“Always taking care of other people’s needs, aren’t you?” His voice had gone quiet and serious.
“I…” Her face flushed. Just when she’d managed to convince herself that he was an insensitive jerk, he had to go and say something like that. Like he really cared about her, on a very deep level.
She cleared her throat. “I mean…it makes me happy to help other people. I want to see the people that I care about do well.”
“Nothing wrong with that. But if they have needs, can’t you have them too? Who takes care of your needs, Zoey?”
The words dried up in her throat.
“What do you need right now?”
“I don’t know,” she confessed. She could have said something snarky, like she needed to go home, but she couldn’t bring herself to lash out at Dominic when he exposed his tender side.
And she really didn’t know what she needed any more. Once upon a time she’d thought she needed to leave Encantado, but she had good friends there, and they couldn’t leave, so even if she could, she wouldn’t leave them behind – and she didn’t hate it here all the time. It was scary, it could be frustrating and challenging to navigate life in a portal city, but it was also magical and fascinating.
“I don’t know any more,” she said again, a sudden weariness pressing down on her.
“You look tense. I think what you need is a back-rub.”
His hands on her body, rubbing all the stress out? She shivered and hugged herself, and it took all of her strength to keep from squealing in excitement. “Well. I wouldn’t absolutely hate it.”
Dominic pretended to look hurt. “In the past, such an offer was received with considerably more enthusiasm.”
She let him strip her clothing off and lay face down on his bed. He straddled her, and rustled around in the night-stand, and a minute later, she felt him dripping oil onto her back. Then his huge, strong hands began kneading her, and she moaned in pleasure. It went on and on, as he squeezed and rubbed the tension from her muscles. She could feel her body melting into the mattress. She couldn’t have moved if all the ghouls in Encantado were swarming into her room.
Finally, he slid off the bed. He took his clothes off, folding them neatly and setting them on top of his dresser, as she watched. And what a view. Broad chest, a six pack that looked as if it had been carved in marble, a thick, dark thatch of pubic hair, and a thick erect cock that rested against his stomach as it pointed straight up at the ceiling.
Dominic walked over to the bed…closer, closer…her breath caught in her throat…
And he lay down next to her, and…took her in his arms.
“Good night, Zoey,” he said, kissing her lips very lightly. His erection pressed into her thigh, but he didn’t make a move. She lay there, light headed with desire, feeling his chest rise and fall.
Finally, she cleared her throat. “That’s it?” she said. “You could…I mean…” Damn it, was he going to make her beg?
“Nope,” he said stubbornly. “I am going to show you that I want you for much more than your gorgeous body. I wanted to spend time with you tonight. Just to be with you. And that’s what we’re going to do. No matter how much pain I’m in from restraining myself.”
“And how much pain is that exactly?” She hoped it was a lot, because she ached so hard for him that she wanted to grab an ice pack and shove it between her legs.
“On a scale of one to infinity? Infinity, and beyond.” Then he grumbled. “You don’t have to smile quite so loudly.”
“You can not hear me smile!” she protested.
“I have mad skillz, sweetheart. Over time, you will learn about all of them.”
They lay there like that for hours. He was too stubborn to make the first move, and she was too proud to beg.
Finally she gave in. “Damn it, you stubborn son of a bitch, if you don’t have sex with me right now, I am going to make you regret it.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
“You thought I’d never – you bastard!”
In one swift move, he slid on top of her, his heavy weight pinning her to the mattress. “True, but I’m the bastard who’s going to be your mate.”
He began feathering her with soft kisses, his lips brushing ever so lightly over her skin.
“I love your freckles,” he murmured, pressing his mouth against the dots. She shivered in pleasure.
