Chapter Twenty-Two

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Dominic

 

 

 

I’d been back from my assignment at the festival for almost a week when I got called into Thomas’ office. I’d actually been called in once before so he could question me over the Davis situation, and I still didn’t know exactly what the fallout would be from that. When you work for a big corporation, you don’t hear shit until they have a reason to let you know, even if it directly concerns you. And, walking into Thomas’ office, I figured that’s what this was. The fallout. The verdict. I held my head up high and sat down across from Thomas with relaxed ease, as if I didn’t have a worry in the world. Sometimes I was so good at this I almost convinced myself.

“Dom,” he nodded, shuffling papers in his hand as he looked up at me. I was pretty sure there wasn’t anything important in those papers. Managers always made it look like they were busy with something when you came in; it was just ingrained in them. “How’s it going?”

“Great. Glad to be back and off house duty, to be honest.”

He nodded. “I know that wasn’t your favorite assignment, but I appreciate you stepping in on such short notice and getting the job done with no complaints. You’ve shown initiative and smart decision-making skills, even in less than ideal situations. I want you know it hasn’t escaped anyone’s notice, especially the boss.”

Well, this was off to a good start. “Thank you. I hope you’ll consider me for any future projects that come up. Whether I enjoy them or not isn’t really relevant. I like the challenge of something new.”

“I know you do. And I know we can always count on you to get the job done. I knew that when I recommended you for the Leah job, and you didn’t disappoint me. That’s why I called you in here. Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush or smooth talk you anymore. I think you know by now that Davis has resigned. It wasn’t easy for any of us, but it has left an opening that I’d like to move you into. Would you be interested in that?”

For a second I actually found myself speechless. I was half expecting to get fired, or at least reprimanded for the way things had gone at the festival, and instead he was offering me a promotion? “Yes,” I said. “Absolutely, I’d be interested in that.”

Thomas nearly cracked a smile, which was a rare sight. “Good. I was hoping you would be. In this position you’ll be a Senior Security Specialist, and you’ll be over the rest of the security team. They’ll report directly to you, and you’ll report to me. I understand you’ll be starting vacation next week, but I’d like to start transitioning you into your new role as soon as you get back. How does that sound?”

I was still a bit stunned, but my answer came with no thought. “Sounds perfect. I can’t wait.”

He went through some of the overviews of the job, such as training and salary – my promotion would increase my annual salary by over twelve thousand dollars – and I sat back and let it all wash over me. Now I might actually be able to afford a place on my own after Ethan and Sean got married. This could not have been better timing. But even through my excitement, there was a niggling sensation in my gut that I couldn’t get rid of. If they knew what had really gone down at the festival, I doubt I’d be getting promoted. There was no reason I should come clean about it – no one in my position would – but it definitely managed to put a damper on the whole thing. Once I wouldn’t have cared, but now my thoughts kept circling back to the fact that I was accepting this promotion under dishonest circumstances, and it bugged me.

But, still, I took it.

They announced my promotion on Friday, which was when they sent out any big notices. If any of the other team members had any resentment over it, they hid it well. I spent the day getting emails with cat memes wishing me congratulations, and a couple of the guys took me out for lunch. I already felt a slight shift in the way some of them acted with me. They joked around like normal but there was a hesitation to it, like they were feeling things out. For my part, I acted normal, not ready to think about how much our dynamic would eventually change.

Two days before my flight home, Leah texted out of the fucking blue. I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since the week before, but I’d tried to put her at the back of my mind as much as I could. Which was damn near impossible. I’d gotten used to having her around over the summer, and I missed seeing her. Obviously the physical stuff that happened between us had been amazing, but I missed her. I missed our banter and the way she had no problem calling me out on my bullshit. I missed trying to make her laugh, and the way it felt when she did. Honestly, I missed just talking with her. Everything had felt bland and dull since getting back to the city, and I knew it was because she wasn’t around.

She told me about her apartment and when she would return to school, and then she texted, So, can we hang out before I go? Or is that a bad idea? I don’t know. I just want to see you and say goodbye.

Yes, it was a bad idea. Obviously. But it was fucking unthinkable that she’d be going back to school and moving into a new place and I wouldn’t even get to see her first. I wouldn’t get to see her again, maybe for a long time, and that prospect really sucked.

Yeah, I finally responded, like an idiot. I’ll come get you but not at home. Can I meet you somewhere? It would take forever to drive out to Scarsdale, but I could hardly have O’Neil or someone driving her to my apartment in Brooklyn. The fact that we had to sneak around further illustrated what a bad idea this actually was.

So I made the drive out to pick her up from the swanky little restaurant she’d named, and she was sitting outside at a patio table when I pulled up, drinking what looked like a smoothie. Her face lit up when she saw me pull in, and any residual bad feelings over the whole sneaking around thing went out the window, just like that. My eyes devoured her as she walked over to the passenger door to get in. Wearing a sleeveless yellow top with a low cut front, and these slim, curve-hugging gray pants, she looked classy and sexy at the same time. It was a far cry from the outfits of shorts, bikinis, and loose dresses she’d worn at the festival.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly, after climbing in and shutting the door behind her. It was adorable the way she blushed for no reason and smiled at me with a shyness I thought I’d already burned past a few orgasms ago. “How are you?”

I shifted to back out of the spot I was parked in. “Officially on vacation, so I can’t complain.”

“Oh, yeah. You’d said you were taking vacation. Are you going back to Chicago?”

“Yeah, leaving tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s exciting. I’m glad I texted you when I did or I might have missed you. I feel bad making you come out so far, though.”

“If you’ll remember, I’ve traveled much greater distances for you, so…this is really nothing.”

She laughed softly. “Oh, yeah. You got on a plane to come get me before. I can’t believe I had you all to myself for two days and I didn’t even take advantage of it.” She sounded almost wistful as she said this, and I gave a quick smile, trying to hide the effect her words had on me.

“Why? What would you have done?” Why the fuck did I just ask that? I really didn’t want to know the answer. And, also, I was dying to know the answer.

“Hmm…well, let’s just say I might have used those cuffs on you.”

There was no hiding my reaction to that, and she laughed at the stunned expression on my face. “Are you actually trying to kill me? Is that the purpose of this little escapade?”

“No,” she said, and I could still hear the smile in her voice. “I just wanted to see you. I feel so restless these days. Like I can’t wait to get school over with and just get on with my life.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry. This is your last year before you go out and become a corporate drone. Enjoy it. You might miss it someday.”

“I might. But all I can think about is what lies beyond. Next summer I think I want to travel somewhere. Like to Denmark or something.”

“Why Denmark?”

“I don’t know. I love the architecture there. And the people always seem so happy. It would be a better experience culturally than going to a tropical island.” Her voice flattened when she said this last part, but when I glanced over, her face was blank and staring straight ahead.

“Denmark seems like a good choice, I guess. They have a good government. That’s why they’re always happy.”

We spent a few more minutes idly discussing the attributes of Denmark before the conversation shifted back to her apartment. “That’s another reason I’m restless,” she said. “I want to start moving in like now. I keep thinking he’s going to change his mind.”

“I keep thinking he’s going to find out about us,” I said. It was something I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about, and she was the only one I could really talk to about it. “Did you know I got Davis’ job?”

Her eyes widened. “Really? No, I didn’t know. That’s a big deal.”

“Yeah, it is. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m psyched. But I feel maybe five percent shitty about it. If your dad knew what really happened on that trip, I doubt he’d be handing out apartments or promotions quite as easily.”

“He’s not going to find out. And there’s no reason to feel shitty about it. What happened was between us. It’s not even remotely his business.”

“Except I’m his employee, so I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t see it that way.”

“So tell him,” she said, with a challenge in her voice. “Then you won’t need to feel guilty about it anymore.”

“Because I’d be too busy looking for a new job,” I shot back. Then, searching for some way to lighten the subject again, I said, “I’m sure this morality shit will go away. I don’t even think it is morals. More like a fear of getting caught.”

“Well, I won’t say anything.” Her voice sounded flat when she said this, almost annoyed. “Even if he does find out, there won’t be any way to prove it.”

“Except for some photos on your phone? Did you delete those, by the way?”

“Yes. I told you I would. I’ve been putting my summer photo project together, and it’s been fun looking through all the pictures I took. I hadn’t looked back on them until I started.”

For the rest of the drive, we stuck with innocuous topics such as Leah’s photo project, and when we finally got near my neighborhood we stopped and got pizza because neither of us had eaten lunch yet. Then Leah wanted to see my apartment, and I kind of hesitated.

“Come on. I want to see where you live.”

“It’s really nothing special. It’s a tiny apartment I share with a bartender named Ethan.” I wasn’t embarrassed about where I lived, but Leah’s home was a mausoleum in comparison. There was really nothing that would impress her about my place.

“Please? I don’t really want to be out anywhere. I’d rather have privacy so we can hang out and talk. Is Ethan home?”

“Doubt it. He wasn’t when I left.”

“So let’s go.” She was already pulling me out of the pizza shop like the decision had been made, and I shrugged and gave in. Even though, in the back of my mind, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep my hands off her once I got her alone.

Back home, I gave her the tour by standing in place and pointing. “This is the front room, two feet behind you is the kitchen-slash-dining room, and then to your right there is the bathroom and two bedrooms.”

“Cute. I like it.” She bounced around and looked at everything, peeking into Ethan’s room, then mine, then the bathroom. Not stopping or standing still for more than a couple seconds. I didn’t know why she was acting so nervous, but when she went into the kitchen and opened the fridge to peer inside, I couldn’t take it anymore. I came up behind her just as she stood up straight again, pressing my front to her back and caging her in with my arms when the fridge door fell shut. She inhaled sharply as I let my lips brush against her neck. “You still seem kind of restless. Come sit down.”

She turned in my arms and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning in and kissing her. I meant it to be something quick and casual, but then she moaned and kissed me back and it turned deep and dirty, fast. My hands gravitated to the curve of her ass, her arms wrapped around my neck, and we stood there in my kitchen and made out like a couple of horny teenagers. Any self-control I’d previously had was gone, and my hands roamed her body like it belonged to me. When my fingers tried to push into the back of her pants so I could feel her without clothes in the way, the material was too tight around the waist and so I worked one hand between us and pulled her button and zipper free in some base instinct to remove the obstacle in my way. But a new obstacle appeared almost instantly: her hand, stopping mine.

“Wait,” she breathed against my mouth. “Are we going to do this?”

“No,” I mumbled, moving down to kiss her neck.

“It’s just that…I mean, you’re leaving tomorrow. And I’m going back to school.”

Clenching my eyes shut for a second, I made myself go still against her. Even though I felt like I might actually die if we stopped, I lifted my head to meet her eyes. “Do you want to stop?”

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, and uncertainty flashed across her face. But then her eyes moved down to my lips and when she looked back up it was gone. She shook her head in a one soft movement.

“Thank God,” I said just before I took her mouth again in another deep, pulling kiss. She opened to me eagerly, but the uncertainty from just before still nagged at me, and I pulled back again. As much as I wanted her, I did not want to push her into anything she didn’t fully want. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she whispered. Her hands pulled away from me but it was only so she could push her pants down her legs, effectively finishing what I had started. Then she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside, and my mouth went dry as I looked at her standing there in tiny, lacy white panties and matching bra that cradled her gorgeous tits.

“I like your answer,” I said, hauling her back up against me and dipping my head so I could run my tongue up the line of her cleavage. She moaned, fingers sliding into my hair and clenching. The next few minutes were a blur of kissing and grabbing and pushing into each other until I managed to get her in my room and beneath me on my bed, and then my hand snaked under her so I could work the hooks of her bra free. As sexy as it looked on her, it had to go. With her breasts free, I circled my tongue around one of her nipples and said against her skin, “You are so fucking sexy.”

“Uhn,” she replied. I smiled in my head because my lips were busy, and I feasted on her while her fingers dug into my back. I wanted to put my mouth and tongue everywhere on her body.

That was actually a good idea. I yanked her panties off her legs and kissed my way down her stomach, but her thighs clenched around me and she started pulling me back up. Her hands flattened on my chest and pushed, while her body twisted to come over mine.

“Turn over,” she said.

I was a little disgruntled to have my plan intercepted, for about a minute, until I felt her tongue on my chest and her hand stroking my dick through my jeans. Okay. This was fine, too. I lay back and let her have her way, giving her some assistance in getting my jeans off but capable of doing nothing else once her hot mouth enveloped me. There was none of the shyness or hesitation from the last time she’d gone down on me; she swallowed as much of me as she could in one bob of her head and then I was lost to the wet pull of her mouth, the stroke of her tongue and fingers. I was conflicted because I wanted nothing more than to come down her throat, but I also wanted to fuck her and I didn’t know how much time we had before I had to get her back. And she hadn’t come yet. It was this that gave me the strength to pull free of her mouth and twist us both around so she was under me again. I held myself up on my arms so I could look down at her while I let my cock rub against her, teasing us both.

“You interrupted me,” she sighed, not bothering to sound upset about it.

“Just like you interrupted me,” I returned, leaning down to brush my lips against hers. “I didn’t get to taste your pussy and now it’s too late, because I’m going to die if I don’t get to fuck you right now.”

Her eyes clouded over with want, even as she tried to protest my words. “You’re dirty,” she said.

“I am.” I positioned myself at her entrance, the tip almost pushing inside. “Tell me you want it, too.”

“I want it,” she said, pushing her hips up, trying to get more of me.

Our words were low, the kind that vibrated from your throat and were weighted with hot, dirty intent. “No,” I said. “Say it all. Tell me you want me to fuck you.”

“Dom,” she said, like a protest. But I waited, desperate to hear just a little bit of filth come out of her mouth. “Please,” she moaned. “Fuck me. I want you to fuck me.”

Okay, there was no more time for playing around, or this would be over before it started. I plunged forward, burying myself to the hilt, loving the way she cried out when I did. And I don’t know if it was the dirty talk that inspired her, but she was almost animalistic as I fucked her, clawing at my back and biting my shoulder and squeezing my ass hard. And she was loud. God, it just about did me in. When I started groaning more dirty things into her ear, she cried out and came hard, clenching down around me and shaking from the force of it, and it was pretty much over for me then. I came right into the waves of the orgasm that was still coursing through her and it felt fucking amazing.

“Fuck,” was the only word I could articulate when it was over and I was still on top of her, inside her, and our bodies were sweaty and panting and clinging together.

“Yeah,” she sighed. Both arms were wrapped around me and her fingers gripped my skin, as if she didn’t want me to move even though I had to be crushing her.

Gently, I rolled off and collapsed onto my back, curling an arm under her and scooping her over so her body was right up against mine. She melted into me without protest, our skin hot against each other. We were both still breathing hard and it took us a minute to speak again.

“That was…fun,” she said, and then she laughed, something I felt in her body more than I heard it.

“That was fucking phenomenal,” I corrected. “When do you have to go home?”

“Kicking me out already?”

I huffed a laugh. “No. More like plotting to keep you as long as possible.”

Her smile lit up her entire face. “You don’t have to plot. I’m not trying to go anywhere. I’m not sure I could, anyway. I don’t think I can move.”

“Good. All part of my plan.”

She shifted in my arms so she could kiss my cheek, then her lips meandered to my neck. “I didn’t really come over for this,” she said.

“Don’t lie. You know you did.”

“I did not!” She sounded all indignant about it, which made me chuckle. She was so easy to mess with.

“What did you think we were going to do up here? Play Go Fish?”

“Hmm, well, I do like Go Fish. Do you have any cards?”

“Shut up,” I said, distractedly running my fingers across her stomach and then up the middle of her chest.

“My intentions were innocent. I just wanted to talk about stuff.”

“Stuff, such as…?”

“I don’t know.” She bit into her bottom lip and then sat up, pulling the sheet around her waist. “I know I said I wanted to say goodbye to you today. But I don’t think I want to. Say goodbye, I mean.”

I lifted myself up onto my elbows, noticing the way her face had shifted from relaxed and teasing to sincere and a little nervous. “What do you mean? I mean, I don’t want to, either. But you’re going back to school next week, and…”

“I know. It’s not that far away, though, and it’s only for another year. Then I’ll be living in New York. And I want you in my life. I guess that’s what I’m saying. I want to keep seeing you.”

The implications of this rotated through my head, and I exhaled before getting up to retrieve my jeans off the floor. “Hold on, I need clothes for this conversation.” I spotted my t-shirt next to my jeans and tossed it over to her, somehow remembering that her shirt and pants were still on my kitchen floor. She pulled the shirt over her head and I sat down next to her.

“So you’re saying you want to be in a relationship?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. And please don’t think I’m getting confused because we’ve had sex. I had feelings for you before anything ever happened between us. So, yeah, I guess I’m saying I want to be in a relationship with you. Or at least keep exploring whatever this is. I realize that may not be what you want, and that’s okay. I’m not expecting anything from you. I’m just being honest and laying it on the line. So, what do you think?”

I did not know what to think, or which reaction to pick out from the dozen or so I was feeling. There was amazement, gratitude, disbelief, apprehension, and a few other things I couldn’t even name. I didn’t know where to start. I don’t know why I chose to start where I did. “I don’t know what to think. Obviously, this is not just some meaningless hookup, but I don’t really see how we can continue things with where we’re at in our lives. We agreed this was going to be temporary for a reason, and you seemed okay with it.”

Something flickered in her eyes, like a guard coming down. “I never lied. I just started to feel differently. It’s okay, though. We don’t have to make a big thing about it. I just wanted to put it out there.” She started to move off the bed like the conversation was over, and I quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Wait. No. We’re not done. Stay here and talk to me.”

She stayed, though her jaw was set now and her eyes were wary. Fuck, what was happening? How had this gone from such an amazing experience to something that was unraveling so quickly I had whiplash?

“Leah. You know I like you. I’m actually kind of in awe right now, which is probably why I’m saying everything wrong. But there are so many things working against us on this. For one, I’m not going to be sneaking around. I hated even doing it today.”

Shaking her head, she said, “That’s not what I’m talking about. I don’t want to sneak around with you. I want to be together, so we don’t have to.”

“Which means your dad finds out. He’s not stupid, he’ll put together when it all started, and then I’ll be out a job I was lucky to get in the first place…”

“Leave my dad out of it,” she said, her eyes darkening. “Don’t use him as a barrier. My mother did that. If you don’t want to keep seeing me, just tell me.”

“It’s not that simple, and it’s not the same thing as your mother. He’s my boss, okay? This is my job.”

“Okay,” she said, shaking her head a little as if to say it didn’t matter. “Then that’s your choice. It’s fine, I’m not mad about it.”

“Don’t…” I started to say, then cut myself off with a heavy breath. “Don’t do that. Don’t act all fake nonchalant about it, and don’t act like I’m choosing some stupid job over you. I told you it’s not that simple. This is my career, and one I worked hard to get. Do you even get that? I didn’t have anyone to put me through a fancy school, and I don’t have a billionaire father to hand me a job if I need one. This is a decision that could severely impact my life in a negative way.”

“Whoa,” she said, kind of reeling her head back. In the next breath she got to her feet, and there was no stopping her this time. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this was such a life or death situation. Why were you even with me in the first place, then? What, it’s somehow okay when you’re fucking me in secret? You know, maybe that’s the reason you’ve been having so much guilt over your promotion. None of this has been okay. God, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“That’s pretty much my own thoughts right now. I shouldn’t have been doing any of this with you. I don’t have any business touching a girl like you, and you’re going to see that eventually.”

She leveled me with a look. “That’s what this is really about, isn’t it? You still think I’m some flaky, spoiled rich girl, and this is all just a whim. Right? Deep down, you don’t believe I could really have feelings for you. You don’t think enough of yourself, and you don’t think enough of me. And that’s just sad on all counts. God, forget this. I’m done.” She snatched her underwear off the floor and went to the kitchen to retrieve the rest of her clothes. I followed behind her, feeling dangerously close to the edge of emotions I did not want to be having.

“Don’t just leave it like this. We need to talk.”

“We’ve talked enough.”

Frustrated, I tried to intercept her journey to the door. “Then wait and let me get dressed so I can drive you home.”

She made a noise of disgust. “You’re crazy if you think I’m spending an hour inside a car with you right now.”

“I’m not just letting you walk out of here with no way home…”

At the door, she turned to me in one swift motion and held up a hand to block off my words. “Dom. If you have any care for me at all, don’t follow me out. I’m going to get a cab to my dad’s office, and someone there can drive me home.”

I exhaled heavily, hating the way this whole thing had gone but having no way to correct it. In the end, I had no choice but to let her go.