Chapter Seventeen
Maria
I was going to invite Jade to Isabella’s sixth birthday party. I’d given it a lot of thought, and I was finally in a place where I felt like that was the best decision. And entirely my own decision without the influence of my sisters or Dom. My logic was simple really—it was a family event, and Jade was family.
Speaking of Isabella’s party, I wanted it to be perfect, just as I always did, which was why I had always hired Marge, the best event planner in Long Island. While Marge could handle everything, I never let her handle the cake. No, that was my domain.
Now I knew what you were thinking. . . . Maria totally has to bake that bad boy. And it was true, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I kicked butt in the kitchen. Although, I never baked Isabella’s cake. Instead, I chose every detail with care and had my favorite little Italian neighborhood bakery do the baking.
Which was exactly what I was doing today as I sat at a table against the window, flipping through the binder of designs the couple who ran the place left with me. My family and I had been ordering from them for as far back as I could remember. In fact, it wasn’t just my family, either—Dom’s family loved this place, too, relying on them for everything when they weren’t upstate. The woman, Liliana, was actually friends with Dom’s nonna. They played bridge together every week.
I brushed a hand over one of the laminated pages, in awe over the floral detailing on one of the cakes. That right there was art. I was about to take a photo of it and send it to my sisters when a notification popped up.
Dominic: What are you doing?
Maria: Picking a cake for Isabella’s party.
Dominic: Want some help?
Maria: *sends photo*
Maria: Thoughts?
Dominic: She needs a cake fit for a princess.
Maria: I agree. I’m at Liliana and Giovanni’s bakery. Are you close by?
Dominic: I am actually. I’ll swing by. Be there in ten.
Maria: Drive safe.
Dominic: Spitfire and I always drive safe.
Maria: You love that damn car.
Dominic: Spitfire is family.
Maria: LOL. I’ll see you soon.
I continued scanning through the book, finding only a couple I liked. I blew outward and placed a hand on my chin. I didn’t know why this was always so hard. Maybe because I’m not just a control freak, but a perfectionist. Oh well, minor details.
What I knew so far: the cake had to be hot pink and orange. They were Isabella’s favorite colors at the moment. She had wicked good taste if you asked me because I thought they really popped together.
“Maria, sweetheart, are you doing okay?” Liliana asked, her hands folded in front of her as she stood beside me, looking over my shoulder.
I smiled. “Why is this so difficult?”
Liliana grinned, the lines around her lips showing as her smile practically reached her eyes. “You say that every year,” she teased. “If I’ve learned anything in my years of living, it’s that things are only as difficult as we make them.”
“Are you trying to tell me I overthink things?” I chuckled, trying to make light of it.
She winked. “Your mother was the same way. She’d run herself ragged over the smallest things. Swore that these occasions happened only once for her children, and she wanted everything to be—”
“Perfect,” I supplied, feeling tears sting my eyes, thinking about Mom. It was one of the first times lately that I thought about her and wasn’t mad. Or sad.
“The apple never falls far from the tree, whether we like it or not,” she replied.
Before I could say anything in response, the chimes sounded and in strolled Dom. I watched as he coolly removed the aviators from his eyes and folded them, tucking them in the front of his light blue shirt. He looked very suave. Just as he always did.
“It looks like you’ve got reinforcements,” Liliana said, patting my shoulder before starting toward the back again.
Dom nudged his head toward her in greeting. “How are you doing, Liliana?” he called, pulling out the chair across from me and taking a seat.
“I’m an old lady and I don’t have any pain. I can still work. So, I can’t complain.”
Dom and I chuckled. “Glad to hear it,” Dom replied. “My nonna hasn’t talked about much else since your last bridge game. Said you didn’t play fair.”
She rolled her eyes. “She’s a sore loser. As bad as my brother. Never could stand anyone else winning. At some point he stopped playing altogether.”
Dom grinned. “Then I believe it’s safe to say where my father gets it from. Can’t stand to lose.”
“In games or in life?” Liliana questioned. “Before I go around back, do you want anything to eat? I couldn’t convince Maria to have something. Tell me I can you.”
Dom’s eyes roamed to the counter. “How about a slice of turtle cheesecake?”
Without a word, Liliana retrieved a piece and brought it over with two forks before retreating to the back.
I shook my head, knowing what Dom was doing. He knew I loved turtle cheesecake. The corners of my lips turned up. “You know me too well, Dom Deluca.” And it was true, he did.
He shrugged, took a forkful of the delectable dessert, and passed it to me. While I ate it off the fork, he said, “And we both know Peanut so well, so let’s take a look at these designs and serve up something she’s going to love.”
He angled his head as I turned the book to him so he could take a look, too. Coming across a six-tier cake with a mermaid theme, Dom whistled. “Where was this when she was going through her under the sea phase?”
I loved how involved Dom was in Isabella’s life. To her, he was family, and it was the same way for me, of course, but I thought it was sort of beautiful how he showed up as a male role model for her.
I curled the bottom of my hair with my finger. “I know, right? Oh, there’s one you have to see, though. It’s an Italian sponge cake that looks heavenly.”
“Looks it,” he agreed about the Italian sponge cake after I flipped to the page I temporarily marked with a sticky note. “Hey, what about this one?” he questioned, pointing to a two-tier round cake I passed. It had quilted fondant on the bottom tier and giant, frosted roses on the top.
I nodded. “I think if we can make it orange and hot pink, she’ll really love it.” Then, without thinking, I took another forkful of the cheesecake and let the flavors linger in my mouth for a minute. “Mmm,” I moaned absentmindedly, my eyes closing. Hearing myself, though, I opened my eyes as wide as could be.
Dom stared at me, his eyes roaming from my lips to my eyes and back again. He said nothing, though. Nada. Why couldn’t he say something? Was he thinking what I was thinking? That our hookups have finally made things between us awkward even though we didn’t want it to. Real good, Maria. Just stare at him staring at you. Perhaps you’re waiting for him to read your thoughts. As though he has that capability.
I laughed and shrugged, biting my lip. “Me and my cheesecake, huh?” Not much was better than it. Except—
Oh, damn. Was that why he was looking at me that way?
Ugh. I never had overthought these things before, so why now?
He shook his head. “Nothing weird about you enjoying your food. You always moan when you like what you’re eating.”
“Really?” I asked, bewilderment coloring my expression.
“What’s wrong? You seem off,” he noted his observation.
Real great. So it was me. I was making things awkward.
“Maria—”
“Yeah?” I practically jumped down his throat, hoping the only thing that was going to come out of his mouth was—
“Let’s just move on.”
Thank you. I nodded and swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Definitely.”
“So now that we have the cake design, what about the inside?” he questioned, changing the subject. Man, I could kiss him. Umm, never mind. Wrong time. We were two friends picking out my daughter’s cake. Nothing more at the moment.
Was it the orgasm? Had it screwed with my brain? I know, I know, it probably sounded silly, maybe even stupid, but I didn’t know what else to think so just bite me.
Bringing my pointer finger to my lips, I thought about it for a second. “I’m not sure. She likes so many flavors.”
“This is true,” Dom said and shifted the conversation. “I forgot to tell you, I already picked up a little something for her. It’s not her gift, just something I want to give her now, I think. It’s in my trunk.”
Shaking my head, I laughed. “You spoil her.”
“Well, buckle in because I have big plans for her over the years.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. Take sixteen, for example—a white sports car.”
“She’s not driving a sports car,” I said, laughing again, practically all but having forgotten about needing to decide the inside of the cake.
“What’s the alternative?” Such a man.
I cocked a brow. “She’ll have to learn stick.”
Hand up, Dom said, “I’ll teach her” as if trying to stop me before I offered.
Inhaling deeply, I feigned insult. “What makes you say that?”
“You can’t drive stick.” He sounded so sure of himself.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Umm, you can barely parallel park.”
Oooh, hit me below the belt. “That’s a useless skill.” That was my opinion, and I was sticking to it. Really how important was it to know how to parallel park? All you had to do was find an opening with enough open spots ahead, gradually angle your wheel, and drive up the side of the curb until you were parallel to it and bam! you were parallel parked with half the headache. The first part was no easy feat, but the rest was cake.
“We live in New York, and you work in the city,” he pointed out, laughing as he picked up a fork and finally took a bite of the cheesecake in front of us. “It should have a cheesecake filling.”
Switching gears in my head, I considered the idea. “Or strawberry,” I countered, knowing Isabella’s love for strawberries.
“Or strawberry cheesecake.” Dom stood finally and closed the binder. “Come on, let’s give Liliana the order so we can get out of here. What else is on your agenda for today?”
Retrieving my purse from the back of my chair, I explained, “Allie is meeting me at my place so we can go to a hot yoga class.” I looked down at my watch and back up again. “But I have time. Did you want to do something?”
Dom shook his head, but the grin and twinkle in his eyes said an entirely different story. “I might have an idea on how we can spend that time.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“I didn’t just pick up a gift for Isabella,” he said, winking at me. “I might have a little something in my trunk for you, too.”
“Really?” I asked, suddenly intrigued. “I like presents.”
“And yet you don’t like surprises.” Dom laughed and hooked an arm over my shoulder, causing my body to prickle with desire.
“I’m complicated,” I acknowledged and hit the bell to get Liliana’s attention in the back. Now we had to get out of here because I had to know what he’d gotten me.
* * *
“With the way you drive, I wasn’t sure you’d make it home in one piece,” Dom joked as he got out of his car and met me at my front door, two bags in his hand.
“Har. Har. I still beat you in our race to my place. I’ve been waiting out here for, oh, I don’t know, six minutes now just so I could greet you when you finally arrived.”
“I caught the red light, and you know it.” He pointed at me, narrowing his eyes.
Wait, let me bring you up to speed. See, we’d placed the cake order (yellow cake with strawberry cheesecake filling), Dom had refused to enlighten me as to what he’d bought me, and we’d agreed to race back to my house (as safely as possible, of course). And that last line from Dom had just been an excuse. An excuse, I tell you! So, naturally, I shrugged. “A race is a race, my friend, and I won. You may bow down to your highness.” I rolled my wrist in a wave like a royal. “And you may show me what you got me,” I teased, eyeing the bags in his hand. The curiosity was seriously starting to get to me.
Giving me a once-over, Dom stopped and turned as he opened my door for me. “I’m not sure I like this side of you.”
“Where I show you up?” I joked, really enjoying this. It wasn’t that different from our usual interactions, but it felt good to know we hadn’t caused any real damage to our friendship. I also secretly kind of liked the idea of beating him at something. Dom was the kind of man who excelled at everything he did, made magic out of everything he touched. It was nice to be reminded he was human like the rest of us.
Coming over, he put the bags down and had his hands out like he was going to tackle me, so I grimaced and dropped my purse on the floor, trying to anticipate his next move. But there was no way I could’ve anticipated how he was going to tickle me to death. His hands were all over my stomach, his fingers wiggling about, knowing just where to get me.
I bent over and tried to pry his hands off me, but his arm was wrapped around my waist, and his grip tightened. “I can’t believe you just said that,” he said in between rolls of laughter over my reaction.
“I’d say it again, too,” I managed to ground out in between squirming away from him. I was seriously ticklish, and Dom knew it. Weaknesses. . . they’d get you every time.
“Take it back.”
“No.”
Hitching me in the air and spinning me, he tried again, his tone deep as he demanded, “Take it back, Maria.”
“Never!” I couldn’t keep my laughter at bay.
Between all the laughter, I wasn’t sure if he finally lost his grip on me or I managed to wiggle free, but I finally collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. “You have an advantage because you know exactly where to touch me,” I said in between breaths.
Collapsing next to me on the floor, Dom turned and softened his expression, his eyes connecting with mine. “Maria—”
My cheeks flushed at his intense gaze, and I felt little flutters fill my stomach. “Dom.”
He brought his hand between us and watched me as though waiting for me to stop him. Which I think we both knew I wasn’t going to do. He cupped my cheek with his palm, and I melted into his touch, loving the way it felt to have his hand on me. I continued staring into his eyes and couldn’t help but wonder. . . what the hell did he get me?
Casually stretching my arm, I wiggled my fingers, going for the bags on the floor.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Dom asked, his voice hoarse and deeper than usual, like he was being weighed down by something. Something I knew all too well where he was concerned. Desire. It was a deadly sin that I couldn’t stop myself from feeling for this man. I wanted him.
I batted my lashes and looked up at him as he moved his hand to cup my chin, bringing his thumb to my lower lip and pulling on it until my breath was coming out hitched. “Nothing,” I lied.
He didn’t blink. Didn’t move an inch. Only stayed right where he was, staring at me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered. Like I was special or something.
I’d never felt that way, not from the way a man looked at me.
It was refreshing actually. To feel wanted and desired.
But no! This was Dom. My best friend. Geez, write it on the back of my hand so I remembered it. What was the matter with me lately?
The corners of Dom’s lips curled upward, and he smiled. Full-on smiled. “Fine. Get it. It’s yours anyway.”
While I crawled to the bags and found the one with my name on it, he got comfortable, placing an elbow on the floor while he propped up his head and continued staring at me.
Judging by the smirk he was wearing, I was seriously questioning what he got me.
I pulled the box out of the bag and—
Holy crap.
Okay.
Hmm.
It was a turquoise-colored penis with a curved tip. Dom bought me a vibrator.
I widened my eyes and smacked my lips together, raising my gaze to look at him. “I have to say I did not think this was what you bought me. I don’t get it. Are you trying to tell me our little arrangement is coming to an end?” I raked my bottom lip between my teeth, letting my gaze fall to his cock.
Grinning, he held my hand in his and lightly rubbed the pad of his thumb over the inside of my hand. “Nope. My cock is yours for the taking anytime you want it.”
I licked my lips. “I think I like that,” I returned, looking pleased. “Got any ideas how we can make this a toy we both like playing with?”
“That’s the whole idea.” He tilted his head toward the box. “Open that thing, and I’ll show you.”
“Oooh! We get to play with it now?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Hell yeah.”
“We’ll need lube,” Dom pointed out.
But I was already up and opening the box. You know the kids that had to test their toys out on Christmas? They couldn’t wait? They had to play with all of them almost immediately? Yep, that was me, and there was no way I wasn’t playing with this one right damn now. At his words, I shifted directions and ran toward the stairs. “I’ll get it and meet you in my bedroom,” I called, practically out of earshot already.
Dom was going to have to motor if I had anything to say about it.
I grabbed the lube and swung the door open to my room, finding Dom sitting on my bed, waiting for me. Such a good man.
I tossed both the lube and toy into his hands. “Let’s have some fun.”
While he applied the lube, I read the back of the box. “The curved tip is for G-spot stimulation, and it delivers targeted vibration, and now that I know I can orgasm, this is going to be fun.”
“That’s the idea,” he replied, chuckling.
Looking at it, I couldn’t help the thought that popped into my mind next. “It’s not as big as I’m used to lately, but I guess it’ll have to do.”
He growled, his knuckles getting white as he squeezed the toy tight. “Greedy, greedy, greedy. Even having this vibrator, you still want the benefits,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“If benefits is a euphemism for your cock, then I’ll just remind you that was the deal. And you just said—”
He grinned, and I couldn’t hold back the smile that was dancing across my lips. “Tell me, do you think about it often? How I stretch you out with every push into you? Have you been replaying the way it felt when you coated me with your liquid, and it dripped down me? How about how I shoot my heat deep inside you?”
While he was talking, I got busy, slipping my pants off. “You’ll never know.”
He looked up at me and smiled. “What did I say about panties?”
Feeling heat spread to my cheeks, I looked down and slipped them off, too. “Where do you want me?”
He stood and guided me to the foot of the bed. “Spread your legs for me.”
So, it was no secret I hated surprises, but this surprise I welcomed with open arms. Scratch that. Open legs . My pussy pulsed as I waited for him to use the toy on me. “If I’m a good girl, will I get a bigger one?” I questioned, licking my lips once, twice, and a third time as he looked down at me with a smoldering gaze that said he wanted to ditch the toy and fuck me himself. I’d welcome that, too, just for the record.
“If you’re a good girl,” he promised. “Let’s see how you take this one first.” He sucked in a breath as I inched my hand down there. I needed relief, and he was taking too long.
Boy, three years ago I was straight up brilliant. I didn’t invent the concept of friends with benefits, but whoever had I wanted to kiss because they were my favorite person. Oh, and orgasming had made it ten times more fun.
Dom kneeled before me so he was squarely between my legs. “Your pussy is weeping. Every time I think you can’t want any more, you spread your legs and show me just how much your body aches for it.”
My fingers gripped the sheet as he came closer, as he brought the toy closer, the blood pumping in my ears. With one warm hand planted firmly on my inner thigh, he inched the vibrator right where I wanted it—to my clit. Only, he didn’t give me what I wanted. He teased me. I stifled a moan as he circled it multiple times.
I urged my pelvis up, trying to beg him to give me more, to stop teasing me already.
“You don’t like to be teased,” Dom noted his observation.
“Very perceptive of you,” I ground out, giving him a death stare.
He chuckled. “For someone who didn’t orgasm until recently, you take your orgasms very seriously.”
“You’ve practically known me forever. Is there anything I don’t take seriously?”
This time, he didn’t tease me, only grazed me with the tip of the toy before inching it into me slightly. Holy mother of— It felt amazing. The sensation was almost too much. Like I was feeling multiple things at once, all of which I couldn’t get enough of. My brain was screaming more, more, more . “This is the best gift ever.”
“Glad you like it. But I’m nowhere near done yet.”
I gave him a perplexed look.
“Not even close. You didn’t orgasm yet.”
“Maybe I won’t. Maybe the toy doesn’t do it for me.”
“No. It’s the person holding the toy that gives you the orgasm because they know how to use it. And you’re in luck because I know how to use it. You’re not leaving this bed until you orgasm. Do you understand me?” he asked, his voice deep and raspy in a way that had my spine tingling. I loved the way he talked in the bedroom, and it never ceased to bring a smile to my face.
I nodded as he pushed the vibrator in a little more. I moaned and turned my head. What the hell was it about this vibrator? Just when I didn’t think it could get any better, he inched it in and pulled it out. In. Out. In. Out. Until I felt like I was about to snap. Like my control was hanging on by the thinnest thread ever. I let out a loud moan that was like a shrill and shriek altogether, my cries barely making sense to my own ears.
I turned my head back, trying to watch as he continued pleasuring me. “I’m going to come,” I informed him, my eyes never leaving him.
He tightened his grasp on my inner thigh as he groaned. He looked like it was all he could do not to pull down his pants so I could finish while he was buried deep inside me. I wasn’t going to deny it—I wanted him inside me just as badly as he wanted to be there.
“Do it. Come for me. Come all over this toy, and let it drip down onto my fingers so I can taste your sweetness. It’s all I crave. Your taste is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and I can’t get enough of it.”
I was so turned on by this side of Dom. So much so that his words sent me right over the edge. I could no longer think straight let alone string together words to respond to him.
The orgasm hit me like a tsunami, and I felt completely out of control, my head falling back so far, I actually feared I might break my neck. My eyes snapped shut, and I moaned, the intensity of my orgasm almost too much. He wasn’t letting up on the toy, though, making sure that I rode out every last wave of the orgasm. That I milked it for everything it had.
I felt boneless and spent by the time he pulled the vibrator out of me and shut it off. “Holy crap, Dom.”
He dragged a finger through my wetness on the toy and brought it to his mouth, sucked on it, and licked every last drop off, leaving nothing behind. Then he traced his tongue down his hand where more of my arousal was dripping from where it trickled down the vibrator. “You’re so damn sweet that one of these days you might just give me a cavity.”