A Dominant Man (24 page)

Even when I was younger, I had a job. I started babysitting, which turned into part time nanny gigs. I bought my first car and everything. I always depended on myself for things, so for a man to come into my life and tell me I don’t need do that anymore, makes me feel uncertain.

“This is who you are, and even though it makes me uncomfortable having money wasted on me, you mean well. I can’t understand why you think I require this. You’re all I’ll ever need.”

Hunt appears bemused by the statement
, as if he can’t absorb the idea he could ever be enough.

“Without you, I’m nothing. My world was an endless parade of work, benefits, and meaningless sex. You’ve brought meaning into my worthless existence, vivid color into my dull world. I realized you were the reason I was put on this earth
, to please and take care of you. Gabrielle, let me take care of you.”

“I understand.”

“No, you don’t. I used the girls I was with, treated them as if they didn’t matter. I’m not a good man. I’ve hurt many people, and they’ve hurt me, but I deserve that…”

“You don’t deserve to be hurt. You’re worth more than that.”

He looks away with a pained look on his face, continuing as if he didn’t hear me. “The fact I found the one who sees me as more than a sadistic fuck, terrifies me. What if I’m not enough or karma rears its ugly head, and you don’t want me? I can’t lose you. I won’t.”

“I understand
exactly, Hunt. Did I run when you showed me the dungeon or when you revealed bits of your life to me?”

“No.”

“No, that’s right, I didn’t. So give me a little fucking credit. I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, slick.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

I walk over to him and slink
my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest. He follows suit and cradles me in his arms.

“Speaking of giving credit where it’s due, I was in awe of you earlier. You were flawless. The level of satisfaction I received is something I haven’t experienced
before. I meant it when I said you were made for me.”

“I admit I didn’t expect to like it that much. It was the most impassioned, intimate
, sexual encounter of my life.”

“More than an encounter, I hope.”

“Yes, the first of many.”

“So, are you alright with the gifts?”

“I love them because they’re from you. The earrings are exquisite, and the car is kick-ass. Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome, angel face. I’ll try my hardest not to buy you things, but I’m not promising
anything. I know there will be gifts I’ll want to acquire for you.”

“I should get in the bath. Do you want to join me?”

“I would love to, but I should order dinner and make a few phone calls. After that, I’m yours for the rest of the night and most of the trip.”

“
I think I’ll take a shower. We can save the bath for later tonight, when you can join me. What are you going to order for us?”

“Let me surprise you.” He pecks me on top of my head and caresses the length of my back.

“You always surprise me.”

T
he hot water relaxes every tense muscle in my body, and the stress of the day melts away. There’s so much to take in and process, like every second of the past twenty-four hours for instance. I’m stunned by Damian’s restraint and support at the funeral, by my feelings toward his lifestyle.

Why did I like it? Why do I want to do it again? Are we moving too fast?

It feels natural
, as if I’ve known him forever. It was like that from the beginning.

I need advice. I need
Chase. It feels like I haven’t seen him in ages. I’m going to call him after dinner to see what he thinks.

I do a q
uick scrub down and jump out, drying off with his extra soft towel. I hang it on a hook near the door and strut into his bedroom stark naked. I totter into the closet to explore what he bought for me to sleep in.

There are four drawers dedicated to sexy silk and lace lingerie. I choose a lavender silk nighty with black lace that lies over the tops of m
y breast, dropping between them into a thin V, revealing everything straight down to the bellybutton.

It’s gorgeous, except I’m a bit curvier than the mystery s
hopper had anticipated. It’s a smidgen too tight in the breast, hip, and rear regions. It’s short and doesn’t go far past my cooter.

I throw on a matching robe, which stops mid-thigh, and slip on black
, thigh-high stockings and pumps, in hopes they’ll catch Hunt’s eye. It’s not as if I’m going to saunter around the street in it, just in front of him.

I go back into the bedroom and notice the
nasty downpour putting the bright city behind a misty curtain. I turn the heat up, switch on the downstairs fireplace, and dim the lights in the living room, all from his bedroom. I love this touchpad system.

I peek into Damian’s office, but he isn’t there
, so I go in search of him on the first floor. I hop downstairs and hear a male voice that doesn’t belong to Hunt, but certainly causes chills up the spine.

“Lavender is particularly flattering on you, Gabrielle.”

I follow the voice to the couch where Dante sits with an ankle crossed on his knee and an arm extended along the back of the couch. I’m frozen at the bottom of the stairs. I cling to my robe, keeping it shut, and bend my knees, hoping to cover more, but it’s pointless in this getup.

“I didn’t know we were expecting company,” I comment as he rises and begins a slow stride toward me, light blue eyes, icy and burning all at once.

“I thought I would stop by to speak with Damian, and I am exceedingly glad I did.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. I got here to find the fire on and Damian pleasantly absent. Then, of course, you graced me with your charming presence.”

He’s getting closer
and alarms start going off.

“I figured he didn’t know you were here. He won’t want you this close to me.”

“He won’t mind. You look extraordinarily fetching in silk.”

Dante’s disingenuous remark causes vomit to rise in my throat.

“She’s right,” Damian growls, and I find him standing near the elevators in jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt, take out bags in hand and a ferocious expression on his stunning face.

“Back
off.”

That’s my man.
I think as my body switches out of defense mode.

“We were only talking,” Dante says as if this is so innocent.

“I know…She would never lower her standards enough to do more with you. Now, back the fuck off!” Hunt snarls, and Dante takes more than a few steps back.

“Alright, alright…I want to talk to you about Mother and the party she’s insisting on throwing for
Olivia’s birthday.”

My eyes dart to Damian, bewilderment smeared on my face. He stares back at me, then prowls to the circular coffee table and plops the bags down.

“Fine, let’s go into my study.”

“Here’s fine,” I suggest. My eyes plastered onto him.

“My study. Give us a few moments, Gabrielle.”

Now I have questions for him, and I want them answered immediately.

“Don’t take too long,” I reply with a tone, and they head up to his office. I take a seat on the couch with only my angry thoughts to keep me company.

T
hey’ve only been up there for about ten minutes, but it feels like an eternity. When jealousy gets hold of you, time seems to drag. I hear the office door and their husky voices as they walk down the hall. The only thing I can make out is Damian mentioning my name. They appear at the top of the staircase, and Hunt follows Dante to the elevator.

“Have a wonderful evening,
Gabrielle.
”

My lip curls, and my stomach flips.

“Same to you,” I reply, clipped.

Dante steps onto the elevator and gawks at me with a creepy smile as the doors shut. Damian stands there, back turned to me, avoiding eye contact, which he would most certa
inly make if he faced me, as my eyes are boring into the back of his skull.

“I know it’s confusing, but I can’t…”

I spring off the couch, glaring at him, arms firmly crossed over my chest.

“No, I need you to explain. You want to give me everything and anything. I want this.”

Hunt faces me with pleading eyes. “You really don’t want to know, I’m telling you.”

“I’m going to
find out eventually, especially when you say Olivia is hell bent on ruining us. Why would your mom want to throw a birthday party for your ex-lover?”

“
When I was thirteen, my parents adopted Keira, Aubrey, and I, after we were taken out of our uncle’s custody.”

“I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Let me explain, please. My adoptive parents were close friends of my biological parents. When my parents passed, they wanted to adopt us, but my uncle ended up getting custody because our parents didn’t change the will before their deaths. Well as I said before, he lost custody, and we went to them.”

He pauses clearing his throat. “They adopted
Olivia when she was two and had Dante, their biological child, a few years later, which would make them my adoptive siblings.”

My stomach is
doing somersaults, and my mind is racing through memories of conversations I had with the two of them.

“You fucked your adopted sister?”

His eyes are wounded, his shoulders slack.

“When I was sixteen
, she came back for a visit from modeling in New York, and she ended up fucking me the night she arrived home. She was my first.”

He cautiously walks over to me as if I’m a cornered animal, and I take a large stride back
, even though the couch lies between us. Tears pool and spill down my cheeks as I realize she raped my sweet Hunt. It’s more than I can bear.

“She’s
six years older than you, which made her twenty-two and a rapist. Not to mention she’s your sister.”

Hunt stands facing me at the back of the couch and appears a little affronted. “I don’t see her like that. I wanted it as much as she did.”

“You were a horny, sex-driven, teenage boy who thought with his dick. Of course you wanted to fuck. Nevertheless, she knew better, and no matter what you think, it was rape. I’m not sure I want to know, but I can’t resist. How did it go down?”

He rubs the back of his neck then thrusts his hands into his hair, staring at me with apprehension.

“Since we weren’t expecting her until the next day, that evening, my family attended a party. I decided to skip the festivities and stayed home. I decided to take a swim, and when I came up for a breather, she was standing in front of me at the edge of the pool, staring down at me. She hadn’t been home to visit since after I arrived to live there. She was more beautiful than I had remembered. I guess because she was never around I saw her differently than I should have.

“As I was gawking up at her, I noticed her white panties peeking out from under her short skirt. When she saw where my eyes were glued
, she stripped down and dove in over me. We bobbed there for a while, watching one another, until she swam to me, ripped off my swim trunks, and we proceeded to…”

I throw a hand up to stop him before I puke in my mouth, my other hand placed firmly over it. I remove it to say, “Ok, that’s enough. How long did this fucked up thing last?”

“On and off up until about two years ago. I told you last night before we made love.”

Vomit keeps rising up my chest and throat, burning it.

“You mean last night before you fucked me. I think given the recent facts brought to my attention you can understand how I’d forget something you said in the middle of a conversation about us.”

I’m angry, confused, disgusted, and disturbed. My emotions run ramped. I don’t know what to think or say. I just pace in front of the fire
, trying to get the chills to stop rushing up my spine. Suddenly, I feel underdressed, vulnerable. That’s nothing in comparison to how it feels to expose one’s self the way he just has.

“Where do you stash the hard liquor?”

He points toward the kitchen.

“I keep it in the freezer,” he replies in a low voice.

I stomp off into the kitchen, grab two whiskey glasses out of the cabinet, and pick my poison, Rum. I pour us both a glass, throw mine back, and fill it again about two/thirds of the way.

I take them back into the living room, extending my hand out for him to take his drink. He ambles over to me, takes it, and goes back to where he was standing near the couch. I watch him quietly and down my drink. I stand
facing him, with an empty glass in hand, as he remains motionless, eyes fixated on my every move. He turns to the couch, his face down to the ground.