The Mating Game (13 page)

Dominic frowned at her, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Language, Mary! What will the boy think?”

Mary crossed her arms over her chest and started tapping a foot, clearly picturing in her mind strangling Dominic. He might look like sex and sin in black leather and her apron, but that wouldn’t excuse him for butting into her cousin’s life.

“I’m offering Matthew a decent job. You did say he was starting college next term and was looking for interim work to keep himself out of mischief.” He ignored the cry of protest from Matthew at his declaration. “Samuel and I talked about his obvious skill and decided to use him as an asset to the company. Art and Wills agreed.”

“Yeah,” Matthew interjected, “and then Dominic suggested we start dinner for you and Chloe, ‘cos we weren’t sure when you’d get back and we were getting hungry.”

Mary rolled her eyes. Obviously he had a conquest in Matthew. She wondered what his plans for her were. Remembering his hospitality with her, she decided she might as well seal the deal.

“Do you have a place to stay?”

Gleaming blue eyes looked back at her. Wicked mischief and a very faint wariness lay within the deep blueness of his eyes. As if he were scared of her rejection, but determined all the same.

“No.”

She nodded, resigned. “You can bunk here in the spare room. Chloe and Matthew live close by but will stay for dinner. I’m having a shower.”

Hoping he caught the warning and faint promise she had delivered him, she stalked out of the room without looking back. Earlier in the day she’d have given anything to have him here. Now she wasn’t so sure.

What the hell would she do if he was only here for another single night, before taking Matthew back with him? Closing the door to her bedroom firmly shut, she started stripping as she headed into her bathroom. Turning the water on very hot and strong, she stepped into the shower and let the hot spray pour down on her.

There was no point in worrying and fretting. She would find out what Dominic wanted soon enough.

Chapter Fourteen

Dominic mentally congratulated himself. After cleaning and putting away all the dishes they had used, Matthew finally dragged Chloe back home to tell her all about his new job. Now he finally had Mary all to himself.

As she sat in her exceedingly comfortable recliner, sipping on her mug of Earl Grey tea, she nervously gazed at him over the rim of her cup. He grinned, a happy, possessive, truly wolfish grin.

She quickly lowered her eyes and returned to sipping her hot tea. Dominic perched on the edge of the couch, content to wait her out. They both knew there was unfinished business between them, and for the moment, Dominic allowed Mary to stall him.

“So you’re really offering him work until the term starts?”

“Sure am. If the little joker is good enough to get into the system, Sam and I think he could be an asset. Artemais and William are prepared to trust us. If he wants, and can help us out, Matthew is even welcome to stay on part-time while at college. It’s up to him and what he can do for us. Either way, it will certainly keep him out of trouble for a while.”

Dominic stared at his love. She boldly stared back at him, stiffening her spine.

“I don’t want an affair with you,” she stated, setting the mug down on the small table. She rose and started to pace. Dominic grinned.

He hadn’t know she paced when anxious or thinking heavily. Same as him. The knowledge made him happier than he’d been all week, since awakening to that damned note and a cold, empty bed.

“Who said anything of an affair, Mary love?”

“I don’t want another freakin’ one-night stand either! What the hell do you call a two-night stand? How juvenile and stupid does that sound? Two-night stand indeed!”

Dominic struggled to keep a straight face. “What
do
you want, Mary?”

She whirled on him, her hair flying out of its ponytail, green eyes snapping angrily. She was so small, the fact she was certain she could take him on made him want to laugh. At five-foot-two, she was pretty damn short when compared to him. Even so, the innate knowledge inside her that he would never hurt her made him relieved.

She stormed up to him, so he kept still, not wanting to interrupt her. She came right up to his chest, so her nipples nearly brushed his shirt. She poked him, angrily punctuating her words.

“You want to know what I want? I want you to stay with me. I want you to go to sleep curled next to me every night and wake up next to me every morning. I want you to
commit
to me. I know you have no concept of the word, but it’s a nice one—you can get used to it. No more floozies, no more indiscriminate fucking. Just us.”

She paused, her eyes widening slightly with the shock of what she had just said. Immediately, she started to back away.

Dominic reached out and grabbed the wrist of the hand that had been poking him.

“I can deal with that, as long as the conditions are the same for you. If you expect faithfulness from me, I demand the same in return. Tit-for-tat after all, Mary love.”

If anything, her eyes widened more. He had surprised her. He found he liked the warmth that stole through him, making him desperately want to laugh.

“You’d do that? You’d commit to me. I’m not talking for a short time, Dom. I’m taking long-term here.”

Dominic reached into the pocket of his pants, withdrew a small velvet box. Holding it out, he offered it to Mary.

She looked from it to him and back again, her mouth open and her eyes wide. He felt like laughing and puking from nerves at the same time. She wasn’t the only one surprised and off-kilter here.

Smiling mischievously, enjoying her shock and surprise if nothing else, he caught only a glimpse of the tear lodged in her sparkling eye.

“Aren’t you supposed to be down on your knees, begging?” she asked huskily.

Dominic laughed outright. “Samuel warned me the ladies like to see men on their knees begging. For once, he was right.”

He fell down to his knees, still holding one of her wrists. He looked up into the face that had captured his heart, into the eyes full of laughter and intelligence.

“Mary, love. Will you marry me?”

Her face split into a grin.

“What happened to flowers and music? I’m sure there’s supposed to be candy and declarations of undying love.” She sobered up for a moment. “I do love you, you know. Chloe can tell you I’ve been like a wounded bear the past few days.”

Dominic smiled back at her. “Samuel could give you a similar accounting. I love you too. You should know that. What the hell else could get me down on my knees?”

Mary nodded. Dominic opened the box, showing her a gleaming emerald in a platinum setting. The emerald had the same fire and depth as her eyes. Mary thought it perfect.

Dominic slid it on her finger, a thrill of possession and happiness going through him. Rising quickly, he scooped her up into his arms.

“Hey! That begging thing didn’t last long!” she laughed, squashed against his chest.

Dominic nipped at her neck, muffling his laughter as he stalked through the room, down the hall, and into her small bedroom.

“You should have enjoyed it while it lasted. I can promise that won’t be happening too often, love.”

Mary laughed as he gently dropped her on the bed. Bouncing once, she rolled onto her back to look up at him. She watched him tug impatiently at his shirt.

“In a rush, darling?”

“To get naked, yes. To fuck you mindless, oh no. No, I think I’ll take my time with that particular task. I need to relearn every inch of your skin, to re-lick every inch of you.”

Mary kicked off her sneakers and started tugging at her jeans. “May I try to tempt you to change your mind?”

Dominic laughed as he began to unbuckle his jeans. “Mary, love. You can try to tempt me to anything. Just a warning, I intend to take my time this go-around. Maybe next time you can set the pace.”

Dominic stepped out of his leather pants just as Mary cleared her jeans from her ankles. She tried to hold him off with her feet, but he simply dodged around them and crashed down onto her on the bed.

“Hey!” she protested, trying not to laugh, “I’m not naked yet!”

“Don’t worry, love, I’ll start down at your feet. We can work our way up.”

“But my panties…”

“Are made of extra thin lace and won’t pose even a minute barrier. Trust me.”

“I do. Trust you, I mean.”

Dominic looked deep into her eyes and kissed her hard. Pulling away with difficulty, he grinned down at her.

“Same here, love. But I am determined to do this slow. I’ve missed you the past few days. I need to make up that lost time. Starting with a foot massage.”

Mary groaned, as he started to expertly massage her feet. Peppering kisses along her sole and ankle, he spiced up what would have been a fantastic massage anyway.

She laughed as he muttered where the different parts of her sole led to pulse points. As he pressed one side of the ball of her foot, massaging it and sending an electric current of pleasure through her, he would mutter “headaches” or “dizziness” and other tidbits of information.

Laughing, she finally pulled her foot from his grasp, and straddled him.

“My turn,” she laughed.

Tearing his shirt from him, she watched with glee as his buttons popped from the shirt.

Bending down, she nibbled happily at his chest, licking and enjoying the taste of his skin. She shrieked when she was rolled underneath him again.

“No fair!” she cried out, trying hard not to start laughing again.

“My turn,” he teased.

“But I hadn’t finished!”

He pressed his lips against hers, sealing off her complaints. Touching her everywhere, Dominic enjoyed her body as he had longed to do these last few days. He ran his hands all over her, starting with her breasts, then moving to her hungry nipples down the smooth line of her torso down to her waist, and then her hips.

Mary panted, arching into his soft touch. When she spread her legs in wanton invitation, he simply couldn’t resist.

Lodging himself just barely inside her, he looked into her eyes, lost himself in her heated gaze.

“This is forever,” he warned her. He felt his heart overflow with happiness as she merely smiled and canted her hips, nudging him further inside her heat. He thrust into her, feeling himself bathed in her heat, her love, in their mingled desire and hunger for each other.

Quickly, they both reached for that peak, that perfect moment only the best of lovers ever truly find. Crying out into each other’s mouths, lost for breath or words, they collapsed together, sweaty and content.

Long into the night they touched and caressed, relearning and discovering each other. They both panted, screamed and groaned, the sheer ecstasy washing over them until they merged completely, totally as one over and over.

They whispered secret words, lover’s words and promises. Dominic could barely believe how happy and sated he felt. He knew he would never again feel the melancholy dissolution he used to feel after his forgettable women. Eventually, they both fell asleep, entwined together, loving every moment they had spent in each other’s embrace.

Epilogue

A few months later

“So you have to add the chocolate chips in
after
you’ve mixed the cookie dough and only just before you throw them on the tray?”

“Sure do, otherwise you tend to eat more chocolate than you put into the dough.”

Chloe nodded solemnly and continued to scribble down instructions.

“And you say that’s enough cookie dough for twelve children—so a class of twenty thirteen-year-olds we should—what?—double it just to be safe?”

Mary fiddled nervously with her hem. Her stupid veil—which had been Chloe’s damn idea, not hers anyway—was touching the roof of the tiny beat-up Ford Escort and was driving her nuts.

Sophie was driving Chloe’s car, dressed in a casual, flirty summer dress. Chloe was sitting in the passenger seat, madly scrawling notes on a napkin she had found among the mess in the glove box.

Mary smiled and looked outside the window. She felt like throwing up, again, and refused to give in to her nerves.

Chloe continued to grill Mary’s soon-to-be sister-in-law on simple, effective recipes. She would be filling in for a friend’s Home Economics class for a semester and needed quick, easy recipes to teach a bunch of overenthusiastic thirteen-year-olds.

After what felt like forever, they finally pulled into the small chapel. Nestled amongst the trees of the National Park, it was a tiny, rustic little thing.

It was beautiful.

Matthew paced out front, obviously as agitated as Mary felt. He would walk her down the aisle. Chloe came around to the back to help her get her enormous dress—had she
really
thought such a huge white wedding dress would be fun?—and veil out of the car still intact.

Finished with straightening her dress and veil, Chloe automatically moved her hand to push the now-crumpled note-ridden napkin in what would have been her jeans pocket. If she hadn’t been wearing a short, brightly colored summery dress.