Dom Fever (Devlin Black #2)

Dom Fever

Devlin Black book
2

Alaska
Angelini

Dom Fever

Devlin Black book 2

Alaska Angelini

Copyright © 2014 by Alaska
Angelini

ISBN
:
9781938076381

All Rights Reserved

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Chapter 1

Devlin

Betrayal causes different reactions for different people. I liked to think of myself as a fairly rational man. Calmer than most, I hardly ever raised my voice and wasn’t one to lash out. But there was one thing that could spark my temper like nothing else. Being lied to.

Honesty had been the key foundation I stressed to any woman I was interested in. They knew not to hide anything from me. After all, I was an understanding guy. Who was I to point the finger when I’
d been far from being a saint myself?

One woman
, and years of searching for her after an unforgettable night, finally put her straight into my arms. Not in the typical way, I’d literally crashed into her when I was jogging, but the accident had been a blessing to my struggling self. Too much booze and too many women had destroyed me. And it was all because of losing her. A piece of myself went missing when she disappeared. I fell even deeper into the depths of depression, losing myself completely. She’d been the light to my darkness. My perfect, ideal submissive. When she reemerged into my life, my heart had been revived. It burned to be in her presence. Ached constantly, reminding me that it was no longer mine, but hers. I would have done anything for Victoria. Hell, I’d tried my hardest to convince her that she belonged with me. But she wouldn’t budge. Her rejection killed me.
Was
killing me. My heart was proof of that. I was dying a slow, agonizing death and she was the only one that had the power to save me.

At least, that’s what I had thought. Never in my wildest dreams would I have
imagined she could lie to me. To hide a truth so big that she’d fall off the pedestal I placed her on.

What started out as a typical day had led me back to the boredom I always seemed to find myself in. There was only one person who plagued my thoughts in those moment
s.
Her
. Ways to win her over haunted me. Every scenario imaginable came to my mind and I weighed whether or not I should even attempt it. Victoria had brushed me off too many times to count and I knew with all the women signing up for dates with me from my personal ad I just needed to move on and face facts.

But, I couldn’t.

One night, a little over three weeks ago, she and I had had sex. After being so long without her, I’d seduced her with every ounce of skill I possessed. But in the end, it was her continuing desire for me that had her acquiescing. I’d never felt more overwhelmed. Even though I didn’t wear a condom, I’d pulled out. Still, it didn’t take a genius to know pregnancy could still happen that way, and I prayed to the Gods that it worked in my favor. As much as it made me a bastard to want to keep her tied to me through a child, I couldn’t stop hoping that I’d get what I wanted—to become a father with Victoria and have her with me always.

The desperation
of my obsessive thoughts had me stopping by her house any chance I could. Her mother was growing on me. I’d spent a good two hours sitting outside with Sophia over Halloween, passing out candy. She made me laugh and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I really felt like I had a mother, too. Naturally, she gave off the vibes, and I soaked them in like the dying man I was.

Sophia’s nervousness the moment she opened the door
today, had faded within seconds. I could tell she was contemplating sharing something, but I brushed it aside. When she said Victoria was at the park, I’d thought it was perfect timing. I needed to do my daily run anyway.

The coolness as I jogged
felt good. My heart was pounding in my chest, but not from the running…because I knew the moment I saw her, I’d be home. She was it for me. If I could only win her over, I’d have the perfect life. I knew if Victoria gave me a chance, I could make her see how strong my feelings were. It would just take time. I had that.

A curve rounded and I
slowed, knowing I’d pretty much covered the majority of the area and she had to be somewhere up ahead. There was an open field and a park further down. Maybe she’d be relaxing in the open space. Lying down and watching the fucking clouds or something. Not in a million years had I expect to see what was before me.

I slowed, smiling as I spotted her on a bench. She looked as beautiful as ever. A light pink tinted her cheeks and her dark hair was blowing in the wind. She looked down, smiling
, and I watched as her lips began to move. Confusion had my eyebrows drawing in. Then, the spell that kept me focusing on her face vanished. My feet came to an abrupt halt while my battered heart stopped beating altogether.

A
tiny body lying across her lap removed the bottle it was drinking from, only to replace it seconds later. For what felt like years passed as I tried to process what I was seeing.
A baby.

My pulse kicked in
, accelerating more by the second. Pink clothing. A girl. Dark, short, ringlets were resting over Victoria’s arm and although I couldn’t see the baby’s face, I knew she was mine. The internal pull was undeniable. The age seemed about right, too, from the first night we’d spent together when the condom busted.

Liquid lava oozed from the center of my chest and torturously made its way through my entire body. Then, my world ti
lted completely. Victoria’s eyes widened as she stared ahead and she looked panicked. She reached for a bottled water, throwing it back and taking a long drink. Her chest rose and fell heavily and her fingers pressed against her lips. She looked pale. Sick.

“Oh…shit,” I breathed out.
My legs suddenly felt weak. As if all the running I’d done had caught up to me tenfold.

My own stomach twisted as I came to terms
with what I saw. It was as though I’d entered her mind, fallen into a place where the truth smacked me in the face. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. Victoria was pregnant. Again. With
my
second child. And she knew it. Two babies. Had she hoped to hide this one from me too? How could she think to do this?

Her eyes gl
anced over and she froze. Turning even paler as my feet practically ate up the ground beneath me in anger. I couldn’t think straight. Still couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’d heard the baby cry before in the background when we’d spoken on the phone, and she’d lied to me. Told me it was her neighbor’s kid…how could she?

Victoria
grabbed the strap to the diaper bag and stood, bringing the baby up closer to her chest as she stepped backward. Tears were already welling up in her green eyes as I approached. But I couldn’t stay focused on her. I looked down at the short ringlets that were blowing in the wind.

“Let me see her. Turn her around.” My fists clenched at my sides as the adrenaline cause me to shake.

“Devlin, I can explain.”

“Turn. Her. Around.”
I could barely talk, I was so mad.

Tears slid down both sides of her cheeks as she placed the little girl’s back against her chest and took
away the bottle, placing it in the diaper bag. My hand slowly rose to my mouth as my eyes stared into ones that mirrored my own. The baby had Victoria’s mouth, her full lips, but everything else was me.

“Oh...God.” My hand moved
over to my cheek, rubbing the stubble, trying to slow my mind. “How could you?” I threw her a glare, but went back to staring at the child.

“I was going to tell you. I tried to call, but when you never called back…and then I saw you drunk with a woman. And then more
women. Always…stumbling…drunk. Screwing around. Not to be trusted. I couldn’t,” she sobbed.

The little girl
’s hands clapped and she giggled, turning to look at the play area.

“You could have stopped that
if you would have only told me,” I gritted out. “Do you find my character so weak that you thought I wouldn’t want to better myself for my own daughter? You robbed me of some of the most crucial, most beautiful, memories a father can have of their child. I missed everything because of you, Victoria. Do you know what you’ve done? I don’t even know her name,” I exploded.

I stepped back as the little girl’s eyes widened, filled with tears, and her lip bottom lip quivered.

“I’m sorry,” I breathed out to her. “Don’t cry, I’m not mad at you.”

My gaze snapped back up to
Victoria even angrier.

“Ava,” she managed to get out.
The sobs that fell from her were only increasing. It killed me to see her so distraught, but I couldn’t focus on that. I had to figure out what I was going to do.

“Dev—”
Her mouth closed, her hand flying to it. I saw the panic as her eyes darted around wildly.

“Let me have her.” I barely got the command out before
Victoria handed her over and rushed to the far side of the bench, becoming sick. My eyes closed as I shook my head. What the hell kind of mess was this? Why would fate give me children with a woman who was so deceitful? This couldn’t be happening.

I turned the girl toward me as I walked over closer to
Victoria. She straightened, taking the bottled water from her bag and rinsing her mouth out with it.

“
Were you planning on hiding that one from me too?”

The stare that met mine matched the
anger I held.

“I had no idea until
about ten minutes ago. And maybe it was something I ate, or hormones. We don’t even know yet. As for Ava, if you recall, I set up a meeting with you for Friday. I had every intention of telling you about her then. What did you think I was doing by calling you? I’ve already made it clear we can’t be together. Did you just think I was looking to get…” she trailed off, glancing down at the little girl in my arms, “Dommed by you?”

No, I hadn’t thought that. We
ll, maybe a small part of me hoped, but I was praying she’d come around and was teasing the idea of getting into a relationship with me. Fuck, I had been wrong. So damn wrong.

“Let me have her.” Her arms came out, fear causing her eyes
to make jerky movements between the two of us. I stepped back, my own arms tightening. Protectiveness surged and I stared down at Ava’s curious eyes.
My eyes.

“Devlin, please.” Her hands were shaking as they hovered toward me.

What did I do? What if Victoria did something rash and ran off with her? What if she kept my child from me, again? I couldn’t chance it. Not now that I finally had a piece of my dream.

“One condition.”

“What.” The high pitched word was more of shocked response than an actual question.

“You heard me. This is how things are going to play out.” My mind raced, but I knew this was the right thing.

“You’re going to pack all of your things, all of Ava’s things, and you’re moving in. You don’t want to be with me, not a problem. After this, I don’t want to be with you either. But I will
not
be kept from my daughter a moment longer.”

Too many emotions passed
over Victoria’s face for me to read. Shock, anger…sadness?

“You expect me to take
Ava away from the only home she’s ever known, away from my mother,” she said, her voice rising, “to come live with you? I don’t think so.”

“Fine. I’ll move
into your house.”

Her mouth open and I narrowed my eyes, causing her to pause. “Before you shoot that one down, let me tell you what
will
happen if you decline.” My words were clipped. Angrier. “I will call up the best lawyer in L.A., this very moment. I will get a judge to grant me temporary custody until I can make Ava mine for good. You’ll have her every other weekend and on holidays. If you don’t think I can do it, feel free to tell me to take a hike.” I hoped she wouldn’t call my bluff. Ripping a child from her mother—and her grandmother—her familiar setting, wasn’t something I’d do, but Victoria needed to know I was dead serious.

Victoria
’s face turned to stone, even paler, but it didn’t stop the tear from escaping. “Give me my daughter.”

“Our daughter,” I countered
, noting how Victoria tried not to upset Ava despite her obvious angst.

“Give her to me
.”

I shook my head, stepping back
, soothing the baby with a stroke on her back. “Not until I have your answer. You better think about it hard, because I’m being
very
generous after what you’ve done.”

One of her hands came up to push her hair
back as the wind blew it in her face. “I have no room for you to stay in. My mother lives in the guest bedroom.”

“I’m not too good to sleep on the couch. I’
ll buy one of those damn ones that have a bed that folds out. Not a problem.”

Victoria
shifted, holding her stomach. She looked to be in pain.

“Choose. Am I moving in or are we going to fight this out in court?”

The fact that she even had to think left me on edge. I was torn. My feelings couldn’t so easily be shut off and I wanted her to bend to my commands so we could be closer, but I couldn’t stop the resentment.

“Fine, you can stay. Just give her to me.” Her hands were waving impatiently. I took another glance at my daughter, warmth taking over a big section
of my heart that used to be as cold as ice. Shit…I was a dad. A
real
dad.