Page 26 of Exile
“I don’t think you should be friends with him anymore. You’ve got me now, and I don’t appreciate having another man panting after my girl like a dog in heat.” It takes a moment for me to process Dom’s words. Surely, he didn’t just say what I think he said. I pull back from him, confusion drawing my brows together.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. It’s not appropriate for you to be friends with him. You are in a relationship now, and he’s going to do his best to sabotage it because he has feelings for you. I don’t want you talking to him anymore.” Dom snaps the word anymore with the bark of someone used to being in a position of authority.
“Dom, it’s not like that at all…” I stammer out, unsure where this sudden change in attitude came from. “Kai is my best friend. He’s been my best friend for years. He doesn’t have feelings for me. You don’t have to feel threatened by him.” I rest my palm on Dominick’s chest in a reassuring manner, hoping he’s just having a flare-up of alpha male jealousy.
“Come on, Serena. I know you’re smarter than this. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He wants you.” Dom’s jaw clenches, and I swear he looks two seconds away from turning green and hulking out. Irritation ripples through me at his insinuation that Kai is only my friend because he has feelings for me.
“I’m not having this discussion, Dominick,” I spit out his full name in irritation. “Kai is my best friend. Nothing more.”
“If you’re so sure about that, then ask him. Ask him if he has feelings for you. I promise you; he won’t be able to give you a straight answer. He’s just been waiting around for you like a sad little puppy hoping you will take pity on him and fuck him. I will not have some punk ass kid hanging around my woman waiting to take advantage of her.”
I rear back from Dom, his words hitting me with the force of a slap. “Kai would never!” I jerk away from Dominick to walk away from him, disgusted by his attitude. Dom must realize he’s gone too far, because he grabs my arm, pulling me back into him, caging me against his body.
“Serena, baby, I’m sorry. I know that’s harsh. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. But I love you and can’t stand the thought of another man coming between us. You are everything to me.” Dominick kisses the top of my head, and when I look up at him, I see the tell-tale sign of tears shimmering in his eyes. My anger at his attitude immediately melts away when I see them. He’s just as scared as I am by this new relationship.
“I love you too, Dom. You’ve got nothing to worry about, I promise.” Dominick nods stiffly and goes back to making breakfast, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe he’s right.
The awkwardness from our first argument seems to melt away over breakfast. Dom dotes on me, almost to the point of it being comical. Sitting me in his lap while he feeds me fruit and croissant and eggs from his plate while never letting my mimosa run out. After breakfast, he runs me a bath and insists I take a luxurious soak while he preps dinner for tonight. He even dumps in some Epsom salts to help with my muscle soreness from all of our…physical activity.
I’m relaxing in the tub, muscles loose from the long soak and eyes growing heavy from the lavender-scented water, when I hear my phone ring from the living room. Immediately, I am on alert. I recognize the ringtone I have saved for Kai, and I can’t help but worry something has happened with Mom. I move to climb out of the tub but stop when I hear Dominick’s gruff voice answer the call.
“What do you need, Malakai?” His voice is less than friendly towards my best friend, and I can’t help but bristle at the tone. There is silence while I assume he listens to Kai’s end of the conversation.
“No, Serena cannot come to the phone. She’s taking a bath and relaxing. If this isn’t an emergency, then it can wait until we get back on Monday.” More silence from Dom but I can hear him walking further away from the bathroom. His next response is muffled as I hear him step out the sliding glass door out onto the balcony. By the time I climb out of the tub, halfway dry myself off and make my way back into the living room, Dom is coming back inside, his call with Kai already over.
“Hey, what did Kai need? Is everything okay?” I reach for my phone, but Dom slides it into his back pocket, out of my reach.
“Everything is fine, Kitten. Your friend just wanted to make sure you were okay and didn’t need a ride down the mountain.” I don’t miss the bitterness in his voice lacing the word friend. I can see Dominick’s jaw pulsing from where he’s clinching it.
“Nothing is wrong with Mom?” I ask again, trying to reassure myself all is well back home.
“Nothing is wrong, other than your friend being too codependent to let you be away for one weekend.”
Before I can come up with an apology for Kai, Dom crushes his mouth to mine, swallowing the words forming on my lips. My body is already pliant and relaxed from my hour-long soak, and I melt into him as he kisses away my worries.
“Now that you’re clean, let’s go get you dirty again.” Dom shoots me a wink as he scoops me up and carries me upstairs to the bedroom loft. Once we make it upstairs, Dominick drops me on the bed and climbs on top of me, kissing every inch of my exposed, damp skin. He peppers hot, open-mouthed kisses down my neck, along my collar bone, down to my breasts, taking each nipple into his mouth, lavishing them with his tongue. Somehow, he manages to undress himself while turning me into a panting, needy mess.
Just as I feel the head of his thick cock notch at my entrance, I pull away from his kiss and push back on his chest. “Wait, do you have a condom? I think we should use them until I get back home and start taking my birth control again.” A pained look crosses Dominick’s face as he holds himself back from sinking balls deep into my slick heat.
“Kitten, you’re killing me.” He pleads, nudging the tip of his cock against my clit, making me moan.
“Dom, I’m serious. Please.” I give him my best puppy eyes as I push at him again, trying to resist the temptation to give in to the moment. “Do you keep one in your wallet?” I glance over at his wallet on the nightstand, hoping like hell he has one stashed in there. I want to fuck as badly as he does; I just want to be careful knowing I’m not able to take my pill for two days. Dom lets out an aggrieved huff but reaches over to snag his wallet off the nightstand. I watch his face as he flips it open to look inside. When he pulls out the small foil packet, I sigh in relief.
“Oh, thank God. Get that on, right now.” Dom lets out a dark chuckle at my command.
“Oh, I’ll put it on, Kitten. But it’s the only one I have, so I’m going to make it count. I hope you’re ready for this.” With a look that can only be described as wicked, Dom slowly rolls the condom down his length without breaking eye contact. I resist the urge to watch him sheath his impressive cock in the rubber, our eyes locked together in the world’s sexiest stare off. I don’t break until Dom thrusts into me with one powerful snap of his hips, forcing my eyes to close and my mouth to cry out in pleasure.
Dom wasn’t lying about making it count. We have sex for what feels like hours, in every position he can rearrange me into. When he finally comes, it is with a roar, fucking me from behind, my hair wrapped up in his fist, my entire body trembling and weak from exertion. When he releases his grip on me, I collapse onto the bed, limp, satisfied and more than a little sore. I feel bruises forming on my hips from where he had been gripping me earlier, and my vagina feels battered from his rough pounding.
After a few minutes, I finally work up the strength to stand so I can make my way to the bathroom, but as soon as I am vertical, I feel a warm dampness leaking out of me, coating my thighs. Dom is already in the bathroom cleaning up, so I call out to him, “Uh, Dom…did the condom break?” Dread pools in my gut as I wait for his answer. When Dom pokes his head out of the bathroom, a sheepish look on his face, I know the answer. My knees give out from under me, and I land sitting on the bed, mind already whirring with consequences.
“Hey, hey, hey. Kitten, look at me.” I keep my head down, arms wrapped around myself, rocking as I spiral into panic. “Serena! Look at me!” Dominick’s sharp bark snaps me out of my thoughts, bringing my attention back to him. He cups my face in his big hands, keeping my attention on him.
“Listen. To. Me. It will be alright. I’m sure the odds of you getting pregnant from missing a couple of pills are super low. It will be alright. You will be alright. Even if you do get pregnant…You. Will. Be. Alright. You have me, and I will take care of you and any baby we make. Do you understand?” I give a small nod, head still held in place by Dom. His face lights up with the most brilliant smile, and I can’t help but melt from its beauty. “Good girl. Now go clean up, and no more worrying.”
Dom pulls me up to my feet and sends me on my way with a swat to my ass, my worry about pregnancy tamped down for now. It’s difficult to remember why it would be the worst thing in the world to become pregnant when Dom is right there in my face being so rock solid, so reassuring. So, fucking, perfect.