Chapter 10 - A Healing Touch
It was harder than she thought.
Makayla’s salvation had always been work, so part of her truly believed that going back to her jobs would be the key to helping her forget all that she had lost.
It was shocking - in three months, she’d nearly forgotten the exhaustion of a lifetime. Suddenly, two shifts in three days drained all of her strength, and it was all she could do to get up the next morning.
Even if there was a few hour stretch when she didn’t have work, she spent it in her room, staring at the ceiling, wondering why she had ever allowed herself to believe that everything was going to be alright. When her letter from Columbia came, it was like a fire had been lit inside her. She suddenly had a clear path to her dreams and she knew that if she could just find a way to get to New York, then everything would be clear.
But when she arrived there, things had only gotten more muddled.
Dominic made everything confusing.
With him, down was up and up was down - he turned every feeling she had on its head, challenged her to move beyond what she’d ever believed herself capable of, and, for just a little while, he had allowed her to believe that it wasn’t her past that defined her.
Now, she knew just how foolish she had been.
Makayla should be happy with her lot in life - happy that she had her jobs back and she was living with Melody. It would take time, but she would heal. She might not ever get to be a doctor, but she could be good at what she did. She was always good at what she did - even if she didn’t do much.
Even if she came to terms with this, it would still be hard to think about Columbia. She’d come so close to getting what she wanted - to sharing it with a man she believed in...and then, just like that, the rug had been ripped out from beneath her.
It could have been worse - at least, that’s what she told herself. In reality, Makayla didn’t know if there were many worse things in the world than the memory of the fury on Dominic’s face when he’d confronted her. Beneath that fury, there was hurt - such hurt that he had tossed her out rather than attempt to face it.
And she had no one to blame for that but herself. She had kept secrets from him - and she had hoped that who she could be was enough without who she had been.
Now, she would have to live with that.
At a soft knock on her door, she turned to see Melody poking her head in. “Hey, Kayla.” Her smile was mild and careful. “I saw your schedule on the fridge. If you don’t have a shift until later on, I thought maybe we could go for a walk?”
The dark-skinned woman wanted to stay inside and shut herself away from the world - but she knew that would only make her more miserable. Besides, Melody’s tone sounded so hopeful that she couldn’t bear to turn her down.
“Ok. Gimme a sec.”
She tugged open her closet to extract her beat-up converse. She had long thrown out everything Dominic bought her. It was harder to have reminders of him - and besides, when was she ever going to wear clothes that cost more than she made in a week? She didn’t need them anymore.
In short order, she joined Melody outside, and the blonde woman took her hand, entwining their fingers before she eyed Makayla in question. “This Ok?”
The dark-skinned woman nodded wordlessly, and allowed Melody to lead her outside and to a nearby park.
It was a gorgeous day outside, the sun shining bright overhead and the air warm. Makayla knew that, around this time in New York, it would have begun to snow.
For about twenty minutes, she walked alongside Melody in silence. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice when the woman beside her halted until she tugged at her arm. Makayla raised her head to look over at her friend in inquiry, and she found Melody eying her with a strange, apologetic smile. “What?” She inquired, raising her free hand to her face. “What is it?”
Melody expelled a long sigh before letting go of Makayla’s hand. “Don’t hate me, ok?”
Kayla gazed at her in confusion. “Hate you? Why would I hate you?”
“Because she brought me.”
Makayla froze, all the breath whooshing from her lungs.
Oh God.
Oh God.
She couldn’t turn around. She wouldn’t let herself. If she did…
“Makayla, please.” Dominic’s voice was just as low and silky as she remembered. “Look at me.”
She couldn’t breathe - even as her heart hummed against her ribs so fast she thought she might faint. “I can’t.” The words left her on the barest of whispers. “I can’t.”
“You can.” Melody encouraged her, her voice soft. “Look at him, Kayla.”
It was the hardest thing she’d done, turning from the blonde’s quietly encouraging gaze to face the man who had torn her heart from her chest.
She wanted to be angry, she wanted to cry - but instead, she found that all she could do was stare.
God, he was beautiful - standing there in a pair of slacks and a sweater with a long trench coat, his dark hair now almost brushing his shoulders. It must have been ages since he’d cut it. When she dared to meet his gaze, the longing she found there took her breath away. “Kayla...Melody told me. She told me everything. And I realize what an absolute fool I’ve been.”
Makayla drew in a sharp breath, blinking back tears. “I should have trusted you like you trusted me. I was so wrapped up in my own world that I didn’t let myself open up to you...not completely. I know what I did...how I touched you...it was horrible, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself, but I’m hoping maybe you can forgive me. I...I want you back in New York.”
The young woman closed her eyes in disbelief, a single tear snaking down her cheek. “No, that’s not true.” Dominic shook his head and her eyes popped open in shock. “I need you there. Things aren’t the same without you. Brett and Sophia miss you...the house feels empty without you...and I miss you.”
Slowly, she began to shake her head. She couldn’t go back. Not to pretend with him. What would happen when the four years were up? If he decided he was through with her before then? Would he toss her aside just as he’d tossed her aside this time? Makayla knew she wouldn’t be able to bear it. Not again.
“Look, Makayla.” She looked down to see him holding the contract she’d signed in his hand. By this time, she thought he might have destroyed it. She wasn’t very glad to see it - at least, not until Dominic raised it to tear in half with relish, drawing a low gasp from her. “If you come back to New York,” he told her, letting the two halves flutter to the ground, “It will be for real. We’ll be for real.”
“Dominic, I can’t.” The words came out of her mouth even as her heart leapt at the prospect. “I’m not who you want me to be. I’m not fancy and cultured - I can’t. That world just isn’t me.”
“I’m not asking you to go back to that.” He replied, his voice low. “I’m asking you to come back to me. I love you, Makayla. Don’t make me live without you.”
She sobbed. She couldn’t help it. When she covered her face with her hands, she felt him grasp her wrists and pull them away. He was standing in front of her - so close he was all she could see. When he spoke, his mouth quirked upwards in the barest hint of a smile. “Is that a yes?”
A burst of laughter bubbled from her. For the life of her, Makayla couldn’t understand how she could cry and laugh at the same time. This was his fault. All his fault. When she finally composed herself, she spoke, her tone surprisingly steady. “On one condition.”
“Anything,” he replied without hesitation. “Name it.”
“Make love to me.” In that instant, it was all she wanted. “Right now.”
In a smooth motion, she was lifted off from her feet and tossed over his shoulder. The action drew a small yelp of surprise from her as he turned and began to stride from the park. Melody merely watched them go, teary eyed, as she held her hand to her ear and mouthed for Kayla to Call her.
Even at times like this, no one could stop Melody from being Melody.
“Dominic!” She gasped as he hitched her higher on his shoulder. “Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer her, merely unlocking a silver rental car at the edge of the lot before shuffling her into the passenger seat. When he slid in next to her, she made to ask again, only to have the man cut her off with a long, lingering kiss that she felt in the most heated parts of her. He drew away with an indulgent lap at her lower lip before making a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “I assume you didn’t mean in the park.”
Makayla flushed darkly. “Of course not in the park!”
“We’re going back to my hotel.”
“But,” she pointed down the street, “My house is right down there...”
“Probably don’t want to keep Melody up all night. She’s pretty terrifying when she’s pissed.”
Makayla’s eyes widened. “What did you do to piss her off?”
The question made Dominic’s gaze soften. “Something I’ll never do again.” With that, he put his foot down on the gas and proceeded to head downtown like a bat out of hell.
It seemed to take an eternity to reach his hotel, but once the elevator doors closed behind them, Dominic pressed her against the nearest wall, his mouth sealing over hers once more. Makayla arched up against his hard body, fire scorching through her system. “God, I missed you…” He whispered against her jaw before raining a storm of kisses down her throat. “I missed you.”
When they reached the thirtieth floor, he lifted her into his arms, hurrying into the penthouse suite.
Makayla didn’t have time to be impressed with the decor. Within seconds, she’d been swept into the bedroom and tossed onto coverlet. When Dominic yanked her converse from her feet before undoing the button of her jeans, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Eager, aren’t we? A month ago, I couldn’t get you to do me for the life of me.”
“A month ago, I was too worried about falling in love with you to let myself.” His words humbled her instantly, and she found herself jerking at his belt, and then the button of his slacks as he climbed onto the bed with her.
Makayla ran her hands up under his shirt, reveling in finally, finally being able to touch. To feel velvet over steel and indulge in his low groans - the way his breath hitched the moment she found a weak spot. She struggled to undo the buttons, sending them pinging all over the room as he crushed his mouth against her own.
When their mostly naked bodies slid against one another, the young woman arched against him, breathless with want. In response, Dominic lowered his head to take a nipple between his teeth and lavish with attention. Makayla moaned, her fingers tangling in his hair as she did everything she could to have him closer.
“Now,” She demanded lowly, reaching for his underwear to free his heated erection. It was almost scalding against her hand, hard and smooth, proudly arching into her touch. “Now, now, now.”
“Fuck, Kayla,” He hissed, groaning as she stroked over him needily. “Just let me touch you. Let me kiss you.”
“No!” She cried out as his hand slipped between her legs, edging up against her clit so she almost came then and there. “I want you inside me. You’ve touched me enough.”
But still, he tortured her, dipping his fingers down to find her hot, wet want and wanting. She was ready for him - more than ready. “Never enough…” He growled against her neck. “Never.”
But she was rubbing against him - mewling, pleading and begging until he finally hushed her with a lingering kiss, settling himself between her legs.
All at once, he was there - magnificent, stiff and heated against her outer folds, and Makayla felt not one iota of fear. “Yes…” She groaned, surging up to meet him. “Yes!”
He buried himself within her in one swift stroke and she cried out, seizing up around him almost immediately as she came. Dominic cursed, the cords in his neck standing out as he struggled not to follow her to oblivion.
When she finally began to breathe again, he started to move. Makayla’s fingers curled into his hips and she pressed back against his every thrust. It was more than she had ever imagined it could be - every inch of him filling every inch of her perfectly. With every long, exquisite thrust, her toes curled and she cried his name. “Dominic…” The words fell from her on a sob. “I love you. I loveyouIloveyouIloveyou…” It became a litany as he moved against her.
Every time he slid from her, she tugged him back - she needed him to fill her until she couldn’t think of anything else but him - of how much she needed him...and how much he needed her. Her lover growled her name against her neck, lowering his head to take a stiff nipple between his teeth as he raised one of her legs to drape over his shoulder.
The new position changed the angle of his thrusts completely and now, every time he entered her, he hit a spot that made her see stars. Makayla screamed - clutching at him wildly as pleasure consumed her. She lasted precious minutes more before another orgasm swept her away, her inner muscles tugging greedily at the intrusion within her. As she shuddered, Dominic shouted her name, pumping his hips against hers twice more before she felt the warm rush of his completion inside her.
In the aftermath, he kissed every part of her he could reach - her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks, her mouth. When his tongue plied against the peak of her breast, she moaned deliriously, her body giving a powerful contraction around him that made him groan. “Mercy, please…”
Dominic chuckled, his mouth finding hers once more. “No mercy - ever again. I’m going to send you to class exhausted every morning, so get used to it.”
His statement made her eyes widen. Class? She didn’t know that she could go to class. Makayla had imagined they had canceled her enrollment after she didn’t register for spring courses. At the longing look in her eye, Dominic merely smirked. “You don’t think you’d be coming back to New York just to ride me into the sunset, do you? I’ve spoken to a few people at the Medical school. As long as you register for spring classes in the next few days, they should have no problem taking you back.”
“Dominic…” Her eyes filled with tears for the second time that day, and it occurred to Makayla that she’d become an emotional mess in the space of a few hours. “I don’t know if I can ever thank you enough.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much.” He murmured against her jaw, placing a heated kiss there. “I’m sure I can think of something.”
She could already feel him hardening inside her again, and Makayla merely spread her thighs wider to have him deeper, drawing a sound of absolute satisfaction from deep in his throat. “We might not leave this bed for a while.”
“In time for registration, though.” At the reminder, Dominic smiled.
“Only just.”
Makayla’s eyes slid closed as he pulled almost completely out of her before sliding in once more, the motion drawing a shudder from her. “I love this.” She had never imagined that she might, but she was wrong. Dominic hadn’t only touched her physically, he’d touched her heart...and she had never been more grateful for anything in her life. “I love you.”
“And I love you, Doctor Price.”
At the title, she rolled her eyes. “Got a few more years for that.”
Dominic chuckled. “Oh, I don’t mind waiting. Right here.” When he pressed his hips against hers, the only response Makayla had was a low moan.
Neither of them spoke again for a very, very long time.