Chapter 24 Sloane #2
Now I’m laughing, remembering the way Eric peeled out of the parking lot when I came flying out of the gym, lured in by his promise of fried Oreos and funnel cakes.
The only thing my brain retained from that class was how to get out of a front chokehold, but even that is fuzzy, because I only saw the demonstration and never actually performed the move.
“Okay. Maybe I can’t take him, but he gave me his word. He should be gentlemen enough to let me beat him up, especially since he was given a warning.”
“Yeah. Good luck with getting that man to keep his word.”
Bitterness shimmers in her eyes, and I can practically see her brain carrying her far away, back to the exact moment she realized she couldn’t trust the man she loved.
That she couldn’t count on him to do the things he said or keep the promises he made to her.
I turn my attention to the TV, because it feels wrong to watch her relive another painful moment.
My heart aches for her, for whatever future she pictured with Chris that will never come to pass.
When she finally snaps out of her reverie, I pretend to be engrossed in the mess playing out on the TV.
Surprisingly, it’s more of a disaster than the dinner we just had, and we sit quietly, watching rich women who remind me too much of my mother and her friends argue at various high-end restaurants in their city.
After a few episodes, both of us are yawning and half asleep.
“Alright.” I stand up and stretch. “I’m going to bed.”
“Me too, as soon as this episode goes off.”
“Just remember to turn the lights off. Night.”
I blow her a kiss and head upstairs for what I know is going to be a sleepless night.
I close the door to my bedroom and head straight to the shower.
I take my time washing, shaving, and moisturizing in hopes that the monotony of the tasks will distract my brain from the sad, empty feeling burning a hole in my stomach.
My bed looks as lonely as I feel as I climb into it.
The side I didn’t realize I’ve come to think of as Dom’s is noticeably empty and cold, and it takes me several moments to get comfortable between the sheets.
I roll my eyes, annoyed at myself for not being able to make it one night in the bed I’ve slept alone in for years without him.
Part of me is starting to rethink agreeing to his rule about sleeping in the same bed every night, because if sleeping alone is hard right now, I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like when this is done.
Everything is quiet around me, nothing but the sound of my own breathing is in my ears as I try to force myself to fall asleep.
“You can do this, Sloane,” I whisper to myself. “You’ve done it before.”
And I have. But this is different, because Eric was gone, lost to me forever along with all of the things I loved about sleeping next to him, and Dom isn’t lost to me yet.
We still have plenty of time together, and he’s just across town in his loft, hopefully having as hard of a time sleeping as I am.
I roll over and grab my phone off the nightstand. My finger hovers over his name for less than a second before I press the call button and put it to my ear. After a few rings, he picks up.
“Missing me already, angel?” The smile in his voice is unmistakable as it filters through the speakers and washes over me, and even though I know he can’t see me, I’m smiling back.
“Just calling to make sure you weren’t ambushed again.”
I turn on my side and close my eyes, pretending like he’s in bed beside me, rubbing small circles on my back while he whispers in my ear.
“Ahh. Well, in that case, you’ll be happy to know I’m perfectly safe and alone here. No exes lying in wait and no broken glass to clean up.” Papers shuffle in the background as he sighs into the phone. “I miss you.”
His admission lights me up from the inside out and erases the smart remark I was going to make about his ill-timed joke. A dumb smile stretches across my face, and I try to hide the quiver in my voice as I respond. “I miss you too. What are you working on?”
“Just looking over some plans Andre sent me earlier.”
That must have been what he was looking at when I noticed him on his phone at dinner. The amount of relief I feel at knowing it wasn’t a message from Kristen is surprising, even to me.
“For a new project?”
“Yes.” He lets out an audible sigh. “Something like that. I’m just finishing up though, and I’m more interested in hearing about how much you miss me.”
“Too much,” I breathe, hating the amount of emotion I put into those two words.
I can hear him moving around now, and I picture him in his loft turning off lights, closing doors, and then finally, lying down in bed. There’s a rustle of sheets and covers and then everything goes quiet again. Nothing but the sound of his breathing in my ear.
“Do you want to elaborate on that?” he murmurs.
“Nope.” I yawn, and relief floods me when I finally feel my body relaxing into the mattress. Almost like I needed Dom’s raspy lilt in my ear before I could fall asleep. “I’m tired, and I can’t be held responsible for the things I might say to you right now.”
“Oh?” I can see his eyebrow raised with humor and intrigue in my mind’s eye. “Sounds like the perfect time for you to elaborate then.”
“Dominic.”
It’s a flimsy warning I know will do nothing to deter him. His disapproving scoff at my use of his full name makes me smile. The man is really serious about his nicknames.
“What did I tell you earlier, angel?” Heat drips from every word, sending a current of electricity down my spine, and I wonder how he can have that effect on me from across town.
“Hmm. You tell me a lot of things, Dominic, so I can’t be sure.
Let me think.” I’m playing with fire, but there’s something so sweet about the promise of being burned by him.
“Earlier at work, you told me you needed me to choose a new paint color for the accent wall in the eighth-floor hallway. Then in the parking lot after dinner, you told me that I’m gracious and incredibly understanding… ”
An amused growl interrupts me. “Are you sure you want to play this game with me?”
I bite my lip. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I was trying to keep my voice even, but there’s no hiding the fact I’ve gone from relaxed and sleepy to turned on in a matter of seconds, and Dom’s voice rasping in my ear like velvet wrapped sin doesn’t help at all.
“You’re about to find out. Reach into the nightstand and get out your vibrator.”
Desire erupts in the pit of my belly, my entire body tenses with the need to obey him, but I hesitate. “Mal’s here. I can’t…”
“You can and you will, angel,” he says darkly.
The words reverberate through me, breaking down every shred of my resistance.
The same way he did when we were in the parking lot earlier tonight and in the elevator at Cerros.
The same way he always does. Something about the command in his voice, the certainty in his words just makes it easy for me to forget the whole world.
To care more about my own desire than the fact Mal is here.
To want to know what happens after I take out my vibrator so bad it doesn’t matter that having phone sex with my husband’s best friend while his sister is just downstairs is so fucking wrong.
“Don’t make me ask again.”
Oh God. I’m so far gone for this man, so completely and utterly in his control, that I would be disgusted with myself if I wasn’t so damn turned on. My hands shake as I retrieve the toy from the drawer and pull it back into bed with me.
“I have it.” I cradle the phone between my shoulder and ear and try to get comfortable. My heartbeat is pulsing between my legs as I pull my panties down. “But I don’t think I can be quiet when I come, Dom.”
His laugh is like dark magic, curling through the speakers and spreading warmth through my body. I want to ask him what’s funny, but he doesn’t give me the chance.
“Oh, now she knows my name.” Fabric rustles on his end, and I picture him sliding down his briefs and gripping his dick in his hand. “You don’t need to worry about being quiet when you come, angel.”
Even his voice turns me on. I whimper as I slide a finger through my wetness, barely hearing his words over the blood roaring in my ears.
“Stop touching yourself and ask me why,” he orders sternly.
I don’t even need to ask how he knows I’m touching myself. The man knows everything about me. “Wh-why?”
“Because you’re not going to come tonight, angel. Maybe going without an orgasm will help jog your memory.”
My hand is frozen, hovering over my clit. “I was just joking!”
“Too late to turn back now, baby. This time is all for me.” His breathing is ragged, and now I’m sure he’s gripping his dick in one of his big fists, using the precum leaking from his tip as lubrication. “Let me hear you say it, Sloane.”
“This time is all for you.” I want to cry as the words pass my lips, but I say them because I know that it will please him.
And whatever pleases Dom, pleases me.
“Good girl. Now turn your vibrator on and get it wet.”
I do as he says, sliding the toy through my juices repeatedly, letting it brush over the swollen and sensitive bud even though doing so puts me in danger of breaking Dom’s rule. My breath catches, a soft moan slipping past my lips, and he groans.
“Slide it in, because I need your hands free for this part. Tell me when it’s done.”
My skin is on fire, yet somehow covered in goose bumps, as I push the vibrator inside of me and nearly die from the sensation of the buzzing in my core. I close my eyes and try to concentrate on anything but the pleasure racing down my spine.
“Done.”