Craving HIM (Serving HIM Vol. 7) (14 page)

And I could see how my eyes were nearly all black pupil, my lips swollen, and the blissed-out expression on my face.

Then he began to move and I forgot about everything but him. My eyes were on the mirror, but I was looking at him now. His broad, muscular chest, dotted with scars from the year he'd spent being raped and tortured. His skin glistening with sweat. And the look of pure need on his face.

He needed me. Not because of sex. Not because he wanted to Dominate me. He needed me. I was the only one who could do this for him.

The thought hit me hard as he drove into me, his cock reaching as deep as it could go. His fingers twisted inside me, stretching me even as his free hand grabbed the chain again. He rode me harder than before, every stroke filled with so much sensation that I could feel the world starting to take on that surreal quality, that place where nothing seemed quite real.

I whimpered, said his name.

“Would you like to come?”

I couldn't get the word out, but his eyes met mine in the mirror and I knew he could read what I needed.

He began to ream me, driving in deeper and harder as the pleasure and pain blurred and everything that wasn’t Dominic or the bench beneath me or the pleasure dissolved away.

I exploded, dissolving away too, lost in agonized ecstasy. I felt him come, his seed hot and wet inside me, and I felt the bite of his teeth on my shoulder, the press of his mouth against my neck.

I heard him whisper my name and I smiled as I let myself go.

***

The following morning, I was laying on my side when Dominic came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel.

I made an approving sound under my breath and when he cocked his eyebrow at me, I said, “That’s my favorite outfit of yours.”

His grin flashed across his face, a shared memory lingering between us. He’d been wearing a towel the day I’d shown up here to interview for my job. If someone had told me then where that interview was going to take me, I wouldn't have believed it.

“What are you doing today?” he asked, coming to sit down on the edge of the bed.

He cupped my cheek and I turned my face into his hand. Damn, he smelled good. “Doctor’s appointment this morning. Then, since you gave me the day off, Molly is coming over. We’re hanging out. Chinese food, cheap beer, bad movies.”

“Why are you going to the doctor?” he asked, frowning as he bent over me, concern on his face.

“My ear.” Grimacing, I rubbed at my left one. “I've always had issues with ear infections and I think I’m getting another one. It started hurting yesterday, but I’d hoped it would go away. It’s not.”

He pressed his lips to my forehead. “You don’t feel hot.”

“Gee, thanks.” I stuck my tongue out at him and he smiled. “I don’t always get a fever with them. That left one has always been little weird. Relax. I’ll be fine. Antibiotics for a week and in a day or two, no pain.”

He nodded slowly and then nuzzled my jaw. “Take care of yourself. Remember who you belong to.”

The words sent heat rushing through me and I rolled onto my back to watch him as he moved around the room. I knew he had to go to work today and I was looking forward to seeing Molly again, but a part of me wished he could just climb back in bed with me.

“So, after that, movies, Chinese…cheap beer with Molly.” He gave me a puzzled look. “Why does it have to be cheap beer?”

I shrugged. “Sentiment?”

He just shook his head, and then bent down, pressed a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth. “You have fun. I'll see you when I get home.”

***

Okay, so the beer wasn’t that cheap. We’d found a decent draft beer that I liked and I’d already picked up a six pack of the dark, bottled brew the other night. It was chilling in the fridge when Molly came sailing past me, bright red curls all askew, arms laden with boxes of kung pao chicken, sweet and sour pork, soup and egg-rolls.

My belly grumbled, demanding, as we unpacked and I snagged the kung pao chicken for myself. I took it with my first dose of the antibiotics the doctor had given me. They always hurt my stomach if I didn’t eat.

“What’s that?” Molly asked.

“Medicine for my ear infection.”

Her face softened with sympathy. Having been my best friend since I'd arrived in New York, she'd seen me through a couple of them. “Another one?”

“Yep. It’s not too bad, though.” I dropped the bottle into my purse and moved into the living room, Molly trailing behind with her own meal.

A few minutes later, we were settled down for a long afternoon of vegging out.

Molly caught me up with her latest exploits, which, in typical Molly fashion, sounded like a soap opera. Apparently the guy she’d been seeing had only been going out with her to make his girlfriend jealous. Since they hadn't been exclusive, Molly had also been dating a girl, but that had ended just as badly when Molly had realized that the people she'd been dating had already been dating each other. Needless to say, she'd backed off in a hurry.

“Life’s too fucking short for that kind of drama,” she told me, jabbing a set of chopsticks my way.

“No argument here.” I scooped out the last bite of chicken and then put the container down, sighing in relief. I'd been hungrier than I'd thought. “How's school?”

She shrugged. “Not bad. I actually sold a few pictures—”

My squeal interrupted her noncommittal delivery and she slid me a grin, clearly pleased with herself.

“So are you finally going to quit doing slave labor?” I asked. We'd met while waitressing and she'd stayed after I'd gotten fired. The job itself hadn't been too bad, but the manager had been a dick.

“No.” She rolled her expressive dark eyes. “At least not as a way to make the rent. I’ll keep it up and if something sells, awesome, but getting into that field takes time and/or the right connections. So I’ll worry about making connections here and there while I finish school.”

“Are things better at the restaurant now that the asshole is gone?”

Before she had a chance to answer, there was a chime, signaling that the doorman wanted something.

With a sigh, I got to my feet and headed over to the speaker by the door.

“Miss Aleena,” Stuart said, his voice neutral. “There’s a young woman here to see Mr. Snow.”

I scowled. “Call the police.”

Molly’s eyes widened and I mouthed,
Later
. I couldn’t believe that Maya had the nerve to come back.

“Miss Aleena, it isn’t…”

The brief hesitation had me sighing. Damn Dominic's way-too-popular cock. “It’s not Maya, is it?”

“No, Miss.”

“Her name?”

The answer had my hands curling into fists, but I was calm enough as I responded, “You can send her up. Or better yet, have somebody escort her up. She won’t be here long.”

Koren Norseman was just as pretty in streetwear as she’d been in her non-existent slip of silver.

She was also just as bitchy.

When I opened the door, she immediately tried to push inside and I body-blocked, refusing to move out of the way. Stuart must have had someone else watching the door, because he’d escorted her up personally.

“You’re living here with him.” She glared at me, eyes hard as glass.

“I am.” I didn't bother to explain that I'd lived here before we'd gotten together. All she needed to know was that I was here now. “What can I do for you, Koren?”

Her lip curled as if she was looking at something distasteful, but I didn’t react.

“You can't possibly give him what he wants,” she stated.

“He's an adult. He can decide for himself what—and who—he wants. And he's made it quite clear that you're not it.”

She sneered, her pretty face twisting into something ugly. “You want me to believe that you can take care of his needs? You’re barely even a beginner.”

I shot a look at Stuart, but he was staring blankly ahead. I knew without asking he wouldn’t breathe a word of this—and he'd probably already known. Shifting my attention back to Koren, I gave her a sugary smile. “Really? Maybe he got tired of meaningless shit and wanted something real.”

“Real?” She slid a hand through her long blonde hair and shrugged, as if brushing the idea from existence. “You know, maybe he did collar you, but that doesn’t mean you can satisfy him.”

A soft noise behind me alerted me to Molly’s presence, but I didn’t look away from Koren. Something told me that would be a bad idea. There was a look in those blue-gray eyes of hers that I didn't think was entirely sane.

I ran my tongue along my teeth as I studied her. “You know, here’s the one thing that’s standing out to me. If you'd satisfied him, given him what he needed, maybe he would have collared you. But he didn’t. He gave it to me. He's mine and I'm his. Deal with it.”

She bared her teeth at me, fury stamped on her features. Her fingers curled into claws and I half-expected her to try to claw my eyes out. Those fake nails she was sporting probably could've managed it too.

When she took a step closer, I said, “That's a bad idea. Touch me and I’ll have security call the cops before you can blink. I don't think you'd like handcuffs when they're used in a legal capacity.”

Behind her, Stuart cleared his throat politely, but I didn't look away from her. She was studying me, trying to figure out just how serious I was.

Abruptly, she gave a light, quick laugh. “You know, I thought maybe Penelope was right. That you were just a novelty, but you’re so much worse. A woman like you will suck Dominic dry and destroy him. You can’t understand him.”

Then she turned on her heel and strode away, quickly moving past a relieved-looking Stuart.

Before the elevator could slide shut behind her, I called out. “You and Penelope are friends, Koren? Funny. I don't see the two of you getting together over a glass of wine. I doubt she'd want to be seen in public with you.”

It was a shot in the dark, but it hit the target. Koren's face was white with anger as the doors closed in front of her.

That bitch. I’d bet anything she'd been all too happy to give Penelope a much more detailed version of Dominic's sexual preferences than he'd given the day he'd finally gone off on her.

Closing the door quietly took more control than I thought I had and for a moment, I stood there, eyes closed. I didn't want to lose my temper and hit something. Dominic would be pissed if I hurt my hand over something like this.

“Hey.”

A hand rubbed my shoulder and I opened my eyes to see Molly’s worried expression.

“What was that all about?”

Blood heated my face as I realized just how personal some of that had gotten. “Ah…”

Molly lifted a brow. “Collared?”

“Um…” I eased around her and went over to the coffee table, snagging my half-empty bottle of beer. “It’s…well, Dominic and I…”

“Honey, I know what collared is. I've been to more than a few parties.” She gave me an appraising look. “It’s just…wow. You and Dominic, huh?”

“Yeah.”

She pulled me in for a quick hug. “Stop looking so embarrassed. You've heard much more detailed descriptions of my dates. And fuck that bitch. Fuck anybody who tries to make you feel bad or inadequate. You’re beautiful and you got a beautiful man who makes you happy. It’s awesome, Aleena.”

I smiled and put my arm around her shoulders as we plopped back down on the couch. “It is, isn't it?”

Molly nodded, then grinned, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “All right. It's your turn to spill now. What's the collar look like?”

Chapter 12

Dominic

Scrutinizing the notes Aleena had plugged into my phone, I tried to commit to memory some of my schedule for the next day so I wouldn't have to keep checking it. I had to go by
Trouver L’Amour
and meet with Miriam Beckman. I’d recently put her in charge since I was done with the boring day-to-day stuff. Joely was running the Philadelphia agency, so I was ready to focus on my latest project.

In From the Cold.

I smiled as I jotted the name down.

Of course, there were hurdles I’d hadn’t foreseen, but I'd never done anything like this before, so it wasn’t a surprise I hadn’t been prepared.

I did have something to occupy me while I waited at least.

“So the plan, Mr. Kim, is that I invest for you to branch out into the States?”

It had been some time since I’d had dinner with the quiet, soft-spoken businessman, but I could still remember his efficiency and competence.

He went over the details one more time and I nodded as I committed each one to memory. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any confusion between us. Crazy that I could remember details from a business negotiation, but had to consult my phone to see if I was free for lunch in an hour.

“And you’ll be a silent partner, Mr. Snow?” Mr. Kim said delicately.

“Yes.” I grimaced mentally as I imagined the reactions I’d get as I moved into the philanthropic field, specializing on human slavery and child abductions, and my name was front and center on an up-and-coming innovator of sex toys. Granted, I'd done my homework and knew that Mr. Kim was so far above the board that he didn't hire anyone under the age of twenty-five, but sex and human trafficking were too closely linked for me to be able to be publicly involved in Mr. Kim's business while heading In From the Cold.