14. Dominic

Chapter 14

Dominic

I t was quiet on Treasure Ridge. Then again, it was supposed to be. Master Edison had insured that there was no way Marco, or anyone else that had ill intent, could get to the council.

It had been determined that Malorie’s Marco was indeed the same Marco from my birth coven. Understandably her parents were immensely upset about everything that they learned about their possible new son-in-law. It was still unknown if Marco actually was Malorie’s mate or if he had used some sort of magical influence against her, leading her to believe they were mates. Either way, what we knew was Malorie was off with Marco somewhere in the local area. Which meant that he had somehow been able to track his cousin to the area, and that wasn’t a good thing.

Atticus and his pack had first patrolled Treasure Ridge, and then they set out to patrolling off of the mountain. The dragons had taken to night patrols in the sky, and it was both a reassuring feeling yet a concerning one. He was here, and we knew what he was capable of. Would he go on a killing spree down in Honey Creek or Timber Valley?

That was very much in the back of my mind, but had nothing to do with my current conundrum. Despite my own insistence that I would take things slow with regarding to anything having to do with me and Frederick, I was certain that I loved him. From that very first day, after that unpleasant conversation that he had with Master Arthur, Frederick had been nothing but kind, generous, and loving towards me. I could feel his own emotions, and I knew that his feelings towards me had also changed. When had that happened though?

Apparently, we were both teenagers with our first crushes and neither of us knew how to share what we were feeling with one another. I rolled my eyes at myself because I should be way beyond this. I had been mated to Frederick for six weeks, and yet neither of us had said those three words to one another. They were simple enough words. I love you. See? Simple. Sweet. Impactful. Did I just simply spout them out to him?

I shook my head at myself before I looked across the room at Frederick. For whatever reason, he was sitting in an overstuffed chair instead of on the sofa with me. Then again, he had already been sitting there when I joined him here in the back room.

Frederick had his tablet with him, and I wasn’t sure if he was working on something for the council or if he was searching for something pertaining to our still undecorated nursery. Either way, I couldn’t help my feelings for him in the moment.

Most likely sensing my feelings through our bond, Frederick looked up at me when I felt incredibly vulnerable. When our eyes met, I smiled at him, which caused Frederick to grin in return. Seconds later, he set the tablet down on his lap before tilting his head to the side.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“I am. I was just thinking about my feelings for you, and how they have changed since we first met.” I shook my head at the uneasiness that was suddenly in my stomach. What was that all about? I was almost three-hundred years old. I shouldn’t be having issues with sharing my feelings for the person who was supposed to be perfect for me. Yet here I was, struggling to tell him how I felt.

Frederick moved his tablet from his lap to the small side table before he stood and crossed the room. I tracked him, my eyes following his approach. I couldn’t help it. Not only was I a captive audience, but I very much loved looking at my One. He was gorgeous.

Instead of sitting beside me as expected, Frederick knelt down on the floor in front of me before reaching for my hands. It felt as if it was the most natural thing to place mine in his. We had done this more times than I could count already. It was a small gesture, but one that spoke volumes. To me at least.

“I happen to not be any sort of expert on these things,” Frederick said. “But it is my understanding that feelings between those fated to be together will change over time. Therefore, it isn’t unexpected that yours toward me have changed.”

I nodded in agreement. Even my own parents for example. It was very obvious that their feelings for one another in their last few years together had changed from when I was a younger child. They loved each other to the end, but their interactions certainly had changed later in life.

Frederick was staring at me so intently I couldn’t help but begin to squirm a little. There was absolutely no reason for it, but I was still getting used to having so much attention focused solely on me. This man though, he knew absolutely everything about me. He had taken care of me during my fertile period. If that wasn’t the ultimate commitment, I wasn’t sure what was. And there was absolutely no reason whatsoever for me to suddenly feel uneasy or perhaps shy around him.

“What if I said I’m almost positive I love you?” I asked him.

Frederick smiled at me, but it was one of those extra smiles. The kind that completely lit up not only his face but his body. It simply radiated from him.

“Then I would have to say that it was probably a good thing that you thought you loved me since I know I love you. I have since the first time I woke up next to you. You did not have to forgive me nearly as quickly as you did. Yet you had, and not only that, but you chose to give yourself to me completely. When I woke up and saw you lying on the pillow beside me, I wondered what I had done to deserve you. You should have made me suffer for a bit longer at least.”

I wanted to snort at his words, but the feelings coursing through my body were more than I could handle at the moment. I would forever say that it was completely the pregnancy hormones that caused my eyes to water. In actuality, it was the confession that Frederick was sharing with me. Why hadn’t I realized his feelings for me? Now that I was looking for them, they were right there in our bond.

“I don’t deserve you, Dominic. I am thankful every day to have you in my life, but I feel as if you deserve so much more than me.”

“How can you say that?” I asked. “You are such a wonderful person. You worry about not only me but the others around us. You talk to your parents once a week, and you and the rest of your family are very much involved with one another here on the mountain. You, from day one have always shown me affection. Why would you think that you don’t deserve to have someone in your life?”

“It wasn’t intentional, but I hurt you that first morning. And something like that can never be taken back. For all of eternity, the words that I said will live between us. They don’t change the fact that I love you, but they hurt because I wasn’t thinking and I carelessly voiced them.”

I shook my head as I leaned forward. I pulled my right hand from Frederick’s grasp and reached up for his face. When I touched his cheek, he tilted his head toward my hand, applying just a little bit of pressure against my hand. I gently caressed him with my thumb while staring intently into his eyes. Would he be able to see what I was feeling in mine? Sense it through our bond?

“All is forgiven already,” I told him. “I have moved past those words because I know that you voiced them in a very stressful situation. I know that is not how you truly feel toward me, and I do not dwell on them.” I looked deeply into his eyes, hoping he would understand and accept what I was trying to say to him. “We are mated, and in a couple of months, we are going to be parents together. Let’s forget about it and move on. It is not healthy to live in the past and dwell on something so insignificant at this point. Can you forgive yourself?” I asked.

It took a moment, but Frederick finally nodded. “See? This is why I don’t deserve you,” he told me.

I rolled my eyes at my comment before I sat back against the sofa; my hand falling from his face when I did so. “You do. Just as I deserve you. You have looked past my birth coven, and have accepted me despite everything going on with them.”

“Yes, but they are not you, nor do they define who you are. You were part of them, but you were not involved in their activities. Why? Because you’re a good person.”

I shrugged. “True. I did know that they weren’t to be trusted though. Almost everyone did. I also knew that they had activities that were not seen as acceptable by anyone with any sort of decency. Yet I did nothing to try to alert the council or any other sort of authorities. You’ve forgiven me for that.”

Frederick raised an eyebrow at me while giving me a look. “How can you say such a thing?” He asked. “That’s exactly what you did.”

I was suddenly confused, and I knew it showed on my face. “How and when did I ever alert the authorities?”

“You warned Warwick. As an enforcer, he is certainly part of the council. And if the paranormal council are not the authorities for our world, I don’t know who would be.”

I shook my head. That wasn’t what I did at all. “All I did was tell Warwick to be careful because Rocco was not a nice man and did not take well to strangers being in his area. And the only reason I did that was because I happened to be walking by when he suddenly appeared. He was invisible at the moment, but I could sense his aura there.”

“Yes. Again, you warned Warwick. Those words of warning towards him were more than enough for him to pick up on the fact that something wasn’t quite right there. When you add in your demeanor at every meeting, he knew something was going on. It was you, Dominic. You were the one who started everything with your coven. Rocco didn’t know that, and neither do Marco or Riccardo. They do know someone tipped off the council, but have no clue as to whom. The laptop that was recovered when we caught Riccardo told us more than they had planned. There were five names attached to companies on that laptop.”

I knew that. Frederick had shared that information with me right after we first claimed one another.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Five names. The council is certain that there are other laptops with more sets of names. Different ones, because they don’t know who was responsible for tipping off the council. All they know is that someone from inside said something. So, they were trying to take everyone down with them.”

I thought about that for a moment, but stopped because it started to make my head hurt. “How do they know that it was someone from inside the coven? Maybe someone somewhere else let something slip?”

“Because they know that their inner circle was so tight that the only way anything could have gotten leaked out was because someone from the coven accidentally found something they shouldn’t have. Even their business associates are left so utterly clueless, they don’t know who they’re dealing with.”

That made sense. I rubbed my forehead, wondering how it was that my confession of love had led to us talking about my birth coven and how terrible they were.

“We got sidetracked,” Frederick said, seeming to read my thoughts. Then again, they were completely open and he could if he chose to do so. “You have just told me that you love me. I would really rather spend our time together, exploring these feelings rather than talking about work and everything else that is going on outside of our little bubble.”

I smiled because that certainly sounded like a much more enjoyable way to spend our time. Work would always be there, and the issues with my birth coven would be an issue until Marco was found and everything could be completely shut down.

I reached for Frederick again, and when his fingers laced together with mine, I pulled him toward me on the sofa. He surprised me yet again when he used magic and we went from the sofa to our bedroom. I found myself lying on our bed with Frederick hovering over me.

“I really do like how you operate,” I told him.

“That’s probably a good thing.” Frederick leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. He didn’t try to deepen it, and it only lasted seconds. “Most people when they share confessions of love for one another, they usually celebrate in some way, wouldn’t you say?”

I chuckled at that. I didn’t know if people actually celebrated because they confessed that they were in love with one another, but I was certainly willing to celebrate with Frederick.

“Celebrating sounds like the perfect way to spend the afternoon. What did you have in mind?”

Frederick gave me a mischievous look before he scooted down my body just a bit. His hands slid underneath the waist of my shirt, and when they pushed upward, he let his hands gently caress my torso, sending shivers through my body. I closed my eyes as his hands and lips moved over my body.

I was a bit surprised when his tongue suddenly swirled around my belly button, but when his lips started a gentle trail upward, I threaded my fingers through his hair and waited. I knew what was going to happen, and I couldn’t wait to experience our time together this time.

Frederick and I were quite sensual with one another, and although we had had sex many times before, it felt different this time around. Things didn’t feel quite as urgent, but the desire for one another was certainly still there.

Expecting his tongue to flick out at my nipple, I was surprised at the sudden tug of his teeth instead. He bit down a little, and I gasped at the stinging sensation. His teeth released the hard bud quickly, and he laved away the bite with a swirl of his warm tongue.

Frederick moved down my torso, and when he zeroed in on the claiming mark on my left hip, I moaned loudly into the room. I wasn’t sure how it was that he knew exactly where to put the mark, but my hips had always been a hotspot for me. Him adding his claiming mark there, he had been able to make me come many times just by sucking on it. My body went into overdrive as his tongue swirled around the pulsing mark that he had given me. The urgency that we normally experienced together was back, and my body suddenly needed release.

“Frederick,” I moaned out. He knew exactly what I needed because the lower half of my body was suddenly free from my clothes. I sighed in relief when I felt my cock spring up and slap against my still flat stomach. It had been freed from the downward position my snug jeans had held it in, and I couldn’t help but hope that Frederick would soon give it some attention.

I moaned loudly when Frederick’s hand wrapped around my balls and cock at the same time he sucked hard on my claiming mark. He knew exactly what he was doing, and the pressure he applied to my groin kept me from coming. I was going to complain, but decided to beg instead.

“Please,” I implored.

“Please what?” He asked against my hip. I didn’t get to respond though because before I could get a word out, my cock was suddenly surrounded by hot, wet heat. I moaned as Frederick took me into his mouth and sucked. My fingers grabbed ahold of his hair while my hips rolled upward, pushing my cock deeper into his mouth.

“Yes, fuck my mouth, my love. Take what you need from me. And then once you fill my mouth with your cum, I’m going to make love to you and fill you with my cum. Then when we recover, I will let you restrain me to the bed and have your way with me.”

That right there. That was why he was absolutely perfect for me. I did not need to bury myself in his body to find release, but he understood that I absolutely loved to be in charge in the bedroom. I loved to hold him down and fuck myself on his cock as hard and deep as I could. Nothing got me off quicker than riding his cock as fast as I could while sliding my cock through his slick hand. And the fact that Frederick was letting me fuck his mouth, and enjoying it while talking dirty to me, was enough to bring me just to the edge of release.

When several fingers suddenly pushed into my slick opening, I gasped and froze mid-thrust. Frederick’s amazing fingers pushed farther in before they curled and expertly rubbed over my prostate. He moaned around my cock while gently rubbing against my prostate, and that was all it took to send me completely over the edge. I gasped before I called out his name as my hands tightened in his hair. An electric tingle raced through my body, rushing towards my balls. I thrust up into his mouth twice more and then came down his throat. Pulse after pulse of cum shooting from me as I saw teal sparkles in my vision.