Chapter Eight

It’s been over a month since I last saw Dominic. He gave me an earth-shattering, heart-palpitating kiss and then said he had to go. I didn’t know that he meant forever. I can’t deny that I was more than a little disappointed when he stopped coming around. But that’s just the way it is, I guess. People come and go, right?

I pop my car trunk as I fill it with the groceries I’ve just bought. Today is my first day off in a while, so I’m just going to go home, stock the cabinets, and then waste the rest of the day watching trash TV. It’s gonna be glorious.

When I slide into my seat, I put the key in the ignition and turn, only for nothing to happen. What the fuck? I try it again, but still nothing. No lights pop up on my dash, but those things only work half the time anyway. Letting out an irritated exhale, I pop the hood and throw my door open.

As I lift my hood, I quickly realize I have no fucking clue what I’m looking at. I see some wires and I try to wiggle them. I don’t know, maybe it’ll do something.

“Need some help?” a familiar voice asks from behind me.

I startle for a moment before I look up to see Dominic staring down at me. He’s wearing a black button-down shirt tucked into black dress pants. I don’t know what he does for work, but he’s always dressed nicely. Never suit-and-tie style, but just clean and put together. Oh, and hot as fuck.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” I ask.

He holds up a single bag of groceries, effectively making me sound like an idiot.

I don’t know, Blake, what is he doing at a grocery store?

“Car won’t start?” he asks.

I shrug. “Guess not.”

“Can I try?” he asks.

“Be my guest.” I nod as he attempts to sit in the driver’s seat. I say attempt because he’s so tall and my car is so small that his head literally has to bend just to fit inside it.

He goes to turn the key, but nothing happens yet again.

“It’s probably your battery,” he says as he steps out of my clown car. “I have a shop in town that can get you set up with a new one and do a once-over on your car if you want.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I can afford all that right now. I hardly use the thing anyway.”

“I insist. I know the owner, money is not gonna be a problem.”

I hesitate for a moment before I relent. Fuck it, if he wants to help me get my car fixed, who am I to say no?

He nods before I can even respond, apparently reading my face or something, as he pulls out his phone and shoots off a text.

“A tow truck will come pick it up within the hour. I can take you to the shop now, or maybe we can get you lunch?”

I tilt my head at that. “Just me?”

“I could eat too, I suppose,” he says with a slight twitch to his lips.

I shake my head as I toss my hands at my sides.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to be nice, but what the fuck?”

“Excuse me?” he asks.

“You’re confusing. One minute, you’re showing up at my work every day, watching me like a hawk. Then you beat someone half to death just for touching me. Then you kissed me like the earth around us was shattering, and then you ghost me. I mean, the ghosting thing is whatever, but now here you are showing up like a savior, ready to whisk me away to lunch? So, yeah, I repeat, what the fuck?”

He opens his mouth like he’s going to speak before he closes it and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry that I’ve upset you. It wasn’t my intention.”

“I’m not upset,” I practically snap, clearly contradicting my words. “I’m just confused.”

Dominic nods but doesn’t say anything in his defense. I’m ready to just say fuck it and walk home when he speaks.

“That night, it took me by surprise. I haven’t felt so…connected to someone in a long time, ever maybe.”

I cross my arms over my chest as I look up at him.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes,” he says flatly.

My eyebrows knit together at that before I nod.

“C’mon, let me take you to lunch. It’s the least I can do.”

“What about my groceries? They’re going to spoil if I leave them all day,” I say.

He glances toward my car before pulling out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen as he speaks.

“I’ll have him put them into the shop fridge when they get your car back there.”

I frown at that. “You have that much pull?”

He shrugs his shoulders but doesn’t respond. I tilt my head to the side, assessing as I speak again.

“Why now? Is it okay to be around me because you don’t feel connected anymore, or…?” I hedge.

“I’ve recently decided a little bad isn’t always bad for you.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re super fucking cryptic?”

A surprised laugh bubbles out of his chest. It’s deep and throaty and it’s the most joyous sound I’ve ever heard come out of someone. Or maybe it just sounds that way because I’ve never heard anything like it come out of him. I can’t help but smile that I made him do that.

“Okay, where are you taking me?”

Dominic endedup taking us to a really good Thai restaurant on the other side of town. They had the best shrimp chips I’ve ever had, and I may or may not have shoved the rest of them in my purse, wrapped in a napkin, obviously.

We talked about where both of us grew up, me in Chicago and him in Seattle. He’s an only child, just like me, and unfortunately, just like me, his parents died when he was young. Now he owns a few businesses around the city that he mostly oversees, which I’m pretty sure is code for I’m so rich I don’t have to work, I have people work for me.

When we get to the mechanic shop, I see three open bays, all with cars on the lifts. One of them is my piece of shit with two guys underneath it and parts scattered everywhere.

“Uh, what are they doing?” I ask as Dominic puts his Lexus into park.

He glances over to where I’m looking.

“A once-over, remember?”

“Giving something a once-over is checking it out with your eyes. Not ripping the thing apart.”

Dominic reaches over, wrapping his hand around my thigh as he looks at me.

“Take a breath. I told you I’m gonna take care of it. Trust me.”

Blowing out a heavy breath, I nod. I’m not sure how I feel about the way he can calm me down so easily and the way he makes me feel so seen with the simplest gestures. Or the way he seems to know exactly where my insecurities are and shines light on them like they deserve it.

He squeezes my thigh once more, sending a rush of that same buzzing feeling through me before he opens the car door and strides around to get my own. I thank him as I step out, and he rests his hand on my lower back as he guides me into the auto repair shop.

As soon as we step in the door, the receptionist practically bounces to her feet, a wide smile on her face as she stares at Dominic.

“Mr. Graves, I didn’t know you were coming in today.”

“Carl is looking at a car for me. Call me when it’s ready,” he says as he continues ushering me up the stairs to the right.

“Of course! Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you,” she says with her hidden innuendo plastered across her plastic face. She doesn’t miss the opportunity to send me a withering glare, though, before she goes back to her computer.

“Where are we going?” I ask as we continue up the stairs. The waiting room was clearly next to the receptionist.

“My office.”

“Your office?” I say over my shoulder. “So when you said you knew the owner, you meant you really know him? Share all your meals with him, grew up with him and all that.”

He gives me a crooked smirk as he nods. When we get to the top of the stairs, he reaches around me to input a code into the keypad on the door. As soon as it opens, an airy room is in front of us. It has a few windows, one looking over the shop and another looking out over the parking lot. A simple desk and chair along with a few cabinets, are really all that fill up the room. It doesn’t give much insight as to the person who occupies it, but then again, I think that’s just who Dominic is. Quiet, reserved, mysterious, and all.

“What?” he asks.

I turn to see that he’s watching me from the corner of the room.

“Huh?”

“You have a look on your face,” he says. “What are you thinking?”

“Oh, nothing.”

He walks away from the corner, shutting the door behind him as he closes the distance between us.

“Tell me.”

“I was just thinking how the room doesn’t give much away. You’re as much a mystery now as you were the night I met you.”

He hums under his breath as he slowly reaches out a hand, running it through my hair. My eyes fall closed on instinct as he continues weaving his hand through the strands.

“I’m not so sure I’m the mystery between the two of us.”

I opened my eyes at that, to find him staring at me hungrily. Anticipation thrums in my veins as his grip on me tightens just slightly, pulling me in closer, as his other hand goes to my hip.

“What do you wanna know?” I tease with a soft smile.

He doesn’t smile back, though, as his eyes practically drill me into place.

“Everything,” he murmurs.

My heart beats out of rhythm at that, and the next thing I know, my lips are on his. I don’t know who initiated it, but all I know is I never want it to end. Our tongues are battling for dominance, our hands everywhere and anywhere. Just like before, the kiss is rushed, frantic, and ravenous. It feels as though he’s attempting to consume my very soul with this one kiss, and God willing, I’d let him.

I feel the palm of his hand glide over my back before resting on my ass. His other hand takes up the same position before I’m suddenly being lifted into the air. My legs wrap around his torso as he carries me several feet before releasing one of his hands. I hear the sound of things clattering to the ground as he swipes his desk clean before laying me down on top of it.

My back isn’t even flat on the desk before he’s at my leggings, bunching up the material in between my thighs before yanking hard. A rip sounds out through the room that has me gasping in surprise.

“Did you just rip my pants?”

He nods as he pushes my panties to the side, pulling his cock out in the next second before lining up to me.

“Condom!” I shout.

He pauses, quickly rifling through a drawer in his desk before he pulls out the foil wrapper. I don’t even want to know why he has them at the ready in his office. If I think about it too hard, then I come to the very obvious conclusion that I’m not even close to the first woman he’s fucked against this desk, and right now I want to pretend that I am.

As soon as the condom is rolled on, he’s inside me. His thrusts waste absolutely no time, stretching me as he buries himself inside me.

I let out a squeal as he bottoms out before pulling out and doing it again.

“T-too tight,” I pant.

“You can take it,” he says as his hand slips through the hole in my pants, his thumb finding my clit almost immediately before rubbing quick circles in rhythm with his thrusts.

A rush of pleasure begins to run through me at his touch. He’s so aggressive, so primal. There is no tender lovemaking or whispered promises. This is a good old-fashioned fucking, and I can honestly say it’s been far too long since I’ve had one.

One of Dom’s hands snake up my body, dancing across my skin before wrapping around my throat. My pulse thunders in surprise as his eyes come to meet mine. With his aggressive movements and practically mute conversation, I’d expect to find them blank, hollow, and animalistic. Instead, they are soft, light, and looking at me like I hung the moon.

“You feel better than I imagined,” he says as I lift my hips slightly, causing his eyes to roll into the back of his head for a moment.

“You’ve imagined this?”

“From the very second I laid eyes on you,” he rumbles as his fingers tighten slightly around my neck. “I imagined what you would look like spread out for me, what you’d feel like, what you’d taste like.”

“You kinda skipped the whole tasting step.” I laugh as he fucks me harder.

His mouth twitches in what I think is the start of a smirk before he leans forward, grazing his teeth against my ear as he whispers, “Do you really think once would ever be enough for either of us? I’m just getting started, baby.”

Dom begins rubbing my clit faster, his cock throbbing inside me like he’s about to come at any minute when he takes me by surprise. His hand pulls back before slapping down against my clit, and I shout out in surprise before my orgasm rips me to shreds, starting at my pussy and sending an insurmountable wave of pleasure from my toes up to my head. I continue to moan and shout my orgasm, not a care in the world as to who is hearing us. Dom lets out a rough groan that more closely resembles a growl as his cock swells before jerking inside me.

We both wring every ounce of pleasure out of one another until our movements ease and all that’s left is heavy breathing. We’re silent for what feels like forever before Dom releases his hand from my throat, placing featherlight kisses against it before finding my lips again. His lips are soft and gentle, like he’s trying to atone for his earlier aggression. It’s a gesture that melts me in more ways than one as he slowly pulls out of me and walks over to the trash can, disposing of the condom before righting himself.

I go to stand, but Dom is there before I can, scooping me up once more and carrying me over to the small couch to the side of the room. He sits down first, with me straddling his lap. I pull my head back to look at him, but he just puts his hand on the back of my neck and forces me to lean into him. His arms are braced around me so tight that even if my life depended on it, there is no way I could ever get away. Not that I could even fathom a reason why I would do so.

Dom doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just sits there quietly, holding me and playing with my hair the way that I’m coming to realize he loves, probably even more than I do. His phone eventually rings, and his grip on me tightens slightly before he releases one arm and answers his phone.

“Yeah?” he answers.

The person on the other end speaks briefly.

“Good,” he says before hanging up and pocketing the phone.

I take the opportunity to lean back and look at him, a calmness across his face that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. His hand raises up to cup the side of my face, his thumb brushing against my cheek as he smiles almost sadly.

“Time to go, baby. Your car is fixed.”

“Oh, that’s good,” I say, doing my best to mask my disappointment. I wouldn’t have minded another round or two.

He doesn’t say anything as he continues rubbing his thumb over my skin.

“So, is this the part where you ghost me again?” I ask with a laugh, only half teasing, really.

His eyebrows knit together at that as he shakes his head.

“It’s fine, it’s not like I was thinking about you every second of the day or anyth?—”

“I was,” he interrupts. “Thinking of you. Every second.”

That catches me off guard, and I can’t help but tilt my head in curiosity.

“Then why the vanishing act?”

“I had some things come up with work, and I knew if I saw you again, that would be the end of it.”

“End of what?”

He shakes his head as he looks away for a moment, his eyes returning to me as he speaks. “Life as I knew it.”

I try not to let myself get all swoony over his words but c’mon, would any woman stand a chance?

“So, what now?” I ask.

“Now,” he starts, his hand on my thigh, squeezing tightly. “You’re mine.”