Sweetness (25 page)

After breakfast and a really
uncomfortable good-bye
with Gabe, I climb into my new home for the next month.
The bus is just as I remember it. It doesn’t look like there
is anyone else here yet, except for Rocco, who is lounging
on a chair tapping on his phone. When he sees me he
smiles and takes my suitcase to the back of the bus
without hesitation. I follow him back to the bedroom and
put my laptop case and purse on the bed.

“Welcome home,” he chuckles, his low voice
rumbling through his broad chest.
Rocco is a good guy. He is the oldest of the group
and definitely the biggest. He is bulky without having
too much definition in his muscles. His tattoos span
down his arms and across his chest with a colorful scene
on his back. I have never really seen his piece up close to
make out what it is exactly. His dark brown hair is
usually pulled back with a few strays always managing
to slip out of his hair tie and falling over his face. But
today his mop of hair is hanging around his face in neat
layers that fall just past his shoulders. He is a goodlooking guy in his own right. Not my style, but girls
seem to flock to him. He has always been respectful of
me and even convinced the rest of the band that it might
be good to have a girl on the bus, to keep them on their
toes and their manners in check.
When Dominic broke the news to them at dinner
on Wednesday night they were not particularly pleased
with the idea. Justin spoke up first and said that the band
didn’t need relationship drama right now. Chris agreed
and Dominic didn’t argue, he just sat there with
downturned eyes and gently rubbed the back of my hand
under the table. It was Rocco who was in my corner,
setting them straight, and I am grateful for that. Dominic
may be the leader of this crew but Rocco is clearly the
one with the pull. Perhaps being the oldest, the guys look
up to him.
In any case, it was my promise to keep them well
fed that sealed the deal. I even went grocery shopping
yesterday and stocked the pantry and fridge with
something other then beer and chips. The kitchen on the
bus is small but it will have to do.
“Thanks. And thanks again for helping me with
the rest of them. I know it isn’t going to be easy for you
all to have me tagging along. I will try to stay out of the
way.”
“Don’t worry about them. They don’t know you
yet, that’s all. Dominic isn’t like the rest of us. He doesn’t
party like we do. He isolates himself too much
sometimes, so it will be good for him to have you here. It
gets lonely out here on the road and if we can have a
home cooked meal, and a pretty girl to look at, then what
the hell. Besides you are good for music. He wrote that
song for you in a day, and it’s a hit. So in some way, we
all owe you some gratitude for being his muse.” Rocco
flashes me a toothy grin and a wink.
Now it’s my turn to laugh. I am hardly anyone’s
muse. “Thanks. I will try to stay out of your way all the
same.”
Rocco rolls his eyes and shakes his head before
leaving the room. I close the door and attempt to ponder
what happened in the suite with Gabe before I left. I
don’t know why he is acting so weird around me lately.
When I was collecting my stuff, Gabe was standing by
the door leaning against the wall like he wanted to talk to
me but when I approached him he just put his head
down and wished me luck before opening the door.
When I got to the elevator I turned back, because I could
feel his eyes on me-I can
always
feel his eyes on me; he
was leaning against the doorjamb watching me with a
tortured expression on his face. I wanted to ask him if
there was a problem, but I didn’t. I don’t want there to be
any more weirdness between us.
The muffled voices coming from the front of the
bus break me from my reverie. I take a deep cleansing
breath and step toward the door that separates me from
my man. When I grip the small handle, the flimsy door
opens with Dominic on the other side, grinning like a
fool. Even after he closes the door behind him his
expression doesn’t change.
“What?” I laugh shyly.
“I was just remembering the last time we were in
here alone.”
“Were you now?” I murmur as he hugs me and
nuzzles his face into my neck.
“Yup. Your naked ass on my bed gave me some
pretty sweet dreams,” he answers kissing behind my ear,
sending a shot of shivers down my body.
“Ditto.” Before he gets me all worked up, I slip out
from his grasp and grab my suitcase. “Where do you
want me to put my stuff?”
“Most of it will have to stay in your suitcase but
anything you need hung up can go in the closet. You can
keep your suitcase it there too.”
When I walk over to the closet, Dominic jumps
from the bed in a panic and holds it closed while my
hand is still on the handle.
“Um…why don’t you do that later,” he mumbles.
His eyes are wide. He is acting weird and jittery.
“Why? I want to unpack before my stuff gets
wrinkled.”
“Give me what you need to put in the closet and I
can do it for you,” he says as he slips his body between
the closet and me.
He’s acting very odd. He doesn’t want me to see
something in there. What could he possibly have in there
that he wouldn’t want me to see? Dirty underwear? Dead
bodies? Crazed fans? Now, I
am
curious. I will get into
that closet. One way or the other.
“Fine. I guess it can wait. So where were we?” I
pull him to me and walk backwards toward the bed,
which in this small space, is only two feet away. I spin
him around and push him down, so he falls on his back. I
lift up his shirt and kiss his stomach and chest, paying
close attention to the nipple piercings that are back in
place. He moans into the quiet room while his fingers
tangle in my hair. I feel him growing between us. My
mouth kisses and licks every ripple and plane on his
torso as I unbuckle his belt and undo his pants. He lifts
his hips slightly so I can pull down his pants and boxers
to reveal what I am searching for. He is completely
exposed and standing at attention, like a good little
soldier. I swirl my tongue down his shaft starting with
the tip and ending as close to the base as I can take him.
He flexes his hips in appreciation and as I peak through
my lashes I can see he has let his guard down.
I am not sure what is in that damn closet but I am
going to find out. When I pull my mouth back up to his
tip he moans again, causing me to smile around him.
Before Dominic can mentally register what is happening
I hop off the bed, open the closet door, and nearly fall
over at the sight before me.
“Emma! NO! Don’t!” He jumps up but it’s too late.
I have already seen it. He tucks himself back into his
pants while I stare at the closet door with my mouth
open in shock. When I turn my head in his direction, he
is flopped back on the bed with his arms draped over his
face, completely embarrassed.
I take a step closer and look at the back of the
closet door in complete admiration. He has a picture of
us at the concert in New York, taped to the door. A piece
of yellow notebook paper, which he must have wrote the
original version of, Sweetness, on hanging below it. Both
pairs of my panties that he stole from me, tacked below
the notebook paper, and a picture of me standing in
Central Park wearing the yellow dress I wore on our first
date. He must have taken it when I was waiting for him.
That is so romantic.
He kept things that remind him of me. I don’t get
why he wouldn’t want me to see it. Granted, if I didn’t
know he loved me, this would be creepy in a stalker type
of way, and I would probably hop off this bus and take
my chances hitchhiking home. But he does love me; I am
delighted that he did this. I walk over toward the bed
and hop up on my knees next to him. I peel his arms
away from his face and smile down at him. His face is a
bright shade of red; he still doesn’t open his eyes to look
at me. He is clearly uncomfortable I saw it.
“Why are you hiding? I think its great.”
“Great?” he says, testing the word. He still doesn’t
open his eyes.
“Yes, of course I think its great. Why wouldn’t you
want me to see it? Please look at me,” I encourage. The
embarrassed smile that is creeping up on his face is so
delectable.
“Maybe because it is humiliating that my
girlfriend has just seen the shrine I made of her.” I try not
to laugh. I swear, I do. But I couldn’t contain the laughter
that bubbled up in my chest after the word, shrine.
“See…humiliating,” he says throwing his arms back over
his face.
“I’m sorry, baby. I am not laughing because you
did it, I am laughing because you are so embarrassed by
it. I think it’s cute you made a shrine of me.” I tighten my
lips and even bite my bottom lip to prevent from
laughing, but he is so damn adorable when he is
embarrassed.
He lets out a groan in frustration. I climb on top of
him and gently pull his arms back, again. This time he
opens his eyes when I kiss his nose. Once he sees my
face, he lets out a full on belly laugh before pulling me
down to his chest and wrapping his arms around me. We
both continue to laugh until there are tears in our eyes.
“You don’t play fair, Emma Hill.”
“What do you mean?” I say innocently as I push
up from his chest, giving him my best, “who me”
expression.
“You know what I mean. Don’t play dumb with
me. You waited until you had me right where you
wanted me, then sprang from the bed like someone
threw a firecracker at you. Just so you could open that
door.” He points at the closet without moving his eyes
from mine.
“Well, you were being weird about letting me in
the closet.”
“Because I didn’t want you to see it. I forgot about
it until you were about to open the door,” he says
exasperated.
“Well, I am glad I saw it. It really is very
sweet…in a high school girl kind of way,” I tease.
Dominic flips me over onto my back, “High school
girl, huh. I think we have established I am all man baby.”
He thrusts his hips into me rubbing my already drenched
panties against the smooth flesh between my legs.
I can feel him, still hard and ready. He climbs off
the bed and I miss his weight on me immediately. I
follow him with my eyes to the door. Just when I think
he is going to leave me hanging, he locks the door and
removes his clothes. He orders me to remove my clothes
as well and I happily submit to his demand. The bed dips
on either side of my hips with Dominic hovering over my
body on all fours. His erection touching me is the only
physical contact between us.
His lips trace my ear and he whispers, “The guys
are in the next room so you will have to be very quiet. I
am going to get my revenge on your body for teasing me,
but if you get loud I will stop. Do you understand?”
There is no humor in his voice. This man is dead serious
and fucking sexy as hell when he talks to me like that.
“Yes,” I breathe.
“Good,” he says in a low voice directly in my ear.
“I don’t want anyone other than me to hear my girlfriend
scream.” Oh god. He has barely touched me and I
already want to scream his name.
With the tip of his tongue he traces my ear, then
down to my jaw, across my collarbone, then back up the
opposite side, doing the same in reverse until he
progresses to my other ear.
“I am going to fuck you so hard you are going to
want to scream. But you won’t. Because you will
definitely want me to finish, Sweetness.”
Dominic drops his head, kissing and nipping my
breasts and stomach. Making very sure he never touches
my nipples or bellybutton. He moves lower and lower
until his nose is grazing my folds. His touch, or lack there
of, is getting me so excited.
Fuck! This is going to be hard to control. How the
hell am I supposed to not make a sound?
Dominic pushes my legs wider apart and parts me
with his fingers. He runs the flat of his tongue from my
entrance to the spot that makes my body jerk, then flicks
it with the tip of his tongue before repeating the process
over and over again. My lip is gripped between my
teeth. I am clenching the blanket beneath me trying to be
as quiet as possible but this is much more difficult than I
originally thought.
All I can hear is the hum of the bus and the heavy
panting coming from the room. My body is on fire. The
air is musky, filled with sexual tension. Dominic’s tongue
and fingers are relentless as they tease me. I drape my
arm over my mouth and bite into my own flesh to keep
from screaming when my orgasm takes over. I can’t
contain the moan that escapes from deep in my throat as
I clench my inner muscles around his strategically placed
fingers.
Sliding back up my body, I can feel his tongue
licking my salty flesh. “Shhhh. That was your one and
only warning baby,” he whispers next my ear.
He settles in between my legs and as promised
slowly fills me as far as he can. Once he is tightly tucked
inside, he gyrates his hips, allowing me to feel every inch
of him inside of me. I bite his shoulder, desperately
trying not to make another sound.
“You like that baby? You like when I do this?
Ummm, you do don’t you,” he breathes directly into my
ear. His voice is laced with enough sexual promises to
make me want to cream again. He is driving me crazy. I
can’t answer him because I don’t trust myself to open my
mouth
Slow and steady he makes love to me. Kissing my
lips and capturing any sounds emanating from my
mouth. When I get close again he picks up the pace. With
a few more thrusts my body explodes silently around
him and he slams into me harder and faster trying to
release his own bliss.
“Oh fuck…” he yells. I am still riding out my own
gratification silently as he screams my name before
falling on top of me, completely spent.
After he gets his breathing under control Dominic
rolls off me and lies flat on the bed. He looks back in my
direction and smiles when I prop my head up on my
hand and look down at him with narrowed eyes. “How
come you can make noise but I can’t?”
“My game, my rules,” he chuckles. “I said I didn’t
want them to hear you. I don’t care if they hear me.”
I slap his arm and slip off the bed in search of my
clothes. I guess I just learned that with Dominic there will
always be a double standard when it comes to me. This
won’t be the case in all things, but I really don’t want his
friends to hear me any more than he wants them to.
“Emma, can I ask you a question,” he asks.
“You can ask me anything.”
“You and Max. Have you ever…been more than
just friends?”