Starts With a Bang (Redemption Ridge #7)

Chapter Five

Sven

T he familiar opening of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” chimed through my Bluetooth speakers. I shimmied my shoulders as I waited for the Christmas diva’s vocals to begin, then sang the first few lines with her as I studied my outfit choice in the full-length mirror.

“Perfection,” I declared.

The fitted emerald-green cashmere sweater showed off my biceps and toned chest. The soft, shimmery knit ended an inch above the waistband of my winter-white jeans. The length registered somewhere between respectable and flirty, and the peekaboo of golden skin invited a man to kiss me there before exploring lower. Not just any man though. I wanted the one I couldn’t get out of my head. The trip to Vail meant more to me than an opportunity to live out my sexual fantasies about Dom. I wanted to prove to him we could have something truly special. Our charged chemistry hadn’t dissipated one bit in two years. It had intensified until it became a living thing, feeding off our energy and growing stronger every time we were in the same room. I had two weeks to win Dom’s heart and present myself as a worthy partner to his parents.

That meant I’d needed to gather as much information about his family as possible. With Dom working insane hours to tie up his cases before we left, I’d had to get creative. Lucinda was an excellent source of information since she knew Dom’s parents and had stayed in touch with them after they moved. She wasn’t as helpful with the aunt, uncle, and cousin since they lived in Fort Collins. She’d repeated the few things she’d learned from Molly Beth over the years.

The Carmichaels were much wealthier and ran in a different circle than the Babbs. I got the impression that the sisters’ relationship was strained before Dom and Emerson’s divorce and had only gotten worse since then. The Carmichaels’ social media accounts portrayed a perfect couple living a life most would only dream of, but I wasn’t buying it. Janet Carmichael’s posts were more curated than the Instagram influencers who pedaled sponsored products. John Carmichael looked miserable in every photo. His deer-in-the-headlights stares and phony politician’s smiles made me cringe. I’d made the mistake of looking up Dom’s ex-husband’s social media profiles to see what kind of guy his parents expected for their only son.

Emerson Baker-Babb—it annoyed me he still used Dom’s last name—was everything I wasn’t: educated, pedigreed, and a faithless bastard. But he was gorgeous, even if he lacked any fashion sense. Dom must’ve loved Emerson a lot at some point, and I’d wondered if he preferred his men to dress more conservatively. I knew my overt sexiness pushed Dom’s buttons, but would my wardrobe embarrass him in front of his family? I’d worried about it more than was healthy when I could’ve just asked him. Dom was a straight shooter and would’ve answered honestly, but I didn’t ask because I feared the answer. I packed extra options instead because it was easier.

I turned to the side and made sure my new jeans with the hefty price tag framed my ass like the advertisement claimed they would. I made another quarter turn and stared at my reflection over my shoulder. Hell yeah, they did. Money well spent. I mean, the thousands of squats and hours of weightlifting at the gym should probably get some credit for my pert round ass. “I’d do me,” I said.

“Quoting that line from Silence of the Lambs while shimmying to ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ is next-level narcissism.”

Shrieking, I spun around to face Dom with hands clutching my chest to keep my heart from beating its way loose. I didn’t ask how he’d gotten in because I’d texted him the keyless entry code when I thought my last appointment at the salon was going to run late. But I’d made it home in time to shower and get dressed after all. I silenced my phone and slid it into my pocket.

“I still can’t believe you talked me into watching that movie after I avoided it for years.” I still had nightmares months later.

“You made me watch The Devil Wears Prada , so…”

Dom remained leaning in the doorway, wearing a smirk on his ruggedly handsome face. Green eyes traveled the length of my body at a glacial pace, and he raked his bottom lip between his teeth. I was unbelievably happy to see him and more than a little relieved. I’d wavered between thinking the trip had just been a fantastic dream and worrying Dom would change his mind. But he was in my room, looking more delicious than any man should while wearing a chunky cable-knit sweater. Dom wore the look better than Chris Evans in Knives Out , and that was saying something.

Then again, considering our destination, maybe I should’ve been more worried than horny. “I don’t want to be an accomplice to murder.”

Dom’s gaze snapped up to meet mine, and his brow furrowed in confusion. He shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. “Say what, now?”

I marched toward him with a purposeful stride, stopping only when the toes of my brown leather calf boots nudged against his sneakers. I placed my hand on his chest and patted him while explaining my train of thought.

“I haven’t seen that movie,” Dom said. “But thanks for the compliment.”

His tone said he didn’t believe me, but I would prove just how sexy I found him. I slid my hand under his sweater and caressed his stomach. His muscles bunched and flexed beneath my touch. I ran my fingers along the waistband of his jeans and dipped one beneath the denim. “My free-for-all begins now.”

“I think we should save it for the chateau,” Dom said. “We have a long drive and should get going.”

I reluctantly released him and stepped back. “I’ll just grab my suitcases.”

“Plural?” Dom asked. “How many do you need?”

“A few.” I turned and walked farther into the room. “The big beast has my wardrobe, and the smaller one is a tickle trunk.”

“Excuse me?” Dom’s voice was closer than I expected. I turned and found him right behind me. He was too busy scowling at the luggage and plowed into me. I stumbled, and he looped his arms around my waist to steady me. “Sorry.”

“Quite all right.” I settled my hands on his broad shoulders and pressed my body against his. “I like this.”

Dom’s hands landed on my ass. “Did you say something about a tickle trunk? What’s that?”

I waggled my brows. “It’s just what you think it is. Filled with all the things that might tickle your…fancy. Want me to show you?”

Dom’s cheeks turned a dark shade of pink. His mouth opened and shut a few times, but no words came out.

Taking pity on him, I patted his shoulder and stepped away. “I was just kidding, Grizz.”

“ Grizz ?”

“I looked up the stage between cub and bear in gay culture, and it said a wolf. That doesn’t suit you, so I decided to just call you a Grizz.”

“And that’s a compliment?” Dom asked.

“Oh yeah,” I replied. “I’ll show you how hot I find you.” Pivoting, I headed toward the luggage lined up against my closet door. “I didn’t know what to pack, so I brought—”

“Everything?” Dom reached around me and grabbed the handle of the larger suitcase.

“Ha! I only packed a tiny fraction of my wardrobe.” I grabbed the smaller piece of luggage and snagged the matching weekender bag off my bed before following him out of my bedroom.

“What’s in there?” Dom asked suspiciously.

“My personal hygiene products.” I struck a pose and added, “It takes a lot to look this good.” And I packed enough condoms and lube for endless fucking, but I’d let Dom discover that for himself later.

Neither of us spoke as we exited the building and headed to the parking lot. Dom pointed a key fob at a sleek black SUV directly in front of us and pressed a button. The headlights came on, and the doors unlocked. Dom stepped off the curb and walked toward the back.

“Um, did Santa arrive at your place early?” I asked.

“It’s a rental,” Dom said as he rounded the back of the beast. “Though, I could buy this slick beauty outright with the money your family gave me for taking you off their hands for the next two weeks.”

Dom looked so pleased with himself over his little dig that I let him have it. He hit another button on the fob, and the rear hatch opened on a motorized whir. It seemed to take forever for the door to open all the way. Or maybe it was because I got lost in Dom’s eyes. The dreary, overcast sky made his green irises look brighter. Gray was a wonderful color for him. Dom narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Are you really that clueless about your sex appeal?”

Dom snorted and tossed my enormous suitcase into the back like it weighed nothing, then reached for the luggage in my hand. “I got this. Go ahead and get in.”

I patted his chest before walking around him to reach the passenger side of the vehicle. I stopped at the corner and looked over my shoulder. Dom had turned to watch me leave, and I caught him staring at my ass. “You’ll want a gray tuxedo.”

“Okay.” Then he shook his head. “Wait! Why do I need a tux?”

“For our wedding, of course.” I pointed to the sky. “Gray does amazing things for your eyes.”

Dom stared unblinkingly at me, and I took that as my cue to ease off. I continued to the front door and climbed into the passenger seat. The fully loaded SUV came with every amenity a person could want and then some. I’d packed winter gear but didn’t want to wear a coat in the car, so I turned on the seat heater. I retrieved my phone from my pocket before I put my seat belt on. The back door beeped as it closed, and the lock whirred as it engaged. A minute or two passed, and Dom still hadn’t joined me. I turned to look out the rear window and noticed he stood in basically the same spot I’d left him.

Uh-oh. I’d done it now. I’d gotten him to agree to a sexual free-for-all and then kept pushing. The wedding reference probably shoved him right over the edge. I visualized turning down a dial in my head and cycled through a few breaths. The last exhale sounded a little shaky when I noticed Dom walking toward the driver’s door. Should I apologize or pretend I hadn’t said it? I didn’t really know how I was going to handle it until the words came out of my mouth. The man got one butt cheek on the plush leather seat before my gums started flapping.

“I’m sorry about the marriage remark. It was too much too soon.”

Dom shut the door with a wry smile. “It’s okay, I guess.”

“I should’ve at least waited until Christmas Eve at the earliest to pop the question,” I teased.

Dom groaned and shook his head, but he started the SUV without tossing me out on my ass first.

“I’ll behave,” I promised.

“No, you won’t. You don’t know how. Your every breath is some kind of innuendo.”

“It’s your fault,” I said as he backed out of the parking spot.

“How?”

“Because I want you all the time. It makes me crazy, and I lose control of my mouth. If you shoved something thick and hard in it—”

Dom hit the brakes a little too hard at the apartment complex exit. His sexy mouth quirked at one corner. “Is this your idea of behaving?”

I grimaced. “It’s me trying.” I mimed zipping my lips and throwing away the key.

Dom pulled onto the road, and we drove a few blocks before he broke the silence. “I hope like hell I don’t disappoint you. Our first hookup in my van was way shorter than I’d wanted it to be. Not sure what about those two minutes made you so eager to do it again.”

I snorted. “You made me come so hard I nearly blacked out.”

“Nah, the van was just really dark inside.”

“Shut up,” I said, slapping his arm playfully. “I bet if you ask most couples, they’d say their first intimate moments were less than ideal. What I remember about that night is how hot we were for each other. My skin burned where you touched me, and no one—and I mean this, Dom—no one has ever kissed me the way you do. You put your whole soul into a kiss. When I jerk off to fantasies about that night, I’m always thinking about your lips on mine.” I watched as we rolled right through a stop sign without so much as slowing down. Horns honked, brakes squealed, but Dom didn’t seem to notice. “You just blew through a four-way stop.”

“Seriously?”

“You didn’t hear the horns blaring or the cars screeching to a sudden stop?” I asked.

He waved that off. “I was asking about the kissing and jerking off.”

“Dom, I haven’t said a single untrue thing to you in two years. I wouldn’t start now.” Not when it was possible I’d get everything my heart had desired since we reconnected. “Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“You are nowhere near the top of my sucky sex list,” I assured him.

“Is that kind of like a no-fly list?”

“Pretty much.” I looked over and caught him smiling. “Want to hear my top five?”

“Do I?” Dom asked.

“Yeah, you do. At least you didn’t count down to blast off like one guy I hooked up with,” I said.

Dom glanced over at me suspiciously. “Are you for real?”

“Always.”

“When you say blast off, do you mean climax?” Dom asked.

I re-enacted the final five seconds of sex with a NASA enthusiast. I made an explosion sound to mimic his orgasm.

Dom laughed so hard that he started to cough. With his track record, I worried he might be a danger to other drivers.

“Should you pull over?” I asked.

He wheezed and waved me off. His lips moved, noises came out, and I thought they might be words.

“What?”

He took a deep breath and said, “How did you react?”

“Well, I didn’t join him in the countdown,” I replied. “Somehow in this chaos, I climaxed on command too.”

Dom wheezed some more, and I wished I’d brought a bottle of water for the road.

I pointed to a gas station. “Pull in there. I’ll run in and get you something to drink.”

He gestured to the back seat and I angled my body for a look. He’d brought a large, insulated lunch box with him, so I finessed it forward until I could get a good grip. The thing weighed a ton, and I knew why when I opened the top. Dom had packed enough drinks and snacks to take us across the country and back. I smiled when I saw a few bottles of the winter cranberry Sprite I loved so much. I grabbed one of those and water for Dom before setting the lunchbox between my feet. Twisting the cap off the water, I handed it to Dom. He stopped at a red light and downed half the bottle before setting it in the drink holder. I put his cap back on and enjoyed a few sips of the Sprite.

“And then there was the time I matched with a magician on Grindr,” I said.

Dom lost it again, wheezing out a question in between gasps. “A magician?”

“None of that shit was listed on his profile,” I said.

“Did he pull a rabbit out of a hat?”

“No, but he shouted ‘abracadabra’ when he fished out a condom from his wallet. I got the fuck out of there.”

The light turned green, and Dom visibly pulled himself together.

“And then there was the mortician from the funeral home.”

Dom spluttered and swung the SUV into a shopping center and parked. Tears streamed down his face as he took a long drink of water. He cleared his throat a few times before turning his head in my direction. One glance at my face started the laughing fit all over again, and he averted his gaze. “I can’t look at you right now.”

“I think I said that to my reflection in the mirror when I got home from the date with the mortician,” I said. “The guy reminded me of the tall, gangly character from The Addams Family .”

Dom tilted his head back against the rest and laughed deep from his belly. It made me want to shove my hand under his sweater and feel the vibration. “Lurch?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. He didn’t look like Lurch. Just tall and lanky with huge hands. He was hung like a horse, but his dirty talk came out in a funeral director’s voice.”

Dom turned his head and met my gaze. His eyes shimmered like wet emeralds. “Did you…come?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Hung like a horse. Great hands. What could I do?

“Then there was the hot ER doctor.” I tsked and shook my head. “Loved to have his frenulum played with.”

“Who doesn’t?” Dom asked.

“This idiot called it his friend-ulum and introduced us.”

Dom howled with laughter until I worried he might be sick. I decided that was enough horror stories for one day and waited for him to cycle down. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand and heaved a loud sigh. “Thank you.”

I leaned forward and cupped his face. “I dream of the sounds you make when you come, your scent, the rasp of your belly hair against my skin, and your spunk sliding up and down my dick.” I was getting hard just thinking about it and shifted in my seat.

Dom’s focus dropped to my lap before meeting my gaze again. He leaned in for a quick kiss that made my heart skip a beat. “More of that later. We better get on the road. My mom will worry if we’re late.” He shifted the SUV into Drive and navigated back to the street, but then he surprised me by reaching for my hand. “The sooner we get introductions over, the faster we can get to our room. Where I’ll introduce you to my fr—”

“Nope! Just drive.”