Dressed in nothing but the black button-down I found hanging in the bathroom, I swing the door open, my towel-dried hair already soaking through the cotton shirt.
Dom is still in the bed, but he’s on his back now, lounging against a pile of pillows with his hands behind his head, blanket around his hips, and his naked torso on display.
My mouth opens and closes.
How is this man real?
Dom’s stomach muscles bunch as though my gaze is affecting him like a touch, and I force my eyes up his body.
I open my mouth again, but I don’t know what to say.
There are tiny bits, just seconds, here and there, of memories.
I remember standing somewhere with Dom.
Remember leaning into him. But did we really…?
Dom raises his brows and lifts one of his arms. His left arm. Which he holds in front of him, showing me the thick gold band circling his ring finger.
I shakily raise my hand, diamond facing him.
“We got married,” I squeak.
“We got married.” Dominic, calm as ever, nods his head at my hand. “At least we did it with style.”
I turn my hand back over so I can see the sparkly side. “I…” A laugh bubbles out of me. “Did we seriously do this?”
“We seriously did.”
My eyes bounce back and forth between my diamond and my… husband. My newly wedded husband who seems way too calm.
I drop my hand. “How did this happen?”
“If memory serves, there’s a chapel just a few doors down from the Thai place we were at.” He lifts a shoulder. “I’m guessing drinks, talking about family and good women, may have caused us to be a bit rash.”
“A bit?!” Panic threads through my words. “Dominic, we got married.”
He smirks. “Yeah, we did. Now get over here, wife.”
“Dominic, I need you to be serious.”
“I’m deadly serious, Angel. Now get the fuck over here so we can talk face-to-face.” Dom flips back the blanket so he can sit up. And my mouth goes dry.
He’s wearing boxers. Only boxers. But they’ve ridden up.
And sweet Jesus… His thighs.
I knew they’d be strong and thick with muscles, but seeing them is different from sitting on them. Because they’re also tattooed.
His juicy thighs are fucking tattooed.
I’ve wondered how far down Dominic’s tattoos went. And now I know.
They go all the way down.
More symbols and designs trail from under his boxers, circling his legs down to his ankles.
Dominic pats my empty spot on the mattress, breaking my stare.
The bed hardly feels like safe territory, especially with him looking like that, but my legs are getting cold. And I might be a little insane, but I’m not dead.
I glance at my ring once more, then cross the distance to the bed.
I’m careful as I situate myself, keeping the front of his shirt down as I sit cross-legged facing him. The length is enough to cover the fact that I’m not wearing underwear.
Dom turns so we’re facing each other. “Valentine, remember what I told you about apologizing?”
His question isn’t what I’m expecting, so it takes a moment for me to reply. “You said you never do it.”
Dom nods. “I also don’t lie. And I won’t start doing either now and pretend I’m sorry we did it.” He settles his hand over mine, his thumb nudging the big diamond.
“But…” Why can’t I think of a single argument for why this is crazy? “But we don’t even know each other.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t do that. We might have rushed the process. Or skipped most of the process altogether. But we know each other. Tell me we don’t.”
My eyes bounce back and forth between his, and I can see how serious he is.
I reach out with my right hand, setting it over his left.
My pointer finger feels the realness of the ring he’s wearing.
“We know each other,” I admit quietly, because it’s true. “I’ve told you more than I’ve told anyone in… a long time.” The month plus of daily texting is more of a relationship than I think I’ve ever had.
“I know. And I talk to you more than I talk to anyone in my family.”
I keep my eyes on his ring because the next thought I have is one I can’t voice. One I won’t.
Because what about love?
My heart squeezes.
I just want love.
Real love.
I want to get married because of love.
I bite my lip.
Just because we don’t have it right at this moment doesn’t mean we won’t be able to find it together.
He’s a good man.
Dom is a good man. And his relationships with his family prove he’s capable of love.
And if he doesn’t want to fight this, why should I?
I raise my eyes. “So what do we do?”
He slides his hand onto my bare knee. “First, we consummate.”
I raise my brows as my cheeks warm. “Consummate? Do people really still call it that?”
He moves his other hand from below mine to my bare thigh. “I’m traditional when it comes to marriage.”
“How so?” I breathe out as he slides his hands higher.
“A marriage isn’t real until consummation.”
His thumbs brush under the edge of his shirt.
“What else?”
“A marriage makes you family.”
My poor lonely heart squeezes so hard it almost pops.
“I like that,” I whisper.
Dom gives my legs a little squeeze, then he slides his grip higher, not stopping until his thumbs press into that soft crease at the top of my thighs. “I believe in loyalty. And trust. And living together.”
My eyes were sliding closed until that last part. “Living together?”
“Living together.” He yanks me forward as he shifts onto his knees.
I let out a sound of surprise, which gets knocked out of my lungs when Dom uses a hand on my chest to shove me back onto the mattress.
He braces himself over me. “I’m not marrying a wife this fucking sexy and then letting her live six hours away.”
My legs automatically widen, allowing room for his hips. “You want me to move to Chicago?”
Dominic lowers his face until it’s just above mine. “I’m afraid I’m going to demand it.”
“But what if…” I press my hands against his bare chest.
“What if what, Shorty? What if we don’t get along? We do.” He drops his hips, and I groan. “What if we don’t fit?” He presses his weight into me. “We fit together perfectly. And if you need space, my place is big. You can have your space.”
He makes it sound so easy. So possible.
Dom is making me believe we can make this work. That we can make this crazy drunken we’ve only known each other for a month and a half thing work.
And goddammit, I want it.
I want him.
I want a chance to build the future I’ve barely dared to dream of.
Dom shifts, brushing his lips against my ear. “But most importantly, Valentine, when you move in with me, you’ll spend every night in my bed.”
Heat washes through me, a blend of desire and need as I arch into him.
“Okay,” I pant.
“Okay?”
I grip his sides. “Yes. I’ll move to Chicago.”
“And?” Dom inhales against my cheek.
“And I’ll sleep with you.” Dominic chuckles, and I correct myself. “I’ll share your bed.”
He shifts his weight to one elbow, the other hand working to unbutton his shirt that I’m wearing. “Our bed.”
“Our bed,” I repeat, and emotion clogs my throat.
His fingers free the last button, and he parts the fabric, revealing my nakedness.
“My Angel.” Dom skims his fingers down between my breasts, down my belly, and into my curls. I have a second to wonder if he’ll want me to shave it off, but then he groans. And I know he likes me how I am.
“Dom.” I lift my hips against him.
He lowers his face to my throat, breathing me in. “I love that you smell like me.”
“Dom,” I plead.
“I wonder if you smell like me everywhere.”
“Please!” I cry, no longer able to take his teasing.
“Please what?”
“Please do more.”
“You want more, Mama? You want me to give you more?” My hips lift just as Dom slides his hands lower. His fingers glide against me, my body ready for his. “Always so fucking wet for me.”
I am. I always am.
Then he’s lifting off me. All the way off the bed.
“Where are you…” Dominic shoves his boxers off, and my words fade into a moan.
That. I want that.
I’ve felt it. I’ve had it inside me. But seeing his cock like this makes my mouth water.
“I was gonna go slow with you. Spend some time with my tongue in your pussy. But now you have to wait for that.” He kneels on the end of the bed. “Because you begging me for more is my breaking point. And I want to bury my cock in this sweet little pussy right now.”
My pulse is going so wild I can’t reply. I just hold my arms up, welcoming him into my embrace.
He drops down on top of me. His big body over mine is instantly comforting.
We’ve never been like this. This open. This naked. This together.
I slide my hands up to grip the back of his neck, digging my nails into his skin when the blunt head of his cock presses against my entrance.
I pull him toward me.
“What do you need?” he asks, his voice deeper than I’ve ever heard.
“I need you to kiss me.”
He does.
Dominic lowers his mouth to mine, and the soft caress of his lips is exactly what I wanted.
His mouth moves against mine, just a little, and he pushes his hips forward. Just a little.
He moves so slow. Just one more inch.
His lips part against mine.
One more inch.
I lick into his mouth.
He groans, but he doesn’t move quicker.
Our mouths seal together.
Another inch.
And my body is ready to take all of him.
I need all of him.
I need us to consummate.
I scrape my fingers up the back of his head. “Husband, please.”
His whole body shudders, and he tips his head back into my hand.
“Wife,” he growls, then presses his lips back against mine.
And he presses his hips forward.
Inches blur together until I’m full. Full and moaning and clawing to hold him closer.
He moves, his length sliding in and out of me, his chest heaving above me, my hands everywhere they can reach.
He slides his hand between us. His fingers circle my bundle of nerves, his slippery fingers working me over.
His mouth leaves mine and presses against my ear. “Come for me.” His hips rock forward. “Come on this cock. Show me what a good little wife you can be. Show me how I make you feel.”
I’m so lost to the sensations, so lost to him, that it just takes one more pass. One more circle of his fingers, and I’m coming apart, just like he asked.
