Three Hard Lessons (29 page)

“Yes,” Dominic said. Even with my eyes shut, I could hear the smile in his words. “Yeah. Fuck, that feels so good when you’re coming.”

Akira’s commanding voice rang out and drew me back into the moment.

“He said I should make you come again.” Once more the cock began to slide out. His fist shifted back another inch.

“No.” Panic filled my voice. Twice was shocking and a fluke. Plus that wasn’t anywhere near enough time to recover. I couldn’t catch my breath.

“Yes. This body is mine. It does exactly what I tell it to do.” He inched forward. “I’m going to show you what you’re capable of.”

The thick cock pushed and I welcomed him even as I felt spent and exhausted. I held my breath when the fist pressed against the outside of my pussy, the rest of him sheathed inside. He was going to give me the command any second and I wasn’t going to be able to do it. I shuddered on the tabletop, rattled against Akira’s hold.
Oh god . . . oh god . . .

Dominic’s gaze was inescapable. “Come for me, right now.”

I screamed as the pleasure rippled and crept prickling across my spine. Then his hand fell away and his hard cock drove deep, all the way into me. It sent me into euphoria, and everything went black.

chapter

TWENTY-FIVE

Warm lips skimmed over my cheek and my head turned, searching to get them on mine. A rough voice asked, “Where did you go?”

My eyes fluttered open. Dominic was only a breath away, his eyes hinted at his concern. I blinked to clear the fog from my head and pulled my lips back in a satisfied smile. “Kiss me,” I said.

He lowered his head so there was no space between us. His mouth moved on mine in a sultry, passionate kiss that tasted like love. It was the best kind of kiss. Akira had released his hold on me, so my hands settled on Dominic’s shoulders.

His cock was lodged inside me, and as we kissed, he began to move hesitantly. Slow, the way he liked it. The way he’d taught me to like it. Taught me to love it, really. He’d taught me to love all sorts of things in the two months I’d been with him.

Beneath him, I tried to return the pleasure he was so good at giving. I’d wanted to fuck him on this table, but instead I made love. It wasn’t hot, it was incendiary. Akira had picked up the pace with Yuriko and was fucking her mouth aggressively, but I ignored that. All I wanted was my boyfriend. This man I
loved
. And as soon as I could tell him, I would. Just not right now, not when we weren’t alone. I’d have to show him until then.

He groaned when I widened my legs and pulled him in as deep as possible, then flexed my internal muscles, squeezing him. He rocked against me, gliding in and out, his pace quickening and his ragged breath loud in my ear. My nipples dragged over his chest as his thrusts grew intense. Not as intense as this connection between us, but maybe nothing else could be.

“Oh, god,” I moaned. “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

He silenced me under his powerful kiss, his hips pounding into me. Faster. And harder. On, and on. At some point, I think Akira came. There were a slew of hurried Japanese words, followed by quiet. The only sounds were Dominic’s body slapping against mine and my moans.

Dominic made good on my request not to stop, I mean, it felt like it. Time stood still when we were together. His lips were persistent on my skin. If they weren’t on my mouth, they were on my neck, feathering kisses there.

“Mine,” he whispered.

There was no hesitation from me. “So fucking yours.”

A shift went through his body like last time, only it was more pronounced. He was a flurry of action, burying his face in my breasts while his hips drove into me, endlessly repeating until his breath came and went in enormous gasps.

He came. Hard. And loud.

His moan sounded like it was created deep inside his throat, and his cock jerked with spasms, pulsing inside me and fading slowly. God, that felt so good. Each pulse sent a small wave of bliss up my legs. His heavy body collapsed on top of me while he struggled to regain his breath.

“Jesus.” It was barely audible from him. “Did I ever tell you that you were worth the wait?”

“What?”

“A year without sex to get to you. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

I laughed softly and kissed him. When it was over, he turned his head to the couple. Yuriko was slumped down on the couch with Akira kneeling between her legs, his mouth buried in her pussy. She had her eyes shut and both hands in his hair, tugging on it while soft words came from her. Like she was pleading.

Akira sat back from her and pulled something from his back pocket. A tiny black pouch. Yuriko bolted to sit upright, her eyes wide and fixed on it.

“He just told her that she’s his.”

Dominic and I watched him open the pouch and pull out the glittering strand of diamonds. I gasped. Not just at the decadent jewelry, but what that short necklace really was. A collar. She seemed to be gushing while Akira leaned forward and fastened it around her throat. The stones glittered when it was done.

Akira’s smile shifted away to fill with lust, as if seeing his submissive collared was overwhelming. He bent back down and kissed her between her thighs like he was desperate.

Dominic said a whole bunch of things to them as he stood and withdrew from me, and his hand slipped under my shoulder, guiding me to sit up. I groaned. My muscles were stiff from spending too much time on the table. I’d say table sex was overrated, but not when it was with Dominic.

“I told them they can stay in the guest room if they want to. C’mon, let’s go to bed.” He helped me stand up, but grinned. “Unless you want to . . . watch them?”

It was so hot, seeing her heels rake down his back, begging him as she rode that tongue.

“I kind of do, but . . . I’m fucking exhausted.”

He kissed my forehead. “Maybe we can talk them into a show some other time.”

We lingered for another quiet moment before shuffling into the bedroom. He flipped on the lights and got into bed, his gaze following the descent of my garters. Once I was naked, I crawled onto my side of our bed, and the lights went out, immediately followed by his arm around me.

My pulse quickened in the darkness. Finally alone with him. My heart leaped up into my throat, blocking my ability to speak. I swallowed. My mouth was dry, too.

I’d only said it and meant it to one other man before. Why was I nervous about this? I certainly knew how he felt.
Stop this,
I commanded myself. Tell him. The blood rushed in my ears. Finally, I worked up the nerve.

I didn’t realize that the arm on me was growing heavier until it was too late. Fuck. I’d spent too much time being an idiot, and now he was asleep. I drifted my fingertips over his cheek, seeing if he’d stir, but he was down for the count.

Tomorrow, Dominic.

The bed sank down and jostled me awake. Dominic was already dressed in his suit, his breath faintly smelling of coffee.

“What time is it?” I scrubbed a hand over my eyes and glanced at the clock. It was late. Way too late for me to get him back in the shower, or do much of anything. “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me up?”

He gave me a sheepish look. “I figured you were tired. You slept through the alarm.” His hand cupped my face and that thumb smoothed over to pause at the center of my lips. “I love you.”

Warm lips were on mine, and gone a moment later as he stood and straightened his tie. I’d been on autopilot while not fully awake, and just realized I’d missed the opportunity to echo it back. His heavy footsteps carried him away from the bed and out the room.

I threw back the covers and darted after him into the living room. “Wait a minute.”

He pulled on his coat and turned to look at me, the corner of his mouth lifting in a seductive smirk. “No, devil woman. I’m already going to have to hurry to catch the train. We don’t have time.”

It was because I was stark naked. I’d been too tired to pull on clothes after last night. Well, shit. I didn’t want to do this naked and he was already late. He stared at me, expectantly. I’d have to cover. So I put a hand on my hip and gave him a seductive smile right back. “You sure you don’t have time?”

He shook his head and his expression was wanton. “Careful. Maybe I’ll tell you to stay just like that all day and wait for me.”

“Try it,” I said, smug, “and see what happens.”

“I dunno, you did a pretty good job obeying last night.” The muscles low in my belly clenched. He glanced at his watch and turned serious. “I really gotta go, I’ll see you later.”

He slipped out the door. Now I stood in our empty apartment, disappointed. But determined. Maybe this was a good thing it hadn’t happened this morning. It was better to wait until tonight, until we had lots of time to act on our feelings.

The day dragged. I spent it working out and researching a plan of action for the visa, then walked to the market in the late afternoon and bought some food for dinner. The problem with such a small kitchen and fridge meant you had to shop about every day, but at least it kept everything fresh.

He wasn’t as good about putting stuff away as I was. When I returned, I dropped the groceries on the counter and put them in their places, then tackled the rest of the clutter he let accumulate. In such a small place, junk mail piled up quickly and made me claustrophobic.

The opened letter in English caught my attention. The Chase Sports logo in the corner was recognizable and I was too interested not to take a peek. It felt like the only time I saw written English anymore on paper was on the tourist brochures that were riddled with grammatical errors.

There was a check attached to the letter. I scanned the number of zeros at the end of it, and reminded myself of the conversion to yen–

Holy shit. It wasn’t in yen. There was a US dollar symbol on this check. $100,000. The memo line of it read “Commitment Bonus.”

I had to read the letter three times before it sank in. I pulled out my phone to text him, or call him, but instead I stared at it in my frozen hand. What the fuck was going on? Dread poured into my stomach, topped off with suspicion and anger. I set the phone down and my vacant stare shifted to the floor. I’d need to see his face when I confronted him about this, and he should be home soon. I’d just have to stew in these mixed emotions until then.

The sun set. The longer I waited, the angrier I got. I couldn’t think of any reasonable explanation for why he’d kept me in the dark about this. My hands balled into fists. I needed to have an escape route planned if this discussion went the way I thought it might, but hoped it didn’t. I packed my suitcase like a mindless robot. So much of what I’d bought while here wouldn’t fit. Stuff he’d bought me. Clothes, shoes, silk kimonos . . . Those fake wedding rings would fit, but the fuck if I was taking them.

I rolled my suitcase out into the living space, sat on the couch, and watched the door. My knee bounced with impatience. My skin itched and was annoying. I needed him to get home. Now.

A lifetime later the door swung open and he strolled in, dropping a new stack of mail on the counter. He went rigid when he saw my packed suitcase, me perched beside it on the couch, my eyes burning.

“What’s wrong? The visa–?”

“Tell me about the hundred thousand dollar check there.” I pointed to the table where I’d set the check face up, just in case he needed a fucking reminder.

Dominic’s gaze went hazy and shifted away from mine. It was clear he was struggling to put together in his head whatever he wanted to say. Probably assembling a lie.

“Say something,” I demanded.

The blue-eyed gaze swept back to me and he looked defeated. “I hated it here. I couldn’t do another year of it. After the first few months, I hoped it would get easier. It didn’t, it got worse. So I put in a request to break my contract and go home, which was going to fuck everything up with my job. I mean, doing that? It was just a step away from quitting.”

I stared at him. I didn’t care about his job right now.

“My request got approved December third, but I had to stay at least another month until the new hire was trained.”

My hands balled into fists on my thighs. “That’s weird.” My voice was icy. “I don’t remember you mentioning
any
of this.”