Adaline (The Wallflower Series Book 3) (18 page)

Dominic could recall the feelings he had denied while he was a teenager. Little did she know, Adaline had always been on his radar, but he had been unwilling to accept the feelings growing inside him toward her. However, that was no longer the case. He had made himself completely vulnerable to her possible rejection and while the former Dominic was usually self-assured and arrogant regarding his ability to attract the opposite sex, he didn’t feel that same level of assurance now. In fact, he was downright apprehensive. It was because she meant so much to him already, and he knew her rejection would hurt more than anything else.

As his phone rang, he paced through the living room of his townhome, waiting for her to eventually pick up.

Ring. Ring.

He was preparing to hang up in defeat when her image showed up on his phone.

“Yes, Dominic? What is it?”

Adaline’s greeting was not the warmest, but then again, he couldn’t blame her. The last time they had spoken, he had urged her to leave her current boyfriend before going down on her. At the thought of her taste and the screams she released when she climaxed, Dominic felt himself thickening within his pants.

Fuck.
He wanted her so bad.

“I know this is probably a bad time…but…I needed to see you.”

He could tell she sensed the real reason why behind his words from the look of concern that marred her features on the small screen.

“What happened, Dominic?”

It was then he knew it wasn’t enough. He didn’t just want to see her; he needed to be close to her. “I’d rather not talk about it over the phone. Can I come see you?”

Adaline sighed and shook her head, “Right now, I’m back in Dover to see my uncle.”

“What for?”

“He fell from the roof and injured himself. It’s still pretty bad.”

All his worries and complaints about his own situation went out the window at her words. Immediately, he walked to his room with her still on the phone. Grabbing a bag, he began to shove clothes in for him to possibly stay overnight.

“Are you staying at home?”

Adaline shook her head, “I decided to just stay at the Hampton. My aunt and I got into it, and I just didn’t feel comfortable staying there.”

Dominic could tell there was more to the story than what she had revealed. The usual brightness he had grown accustomed to seeing in her eyes was long gone. In there place was the same defeated stillness he saw in his own when he left his father’s office. Dominic knew that Adaline’s relationship with her aunt had always been more contemptuous than loving. And now with her uncle injured, she had no allies to offset the strained relationship that had always made her feel like an unwelcomed guest. Dominic recognized that this was an opportunity for him to be there for her and show Adaline that his feelings weren’t just ones of carnal desire.

“I’m on my way. I’ll be there in an hour,” he said, his tone brooking no argument.

To his own surprise, Adaline didn’t say anything. And when he arrived as promised at the front door of her hotel room, she opened the door without protest. Dominic threw his overnight bag onto the beige couch that rested by the red curtains of the large window while Adaline returned to her seat along the queen-sized bed and laid down facing him. Her eyes were stained red, a clue to the tears she had shed nonstop after visiting her childhood home.

Dominic bent down by the edge of the bed so that his eyes aligned with hers. Gently he reached out and caressed the wisps of hair by her ear.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked softly. But even his whisper seemed too loud in the space.

Adaline’s eyes closed momentarily as he rubbed his thumb against her tear-stained cheeks. He felt her lean into his caress as she shook her head. “You should go first.”

Dominic found himself tongue-tied. He had contacted her to relive those moments when she had been his confidant. Ever since they had met again at Carla’s wedding, they had so easily fallen into the former dynamics of their relationship. Adaline had been there for him despite his stubbornness and overall jackass-ery as he mourned his lost relationship with Dina. And he needed her again when the insecurities he had toward his father resurfaced out of the blue.

But, as he sat in front of her now, Dominic found that he couldn’t speak. He didn’t want to. “Let’s talk about it in the morning, shall we?”

Her eyes opened when the warmth from his touch disappeared. She looked up and watched as he removed his shoes and jacket before crawling over her to the other side of the bed. For just a moment, he was straddling her and Adaline felt a tug in her loins at their position. He lay down beside her however, and with a gentle pressure on her waist, he maneuvered her to turn to face him. As if they had been doing it all their lives, Adaline rested herself against his side. Every inch of her pressed up against him at the urging of his arms around her. She could feel the steady beat of his heart and the rise-and-fall of his breath against the open palm of her hand on his muscled chest, and her heart soared when his soft full lips momentarily came down to her forehead as if to offer assurance.

There was no need though, Adaline thought to herself. Because she had no intention of moving out of his arms. As the warmth of his body became intermingled with her own, Adaline’s eyes grew heavy. She fell into a deep sleep, comforted by the feel of him against her because even after the emotional day, she found that there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

Dominic looked down at her, asleep in his arms. While his body was definitely affected by her nearness, the warmth growing in his heart outweighed the desire he felt to consume her with the passion that had previously lay dormant. He was steadily becoming more and more aware of just how much she meant to him, but while he expected to feel the familiar stirrings of fear and discomfort at this knowledge, Dominic instead felt exhilaration. He welcomed the fiery, passionate, and powerful emotions she wrought from him. He could only hope to convince her to feel the same.

When she awoke, Adaline had a moment of confusion. Her legs were entangled within someone else’s and boy, were they muscular and long! The same could be said for the chest her left hand rested on. But there was nothing to say for the wetness seeping from her sex in response to the hardness pressing against her. Adaline could feel the stranger’s calloused and large hands palming her behind as if to pull her closer.

A guttural moan sounded in her ear as a gentle thrust of hips pushed her deeper into the fiery heat simmering between them. His face nuzzled into her chest and pressed kisses along the line of her neck. For a moment, after remembering who exactly was lying next to her, Adaline wanted to become a willing participant. Eventually, however, she was able to gather enough strength and willpower to push him away. There was a groan of protest as her hands shoved at his muscular chest, but Adaline saw Dominic’s eyes finally begin to open.

A look of confusion passed across his face at the feel of her hands pushing him away. But when his gaze finally touched upon the indecency of their position, Dominic moved away from her albeit reluctantly.

“Sorry about that,” he mumbled before falling immediately back to sleep.

In contrast, Adaline was unable to return to the same peaceful bout of sleep. Instead, she took the opportunity to truly admire the gorgeous specimen beside her. She had never had the privilege of seeing Dominic in such a state, but she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her tired features at the handsome boyishness he exuded. His long locks were in disarray atop his head but he looked so peaceful sleeping next to her.

During the night, he seemed to have taken off his shirt because she could now lay witness to his defined pectoral and abdominal muscles. There was an itch at the tip of her fingers to touch him that she tried her darnedest to ignore. Dominic had no hair on his chest except for a dusty trail leading into his loose pants, and she noted a beauty mark on his hip giving greater attention to the V-shape of his pelvic muscle. Adaline felt the heat in her lower abdomen and sex increase exponentially as she perused him. To add insult to injury, the massive erection tenting his pants made her release an uncontrollable moan of desire.

Dominic moved slightly in his sleep, his arms reaching above his head, which placed emphasis on the bulging muscles of his arms and shoulders. Adaline had always known he had a sexy body, but she had never realized the extent to which it would affect her. She couldn’t help but compare him to Murphy. And while there was certainly nothing unattractive about her newfound boyfriend, he didn’t elicit the same reaction from her as Dominic did. With Dominic, she felt her fingers itching to touch him. She wanted to feel his lips on her skin once more. And she felt enraged by her moral compass at forcing her to push him away.

He was simply too attractive for his own good. It was why she couldn’t say no when he pushed her against the refrigerator at Sasha’s home and brought her to orgasm with just his hand. It was that same reason that allowed her to follow him blindly into her room where he then commenced bringing her to new heights of pleasure with just his mouth. At the memories of what happened in the recesses of her darkened room, Adaline’s eyes rested on Dominic’s soft and full lips.

Her eyes narrowed in determination as she slowly reached over until she was bearing down over him. Placing her hands softly at the sides of his head so as to keep her balance, Adaline slowly bent down until she felt the soft skin press against her own. The spark she never felt with Murphy coursed through her veins the moment they touched. And it took all of her focus and determination to eventually lift her head away and return to her side of the bed.

As if she hadn’t given in to her own desire and the source was not lying half-naked in her bed, Adaline walked into the bathroom.

~~~~

Dominic shook out the water in his hair as he emerged from the steamy room dressed in casual jeans and a collared shirt.

“Thank you for coming,” Adaline greeted him. She had woken much earlier and was now fully dressed as well.

His eyes raked over her in appreciation. She wore a sweater dress that accentuated every curve on her body with knee-length black boots. His mouth quirked unconsciously at the thought of bending her over the dresser and lifting her dress up over her luscious ass.

“I didn’t mean to grope you in my sleep. Again, I’m sorry about that.”

She shrugged, obviously not wanting to discuss it.

“As to your gratitude about coming all the way here…” he shook his head. “Of course, I would come, Addy. No matter what our relationship becomes- whether you decide to stay with Murphy or not- I will always be there for you. Just like you are always there for me.”

Dominic walked over and bent down in front of her. “Do we need to go to our bench in order for you to feel comfortable telling me everything that happened?”

Adaline’s mouth broke out into a smile at his teasing. “Of course not, Dominic!”

He winked at her and continued, “Then tell me what Victoria said to hurt my woman.”

Adaline ignored the way his words made her heart soar. Her fingers played with the edges of her dress as she explained to him what happened the day before. “Uncle Dean is temporarily blind from the accident.” She nodded her head at the look of shock that came across Dominic’s handsome features. “I had no idea about any of it because I had been ignoring Carla’s calls. I wanted to get as far away from them as possible, to start my own life. But I didn’t realize it would be at the expense of my relationship with my uncle. It really hurt him how I had seemed to just disappear off the face of the earth. And by hurting him, I incurred the ire of my aunt once again. She basically told me she disliked everything about me. Because I remind her too much of my mother.”

Dominic looked up at her, confused. “Why would that be a bad thing?”

“Their relationship was absolutely contentious throughout most of my mother’s life. To add insult to injury, Dean was in love with my mother before he ever met Victoria. I think she only took me in after my mother’s death because Dean would have never looked at her the same again if she hadn’t. So, here I am, a constant reminder of her awful relationship with her sister. I expected something else. I hoped that maybe her dislike stemmed from something that I did. Not something I cannot change.”

Dominic harrumphed and laughed humorlessly. “We are a sad pair, Addy.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged his shoulders and stood up, taking a step away from her. “Look at us. To this day, we are still being influenced by the whims of our parents or guardians. Do you know why I came here?”

“Why?”

“Because I found out what I had known my entire life. My father doesn’t believe in me. The only way to get him to let go of the reigns even a little bit was to bring in my older brother. Dmitri said the same shit I’ve been telling him since day one of this new venture. But it all went over Nikolai’s head until my brother walked in to save the day. Their relationship has been shit for years and still is, but my father still believes in him more than he does me. In fact, I think that’s why he was so manipulative regarding Dmitri’s relationship with Sasha. Because he actually gave a fuck about Dmitri’s future!”

Adaline raised her hand with a shake of her head, “Dominic! Slow down! I only got about half of that.”

He took in a deep breath to force himself to relax and sighed, “Essentially what I’m saying is…we’ve been on this rollercoaster for too long, Addy. This is the same stuff we talked about when we were teenagers. We shouldn’t be hurt by it anymore. Our parents are crap. It’s time that we just accept that.”

Her eyes narrowed at the look of defeat upon him. “
I’m not some robot, Dominic. I hurt because I love them.
”

Dominic shook his head and signed back, “
I know. You think I don’t love my father?”
He turned his back to her for a moment and paced the floor of the hotel room. She watched and waited in anticipation of what he would say next. “I’ve looked up to him since I was a kid, but all I’ve gotten in return is disappointment. There comes a point where I need to stop expecting something different because it’s never going to happen. I can fulfill every dream he has of his fucking legacy, but I will always come up short. It’s time to go off on my own.”

He returned to his kneeled position before her and took her hands into his. “You did the right thing by leaving, Addy. Don’t you dare let them tell you different. If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here right now. We wouldn’t have this…”Dominic leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her neck, right below her jawline. He felt her shiver at his touch but moved away almost immediately.

“What is this, Dominic? I don’t understand why you’ve suddenly changed your mind.”

“There’s nothing sudden about it. Do you have any idea what I thought when I first saw you in the wedding ceremony?”

Adaline shook her head instead of speaking aloud.

“I was blown away, baby. You are just,” he bit his lip and tried to think of the words that wouldn’t scare her, “you are so beautiful. And it’s not that I didn’t notice when we were younger because there were definitely moments when I had to remind myself that I was with Carla. But it was fear. You weren’t what I expected, you weren’t who I thought I
should
be with because I was an idiotic, privileged, and spoiled kid.”

“You still are at least two of those,” she interjected.

Dominic laughed and nodded his assent. “I won’t argue with you there. Just think about it, Addy. How right did it feel sleeping next to me last night? I know that after meeting with my father, I wanted to talk to you. And not just to complain and rant like I would with a friend. But because at the end of the day, I want to be with you. You encompass everything I could ever dream of having in a woman. You’re smart, you’re not afraid to put me in my place- like you just did- you’re my friend, and good lord, you are so sexy!”

At that, Adaline looked away and hid her face in embarrassment.

Dominic tsked. “Oh, no you don’t. You need to hear this so that you finally believe me. I know how long you’ve waited, and I’m sorry I was so slow on the uptake. But I’m not going anywhere. You belong to me, Addy. We belong together. And I’ll keep saying that until you finally believe me. And then I’ll make love to you because I know both of us want that.”

“How do I know that this isn’t just because you couldn’t end up with Dina?” She asked softly.

His eyes stared deeply into hers so that she’d see that his words were genuine. “The way I felt for Dina doesn’t even compare to what I feel for you, Addy. You’re not competing with anyone. I, on the other hand, actually am. If anything, I’m the one who should be feeling insecure,” he joked. “You have no competition when it comes to the way I feel about you, Addy.”

“I-I’m scared, Dominic.”

“What are you scared of?”

There was a pause as she looked down at him. “I’m scared that you’ll hurt me. I’m afraid that this is just a game to you.”

Dominic had an intake of breath at her words. He released her hands and stood to his full height. Dmitri had thought the same thing. Somehow, they both believed his pursuit of her was a need to restore his pride. Why couldn’t they see how much he yearned for her?

“I just left one,” he said sternly, referring to the way Dina had toyed with him. “Why would I be looking for another?”

“Do you really see yourself introducing me to your friends and colleagues? How could we ever have a future together with my disability? Yes, I may be able to speak and I have a cochlear implant but I’ll never be ‘normal’. And I don’t think you really have a clue of what it’ll be like with us together. You have no ides what it is like for people like Murphy and me. You can speak sign language all you want, but it’s not the same.”

Dominic could feel himself growing more and more angry at every passing second. He felt himself ready to burst with frustration at all of her assumptions. “Are you kidding me?” he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm. “I have no idea what it’s like being
Black
either, but that doesn’t seem to stop Dmitri and Sasha from being together and happy. Since when did couples have to be the same in order to be compatible? I’m not your family; I’m not going to force you to become something you’re not. I understand wanting to be in an ASL community. I get how important that is for you. But that doesn’t mean you have to completely eradicate everyone else from your life. Quite frankly, that entire reasoning is simply bullshit to hide behind your fears.”

Immediately, Adaline stood up and pushed him away from her. “You’re being an ass, Dominic!”

He barely budged by her shove, and he refused to be pushed away figuratively or otherwise. “No, I’m telling you the harsh truth, Addy. You told me you were scared of being hurt but that’s a risk you take with any relationship. What you’re telling me is that you don’t think I’m worth that risk. Is that it?” His voice had softened at his question.

Adaline’s eyes widened at the painful question. “W-what? No, no! That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

Dominic didn’t respond.

Suddenly, Adaline felt in the wrong. She had been so sure of her reasoning for moving on, so certain of their incompatibility that she hadn’t considered the implicit message behind her words and actions. She began to think that maybe he was right. Maybe she
was
being a coward. Dominic was the bigger risk because she felt so much more for him than she felt for Murphy. He was in her dreams and had been since she was a teenage girl encountering her first crush. There was so much at stake if they didn’t work out; if he hurt her again, she didn’t know if she would survive it.