Craving HIM (Serving HIM Vol. 7) (11 page)

“You had a…” I stopped, shaking my head, dumbfounded by the idea. He always seemed so confident, it was hard to think of him unsure about any of this.

“Who better to teach a new Dom about limits than a Sub who’s been in the life for years?” He pressed his mouth to my ear. “But you’ll be nobody’s teacher, Aleena. You’re mine.”

I turned my face to his. “And you won't be teaching anyone else. You’re mine.”

He kissed me, deep, hard, demanding and I was panting when he finally lifted his head. His cock was hard against my ass and I wanted nothing more than to have him inside me again. If I'd been into exhibitionism, I'd have been tempted to ask him to take me right there.

When he guided me from the dance floor, I was more than happy to follow him to a table tucked in the shadows. He sat down, tugging until I was kneeling in front of him.

“I want to kiss you,” he said, tugging on my ponytail. “But that skirt you’re wearing makes it difficult. One wrong move and people will see parts of you that are mine alone.”

“Should I apologize, Sir?”

His eyes glittered in the darkness. “No.” He leaned down and bit my lip. “People are looking at you. Looking at you, wanting you…and they know you’re mine.”

He leaned down and his mouth took mine again. I opened for him, sucking on his tongue and pressing my hands to his thighs. The muscles were hard and clenched and I dared to slide my hands higher.

He caught my wrist and I thought he was going to stop me, but instead, he dragged my right hand to his cock, hissing out a breath when my fingers curled around him as best they could.

His hand covered mine, pressing me against him. “I’m tempted to have you take me in your mouth right here. I’ve never been a fan of exhibitionism, but you make me want crazy things, Aleena.”

I squeezed him through his trousers and met his eyes. As much as I wanted him, nerves crowded up inside me and I gave him a weak smile. “Well, if it helps,I think I’d remember my safe word really fast if you asked me. There are some things I just don’t want to do, even the idea is fun to tease you with.”

“Hmmmm.” He tugged on my ponytail and pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss to my neck, sucking and nipping at the skin until I knew he'd left a mark. He pulled me up and onto his lap, one arm draped across my legs. I rested my head on his shoulder, my fingers teasing at the neck of his shirt. Suddenly, I felt him tense.

Looking up, I followed the path his eyes had taken and saw a tall, leggy brunette coming toward us. She was dressed—barely—in a clingy, silky dress of silver that stood out in all the black and red. It dipped low between her breasts and her nipples were tight, hard points, visible under the thin material. The dress ended just south of legal and I imagined she’d have the same problem about bending over as I did.

But even as Dominic and I watched, she paused by a table and turned, bending over slightly. The silver rose up, giving a glimpse of a firm ass and the bare folds of her vulva, the hair removed.

She clearly didn't suffer from a lack of self-confidence.

When she straightened, she turned back toward us and continued with her slow, rolling glide, hips swinging, the silver of her dress slithering over her curves. A few feet away, she went to her knees and crawled toward Dominic, but there was little about the action that was submissive. It made me think more of a cat stalking its prey.

She sank back on her heels, not sparing a glance for me.

I turned my head toward Dominic and said, “I’m not crawling for you.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.” Amusement and pride gleamed in his eyes as he kissed my temple before shifting his attention back to the woman. “Hello, Koren.”

Her eyes shifted to me now, and in that moment, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I didn't really know why, but there was something about her that set me on edge. Her eyes flicked over me and I had the suspicion she was taking me, measuring me. Measuring her competition. I must have come up lacking because a smirk twisted her pretty lips.

Then, abruptly, she surged upright, hot flashes of color staining her cheeks red. She glared at me and the emptiness of her gaze was replaced by an ugliness that had my internal radar screaming.

“Is that a collar?” she asked, her voice surprising deep.

Dominic’s eyes narrowed, but his voice was soft when he responded, “Yes.” He reached up, running his finger alone the soft velvet. “Koren, this is Aleena. She’s mine.”

I glanced at him. Here, I was his Sub, but I needed to make something clear to Koren. “You’re mine too,” I reminded him quietly.

He grinned at me as he took my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I am.” He brushed his mouth against mine and then looked back at Koren. She was still staring at me, that hot, burning rage filling her eyes.

Abruptly, she stood, turned on her heel and stormed away.

“I don’t think she likes me,” I said.

“Koren doesn’t like anybody.” Dominic nuzzled my neck. “Keep away from her, okay?”

I nodded. That wouldn’t be an issue. I didn't want to go anywhere near her. I snuggled down against Dominic's broad chest. I was quite happy where I was.

A few minutes later, a sharp cry echoed through the air in between a lull in the music. I looked up and heat flooded my face.

It was Koren.

The VIP had its own small stage and she was now tied to the poles, arms stretched out wide, legs spread. Her dress had disappeared somewhere and every inch of her was exposed.

A masked man behind her plied a whip and I flinched at the sharp crack of it as it came down on her flesh. It curled around to kiss her nipple on one stroke, then came between her thighs. Every touch brought with it a sound, but none of them were pained. Judging by the way her body was writhing, she was enjoying every bit of it. That wasn't what was freaking me out though. If someone got off on what I thought of as painful, that was their business. No, what got to me was that her eyes didn't leave Dominic the entire time.

“That’s…creepy,” I whispered, turning to Dominic.

He didn’t say anything, just nudged me off his lap and held up a hand. “Come on. I’ve reserved a room.”

He led me off, but I couldn’t resist looking back once.

She was still staring at us. I needed to watch this woman.

Chapter 9

Dominic

The gathering wasn’t what anyone could call informal and it definitely wasn’t low-key, although that was the impression they were trying to give off. The checkered tablecloths over white tables, the rich tang of barbecue in the air, it all added up to what felt like a giant family picnic. Or at least what I assumed a family picnic would feel like. The Snows never had anything so crass.

I’d driven well over an hour to attend this fundraiser and it had taken some work to secure a ticket. I could have had Aleena do it, but she’d know why and then she would have wanted to come. While I loved being with her, she sometimes made it hard for me to think, and I wanted my wits about me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to do this, to look at the man who'd made me possible.

He stood at the podium and it was disturbing to look up at him from across the crowd and see my own face. He was older, of course, but didn't even look close to his age. I wondered how much of that was good genes and how much was the result of discreet nips and tucks, possibly some Botox.

Woodrow turned my way so I shifted my attention to the crowd. I spent the past hour watching him, seeing how he interacted with everybody. The typical person would probably just see a friendly man who had been blessed in life and believed in giving back to the community.

He said all the right things, smiled at the right times and nodded soberly when needed. He made all the right movements, a friendly touch on the shoulder or a quick hug, an easy laugh. His gaze and touch never lingered too long on any one person, never showed favoritism.

I didn’t trust him.

I couldn't even say why, but I didn’t. I didn't think it had anything to do with what Cecily had told me either. I wouldn’t have trusted this man with anything remotely important, much less a role in running the government.

There was something off about him.

Everybody else seemed fine with him, despite the fact that I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. More than a few women slid appraising looks his way and not just the ladies in his age bracket either. He never returned the attention, or even acknowledged it.

The only time I saw him show interest in a woman was when a redhead approached him. She was small, diminutive, striking for her age with high cheekbones and wide-set eyes. Even from here, I could see how pretty she was. As she leaned in, he dipped his head to kiss her cheek. She slid her arm through the crook of his elbow, confirming my assumption that she was his wife.

I guess, in some way, she was my stepmother. Amused with myself, I watched as the two of them continued to work the crowd. She wasn’t as good as he was but he worked with her, assisting when clearly she seemed to falter.

Once or twice, I found his eyes resting on me and I could see the speculation in his gaze, could feel him assessing me. Each time, I casually broke eye contact. I didn’t want to give him any reason to approach me.

There was no denying that I had a powerful urge to walk up to him, tell him who I was and see how he reacted. To ask him what he thought of Cecily now, ask why he’d thrown her away. Because I knew that's exactly what he'd done. He’d been in the political arena for years before I was born, and impregnating a teenager on the side wouldn’t have done him any good, even if his wife had stayed with him. I’d done some digging over the past couple weeks, but either he’d learned his lesson or gotten better at covering his tracks because so far, my investigator hadn’t turned up any girlfriends or other children.

I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to see his reaction, see what he said and I wanted to see the look in his eyes when I confronted him. When he got a good look at my face and couldn't deny who I was.

But I told Cecily I’d keep my distance.

I’d made a silent amendment when I agreed to stay away though. I couldn’t avoid this confrontation forever. I’d keep my distance, but only until I had more information and a better idea how to handle him.

I sure as hell hadn’t learned much today, other than one unpleasant fact.

I now knew where I’d gotten my ability to work people.

The knowledge left a bad taste in my mouth.

Chapter 10

Aleena

Sometimes I didn't think Dominic knew the magnitude of the tasks he put before me. Like this one. He wanted to set up a foundation, a charitable one and he wanted it up and running fast. He wasn't exactly a patient man.

The problem was, starting such a charity meant dealing with legalities and the IRS. I’d suspected as much, but hadn't known exactly how much. Ten minutes into my first conversation with Tom and I knew one thing.

I knew there wasn’t going to be any fast with this.

Getting a charity set up through the IRS took paperwork and a minimum of ninety days. Some people waited longer, although I had no doubt Dominic would manage to be one of the ones who got through with just the ninety days.

Considering Dominic wanted it to be a longstanding, lasting enterprise, that meant we had to develop it as such. Tom told me that meant we needed a business plan. Plus, Dominic would have to rethink everything he knew about business. There was a difference between running a business for profit and then forming a nonprofit one.

My head was already pounding and it wasn’t even noon. I was beginning to wish he'd asked Amber to help him on this.

Tom put a cup of coffee in front of me and sat down at my elbow. He'd come to the penthouse to talk rather than me going into my office at
Trouver L'Amour
. I hadn't yet moved my things into the office that Dominic had assigned me at the Snow Enterprises headquarters. I supposed he was working from there, but I hadn't been in yet.

“Here’s the thing,” Tom said, dragging my attention away from the computer and the two million browser tabs I had open. “If Dominic wants to set up a foundation and have it actually be a recognizable force when it comes to combating child abduction and human trafficking, it'll take time. You can’t grow an oak overnight and these aren’t like the companies he’s gone in and rescued either.”

“I know that,” I grumbled. Coffee in hand, I leaned back and glared at the screen. There was a reason I hadn't gone into business.

“He’ll want this place to survive beyond him, thrive without him, should something happen.”

My gut clenched and I looked up at Tom. The mere thought of losing Dominic scared the shit out of me.

Tom patted my hand. “Relax. It's hypothetical. If he really wants to do this, he has to do it from the ground up—and make it last. There’s no shortcutting the IRS, but there are other things that need to be done while he waits.”

“I don’t think you quite understand how his mind works,” I said dryly. “Telling him that we have to build up to this and that it takes time just won’t work with Dominic. His mind is like…”My voice trailed off as I tried to think of the appropriate way to describe it. Finally, I blurted out the only thing I could think of, “He’s a hyperactive bunny on speed.” Shit. My cheeks flushed. “Please don’t tell him I said that. Or Cecily.”