Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (18 page)

“You can do that too, but
you need a car now, before I leave on the first trip. I say we go car shopping
tonight after camp.”

“Okay.” She didn’t sound
convinced, and he leaned over to brush his lips across hers.

“I can spend money on you if
I want to. Must you fight me on everything?”

She nudged him. “No!”

“Good. Now go get dressed so
you can drive me to practice and have the car in case you want to go somewhere
today.”

“You sure?”

“Yes!” He rolled his eyes.
“Would you go get dressed already?”

“I’m going,” she laughed,
getting to her feet. He made everything so easy; she wondered if this was how
all relationships were.

Going downstairs, Dom tossed
her the keys and she took them with a grin. She’d never driven a Mercedes
before, and she paused a moment before putting the key in the ignition. She
slid the seat up a little since her legs weren’t anywhere near as long as his,
and flashed him a smile before backing out of his parking spot.

“Maybe you’d like to drive
this?” he asked. “And then we could buy something a little more interesting as
our other car?”

“Like what?” she asked,
glancing at him.

“A convertible?” He grinned
and she laughed.

“Weren’t we just talking
about trying to get pregnant?” she asked. “That’s not exactly a family car.”

“We’d put the car seat in
this
car,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t have a fun car too! Hell, we can
have three cars if you want!”

“You really want to try and
get pregnant?” She stared straight ahead, not daring to look at him.

“You want a baby, and
although I don’t think you’re old, you’re already technically in the high-risk
age group, so we probably should do it sooner rather than later.”

“We’ve only known each other
a few months. Are you sure about this?”

“Of course.” He reached over
and laid his hand on her thigh. “I don’t know what the future holds, but even
if we decided we didn’t want to be together anymore, I can’t imagine any
scenario where we couldn’t share custody of a kid and still be great parents
and friends. I’m not going to cheat or treat you badly, and I don’t think you
would either. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, that’s a loaded
question. But you’re right—I can’t ever imagine us not being friends.”

“So, no more condoms?”

“I guess not.”

“You should call the lawyer
when you get home, and then maybe do some research on finding a doctor that can
harvest your eggs. I think we should find a doctor in L.A. We want the best we
can find, and we don’t want anyone to see us coming or going from anyplace
around here.”

“Okay.” She nodded.

“And I want you to relax,
okay?” He squeezed her thigh. “Call Suze, or go shopping or something. I
really, really want you to stop thinking so much and just be happy. Okay?”

“Okay.” She reached down
with one hand and put it on top of his. “Thank you. I love you—you know that,
right?”

“I might be starting to
believe it,” he chuckled. He told her where to turn and she pulled up at the
back gate of the arena.

“What time should I come
back?”

“Not sure,” he said. “I’ll
text you.”

“Okay. Meet you right here?”

“Yup.” He leaned over and
brushed his lips across hers. “Have a good day.”

“I will.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.” She watched
him as he pulled his bag out of the back and then jogged into the building.
Taking a deep breath, she wondered if she would ever get used to his being
hers. He was so incredibly hot, he made her tingle all over.

Lost in thought, she made
her way home and hurried up to the apartment, making sure to lock the door
behind her. Despite the wonderful day she was having, safety and security were
always in the back of her mind. She wondered briefly if that would ever change,
if she would ever be able to drive to the grocery store without thinking about
Tim, or hang out with friends without hoping that Tim wasn’t watching. Could
she really marry Dom and live happily ever after? It was almost laughable,
because he made her believe it, but she still couldn’t relax completely. At
some point, she would find a way to enjoy this new life, but she didn’t believe
that would happen right away.

With everything she had to
do, the morning flew by. Before she knew it, it was after twelve and she
decided to take a shower and put on some makeup before she had to go get Dom.
He might be finishing soon, or it might not be until dinner time, but she
wanted to be ready. Dom never knew ahead of time what time he would finish, and
while it made it hard to make plans, she enjoyed watching him looking happy
about going to work every day. He seemed to love being part of this new team,
and she knew it had been a long time since he’d loved playing hockey. The
Sidewinders were giving that back to him, and she was grateful that she got to
be part of it.

She’d just finished putting
on some lip gloss when her phone rang and she picked it up with a smile.
“Hello!”

“Hey, babe.” Dom’s deep
voice always made her insides flutter a little.

“Are you ready?”

“We’re packing up so I’ll be
ready by the time you get here.”

“Okay.”

“Did you eat lunch?”

“No, I was busy all
morning.”

“Okay, maybe we can go grab
something and you can tell me about your morning.”

“Okay! See you in a few.”

She hung up smiling, and
went to get her purse. Lunch with the sexiest man in the world sounded like the
perfect way to spend the afternoon, other than maybe sex with the sexiest man
in the world. But there would be plenty of time for that tonight. Grinning to
herself, she headed back to the arena.

Dom was outside, standing
with Toli and Cody when she pulled in and they waved as Dom headed towards her.
She waved back, and unlocked the doors so he could get in. He looked hotter
than hell in khaki shorts and a black Metallica t-shirt that pulled tight
across his chest. His hair was still damp and she reached out to run her
fingers through it as he kissed her.

“Hi,” he said with a smile.
“Did you miss me?”

“As a matter of fact, I
did.” She put the car in reverse and turned towards the exit.

“I missed you too,” he said,
taking her hand.

“We could skip lunch,” she
said slyly, glancing over at him. “You look kind of hot right now.”

He chuckled. “We can
definitely skip lunch,” he said, running his fingers over hand. “Hell, we can
skip dinner too, if we’re going to spend the time in bed!”

“I kind of like the idea of
baby-making,” she said.

“Yeah?” He leaned over and
brushed his lips across her cheek. “Me too.”

She drove home as quickly as
she dared. They practically raced up to the condo, tearing at each other’s
clothes the moment the door closed behind them. They were naked before they
even got to the bedroom, so he scooped her up in his arms and carried her the
rest of the way. He unceremoniously dumped her on the bed, laughing as she
pulled him down with her. Their mouths fused together and they merged into a
hot, sweaty kiss that left both of them panting.

“I should have mentioned
babies weeks ago,” he murmured between kisses.

“You should have,” she
agreed. “Apparently, it makes me hot.”

“Baby, you’ve always been
hot,” he laughed. He flipped them over so that she was on top of him. He ran
his hands down her back, pausing to cup her curvy backside. Straddling him, she
bent and kissed a trail down his stomach, hesitating slightly when she got to
his erection.

Slowly, she traced her
finger along his lengthy shaft, thinking that she’d never done this for him
before, and that she really wanted to. He’d pleasured her in practically every
way imaginable but she’d been too shy to do this. Tim had forced her to, and
she’d thought it was disgusting, but as he kept reminding her, Dom was not Tim.
With Dom, giving him pleasure brought her pleasure, and right now she wanted to
make him feel the way he always made her feel.

“Honey, are you sure?” He
was well aware of all the things Tim had done to her in the bedroom, which was
why he’d never pressed her to do anything like this.

“Yes…” Her voice trailed off
as she ran her tongue along the tip of his penis and slowly took him into her
mouth. She felt him moan, his hand digging into her hair. Encouraged, she found
a rhythm he liked and ran her hands over it from the base of his shaft right up
to the tip. It was incredibly satisfying to hear his groans of pleasure and she
realized that with Dom she held all the power; it was the most delicious
feeling in the world to mean that much to someone. Using her mouth, she licked
and sucked until he was straining against her.

“I don’t want to come like
this,” he ground out, gently tugging her hair. “I want to be inside you.”

She let him pull her astride
him again and he slid into her effortlessly. Her head fell back, her body
melting against his in a familiar pattern. It had only been three months, but
it felt like they’d been together much longer. She’d been foolish to think she
could ever leave this man, no matter how much she would worry about him. He’d
become her everything in such a short time, and when he made love to her she
couldn’t imagine these feelings with anyone else.

Feeling him moving inside of
her left her breathless, her hands clutching at his shoulders. Sometimes they
could move together for a long time and build to a climax gradually, but today
she was unable to hold back after just a few minutes. Her body exploded around
his and she felt him burst inside her, pumping hard before he groaned out her
name. She fell against him, still reeling from such exquisite intimacy; she was
completely in love with this man.

“I love you,” she whispered
against his cheek.

“I love you too.” He wrapped
his arms around her, loving the feel of her soft skin and silky hair draped all
over him.

“Please don’t ever stop
loving me.”

“I don’t plan to.” He kissed
her then, slowly and lovingly, his tongue finding hers with gentle strokes that
told her everything she needed to know.

“At some point,” Dom said
several hours later. “I have to eat.”

She giggled, nestled under
the sheets with him. She’d lost count of how many times they’d made love this
afternoon. They were insatiable, and she knew it went much deeper than just
making a baby; she’d finally committed to him emotionally. She wasn’t holding
anything back anymore, and she wasn’t going anywhere. Tim would have to kill
them both first. It was that simple.

“Is that a
yes-Dom-let’s-go-eat giggle?” he asked after a moment.

“No, that was a
this-is-so-much-fun-let’s-do-it-again giggle!”

He laughed, kissing her
chin. “I don’t know if I have anything left—between Coach kicking my ass on the
ice today and then you jumping me, I might not be able to perform again without
food.”

She reached under the sheets
and found him already half-hard. She smirked. “I’m pretty sure I could get one
more time out of you!”

“No way, you little nympho!”
he teased as he slid out of bed.

“I could chase you and make
you do me in the shower!” she called after him.

“That’s actually a good
idea.” He stuck his head out the bathroom door. “We both stink of sweat and
sex.”

She got out of bed and
padded into the bathroom, where he’d already turned on the water. She wrapped
her arms around him from behind. His hands covered hers and she pressed a kiss
into the middle of his back. Neither of them moved for a while, enjoying a
moment of intimacy that was still somewhat new. It was almost palpable and he
turned to face her, raising her chin with his hand.

“I never knew I could love
anyone like this,” he said.

“Me either,” she whispered,
her eyes meeting his in the fading light.

“We’re okay now, right?” He
searched her face. “You’re not thinking about leaving me anymore?”

She shook her head. “I’m
still scared, but I’m more afraid of being without you.”

“Stop worrying.” He buried
his face in her hair.

The end of the initial part
of training camp meant the Sidewinders were entering a whole new era, and Molly
could feel the change in Dom almost immediately. With the big exhibition game
tonight, he was completely immersed in all things hockey. Though he’d been
working hard all summer, both physically and emotionally, the official start of
the season meant he had to have his head completely in the game. He was still
as loving as ever, but she could feel the slight shift in his focus, the way he
had hockey on his mind the last couple of days from the moment he woke up in
the morning until he fell asleep at night. He’d explained it all to her, and
she was glad to watch him do the thing he loved most in the world, but it was
different.

After he’d left for practice
Monday morning, she puttered around the apartment restlessly. She could have
driven him so that she could have the car, but he’d said practice wouldn’t be a
long one today and he’d be home before lunch since they would have to leave for
the arena by five o’clock.

Her phone rang and she was
happy to see Suze’s name appear on the screen.

“Hey!” She settled on the
couch.

“Hey.” Suze seemed quiet.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ugh.” Suze sighed
dramatically.

“What happened?”

“We had sex.”

“We who?”

“Cody and I!”

“You mean, recently?”

“Last night.”

“Why?”

“That’s what I keep asking
myself!” she grumbled. “Oh, God, it was so…”

“Good?” Molly supplied
hopefully.

“Well, yeah, that.” She
sighed again.

“Would you just tell me what
happened!”

“We had dinner, put CJ to
bed, had a bottle of wine, watched a movie and then—bam! We were all over each
other.” Suze groaned. “And we didn’t use protection! Oh, my God, what is
wrong
with us?”

“Nothing?” Molly tried not
to laugh. “Come on—this has been a long time coming! I mean, how long had it
been since you’d had sex?”

“Me?” Suze paused. “Probably
four years.”

“Four years?” Molly blinked.
“Shit, Suze, how did you live with that man and not jump his bones for so
long?”

“I was so mad at him for
cheating on me, and I was heartbroken, and… we are such a mess.”

“Did you talk afterwards?”

“No! We passed out. He got
up before me and got CJ breakfast, and then he woke me up right before he left
for practice to tell me he was taking CJ to school.”

“Did he kiss you?”

“Yeah, but he always does
that when he leaves the house, so that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Did he say anything
during
?”

“You mean, other than,
god
baby you’re so hot
?” She couldn’t help but snicker, and they both giggled.

“Nothing romantic?”

“No! I told you he doesn’t
love me.”

“You’re so blind,” Molly
shook her head. “Everyone knows it but you.”

“That’s crazy.” Suze sighed.
“But I do want another baby, and he’s a really good dad.”

“Suze, you have to talk to
him.”

“I know. I just want him to
romance me—is that too much to ask? After everything we’ve been through,
couldn’t he put just a
little
effort into it? I know we were a
ready-made family after our one-night-stand, but he’s still around, so why not
act like he supposedly feels?”

“I think he does,” Molly
said softly. “I mean, the way he’s so protective of you and CJ, the way he
takes care of you and watches out for you? I think he shows you he loves you
every single day. If I wasn’t so crazy about Dom, I’d go out with Cody. I mean,
if he wanted to.” She giggled again and Suze joined her.

“He probably would, because
he’s a big fan of yours,” Suze admitted. “In fact, everyone is! Toli is half in
love with you, Brad and Andra treat you like family, Dom is head over heels for
you, and I think Cody has a crush on you in a platonic way.”

“Just like all your friends
in college were in love with you, you mean?”

“I guess I never thought
about it,” Suze said after a moment. “I took one look at Brian and I never
thought about anyone else ever again. Until the night I found the pictures on
Cody’s phone and realized he was sleeping around. That was when I realized I’d
fallen in love with him.”

“He cheated because he knew
you were still pining for Brian. You have to be the one to make sure he
understands that you’re over Brian. Otherwise, I don’t think he’s going to
cross that line.”

“You think?”

“I think.”

“Ugh. He’s going to be home
soon and I have no idea what to say to him! You should come over!”

“No way!” Molly laughed.
“Dom and I are going to be busy making a baby.”

“
What
?”

“We decided to start trying
to get pregnant. I’m forty—we don’t have a lot of time so we stopped using
condoms.”

“Since when?”

“Recently?”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I’ve been
busy
!”
Molly said with emphasis.

“That’s awesome!”

“Yeah, we’ll see how awesome
it is if I miscarry again.” Molly bit her lip. “I hate saying that, but I’ve
had twelve! It’s a lot. If I have another one, I might be forced to have a
hysterectomy and then…”

“Okay, let’s not cross that
bridge unless we actually come to it!” Suze interrupted firmly. “Think
positive—think about all the fun you’re having while you’re trying.”

“Well, there is
that
!”
Now Molly sighed dramatically. “You have no idea—it’s been crazy! We were like
friggin’ rabbits the first few days! Like six or seven times a day!”

“Wow, it’s been a long time
since I had any of
that
kind of sex!” Suze whistled enviously. “I mean,
not since… well, not since I’ve been married.”

“Again, you’re going to have
to give him a heads-up so he knows where you stand.”

“I don’t know how to do
this,” Suze said after a moment. “Brian was my first and only adult romance—we
took one look at each other and knew! I don’t know how this grown up stuff
works. How do I do this?”

“I’m not sure either,” Molly
admitted. “But now that you’ve slept together again, it seems like it’s time to
talk about it.”

“Can you imagine if I’m
pregnant? We’ll have a newborn and a seven-year-old!”

“Sounds wonderful!”

“You
would
think so!”

“Well, I’m going to shower
and wait for Dom to get home,” Molly chuckled. “Then if we have time, I think
we’re going car shopping before the game. He wants a convertible and I think I
get the SUV.”

“Nice.” Suze said. “I guess
I’m going to sit here and wait for Cody.”

“Talk to him.”

“I will.”

Molly hung up and went to
get ready.

Suze was still in the
kitchen, checking email on her laptop, when she heard the garage door open.
Feeling ridiculous about how nervous she was, she absently smoothed her hair
down and took a sip of water. She hadn’t been this nervous around him since the
first week they’d been married. After that, they’d fallen into a routine and
she’d been too heartbroken over Brian’s death to think about much else. At some
point, she’d realized that there was going to be a baby soon and she had to get
ready to be a mom, whether she wanted to or not. Cody had been at her side from
the day she’d told him she was pregnant, and he’d been the one to tell
everyone. He’d been the one who’d listened to the snarky comments about him
sleeping with his best friend’s girl. He’d been the one who told Brad and
Andra. He’d been the one who suggested they go to Toronto, far away from their
old life in Boston and someplace they could start new. His main priority from
the day she told him she was pregnant was to take care of her and the baby,
even though there was a chance the baby wasn’t his. Cody had been a stand-up
guy from the moment they got married.

The door opened and he came
in, his bright blue eyes meeting hers.

“Hi.” She swallowed
nervously. “How was practice?”

“Good. Coach put us on two
separate teams for tonight, and gave us a whole schedule of press crap we have
to do before and after the exhibition.”

“Are you excited?” she asked
softly, walking over to meet him.

“A little.” He looked down
at her, unsure what to say after last night’s drunken sex. He didn’t know what
had come over him, but it had been too damn long since he’d had sex, and she’d
wanted it too. But this morning he’d snuck out like a coward, and he could see
the pain in her eyes now.

“Can we talk?” Her voice was
barely a whisper, but he heard her and nodded.

“Of course.”

“I know you have a lot on
your mind today—”

“I never have too much on my
mind for you.” He took her hand and led her to the family room. They sat on the
couch, where they’d been sitting last night while they’d watched the movie.

“Cody, I—” She swallowed
again. “I need to know what you want.”

“I don’t know what the
means,” he said slowly.

She frowned at him. “Dammit,
do I have to spell it out?”

“Yes!” He ran his hand
through his hair and then threw both hands up in frustration. “I’ve been
walking on eggshells in my own house for seven years, Suze! I don’t know what
you want from me! You need to be the one to tell me—whatever it is!”

“I want you to act like you
want me,” she whispered, looking away.

“You want me to
act
like I want you, or you want me to really want you?” He asked gently, leaning
over and forcing her to look at him.

“I want us to be—” She let
out a curse as the doorbell sounded. “Dammit.”

“Let me get rid of whoever
it is,” he said in irritation. “Wait for me.” He threw open the door with a
growl “What—” He stopped. “Sergei? What are you doing here?”

“I have to talk to you.”
Sergei looked exhausted, his eyes bloodshot and his hair sticking up more like
Toli’s usually did than his own normally well-groomed style. “Please, can I
come in?”

“Cody, who is it?” Suze came
around the corner and paused, her gaze landing on Sergei. “Sergei! You look
terrible! What’s going on?”

“Tatiana went back to
Russia,” he said. “She didn’t even leave a note—she left while I was at camp
yesterday.”

“Oh, hell.” Suze exchanged a
look of frustration with her husband, but there was no help for that now. “Come
in.”

“You want a cup of coffee?”
Cody asked.

“I don’t know what I want. I
didn’t know what to do when I got back to the hotel and realized she was gone,
so I just booked a flight out here.” He sat down on the couch and looked at
them. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Do you love her?” Suze
asked.

“Of course I love her! I’ve
always loved her! But she’s my brother’s girl—I wasn’t supposed to love her,
much less get her pregnant!” He stared at them. “What kind of person am I,
sleeping with my brother’s girlfriend?”

“They broke up,” Cody said
mildly.

“I was sleeping with her
before that,” Sergei said sadly. “I tried not to—I really did! But God, she’s
just…” His voice trailed off and he sighed. “She’s everything I ever wanted.
But I don’t want to live in Russia—I want to play in the NHL. I came to the US
to go to college because I wanted an American education, a serious college
degree, and the opportunities that would afford me. I can’t play hockey forever
and this is where my future is—but she won’t leave and now she’s having my
kid!” His eyes were wide and desperate, looking from one to the other.

“Did you talk when you went
to Boston?” Suze asked.

“Some, but she was angry at
me for the way I reacted when she announced she was pregnant. She pouted and I
was too stubborn to grovel.” He looked away. “I love her, but I want her to be
here
.
I hate playing in the KHL.” He looked so much like a surly toddler Suze almost
laughed.

Instead, she took his hands
in hers. “Sergei, you have to follow your dreams and your heart. If she loves
you—and I think she does—she’s going to give in. She can practice medicine
here, but you can’t play for the NHL there. Someone has to compromise.”

“She wants it to be me,” he
said. “She wouldn’t come to the US for Toli—why would she come for me?”

“She wasn’t in love with
Toli,” Cody said.

“Boston offered me a
contract,” Sergei said miserably. “I told them I would need a few days to get
my affairs in order in Russia, but I don’t need to go back there for anything
except her!”

“Have you talked to Toli?”

“No.” Sergei looked down. “I
don’t know what to say!
Hey, by the way, sorry I fell in love with your girl
?”