A Dominant Man (10 page)

“Do you need me to take you to the bedroom?”

“Yes,” I mumble softly.

He advances to my room and places me on the bed, taking off my
pants and blouse. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m half-alive, I would be embarrassed about wearing only my underwear and garter in front of him.

I swear I hear a gasp followed by a groan, but I can’t tell.

He puts me in my favorite old concert tee, which I wear whenever I’m experiencing a particularly heinous time in my life. He’s seen me wear it a million times, but it’s different when he’s the one putting it on me.

I lie down, and he tucks me in.

“Thank you,” I slur out.

“Get some sleep, kid. Sweet dreams.
”

“Will you cuddle with me?” I ask sleepily. “I don’t want to be alone while I fall asleep. Only for a few minutes, please.”

“Of course I can.”

He
removes his shoes and jacket, sliding in behind me, spooning me. I feel at peace as I drift into a calming, abysmal  sleep, cradled securely in his arms.

White Night

H
e’s walking away from me, taking everything with him. I tug at his hand, but it keeps slipping out of my grasp. I frantically pull at anything I can get my hands on, but he just continues toward the blinding light burning my eyes.

“Please, don’t go!” I plead, but he ignores my panicked cries, and I do the only thing I can think to do. I throw myself at his feet and cling to one of his legs
, refusing to let go.

“Why are you leaving me?”

He faces me, but the light is too bright, and I can’t see his face.

“You don’t want me.”

He strides away, taking the light with him, leaving me in the darkness.

“NO! I NEED YOU!”

My body flies up right, hands reaching out for a man who isn
’t there. I’m panting, my heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings. A sheen of sweat on my skin sends a chill down my spine from the cool morning air.

“Gabrielle! Look at me!” I twist my body to find
Chase sitting beside me, hands clasping my biceps. “What the hell was that? Are you alright?”

He
has worry splashed on his face, his breathing stressed. I stare at him with weepy, wide eyes before bursting into loud, sobbing tears. Chase carts me into his lap and sways me gently.

“Wow. This
guy really messed you up, kid.”

I remain silent
, letting his bear hug comfort me, and vaguely become aware it’s light out. I glimpse at my clock. It’s seven in the morning. Chase spent the whole night with me. After a few minutes, I drag myself away from him.

“You missed your hot date,” I comment as he wipes the tears from my eyes.

“Yeah,” he replies with a lazy shrug of the shoulders.

“I didn’t mean to ruin your evening.”

“You didn’t ruin my night. I enjoyed sleeping next to you. It reminds me of college. I always loved that.”

“Me, too,” I reply with a shy smile, and his
breathing hitches. He leans in but stops halfway to me and clears his throat.

“Would you like to get in the shower?
” I awkwardly ask. “Before me…Not together…That would be weird.”

He watches me turn a vivid red and replies with a big, sleepy grin,
“You take a shower first. While I make us a pot of coffee and eggs.”

“
Thanks,” I reply in a low voice and quickly leap out of his lap, bound for the bathroom.

A
fter he’s showered and ready, we sit down to eat the eggs he prepared and drink the extra strong coffee. It’s good.

I realize
Chase’s in a different outfit. “What’s with the new clothes?”

“I had them with me in a messenger bag. The hot date, remember? You look charming.”

I am wearing a gray sheath dress with a three string, black pearl necklace, and turquoise round toe heels. My hair’s up in a high bun. My make-up is light.

“Yeah, right…You look nice though. I’m sorry about last night.”

“There’s no reason to apologize. I’m the one who passed out. You didn’t make me. That bed of yours is ridiculously soft. If anyone’s the culprit, it’s the mattress.”

“Yeah, it’s a fantastic bed.”

“I can’t believe I slept eleven hours.”

“Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Anytime, kid…So, what the fuck happened the other night?” he inquires.

“Well, after we said goodbye, I found
Jules on my doorstep bawling her eyes out. Nicholas killed himself yesterday…”

“What?
Why the hell didn’t you call me or say this before?”

“Damian’s pretty predominate, and he overs
hadows him I guess. Yes, Nicholas is dead, and I am relieved, but I would prefer to pretend he never existed. I can finally move on, and that’s what I intend on doing. Besides, I can only handle one controlling man in my life at a time, and I pick the living one.”

“You have a dark past you can’t run from. If you want to play d
enial, I’ll go along with it…for now. You need to process this sooner or later.”

“I choose
later. The current man in my life is what’s putting me in this funk, not Nicholas.”

“Ok, kid. What went wrong with Mr. Boss Man?”

“He’s a stubborn ass who won’t man up and apologize for his mistakes. He apologized for hurting me but not for being controlling. He still believes he is right in telling me what to do, and I cannot allow him to think he can do that to me. I don’t want to start a poor precedent. Next thing you know, he’ll be telling me when to eat, sleep, fuck. I will not go through that again. Never.”

“I understand
why you feel so strongly. You’re preaching to the choir. I couldn’t stand to watch you go through anything like that again. I also think, and believe me you’ve no idea how much I hate to say this; maybe you should give him another chance. I get respect is important and being told what to do pisses you off, but the guy did apologize for hurting your feelings.

“I mean, yeah, he shouldn’t tell you what to do, but he did apologize for the most significant thing, which is making you feel bad. That limp dick fucker never acknowledged you had feelings, let alone apologized for hurting them. I perso
nally don’t care what he thinks or says about me, as long as he makes you happy. All I want is your happiness.”

I should ease up on the guy, but he’s just so arrogant. I’ve never been so attracted to and annoyed by a man before. It’s confusing as hell. I want him, but am I too late? Does he even want me anymore? What about those pictures I found?
They don’t look good, especially after Olivia went on about making it official with her special someone. I could have been one last hurrah before he commits to her. Maybe I dodged a bullet by letting him go. I have a million things to go over. I just don’t know what I’ll do.

“How about we change the subject? Let’s chat about the charity. It starts at seven at my parents’ estate. You should be at my place by six.”

“What’s the dress code?” Chase asks, taking a sizeable bite of his eggs.

“It’s formal. The men dress in tuxes and women in evening gowns.”

“You know I love to wear a tux. I feel like a spy.”

His eyebrow shoots up, and he’s pretending his hand is a gun. He looks at me in a fantastically debonair Bond way.

“Yeah, what guy doesn’t? You’re such a dork! I love you.”

He never fails t
o make me laugh, even when I’m in a shit mood.

“Shut up. I look damn fine in a tux, very dashing.”

“Yeah, but not with your finger gun.”

He laughs at himself. “Finger bang,” he chuckles out.

“You’re a pervert. I can’t take you anywhere.” I laugh at him.

“It should be fun. I love the functions they host. Your parents know how to organize a party.” He jams the last bite of his eggs into his mouth and shoves his plate away from him. “You ok? I
hope you feel better than you did yesterday.”

“Nope, I’m still wounded. I want to forget the past week.”

“You always want to forget, but maybe you should face your problem head-on instead. I don’t think one mistake is worth tossing the guy out completely. It would kill me if you did that to me. He’s probably in pretty poor shape.”

“Trust, he’ll get over me. He only wanted me for sex. I’m sure he could find a million other girls who would do anything to get into his bed. I’m just not one of them. I don’t think I’m good enough to be there anyway.”

“You’re one in million, and you don’t give that up when most girls these days are a dime a dozen. You are worth doing anything for, Ellie. Trust me, I know.” He lets out an awkward cough. “He picked you for a reason. You haven’t seen the last of him. When a guy wants a girl, you better bet he’s going to do everything in his power to get her. This guy is filthy with it. He holds more power than he probably knows what to do with, and he’s going to use it to get you back.”

“I guess we’ll see. I’m not going to hold my breath.”

“You are so stubborn. You need to listen when people tell you you’re worthy of everything.”

“Thanks. Are you ready to leave?”

“Yeah, let’s bounce.”

T
he commute to work is all right, except for the black exotic car seemingly following us.

“Am I crazy…?”

“Yes, yes you are.”

“Stop, seriously. Is that black car following us?”

He glances back at the glossy sports car. “Actually, I think it is. I saw it outside your building last night and this morning.”

As we watch the car, it speeds off around a corner. “You don’t think it was
him
, do you?” I ask anxiously, as if I’ve been caught doing something, I ought not.

“Yeah, I think it was. U
nless you know of any other billionaires vying for your affection.”

“Great,” I say sarcastically. “He’s vying for something alright
, but it isn’t affection.”

T
he morning is rather uneventful, except for a text I receive from Jules.

F
rom:
Jules

T
o:
Ellie

Hey really need to see you

tonight. Need to get plastered.

Received:

Thu Jan 24, 2014 10:42 AM

From:
Ellie

To:
Jules

Hey. Really need to see

you
too. Sounds perfect.

Sent:

Thu Jan 24, 2014 10:43
AM

From:
Jules

To:
Ellie

Should I invite Sloan and

maybe you could invite
Chase?

Received:

Thu Jan 24, 2014 10:43
AM

From:
Ellie

To:
Jules

Sure, the more the merrier. Meet us

at the bar near my place at five thirty.

Sent:

Thu Jan 24, 2014 10:44 AM

From:
Jules

To:
Ellie

It’s a date. C U 2NITE.

Received:

Thu Jan 24, 2014 10:45
AM

From:
Ellie

To:
Jules

C U 2NITE. TTFN

Sent:

Thu Jan 24, 2014 10:45
AM

I’m unsure Chase will come. I know it would cheer her up to see him there, but it’s going to be a battle. Maybe I won’t tell him. I know it’s mean and a bit selfish, but I seriously need to see my friends and forget the past few weeks. I’ll ask him at lunch. I hope that a full stomach makes him less likely to kill me. I’m startled out of my thoughts by Olivia’s aggravated voice.

“I don’t pay you to play on the phone all day,” she barks with a snide tone.

I swivel around in my chair to find her hovering right behind me with her hands on her hips. It takes everything not to knock her flat on her ass. Nevertheless, I manage to keep my composure.

It’s not just this. The past three days have been the worst in my work history. What really pisses me off is she’s able to spend time with Hunt, my Hunt. The pictures from the other day are still vivid in my mind. “I know. I was trying to…”

“I don’t want excuses. Don’t do it,” she snaps, turns, and stomps away.

I take a deep breath, trying to gather myself before returning to work. Damian is now in the forefront of my mind. I’ve been a wreck the past two days, my attempts of avoiding photos of him have failed miserably.

I decide to go onto a website called Dirty Dog News and come across a new posting. When I open it, my heart shatters.

There are new pictures of him with
Olivia at lunch. That explains the long one she took yesterday. There is another from last night. He has a young woman on his arm. She is tall and slender, with platinum blonde, shoulder length hair and green eyes, truly stunning. They are linking arms as they walk into...Prey.

He didn’t seem to have any trouble forgetting me, as if I meant nothing to him. I realize my problem, I let him mean too much. I mean, shit, couple lousy encounters and an A-fuckin-mazing, body-trembling kiss does not a relationship make. I need to get over him, post-haste.