Chapter 26
“Nuh-uh, little mouse. I didn’t say you could come.”
Sweet fuck, he couldn’t have decided to go all edgy last night?
“Sir,” I say and shake my ass. What? I’m not a monster. “Normally, I’d be all down for this, but we’re going to be late.”
“Good thing I’ve already decided that we’re going to be fashionably late.” He winks and then picks up the pace.
My hips are resting on his thighs as he pounds into me. The head of his cock slides over the little bundle of nerves with each pump of his hips. I pull at the silk binds around my wrists. “Ugh, I wanna touch you.”
Dom shakes his head. “You’re the one who practically begs to be tied up every night.”
Since the parole hearing, I’ve spent every night at Dom’s. We don’t really talk about that fact. If I’m still working after he’s done for the day, he comes by Dragonfly and waits for me to get off work.
We’re like teenagers with teenage libidos.
His hand wraps around my cock, smearing the precum with his thumb. I groan at the sensations. “Well, I changed my mind.”
“Too late. That’s not how this works. You know the rules. Once you’re tied, you’re mine.”
I slide my bound wrists over his head, pulling him closer. “I’m always yours.”
His lips crash onto mine. Wasting no time, I open for him. I will happily take every kiss this man ever gives me.
My cock throbs as he picks up the pace, desperate to be touched again as I continue to hold back my orgasm… for now. It’s not going to be long.
Dom leans back on his heels, his hands spread around my waist as he practically fucks me onto his cock.
“Fuck, please…. please… I promise I’ll let you tie me up and blindfold me next time if you let me come. I need to come.”
He chuckles, low and sexy. “Don’t worry, little mouse, I’ve got you.”
I don’t know what that means… What does that mean?
Do I get to come? How has he “got me?”
The mystery is solved a few seconds later when he wraps his fist around my cock and a couple of strokes later he sets me free.
“Okay, baby… Come for me.”
My whole body quakes when I finally let go. A zing of pleasure shoots down my spine, my balls draw up tight, and my back bows off the bed.
I see motherfucking stars. I always do when I’m with him.
With a few more pumps, Dom’s rhythm falters. He slams home one more time before he buries himself deep and fills me.
I let out an ungodly moan at the sensations. When his cock finally stops twitching, he falls next to me, chest heaving.
“Do you think they’ll know what we were doing?” I ask in short pants. “Because my poker face is shit.”
He lets out a laugh that feels light and free. “Judging by the group chat and the number of times it’s dinged in the last twenty minutes, I suspect they’re all doing the same thing.”
Ding. We both bark out a laugh.
I roll over, splaying myself across his chest. The feel of his release dripping from my hole causes tiny shivers of aftershocks. Dom kisses me with the same amount of passion he had before he fucked my brains out.
I moan into his mouth when I feel the pad of his finger swirl around my slick, sensitive hole, playing with his cum leaking out of me.
“How would you feel if I plugged you, huh? Kept my cum inside you all night, marking what’s mine.”
“Oh, I’m so down.” This man could have a foot fetish, and I would still be down for whatever he’s got.
He smacks my ass, and I let out a yelp. “Let’s go. Into the shower with you. We’re gonna be late.”
“I thought we were gonna be fashionably late?”
“Yeah, if we’d gotten there twenty minutes ago, we’d be fashionably late… Now we’re just late.”
I grab my phone and look at the time. “Shit, we gotta go.”
“Shower first, shelter open house second.” Dom peels me off his body, and I whine like a toddler. “Come on,” he says, holding out his hand. I take it, and he pulls me up after some grumbling.
We don’t dillydally, just clean each other up with speed and precision… and maybe a few traded kisses.
I’m impressed with the kind of time we make; we’re dressed and out the door in under thirty minutes.
By the time we pull into the lot of the shelter, it’s packed. Balloons bob around at an information booth. A banner reads OPEN HOUSE! ADOPT LOVE!, and an ice cream truck is blasting “The Chicken Dance.”
Mazie is in Finn’s arms, absolutely furious about… something… and Spencer looks delighted.
“You know there’s a bet going, right?” I tell Dom, climbing out of the truck.
He rolls his eyes. “I’m not leaving with a puppy.” He grabs my hand, and we weave through the crowd.
“Are you sure? Puppies are really freaking cute.”
“I’m not getting a puppy.”
“DOM!” Jaxon calls, jogging over with Alex. “Ready to meet your new dog?”
Dom flips him off on reflex, then pulls him into a hug. Alex kisses Dom’s cheek. “Resistant now, retriever later,” he singsongs.
Mira and Jules wave from an outdoor pen where a bunch of puppies are running around chasing each other’s tails.
Finn finally hands Mazie a tiny vanilla cone, and she immediately blesses it by smearing it on his shirt. Spencer claps as if she’s won an award.
“Look at her sharing!” Spencer beams.
“That’s not—” Finn sighs. “Sure. Sharing.”
“Shit,” I hear Dom mutter under his breath.
“Well, hello boys,” Ms. Brandy says. “It seems the two of you are…”She looks us up and down, and I know they know. “Fashionably late.”
Dom raises an eyebrow at Alex.
“What? They offered to volunteer, and I needed volunteers.”
Ms. Cook thrusts a raffle ticket strip into my hand, Ms. Brandy hooks her arm through Dom’s, and we make our way inside. “You look like a senior-dog household. Quiet, appreciative, available for naps.”
“We have a bulldog named Meatball who snores like a tractor and farts like an onion,” Ms. Brandy offers proudly.
Dom blanches. “Hard pass.”
“Noted.” Ms. Cook scribbles something. “Also, dog food is buy two, get one at The Grocery Mart if you bring this flyer. We made it. Corporate hasn’t approved it. It’ll be fine.” She pats me on the shoulder.
I look at Alex, who just shrugs.
“Where’s Marge?”
“She had to go pick her grandson up from daycare. She should be back soon.”
Just then Marcus, Jacob, and Lucas appear holding a teeny, tiny puppy with floppy ears.
“Lucas,” I say, going in for a hug. “When did you get back in town? Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve made up the couch again.”
Pretty sure I hear a low growl next to me. I bite my lip to keep from laughing.
“It was just today, and… ahh, Marcus and Jacob offered to pick me up. I figured you and Dom would be otherwise occupied.” Dom snorts, and I elbow him in the ribs.
“And actually, they offered to let me stay with them.” I dart a glance at Marcus and Jacob, who are looking at Lucas with heart eyes. “We have three spare bedrooms, so it would be foolish for him not to stay,” Marcus adds.
I can’t wait to see where this story goes.
“And the puppy you’re holding?” I ask, pointing to the beagle puppy in his arms.
“Isn’t he cute? I mean, look at these ears.” Lucas flaps his ears like he’s Dumbo. I raise an eyebrow at him.
He scoffs. “No, I’m not getting a puppy. But hey, maybe once I get situated and find a permanent place to live, I’ll come back and take one of these cuties home.” Marcus and Jacob share a glance that I pretend not to notice.
Jasper holds up a tiny dog outfit. “Hey Dom, just think, you could have matching outfits.”
“Hey Jasper, come here. Let me show you something.” Jasper’s eyes go wide, and he moves to stand behind Olly.
“Protect me, baby.”
Olly lets out a squeak. “Me?”
I chuckle, then smile with a full heart at this group of people and this family we created.
I stay back and drift down a quieter row. I always feel so bad seeing these animals locked in cages. Alex takes good care of every animal in here, but I don’t know how he and Jaxon don’t have twenty of them living with them.
Then I see him. Black dog, white muzzle like he has a milk mustache, and one ear up as though in question. He’s not performing. He’s sitting nicely, watching the doorway like he’s waiting for someone to notice him.
The card on his kennel says “FIG. Age: 7. Shy at first, loyal once he chooses you.”
“Hey, Fig,” I say, kneeling.
He tilts his head. After a minute, he scoots closer and presses his nose to the bars by my knee. One cautious tail thump and I slide two fingers through. He gives me a single, decisive lick.
“Does that mean you think I’m good people?
” I ask Fig. “Because I’m pretty kick-ass.
” I give him a nice gentle pet with the fingers that fit through the kennel.
“Can I tell you something?” He smooshes himself even closer against the bars.
“I got some really good news today. Someone thinks my cooking is good enough for a publishing deal.”
He lets out a bark.
“I know, it’s pretty fucking cool.”
Something deep breaks open in my chest. I think about Dom—his bench and his tie knots, his sweet and spicy scent, how he listens when my thoughts are too loud.
My chest swells at the memory of the parole hearing, of him finally standing up to his father.
I think about waking up next to him, a man who’s nothing like the person he lets everyone think he is.
The best thing I ever did was decide to come home.
To take a moment and really decide what I wanted.
Sure, I could have stayed out there and found a different job, but I don’t think I’d be as happy as I am now.
And I know a great deal of that has to do with Dom.
Don’t get me wrong, I worked my butt off to get where I am today, but with him by my side, it makes the prize even sweeter.
“I’m sorry you’re stuck in here, Fig. If I could give you a second chance and change the course of your life like I got, I would. But you look like you need a yard to run in, and at the moment I’m in a studio apartment above a tattoo shop.”
Fig lets out a doggie grumble.