Ashley's Bend (34 page)

I thought about it the whole time I was in the shower and when I finished getting dressed. I walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to find Ashley toasting bagels and pouring two mugs of coffee.

“What are you thinking about in here all by yourself?” I asked her as I walked up behind her and placed my hands on her hips. She nearly jumped out of her skin, and as she did she tipped over one of the mugs of hot coffee spilling it onto the counter and all over her foot.

“Ouch!” she yelped as the burning liquid fell on her bare foot. I quickly scooped her up and sat her down on the barstool at the counter. I grabbed a plastic bag from the cabinet, and put several ice cubes inside of it before I walked back over to her and placed it on her foot.

“Here hold this on your foot while I clean up.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to be directly behind me like that, I’m sorry. You just scared me.”

“You seem to be a little on edge this morning. Is everything ok?” I asked her as I wiped up the remainder of the coffee from the floor and counter.

“Yeah. I’m just nervous about you leaving I guess.”
Another lie
. She always crinkled her nose slightly when she wasn’t telling the truth. I spun around to face her.

“I am sorry if I came on too strongly when I told you I was falling in love with you, Ashley. I have never had to confess my feelings to anyone before and I don’t know if it was the right time, but it is how I feel. I’m not sorry for telling you, I‘m just sorry if it wasn’t the right time.”

“No, Dominic, no,” she said as she dropped the ice bag to the floor and hobbled over to where I was standing next to the counter.

“Last night was the best night of my life. You made it special. I know how hard that was for you. I know how hard it is for you to let go and tell me the truth. Do not apologize for that. I...I’m falling for you too.”

Music to my fucking ears. I grabbed her and crushed my lips to her in a heated frenzy to get closer to her. I walked her backwards until her ass hit the counter. Grabbing her hips, I lifted her up onto the breakfast bar and spread her legs. She didn’t have on any panties and I groaned in both admiration and thankfulness that there were no barriers between her hot pussy and me. I quickly unzipped my pants and removed my cock from my boxers. I pushed my way inside of her, not caring whether she was ready for me or not. I needed this connection with her. I needed to feel the warmth of her from the inside.

“Oh God!” She yelled as I penetrated her. She braced her hands behind her to gain leverage and she met me back thrust for thrust.

“You feel so, fucking, good. I had to have you once more before I leave.” I said in between breaths. Her head tipped back exposing the creamy white skin of her neck and I leaned in to sink my teeth into her flesh. She bucked back against me as my teeth connected to her skin and I licked the sting away with my tongue. I nearly exploded inside of her when the walls of her pussy clamped down on me.

Even in our heated race to climax, this was different from the fucking we had done before. Although just as hot, the emotions were still there where there had been a void before. I knew then that now that I had her, I would never let her go. Her breathing became short and raspy. My fingers dug into her hips with enough force that I would probably leave marks on her body. I didn’t care. I wanted her to look at those marks every day while I was gone and remember who she belonged to.

I picked up the pace thrusting in and out of her, her pussy lubricating my cock and I knew I was getting close.

“I’m gonna come, Dominic!” she yelled. It fueled me to pump harder, faster. I wanted to fill her with my semen. Leave my scent on her body. The animalistic feeling drove me further and she came, hard, and her arms gave out as she collapsed onto the bar. I erupted inside of her, leaving pieces of me inside.

We stayed still for a few moments before she finally spoke.

“You are going to be late.” She chuckled. I smiled. Her laugh was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world and I was glad that her mood seemed to change from earlier. Regretfully, I withdrew from her and I heard her wince. I knew I got a little rough with her, but she wasn’t complaining and neither was I. I gripped her chin forcing her to look at me.

“Every time you walk in the next few days and you feel that soreness, remember it was me who did that to you,” I declared.

“Oh...my…” she whispered.

Mission complete.

We chatted lightly on the drive to the airport. I drove the Aston Martin and told her that I wanted her to drive it back to her place and to use it to drive to her art classes and to the club while I was away. I wanted to make sure she got there safely. I left strict instructions for Knox to have Drake keep an eye on her at all times, inconspicuously. I still didn’t want to alarm her, and since I still couldn’t locate her douchebag of an ex, I didn’t want to take any chances.

I parked at the curb near my terminal and got out to retrieve my bag from the backseat. She got out and met me at the back of the car.

“Keep your phone with you at all times. I want to hear your voice when I call. Also, keep Knox in line, will ya? Tell him I said not to go too crazy being in control.”

She giggled and I dropped my bag to the ground to wrap my arms around her. I gave her a quick, chaste kiss on the lips and turned to walk into the airport.

“Dominic, wait!” she yelled and I turned to find her running toward me in full force. When she reached me, she launched herself into my arms, nearly knocking me back. Her arms snaked around me in a vice grip.

“I love you,” she mumbled into my chest, and I squeezed her so hard she probably lost her breath. The words I had been waiting to hear back from her since I confessed to her the night before, never sounded more beautiful. She looked up at me and gripped the back of my head tugging me down into a heated kiss. The kiss was filled with want, need and something else. Was it fear?

“I’ll be back on Sunday. It is only a week, Ashley. Just take care and stay safe.”

She only nodded before she broke away from my embrace and stepped back. Just before she turned to walk back to the car, I noticed a tear slip from her eye. Why was it that she just told me she loved me, but it somehow felt like she was saying goodbye?

Watching Dominic walk away was the most painful thing I had ever had to experience. Knowing that it was the last time I would see him happy, had my heart clenching in desperate pain that radiated all the way down in my bones.

I got back in the Aston Martin and heard the sound of my cell phone ringing. Glancing at the screen, my heart squeezed even more at the name of the caller.

“What?” I bit out in anger.

“Not happy to hear from me? I think you would want to be polite to me with everything that is hanging over your head, doll.”

I cringed. Just the sound of his deranged voice sent shivers down my spine.

“What do you want,”
I barked out in anger.

“I was just making sure that Mr. Michaels got on the plane okay. I wouldn’t want anything to
happen
to him.”

“You promised that if I did what you asked, you would leave him and my friends alone. Are you forgetting that I am about to destroy him?”

“Ha, ha, no. That is going to be the best part in all of this. I’ll be in touch.
Don’t
do anything stupid, Ashley.” Then he hung up.

It’s too late for that.
I thought to myself.

Over the next few days, I immersed myself in my art classes. I let my feelings and emotions show in the paintings I created. My instructor thought they were beautiful, albeit sad. Ha. I wished sad were a word that I could use to describe what I was feeling. It would have been so much easier if I were just
sad.

When I wasn’t at class or painting, I threw myself into working at the club. Dominic and I kept in touch through texts and a few phone calls, but I usually kept the conversations short and only talked about what I did for the day. I tried to be as impersonal as possible. On Thursday, Knox pestered me all day asking if I was alright. I had to get a grip before anyone caught on to anything. I worked methodically and robotically as I served people their drinks. Since Dominic was still in New Orleans, Knox demonstrated the nightly lesson and often used Kelly as his assistant. I couldn’t help but look upon them and reflect on the memories I had of the times Dominic and I shared on that stage.

On Friday after my art class, Kelly and I meet for lunch downtown. The restaurant was a modern TexMex place called Fresh Mex. It was one of Kelly’s favorite places and even though I didn’t have much of an appetite, I obliged her.

The place was always relatively busy, so we had a small wait, all the time Kelly talked about some new account they acquired at her PR firm and that she was going to be lead on the project. I tried to play the role of attentive best friend, but all I could think about was Dominic and what was going to happen in a little over two days’ time. I felt like I was being ripped in two. I had fallen so deeply in love with Dominic and was going to have to ruin everything I had worked so hard for. I got him to break down his walls and to finally give his heart to someone−to me, but I had no choice but to destroy him, best of intentions or not.

“Are you ok, Ashley? You have hardly eaten anything and I’ve said your name three times trying to get your attention.”

I let out a long breath. I couldn’t tell her the truth and risk her being hurt too. There was no doubt in my mind that
he
would fulfill his promise of hurting those I loved. I just didn’t understand why he was targeting Dominic.

“I’m fine, Kelly. I am just tired. Juggling art school and the club is going to take some getting used to,”
I offered in explanation to throw her off of the real reasons behind my depressive mood.

“Are you sure you aren’t just love sick for Dominic?” she teased. I dropped my fork at the sound of his name and it clattered loudly against my plate before falling to the floor sending rice flying all over me and the person at the table next to us. The older lady sitting next to me gave me a look of displeasure and I offered her my apologies.

“God, Ashley, I have never seen you act like this. You are nervous and fidgety. You look like you have lost weight and there are circles under your eyes. This has to be about more than just the club and Dominic. You weren’t even like this after what happened with Jared. I am concerned. Will you talk to me, please?”

What was I supposed to tell her? That I had found the one man who completed me entirely and that when I finally got him to open up to his feelings, trust me and fall in love that I was stuck with doing the opposite and had to annihilate the progress that he had made? Or how he could probably recluse back into his old self worse than before?