Chapter 25
IZZY
Grandma is sleeping in Dom’s open-plan living room.
He’s set her up with a bed next to the tall windows so she can look out upon the city as she adjusts to her treatment.
All the medical equipment has been installed, just like at her place.
Dom doesn’t seem to mind paying for it twice.
I’m so grateful, but I also don’t want him to think he has to buy our affections.
I stand in the doorway, watching her with a smile on my face. She’s tired from the new treatment, but already, she seems far, far more energized. Her movements are becoming more fluid. I still want to scream when I think about a reality in which Dom didn’t take over.
Walking to the kitchen, I make two cups of coffee and carry them into Dom’s office. He’s sitting at his desk, papers everywhere, barking orders down the phone with a concerned look on his face.
It’s been three days since the TV interview. Uncle Aaron has gone into hiding, the police tell us they’re actively searching for him because he was caught on CCTV during one of the drug deals. They managed to connect the dots based on the photos I provided for them.
The doctor involved in the ALS lie is on unpaid leave, and he’s most likely going to lose his medical license, possibly facing prison time. Dom is on edge. I can’t blame him. With Aaron in the wind, there’s no telling what he might do, how he might retaliate.
The only upside has been spending so much time together.
We’re working long hours—I’m helping him any way I can—but we find time for each other in the evenings.
Last night, the three of us played Scrabble together.
When Grandma put down serendipity, I couldn’t stop smiling.
Her mind is sharp and alert like her old self.
After his call, Dom sits back with a heavy sigh. “Sorry about that,” he says, spinning in the computer chair. “I told them six damn times where to take those boards. And still, they don’t listen.”
I slide into his lap, wrapping my arms around him.
As always, I can feel his body responding to mine.
It happens instantly, no hesitation, his lust obvious from the hard ridge in his pants.
He leans up and kisses me softly… much softer than last night, when he took me hard, bending me over and fucking me savagely, gripping my hips so firmly he left marks after.
And I loved it. Being his release. Giving him what he needed. Then melting right at the end as my own pleasure sang through me.
He sighs when his phone rings again. I slide off his lap and let him take the call. His face tightens as he listens. I can hear a woman’s voice ranting on the other end.
“Why would you tell him?” Dom snaps, then he bites down. “No, no, I get it. You’re right. It’s better to be honest. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Yeah, I can come down. It’ll be a while.” He looks at me. “And I’ll be bringing my girlfriend with me.”
He hangs up, then stands and pulls me into his arms. “Jennifer told her husband who Liam’s father is. There’s been a shitstorm over there. Liam won’t stop crying.”
“Where’s her husband?” I ask.
“Staying at his brother’s house. She’s kept him in the dark for years, and he accepted it.
That’s why I asked why she told him.” He gently slides his fingers through my hair.
“But then it hit me, Songbird, she should’ve told him a long time ago.
I’m too much like my father, still trying to keep things in the dark—”
“Hey.” I grab a fistful of his shirt. “Don’t beat yourself up. You’re nothing like your dad. You care about your little brother. You even care about the woman your dad cheated on your mother with. That’s you, Dom. You’ve got the biggest heart of any person I’ve ever met.”
“Sometimes, that feels like a liability,” he says.
“I’ll check on Grandma, then get changed,” I tell him.
He leans down and kisses me. “That sounds like a plan.”
I go back to the living room, stopping in the hallway when I hear Grandma’s voice raised in a song. I can’t hear the words, just her voice, far stronger than it was before. It’s not just the medicine that’s helping. It’s the fact that she has hope now. She knows there’s a way through.
I go to her bed, leaning down and kissing her cheek. “We’re heading out for a while. But Jackie will be here.” Jackie is her nurse, sitting on the couch with a paperback in her hand.
“I had a dream,” she whispers, smiling. “You and Dominic were getting married. Oh, it was so beautiful.”
“That’s a little too fast, Grandma,” I murmur. “It’s only been a few weeks. Maybe a month.”
“It was a glorious dream,” Grandma says. “And what did I tell you? When you know, you know. And you know.”
Maybe I do. But we still have to live in the real world.
“We’re committed to making a relationship work,” I say. “Wherever it takes us, whatever shape it takes.”
“I know what shape it will take,” Grandma says, winking. “But I’ll be patient.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “I love that you’re well enough to play Cupid. It will all be over soon.”
Grandma goes stiff for a moment. “It’s not over now?”
“Sorry, I meant… the whole situation. Your situation is over. You never have to worry about your care again. But yeah, Aaron is still out there. And nobody knows what has happened to Sebastian.” I regret mentioning any of this. “Don’t worry about it. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says.
Dom is tense as he drives, holding the steering wheel firmly, glaring at the road. The more time passes with Aaron and Sebastian still out there, the more anxious he becomes. It’s visible, making his muscular body taut, every inch of him on edge.
We’re driving down the quiet country road toward the suburbs. With just us on the road, it’s easy to imagine nothing else exists. None of our problems matter anymore. It’s just him, me, and the open road.
“What are you thinking?” He asks warmly, like he already suspects.
“What it’d be like to be alone and carefree out here, just me and you.”
He smiles, a faraway look in his eyes. “Carefree,” he repeats. “I’m not sure I’d recognize the feeling.”
I put my hand on his leg. “It will be over soon. Once Aaron and Sebastian are dealt with, we’re free.”
He grinds his teeth, nodding. “Hopefully, the police can do their damn jobs. If Sebastian was pulling Aaron’s strings with the blackmail, maybe he had a hand in the drugs too.”
We’re quiet for a while, turning onto another quiet road. I slide my hand a little higher up Dom’s leg, wanting to help him relax. I hate seeing him like this, wound tight, the invisible threat of my real uncle and his fake uncle hanging over us.
“You need to be careful, Songbird,” he murmurs huskily.
A flood of adrenaline and power rushes through me.
I love this feeling, like a shot of lust straight to the pleasure center in my brain.
I never thought I’d find a man who, when I gave him pleasure, I felt pleasure too.
It’s the same with him. When he goes down on me, he moans and grunts like he’s feasting, like he’s getting as much from it as I am.
“Careful?” I murmur, acting innocent.
He gives me a savage look. “You know what I mean.”
“Maybe I just want to help you relax.”
Am I seriously going to do this? I’ve never even heard of anybody actually doing it before, only seen it in movies.
I slide my hand even higher, my heart pounding with excitement. When I rub my hand up and down on the outside of his pants, he groans. “Fucking hell. We’re going to hit a main road soon.”
“Then you better pull over…”
“Oh, fuck.”
I stop rubbing, knowing this is probably wrong on some level, knowing we should be rushing toward his little brother. But I can’t help myself. Sue me. We’re a young couple, flooded with need. It’s my right to calm him down. It’s our right to have a little fun.
He drives off the road into the thick shadows of the trees. I undo his button and free his manhood, gasping when it springs up, huge and hard and ready, always ready for me.
“I love how hard you get for me,” I whimper, moving my head toward his glistening tip.
“I love everything about you,” he says fiercely.
We’re so, so close to just saying I love you. But it’s like neither of us wants to say it first, just in case.
But the truth? I love everything about him too.
I even love the taste of his cock as I stretch my mouth open to take his head.
I smooth my tongue over him as I stroke my hand up and down his base, working it around his shaft.
He groans and slips his hand into my hair, but doesn’t push, just holds it there as though bracing me.
I stroke faster, squeezing and twisting my palm in the way he likes. His hips judder, his cock slipping deeper into my mouth. I moan around his thickness, spit sliding down his pole. With my free hand, I cup and massage his balls. That drives him toward the edge.
He groans like a beast, his breath coming faster. I swear I can feel his come pumping up his thickness before he actually explodes, like all his pleasure is gathering right at his tip in preparation.
Finally, he gasps and fires hot streams of release down the back of my throat. I even like this part, which I never would’ve believed before him. There’s something so filthy and satisfying about swallowing every drop he gives me, greedily lapping it up just like he does when he’s between my legs.
After I sit up, wiping my mouth, smiling deliriously.
He puts himself away, then grins and reaches over, gently touching my face. “You’re my Songbird,” he says. “And yet, you’re the one making me sing.”
I laugh, touching his hand. “I’ve got to say, sir, I think it might be my favorite song of all time.”
He chuckles, then starts the car. “It’s strange, beautiful. But suddenly, I don’t feel like ripping somebody’s head off.”
I laugh again. “I wonder why…”