Dangerous Curves (18 page)

D
ominique never thought
she'd find solace at a funeral. She'd gone to support Kevin and to get away from her mother, who'd unexpectedly arrived on her doorstep.

“You can't be serious,” Carla said, looking around Dominique's apartment in disdain. “Dear God, my toilet's bigger than this room.”

“I like it here.”

“Your tantrum has lasted long enough.” Carla sat on the edge of the couch as if she were afraid it would collapse. “It's time you get serious about your future.”

“Did Dad tell you what happened?”

“That little incident has nothing to do with us.”

“Little incident?” Dominique nearly choked on her words. “That little incident left a woman in a coma, a child—”

“I know, I know and it's sad,” Carla said with a dismissive wave of her wrist. “But what can you do about it?”

“I'm staying. I like it here.”

“Is it him? I've heard rumors he's a fabulous lover, but if you need—”

“Mom, I don't want to argue with you. Please go.”

“You're being ridiculous and only hurting yourself.”

“I—”

“Are you staying because of him or because of your father?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters. A woman must be very strategic when it comes to alliances, you know that better than anyone. Kevin Jackson is not the kind of man you give—no, waste—your loyalty on. I don't care about his sweet lies and firm ass. Men like him are a dime a dozen. They'll never be true in the ways that count for women like us.”

“Like us?”

“We need men of ambition. It's the only way to control them.”

“I don't want to control anyone.”

“I know you're not a fool, so stop acting like one.” She glared at Dominique. “You haven't fallen for him, have you?”

“Of course not.”

But that had been a lie. She hadn't wanted to, but she'd fallen for him hard. And it was foolish and it was ridiculous, but she didn't care. Elizabeth had shown her how fleeting life could be. It seemed like only yesterday she'd seen her at the university giggling with Kevin, kissing him on the cheek. Now she was gone. Not from cancer, but from heart failure. An unexpected complication that took her away.

Kevin didn't say anything as she drove him home or when she helped him to his room. She'd seen him grimace as he'd exited the car and knew he'd stood by the gravesite too long.

He leaned heavily against her. Afraid that he would collapse, she led him to his bed. The early evening sun painted the room in a pink and purple haze. She gently released him, expecting him to fall onto the bed. Instead he tightened his grip around her shoulder and pulled her down with him. He wrapped his leg around her and whispered, “Stay with me. I hurt so bad.”

“Then you need to rest.” She struggled to sit up.

He tightened his hold. “No, I need you. I need you to feel alive. I should have died in that crash. Cassie shouldn't be in a coma and if she dies…”

“Don't think about that right now. You weren't the target and—”

“That's not what I mean. I don't feel alive. I feel dead inside. I want to be with you tonight. Completely. I don't want to hold back.”

She bit her lip, for a moment she wondered if she was just a stand in. Did he imagine he was holding Cassie this way? Had Elizabeth's passing left him with longing and regret? They were the same build. Was it just a transference? She wanted to push him away and tell him that she wasn't Cassie, that she never could be, but she didn't move and instead let him hold her as tears touched her eyes.

Never waste your tears on a man
, her mother had told her. But it hurt. It hurt because she'd felt fine with Kevin caring for all the other women, but Cassie was different. He loved her. She'd gotten greedy. She didn't want to be just another one of his women. She wanted to be special.

“I'm not her,” she said in a flat voice.

Kevin searched her face. “What? Who?”

“Cassie.” When he continued to stare at her she said, “I know how guilty you feel and—”

He smothered the rest of her words with a kiss like no other. It was raw, real and filled with hunger. “Don't deny me this,” he whispered against her lips.

And her body whispered the same, urging her surrender and she murmured her consent. Their clothes fell away and she stared at his naked form in rapturous awe. He was magnificent. Beautifully made. The sight of him was just as mesmerizing as the first time, except now the air was electric with anticipation. All her senses came alive when he touched her. She closed her eyes, finding protection in the sudden darkness.

She felt his lips trail kisses between her breasts to her stomach, murmuring with pleasure his breath warm against her skin. She felt his hands cup her breasts, his tongue capturing a nipple in his mouth.

When his body covered hers, she felt the soft give of the bed beneath her, a swift excitement when he caressed her inner thighs with his mouth and spread her legs. Her body felt heavy with a longing that demanded release. She arched into him, holding onto his broad shoulders, feeling the hard presence of him against her thigh as she welcomed the thrill of discovery.

Then he stopped. He didn't move. All she could hear was his breathing and her pounding heart.

Dominique opened her eyes, alarmed, and saw him leaning over her, his arms resting on either side. “What?” she asked.

A wicked grin touched his mouth. “That's better. I like when you look at me,” he said then covered her mouth with his and entered her in one fluid motion.

It was swift and hard and hurt like hell.

She stiffened, holding her body tight, barely breathing, determined to pretend that the pain wasn't there.
If she made a sound he would know.

“Dominique?” Kevin said in a deep voice, his lips close to her ear.

“Yes?”
Breathe through the pain, just breathe. Maybe he won't notice.

“You forgot to tell me something.”

Damn, he noticed.
“No.” She cleared her throat. “Just…um…I'm used to smaller men.”

Kevin took a deep, steadying breath.“You really had me fooled.” He softly swore.

“I didn't fool you.”
Don't argue or be defensive. Just do as he says. People do this all the time.
And women love this. They love him.
“I want this, please.”

“Why didn't you say anything? All those times we—”

“I know, I know. I told you I'm not…normal.”

“You're normal, but I wish you'd told me you've never done this before.”

Embarrassment made her cheeks burn, tears stung her eyes, but she kept them from falling and boldly met his stare. Why did he have to talk? Why did he have to make it an issue? Weren't men the ones who liked to ‘hit it' and then forget? Did he have to make her feel so ashamed? “I have. Just not with someone so…”

He lifted an eyebrow, doubtful. “Big?”

“Yes,” she said, wishing he would look away and didn't study her with such intensity. “All the other men I've been with—”

“The invisible men.”

“Were smaller,” she finished. “You should be flattered.” She looked away no longer able to hold his gaze.

“I was flattered the moment I saw you naked.” He kissed her forehead. “But since I'm your first…big man,” he said stressing the word. “I'll be gentle.” He cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. “Don't turn away and don't close your eyes.” He kissed her neck. “Do you trust me?”

With all my heart.
“Yes.”

He slid inside her again and it hurt a little less, sending a tiny fissure of pleasure through her.

“How much?”

Dominique fought the urge to close her eyes, to disappear in darkness again. This wasn't how she'd imagined it. Why did he always ask so many questions? “A lot.”

He thrust forward a third time and she braced herself for a pain that didn't come. Instead an exquisite, overwhelming pleasure shimmered through her body. And it happened again and again and again. Until she had to close her eyes as she felt her body carried to a height of ecstasy that knew no limit.

And then it happened: An awakening. A moment when her body no longer felt like her own, no longer belonged to her. Her body became his and his body became hers. Kevin wasn't just inside her, he consumed her, engulfed her and she delighted in being swallowed up in a fever of emotions so overwhelming for a moment she couldn't breathe, she couldn't gasp, she couldn't scream or cry out. She reached a height of pleasure so potent she felt as if her soul would rip from her body and expand the globe.

Pleasure sweet, hot, delicious pleasure with a man patient enough to let her find it. She wasn't odd, she wasn't strange. This man who loved women made her feel like one for the first time. Not a husk of one or a masquerade, but complete. He'd embraced her fears and her strength and she held him close, realizing the treasure he was to her. He understood her like no other man had ever tried to. And she understood him.

In that moment, their labels fell away. It wasn't about being a man or a woman or two bodies connecting, it was their spirit. She knew him in spirit as if they were twin souls who'd finally found each other.

She let herself explore him with no inhibition. With her eyes and her mouth and her hands. He was so beautiful to her. This moment she'd remember forever, she wouldn't be greedy. She didn't think it would ever happen again. He was the man of fun and no commitments, but he'd given her a gift she'd never forget.

T
he monster caught him unawares
. He hadn't planned to fall asleep and be by her side until morning. Morning was dangerous. Morning meant bright lights, a cruel enemy to a migraine. Kevin slowly opened his eyes, but the touch of brightness had him quickly closing them. Damn, he'd stayed too long. The monster in his head clawed for control and he could feel it winning.

He hated to leave Dominique, but he couldn't stay.

He had to escape before she saw him. He groped for his cell phone and texted Ferguson his special emergency code.

Minutes later he was safe in his other room after losing his dinner and lunch. He lay as still as possible in the dark room with a wet cloth on his forehead, fighting the roiling waves of nausea and the crushing pressure in his head. He was going to pay for it. For his lust. For his arrogance. For his ego. He wanted her to see him in a different light. Bitterness mingled with rage. He wanted to be at Dominique's side. Needed her. Needed her to know that he was a man she could depend on.

Women play with boys, but they marry men.
Henson's words continued to haunt him. He
was
a man, dammit. If only given the chance, he could have proven it to her. He would have shown her what waking up in his arms was like, he'd help her change, share a shower, feed her breakfast in bed, but that option had been stolen from him.

Soon the monster gave him no time to think. Between lying on his back or bending over a bucket, time melted into nothing. He survived in his private hell.

He didn't know when she entered his room. He hadn't heard her footsteps, hadn't heard the door open or the chair move, but felt her hand on his arm. What was she doing there? She was never supposed to see him like this. Ferguson should have stopped her. When he was better, he'd wring Ferguson's neck. Nausea rose in him, but he fought it. He wouldn't be sick in front of her.

“I didn't realize it was this bad,” she said softly.

Don't be sick. You can't be sick.

“Do you need anything?”

He couldn't fight it. He bent over the bucket and lost the rest of his meal. “Get out,” he managed in a hoarse whisper. He remembered with heated embarrassment the first time it had happened with a woman he'd been seeing casually. He vividly recalled the disgust on her face, but fortunately she'd just thought he'd had too much to drink. After the third time he knew there was a problem, but she didn't care to stay and hear the reason. She found someone else.

Dominique would too.

He waited to hear her footsteps, but she didn't move. He couldn't make her go and part of him didn't want to. He wanted her to stay, and he liked having her by his side.

“Do you need anything?” she asked again.

“No,” he said, barely mouthing the word.

He heard pages turn and then she began to read. Ferguson must have told her because that was usually something he would do. She read softly to him and although he couldn't focus on her words, her voice soothed him. Her presence soothed him, although it didn't take the pain away. The voice he'd at first thought so sexy now lulled him into a state of rest. It was an elixir. The duration of his migraine didn't seem different, but the severity seemed less…because of her.

By the following night he was able to sit up, but he didn't leave the dark solitude of the bedroom. A different kind of pain entered his soul. One of self-loathing. How could she see him as a man when she'd helped him as if he were a helpless child? He couldn't claim her. Any man could come—a man like Henson—and take her away. He didn't want to need her so much, but he did. He needed her cool rational mind; she kept him grounded. He helped her be free. She'd been free in his arms, he'd felt it, knew it. He'd been her first. He wanted to be her first and last.

But that wasn't in the cards for a man like him.

He heard the door open before he saw a shaft of light. He turned and saw a female figure silhouetted in the doorway.

“I'm glad to see you looking better,” Dominique said, coming into the room. “I've got good news and better news for you.”

He didn't know how to take her tone. How could she talk to him as if he hadn't disgraced himself in front of her? But he was used to pretending things didn't matter so he did so now. “You can turn on the light if you want to,” he said, his voice raw and dry from lack of use.

“No, that's okay.” He felt the bed give as she sat down beside him and his pulse quickened as he inhaled the fruity scent of her lotion. He gripped his hands together, resisting the urge to touch her. “What's the good news?”

“I contacted a top specialist who's willing to see you about your migraines.”

“You told someone about me?”

“Kevin, I can't stand around and watch you suffer like this.”

“But I told you I've seen—”

“I know you've seen other doctors, but just give this a chance. I'm not willing to give up on you, so don't give up on yourself. I've researched his background and he's been able help many patients. Especially those who've suffered head trauma.”

Kevin sighed, although a small light of hope filled his chest. “What's the better news?”

“Cassie's awake.”