DOM: Alliance Series Book Three, page 19
And then how relieved I felt when he said they were his mother’s things.
And I think about him dodging the bra I threw at him because it was his mom’s bra.
I smile. “It was good.” I think about the delicious-smelling food waiting for me, because my new, definitely crazy, husband checked on me and wants to make sure I eat. And that he brought me a gyro and fries because he likes my softness and isn’t trying to put me on a diet. “It was actually pretty good.”
“You sound surprised by that.”
I lift a shoulder. “The last few days have been not so good.”
Doctor Amy makes a sound of understanding. “Want to talk about that?”
“I don’t really know where to start,” I admit.
“What were some of the feelings you had that made it not so good?”
The lightness of a moment ago drifts away, and I roll my lips together. “I’ve been… I had to go to a funeral yesterday.” I swallow. “And I know my mom’s funeral was six years ago, but recently, I’ve been having all those feelings again.”
“Which feelings?”
“Like I don’t belong anywhere.” It comes out quiet.
“And did you feel that way yesterday, too?”
I shake my head. “No. Yesterday was… how it should be.”
She tips her head. “What do you mean?”
“It was sad. Horribly sad. But…” I have to break off. “Someone hugged me.” Tears I didn’t even know were building drip down my cheeks. “And it-it just… I didn’t even know her, but she hugged me, and I hugged her back, and it helped. Ya know? It was just a simple hug, and suddenly, I didn’t feel so alone anymore. And it just… It makes me so mad. Because why couldn’t I have had that?” I rub my hands across my cheeks. “I know we can’t change the past, but I can’t stop myself from wondering how my life would be different if I’d had that sort of… support.”
The doctor nods. “Just because we can’t change the past, doesn’t mean we can’t be mad at it.”
“I know.” I sniffle.
“And it’s okay to daydream about a different life, so long as you’re still giving yourself credit for what you’ve accomplished on your own.”
I nod.
“But you said today was better?” she asks.
“Yeah. I, um, slept well last night.” My cheeks are already coloring from crying, so I don’t have to worry about blushing. Because I hate to admit that I sleep better with Dom at my side. Or draped across me.
And the orgasm probably didn’t hurt.
CHAPTER 38
Dom
I start to lower the lid of my laptop.
It’s not often that my conscience springs to life, but watching Valentine cry while talking to her therapist about feeling like she doesn’t belong is starting to make me feel guilty.
“… been working on finding sexual completion with a partner?”
I lift the lid back up.
Come again?
Val nods and presses her hands against her cheeks.
I fucking love it when she does that.
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?” the doctor asks.
Yeah, Valentine, just kind of?
“Yes,” my wife admits.
“Is this with the man you met on the plane?”
I lean closer. She told her therapist about me?
Val nods, dropping her hands.
“Has it happened every time?” the doctor asks.
Tell us, Angel. Have I made you come every time?
Val nods again.
The doctor keeps going. “What made the difference?”
Say my big dick.
“I think it’s like you said,” Val answers.
And what did the good doctor say?
“Trust?” the doc clarifies.
“Yes.” Valentine’s answer is a whisper. But I hear it in my soul.
“Trust makes a huge difference in learning to let go with a partner,” the doctor says, like it’s simple. Like trust between two people is something that happens every day. “Does this have anything to do with those tattoos I saw on your hand?”
“Yeah.” Val huffs. “I got drunk and married the guy.”
“Good.”
I can’t see the laptop screen, so I can’t see the therapist. But I can hear her smile.
“Good?” Val presses her hands to her cheeks again. “It’s been less than two months since we first met.”
“Time isn’t the defining factor of a relationship,” the doctor counters. “And you just said you have trust.”
I watch Val’s expression slip. “I trusted him.”
Trusted.
Past tense.
I lean even closer to the screen.
“Trust and love mean more than time.”
My wife’s lips part.
Is she going to admit she doesn’t love me?
She hesitates.
Or is it possible that she might? Even after everything I’ve done.
“I…” Val starts.
The front door unlocking cuts through what Val’s about to say, and I slam the laptop lid closed.
There’s only one person it can be, but I still pull the gun from the holster at the small of my back as I stride across the room.
The door swings open, and Rob steps into the condo.
Rob is my second cousin, as well as my second in command. He’s not quite as tall as I am, but he’s spent more time in the gym than most people I know, so you know he’s a formidable opponent before his first punch.
He makes it a few feet before he sees me. The gun in my hand halts him in place. “What happened?”
“My wife lives here now. You won’t just let yourself in again.”
He smirks. “Afraid I might see more than you want me to?”
“More than you want you to.” I step closer. “Because if you ever see more than you should, your sight will be the first sense I take.”
He eyes me. “Alright, Boss. From now on, I knock.”
CHAPTER 39
Val
The heavy body sprawled across my back groans as my alarm blares from the nightstand.
“Turn it off.” The sleep-soaked voice scrapes across my nerves.
No one should sound so sexy the moment they wake up.
I reach out with my left hand to grab my phone, but I can’t reach it.
I stretch, but Dominic’s weight is pinning me in place.
Before I met Dom, when I’d go to sleep imagining a life where I had someone to share my bed, I’d picture myself cuddled cutely into the man’s side. His arm would be around my shoulders. I’d sleep with my head on his shoulder and my mouth closed, not drooling on his chest at all.
But no.
My sleep habits haven’t suddenly changed, so I’m still face down, probably snoring. And the mafia kingpin who drugged me into marriage doesn’t pull me into his side. He doesn’t spoon me with his arm around my waist. Nope. He starfishes his body over mine. Smashing me into the damn mattress.
And like everything else with Dom, I hate that I like it.
“Get off me,” I growl.
“It’s too early, Angel.” He nuzzles his face into my hair.
I can’t take it.
“Get. Off.” I twist and wedge my arms under myself, then push up with all my might, only getting up to my elbows.
Dominic groans but finally rolls off me. “Why are you up?”
I crawl out of the bed and turn my alarm off. “I told you. I’m going into the office today.”
“Right.” He drapes his arm over his eyes to fend off the morning sunrays.
I keep my gaze averted as I hurry around the bed and into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me.
I’ve taken to sleeping in pants and long sleeves to minimize the chance of sex. But Dominic sleeps in nothing but his damn boxers. And I don’t need to start my day looking at our wedding vow inked above his dick.
Snatching my toothbrush off the counter, I accept that I’m in a bad mood.
Therapy always leaves me feeling a little wrung out. But yesterday was extra intense. And confusing. The discussion of trust and love really messed with my head.
Because I don’t want to trust Dom, just like I don’t want to like him. What he did to me was unforgivable. And it’s not like he’ll ever apologize. He told me he never does.
And looking back at all our conversations, with the privilege of hindsight, I see all the clues he dropped for me.
Little breadcrumbs for me to pick up and carry into his poisonous gingerbread house. The truth hidden behind sexy tattooed walls.
I brush my teeth a little harder.
He doesn’t deserve to have this hold on me.
It’s time for me to push back.
CHAPTER 40
Dom
Valentine’s footsteps signal her approach, and I lower my coffee mug.
She’s holding her laptop in one hand and the railing with the other as she walks down the stairs. Her eyes are busy watching where she’s going, so I can drink her in.
And drink her in is exactly what I want to do.
She’s wearing another pair of those high-ass wedge heels. This time in a bright red. And her skirt…
I use my free hand to adjust my dick.
I’ve seen her dresses, but this is different. It’s shiny, like leather, and it’s hugging her like it’s fucking painted on.
It has to be stretchy—to allow her to walk. But it ends at her knees, and I want to shove it up to her hips so I can see if she’s wearing anything underneath.
Her top is bright white. Some sort of flowy silk material that she’s tucked into her skirt. And it’s…
It’s low.
It’s cut really fucking low.
Or maybe it’s just her big tits that make it seem that way.
Val takes the last step down, brushing her hair back from her face and straightening her clothes before she spots me.
I watch her do a second take at the large TV in the middle of the living room, probably wondering where it came from. So I hit the button to lower it back into the floor. I won’t be able to concentrate on watching anything after she leaves.
“Sneaky.” She nods to the disappearing television.
“Valentine, what are you wearing?” I stand from the couch.
She looks down. “What’s wrong with it?”
There’s a slight hesitancy in her tone that I don’t like.
“Nothing’s wrong with it, Wife. You just look like the secretary in the beginning of a porno.”
She narrows her eyes at me.
Rob clears his throat from the kitchen, catching our attention.
Right.
I hold a hand out toward my second. “Val, this is Rob. He’ll be driving you to and from work today.”
Something in Valentine’s stance tells me she’s annoyed. But I’m not quite sure what about. There’s no way she knows about me spying on her session yesterday. And I got called out to check a lead last night. She was asleep by the time I got home, so it’s not like we had an argument.
She looks at Rob, then back at me. “At least you got me someone hot to look at.”
I think my mouth might drop open.
Did she just call Rob hot?
My traitor of a second coughs to cover his laugh. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Please.” Val walks toward Rob. “Call me Mistress.”
This time Rob does laugh.
“The fuck he will,” I snap, moving toward the kitchen. “If anyone calls you that, I’ll slice out their tongues.”
Val pauses at the island to slip her laptop into her backpack, then rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” I repeat.
And then, as she’s zipping up her bag, I see it.
“You want to play, Wife. We’ll play.” I cut the distance between us in a matter of strides.
She tries to back away from me, but I catch her around the waist, slamming her front to mine.
“What are you—”
I grab her left wrist and lift her hand. “No.”
She tugs against my hold, causing her makeup-covered ring finger to wave in my face. “Dominic—”
“No, Valentine. I gave you a choice. And since you won’t wear my ring, you will wear my name.”
Her jaw clenches. “I have to go to the office.”
“Yeah. And the people at your office will know who you belong to, just like the rest of the fucking world. Now wash it off.”
I’m furious.
And impressed with her defiance.
And more than a little turned on.
Val’s nostrils flare, and I’m excited for her answer before she even gives it.
“No.”
I smirk. “Wrong answer.”
Then I lift her.
“Dominic!” Her feet dangle a foot above the ground as I walk us around the island. “Put me down.”
I ignore her.
“Dominic. Seriously—”
She cuts off when I slide her down my body. I know she can feel how hard I am. “Press my buttons, Wife, and you’ll pay the consequences.”
Before she can retort, I spin her around and press my hips against her ass, my feet on either side of her own, pinning her to the counter.
“I can do it.” Her voice is breathy now.
“You had your chance.” I keep one arm wrapped around her, high enough that her breasts are resting on top of my forearm. With my other arm, I reach out and turn the water on.
I leave my fingers under the stream, waiting for the water to get warm, then I fill my palm with soap.
“Give it here.”
Her ribcage expands under my hold, but on her exhale, she submits and places her hand in mine.
I release my hold of her waist so I can lather the soap, her hand between mine.
Then I carefully wash the makeup off. The stuff she used did a good job of covering the ink, but it washes away easily enough.
When it’s clean, I turn the faucet to cool, then hold her finger under the stream. “You’re going to irritate the skin using crap like that on a fresh tattoo. I can get the ointment if you want to put it on before you leave.”
Val shakes her head, and her breath hitches.
I have one awful second to think that she might be crying, but then her ass shifts against me as she rubs her thighs together.
I lean against her a little harder.
She wants me.
I need to remind her how much.
CHAPTER 41
Val
My reflection stares back at me in the elevator doors, and I want to button my shirt up to my neck.
I’ve been to the office before, and I knew today would be a bit much—because I knew the girls on the conference call yesterday would spill the beans about me marrying Dominic. And I knew the tattooed finger would become a big deal. But I didn’t expect my boss to act so slimy.
Mr. Ritz has always been a little… too friendly. Pushing that line between being socially awkward and something you would report to HR. But today—
I run my hands down the sides of my skirt.
Maybe it was my fault for wearing something more formfitting than usual, but you’d think being recently married would put me in the off-limits category. I mean, every employee should be in that category for Mr. Ritz anyway, but his looks today were more like leers. And more than once, he stood too close to me, and I swear he looked down my shirt.
Rob is standing silently at my side, and I open my mouth to ask him if I should tell Dom about it.
But then I shut my mouth.
If I ask Rob, he’ll tell Dom. And I’m not entirely certain Dominic wouldn’t kill my boss.
In fact, I’m fairly certain Dominic would kill him.
And even though I’m beginning to believe that Mr. Ritz is a sleazeball, I’m not sure he deserves death.
The elevator opens, and I step out ahead of Rob.
I don’t know if he’s been told not to talk to me, but he was silent on the ride to and from work, so I keep up the trend.
All I want is to go upstairs, put on sweatpants, and scream into my pillow for a bit.
Since I get to the door first, I put my hand on the security screen and wait for the sound of it unlocking, then I walk through.
I make it four steps into the condo before I freeze at the same time Rob says “Oh shit” under his breath.
Because standing in my kitchen is a woman. Practically a girl since she looks younger than me. With long black hair, a crop top showing off a trim waist, and leggings so tight I’m surprised she can breathe.
I let my backpack slide off my shoulder.
Rob catches it before it can land on the ground, but I don’t care.
“Who the fuck are you?” I snap.
My feet are killing me, but I’m not about to show weakness in front of this woman, so I keep my shoes on as I stride toward her.
She stops what she’s doing, her eyes going wide as she watches me. “Um, I’m making dinner.”
I refuse to think about how delicious it smells in here.
If Dominic thinks he can hire some sexy woman to make me jealous… Well, it’s working.
“You’re home.” Dom’s voice fills the great room, and my head snaps to the side to see him walking out from the lower hallway in nothing but workout shorts.
Sweat is dripping from his body. His chest is still rising and falling in a way that says he literally just stopped working out.
And he’s letting this random woman see him like this. Practically naked.
“What are you doing?” I hiss.
He runs a hand over his head, and my belly clenches. Because I remember doing that.
“Just gonna go grab a shower,” he says casually, then starts to jog up the stairs. When he reaches the top, he pauses. “Oh, I’m out of towels up here. Could one of you bring some up? I’ll leave the door open.”
Then he’s gone. Disappeared down the hallway toward our bedroom, where he’s going to leave the door open so one of us can bring it to him.
