing on me the second he could see inside the room. His eyes widened and he came to a sudden stop just inside the doorway. “Annie?” The question was a husky growl. “What the fuck are you doin’?” He sounded like he was musing to himself rather than asking me a question.

His gaze ate me up. Dom clenched and unclenched his fists as if fighting himself to keep from doing something he knew he probably shouldn’t.

I raised myself up onto one elbow, letting the sheet slip down just enough to reveal more skin. My breath hitched as I watched his reaction, his eyes darkening with desire yet filled with confusion.

“Dom,” I started, my voice a mix of determination and vulnerability, “I’m tired of waiting. I know what I want.”

Dom closed the door gently behind him and took a cautious step forward. His jaw clenched as if he was battling internally. “Sweet God, Annie. Are you fuckin’ sure?”

My breath caught. This might actually be going to happen. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I think I’ve been waiting for this since before I escaped. But only with you.”

He didn’t move. I could see the indecision on his face. I could also see desire growing by the second. When he took one slow step forward, Dom scrubbed a palm over his mouth. I watched as he eyed me from where my toes peeked out from under the sheet, to where it was held in place over my breasts by my arm.

“Christ, you’re beautiful.” He took another step forward. One slow step at a time. When he finally made it to the bed, he sat down carefully, like he was afraid of scaring me and expected me to bolt at any moment. He reached out and brushed a finger down my cheek, then brushed my lip with his thumb. “You can always tell me to stop, honey. I don’t care how far it goes, if you want or need to stop, tell me and we stop.”

“What if I just need a second? Can we maybe back off but try to continue?”

“Absolutely, honey. You’re in control. I’m here for you.”

I let the sheet pool around my waist. “This is as far as I got when Lemon told me what to do to get you to fuck me. She said I’d figure it out and if I didn’t, you’d take it from here.”

That seemed to snap him out of his trance. His gaze found mine and he let out a surprised chuckle. Then he really laughed. The sound was infectious and I found myself smiling. The tension drained out of me when Dom scooted farther onto the bed and rolled halfway on top of me, pinning me underneath him.

His laughter still rumbled within his chest as he hovered over me braced on one forearm, his eyes twinkling with a mix of mirth and raw desire. “Lemon. Of course she had a hand in it. I gotta say, though. She might not have written the best instruction manual, but her advice wasn’t half bad,” he murmured, his voice deep and soothing. “Though,” he continued, “I think we can improvise a little from here. What do you think?”

The anxious knot in my stomach loosened at his words and the tender way he gazed down at me. His large hand, warm and reassuring, slid from my cheek down to my shoulder, and I felt every last bit of tension ebb away. “I think that’s a brilliant idea,” I managed to say, my voice steady despite the pounding of my heart.

His weight on top of me felt comforting, grounding, and I felt a surge of relief. Here was Dom, not pushing away but pulling me closer to him. It was a new sensation, this mixture of safety and exhilarating danger. I reached up to thread my fingers through his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. His lips met mine with a fiery urgency that belied his earlier hesitation. Not that I minded at all. His desire fueled my own. If I hadn’t been sure before, I was definitely sure now. I needed him to show me what sex was supposed to be like. And I wanted to belong to him in every way possible.

The kiss deepened, the feel of his shirt rubbing over my nipples electric. Dom’s let his hands roamed over the curve of my waist, up to cup my breast gently as if I were something precious.

I realized as he kissed me so reverently, that from the moment I’d met Dom, he’d seen me. Sure, we’d gotten off to a rocky start, but it hadn’t been all that bad. He’d irritated me, but he’d also taken care of me. He accepted me just as I was. Annie, who’d never been loved before. The thought alone was enough to make my toes curl with pleasure.

With a murmur of agreement, Dom rolled off me and tugged the sheet away and tossed it over the side of the bed. Then he reached for the hem of his shirt. His chest was smooth and muscular, a temptation I couldn’t resist touching as I leaned in to place a kiss over his heart. As he stripped off his shirt, I found myself tracing the lines of ink on his skin.

Once he’d gotten rid of his shirt, he lowered himself on top of me, moving between my legs. I was naked, but Dom still had on his jeans. The scrape of the rough material against my bare pussy was a curious mixture of discomfort and pleasure. It wasn’t pain, exactly, but it wasn’t comfortable. I was too sensitive, but I absolutely did not want to lose that delicious friction.

“Kiss me,” I whispered. “I love it when you kiss me.”

He obliged me with a sharp grunt. Unlike every other time we’d kissed, there was an edge of wildness to this. His beard tickled my face as he deepened the kiss. He thrust his tongue inside my mouth and I whimpered in excitement. Gripping his shoulders, I dug my nails into his skin to hang on and hold him close.

Dom pulled away, panting. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he growled as if trying to keep it together. His lips trailed down my neck in a line of hot kisses that made me squirm beneath him. Then he leaned back, eyes on fire.

I smiled up at him, unable to speak as Dom positioned himself over me once more. This time he rocked his hips back and forth between my legs as he settled himself where he wanted to be.

“I wasn’t expecting to come home to this.” His voice came out in a hoarse whisper. “You’ve had me hard for you for weeks, so when I say this is gonna be quicker than I’d like, know that’s not an easy thing for me to admit to.” He sounded disgruntled, but I thought he was trying to lighten the mood. “Ain’t never wanted a woman the way I want you, and that’s also damned hard to admit.”

Maybe I should have been offended or felt like I was being compared to countless other women in his life, but it felt oddly satisfying. If that made me shallow and stupid, then I guess he had me pegged because I was taking him at his word.

“I don’t mean to ruin the mood, but I need to know if you’ve ever had sex before. In any way. I absolutely will not hurt you in this. Especially not if it’s your first time.”

“No. The Divine One tried to have sex with me, but I stabbed him before he could.” I stiffened, waiting for the familiar fear to hit me at the mention of the Divine One, but it didn’t come.

“Honey? You good?” Dom’s expression was calm and controlled.

I smiled up at him. “I’ve never been better in my life. I thought for a second the mention of his name might bring a rush of revulsion, but this is so different from that experience it simply doesn’t apply.”

“It’ll take a brave woman to be by my side, Annie. Not because you’d ever be in danger, but because you’ll have to push back because I will totally take over as much of your life as I can if you let me.” He grinned. “You’re that brave. Probably more. So I’m going to trust you to know what you can take and what you can’t. I’m also going to trust you to tell me when I need to stop.”

“How very good of you,” I said dryly. “I know how to stop you from doing something I don’t like. But I won’t have to stop you. I’m betting you’ll be able to tell if I like something before I do.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You complainin’?”

“Not at all. Now. Are you always so chatty during sex?”

“Brat.” Then he kissed me again.

Dom cupped my breast in his big hand. I gasped when my nipple rubbed against his roughened palm. He kneaded and tugged before shifting his position and bending his head to my chest.

I cried out, arching my back to offer my breast to him. He sucked at my nipple gently before opening his mouth and taking more of my breast into his mouth. This had me bucking against him, my clit ached and throbbed and I shivered uncontrollably.

“Dominic! What is this?”

He chuckled and moved his hand to my other breast. He kneaded it like he had the first one only to tug on the nipple with his fingers. All the while he continued to suck my other breast.

I thrashed under Dom. He didn’t seem to notice, or if he did he didn’t mind. As I moved, I managed to align myself perfectly against him so I got the friction I needed on my clit. The second I did, I tightened my legs around his waist and got all the pressure I wanted exactly where I needed it.

There was no containing the scream of pleasure when that wave crashed over me. All I could do was ride it out wherever it took me. My body seized and pulsed for several seconds. When it finally floated me into tranquil calm, Dom was reaching between us to unfasten his jeans.

“Christ, Annie! You came so fuckin’ hard, didn’t you.”

“C-came?”

“Yeah, baby.” He grinned at me, but it looked strained. I knew how he felt. There was still a torrent inside me wanting free. This was insane! “I’m not gonna last long, but I swear I’ll make you come again before I do.”

I felt him against my entrance, the blunt tip of him pressing into me one shallow thrust at a time. He hadn’t much more than gotten the flared head inside me when I felt a pinch. I sucked in a breath.

“That’s it. Another deep breath, baby.”

I obeyed and Dom flexed his hips, driving his cock inside before retreating, then surging forward again. He did this a couple more times before he could go no farther. Each thrust stretched me, burning but making me long for more of the blinding pleasure of before.

“Dom -- Dominic!” I gasped out as sensations began to build inside me again. This time, the full feeling in my pussy where his cock pulsed angrily added even more to the building tide. I wasn’t at all sure I was going to survive this, and I started to panic. Not like before. No. This was my heart’s last-ditch effort to not get broke. I’d known this would change our relationship dynamic. My mind knew Dom would never break my heart intentionally, but I saw more than one of the unattached women -- they called them club girls -- look at Dom. If one of them touched him, I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t do something rash. Because I absolutely would not share this man with another woman. The thought of one of them touching him, even if he rebuffed them, made me want to claw someone’s eyes out.

“Now, what’s that look about?” There was a wildness in his eyes that seemed to mirror my own possessive feelings. He flexed his hips and I arched my back on a groan.

“Dom…”

“Yeah, baby. It’s Dom inside you. Me. I’m bare and I’m gonna put my cum inside that sweet little pussy.” Thank God we’d already had this talk long before we’d started this. It had been one of the first relationship conversations we’d had after he’d first kissed me. He’d had a procedure done so he couldn’t have kids. Said as much as he loved Calista, he hadn’t been able to protect her because he hadn’t been in her life. He never wanted to take the chance of that happening again.

“O-OK.” Not the brightest thing I’d ever said, but I couldn’t bring myself to care overly much. All I cared about was the end result. When he made me come again. Because he said I would before he did and I really, really wanted to come again.

He hooked his arm under my knee and shoved my leg against my chest. Then he angled his body so he hit just that little bit deeper inside me. On the second thrust, my muscles seized to the point of pain.

The orgasm built inside my body at the place where we were joined and pushed through my belly and chest. My pussy clamped down on him, and his cock pulsed like mad. Dominic bellowed above me and I actually felt his hot seed spilling inside me.

“Annie.” He groaned my name as he collapsed on top of me. His breathing was as ragged as mine and we lay there not moving. He was still firmly inside me. “So fuckin’ mine…”