by Nikki Bloom
I looked around, appreciating the strategically placed statues amongst all the colorful flowers surrounded by gleaming viridescence. “How picturesque.”
Dom grinned proudly as if he was the landscaper. “Yes, I thought it’d make a pretty romantic background.” He turned to the photographer. “You ready for us, Ian?”
He nodded. “Stand in front of the statue of Venus and give me your most lovesick expressions. Like tooth-rotting fluff people.” He lifted his camera, waiting.
Dom looked at me, eyebrows raised. I leaned into him, widening my eyes at him and making duckface lips. He laughed, and I narrowed my eyes at him even as I kept my lips pursed.
“Sorry.” He grinned at me, and then made duck lips as well, fluttering his very long lashes at me. I admit, it was funny. I was hard pressed not to laugh.
Ian lowered his camera. “Come on, you guys. You can do better than that. Let me see some hands on hips, palms on chests; look like you want to kiss each other so bad it hurts.”
I couldn’t help blushing at that and Dom smiled, taking my hands in his and leaning forward so our noses were almost touching, looking deep into my eyes. I stared back, hypnotized and my lips parted of their own accord. My tongue flicked out as I licked my suddenly dry lips and I wondered if he would kiss me for real.
His eyes flicked downward then back up so fast that if I had not been staring into them, I wouldn’t have noticed. His hands tightened on mine.
“Excellent,” Ian crowed and the camera clicked a few times. “Now let’s have a kiss. Go on, Dom, plant one on her.”
Dom grimaced, giving me a look that said, ‘Can you believe this guy?’ more clearly than words. I smiled slightly, offering up my lips to him. He bent his head, pressed his mouth to mine. If he had not been holding my hands, I might have slipped them around his neck and pulled him closer. Instead I arched upward, propelling my whole body forward, towards him. His hands let go of mine and wrapped around my waist, tucking me right into his body. The photoshoot quickly deteriorated into a passionate make-out session. I completely forgot about Ian, the fact that we were essentially in public, everything except his lips on mine.
He was like a drug and I was quickly becoming addicted.
I didn’t like it, God knows I didn’t, but I was helpless to resist it. Dom had magnetic qualities about him. I could see why Morgan was so drawn to him. Why he stayed loyally by his side. It was almost magical, the pull he exerted.
Resistance is futile.
I pulled away from him with a sigh. “I think those are enough photos for even the greediest tabloids.”
He seemed startled by my pulling away, his hands tightening on my arms.
“Good job, guys. Now can we have one of you by the stairs? Dom, stand behind Nicolette, put your arms around her waist. Nico, lay your head gently against Dom’s.”
I rolled my eyes because that was so cheesy, but we did as he said. It felt very good to have his arms warm around me.
The man seemed to hear my thoughts because he turned to me and smiled. “So, what do you think about spending the night here?”
“Here as in…?”
“In this hotel.”
“I have to go into work tomorrow.”
“And you will. I shall make sure of it.”
I fingered my dress. “In what? This?”
Domenic laughed. “Well, that would certainly be an interesting look but no. I had Jacinda pack an overnight bag for you.”
I cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “Oh, so you planned on staying here all along?”
“No, I thought we might go to my place, but this is probably better, don’t you think?”
“Why couldn’t you just tell me to pack a bag?”
“I actually didn’t tell her to do it. Morgan did.”
“Hmm.” I turned to look at the hotel. “Well, it does look very nice.”
He smiled at me. “And you haven’t even seen the inside.”
13
Domenic
Reading all the papers in the morning while Nico went to work had me smiling smugly. The wedding photos were so well done, Ian had outdone himself. People magazine was teasing the entire spread for their weekly magazine but had published one of Nico and I in passionate lip-lock as a teaser.
Eat me, Roman Alexander.
The New York Times had a special which featured a nice summary of Nico’s achievements and even made me seem accomplished. Reading through it, even I couldn’t help thinking it was a marriage made in heaven.
My phone was ringing off the hook, as I ignored it. The reason why I had put announcements in the paper was so that I wouldn’t have to confirm my nuptials with every Tom, Dick and Harry. My doorman had so far taken delivery of five congratulatory bouquets of flowers and it wasn’t even 10 a.m. yet.
The one phone call I was waiting for finally came through. Catherine Maitland, chairman of the board of Tech Dyne, married to her childhood sweetheart and –I suspect– the reason why my bachelorhood was such a problem.
“Mrs. Maitland! How great to hear from you. Do you have some news for me?”
She made a low, amused sound. “Not quite. I just thought I’d call and congratulate you on your nuptials.”
“Thank you. I’m very happy.” I allowed my smug smile to widen a bit.
“The timing is rather…serendipitous.”
Now who in their right minds uses serendipitous in everyday conversation? I took a deep breath. “Yeah. Nico and I have been dancing around each other forever. Last week, she got in a situation where she almost lost her life. It was a wakeup call for both of us. We decided life is too short to wait.”
I made a mental note to update Nico on this version of our story.
“Oh.” Her tone was completely different, somber and concerned. “Is she alright?”
“Yes. She’s fine now. Well, a bit shaken up but fine. We’re supporting each other.”
“Yes, well, I’ll let you get back to your honeymoon. But you will probably be hearing from us next week.”
“I look forward to it. Thank you very much for calling.”
“Yes, you’re welcome. Goodbye, Cliff.”
“Goodbye, Mrs. Maitland.”
“Please, call me Catherine.”
I fisted my hand in silent victory. “Then I must insist you call me Domenic.”
She made that low, amused sound again, but this time, it sounded much friendlier. “Alright, Domenic. We shall speak next week.”
She hung up and I put my phone down slowly, a wide grin on my face. I couldn’t resist doing a little skip before picking up the phone right away to call Nico.
“What?”
“Is that any way to greet your husband?”
“Sorry, it’s been a rough morning.”
“What happened?”
“N-nothing. Never mind. What’s up?”
I hesitated, wondering if I should press her on whatever had happened. It was clearly bothering her. It was difficult to know what exactly was the right amount of invasiveness allowed now that we were married. Was I allowed to tell her I knew she was lying? That something was clearly wrong and she’d better tell me what it was or else?
“Dom?”
I jumped, realizing I had been quiet for too long. “Umm, I just wanted to update you on our so-called story in case anyone asks. No need to get our wires crossed.”
“What is it?”
I told her of the reason why we allegedly had a quickie wedding.
“That’s a good idea actually. Better than the secret romance one.”
“Yeah, I thought so. So anyway, I’m still at the hotel. I’m not going in to work today. You wanna come back here after you finish up over there?”
“I have to go home and pack.”
“Oh, I have people who can do that for you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ll send someone over to get a key from you and they’ll go over to your place and pack everything up.”
“I don’t
know if I like the idea of strangers touching my stuff.”
I shook my head because it was so typical of her suspicious nature. “I promise you; these are professionals.”
“I don’t care. I’d rather be there myself.”
“Suit yourself. I’m just gonna be here, in the Jacuzzi, jerking off by myself.” I put my hand over my crotch in anticipation.
“Ugh, Dom! Don’t be disgusting.”
I was grinning like a loon. “What? Jerking off is disgusting? Since when?”
“I’m hanging up now.”
I couldn’t help it; I had to tease her some more. “Don’t leave me like this, baby. Talk dirty to me.”
She actually hung up on me. I stared at the phone in shock before clicking over to text with a sigh.
Be like that then. I’ll see you later?
I waited until she answered –using just a thumbs up emoji– before I put my phone down. I sat back with a sigh, thinking back to last night and how comfortably not awkward it had been to sleep in the same bed as Nicolette Innes.
Hell, I’d been expecting the claws to be out once we were alone together but no. We spent a companionable evening drinking champagne and eating strawberries with cream like the most dissolute, cliché, vulgar parvenus on the planet. It was fun.
I realized that in all the years since I’d acquired wealth, I hardly took any time to enjoy it. Nico had a very childlike air of joy about her as she bopped me on the nose with a cream-covered strawberry and then laughed hysterically. Of course, the champagne had something to do with her loosening up so much, but still, it was such a good time.
We binge-watched Game of Thrones because apparently it was a major crime that I wasn’t all caught up on the drama. Nico laid her head on my shoulder, her whole body tucked into my side in a way that filled me with a very unfamiliar contentment. She kept up a running commentary on everything going on onscreen, sprinkling it all with her personal opinion and what social media thought of it all. It was a lot, but luckily there wasn’t a quiz at the end of it.
In fact, we fell asleep at some point. Lucky for us, the couch was large enough and comfortable enough that we didn’t wake up with stiff joints and aching backs. Nico hurried off to work without so much as stopping for breakfast, which I will admit was a disappointment to me…though still, she’d shown me the value of savoring the little things that were available to me.
So I sat down with the vast spread the hotel provided, spread out all the newspapers they provided, as well as my iPad, and caught up with all the reactions to my marriage.
My marriage.
Now there’s two words I never thought would apply to me.
I sighed, going back to reading the tabloids when my phone rang again. I peered at it, in case it was Mrs. Maitland –Catherine– calling me back. But no, it was just Morgan. “Hey, squirt, what’s up?”
He snorted derisively into the phone. “I see that marriage hasn’t mellowed you.”
“Ha! I’ve been married one day.”
“How is it going?”
I shook my head even though he could not see me. “Nope, no, nup, we’re not doing that. You’re not going to be the third person in our bed, Morgan.”
“Our bed? What, you guys are full on…?”
“Morgan!”
“Fine. I’ll stop. Have you seen the papers?”
“Just going through them now.”
“Looks like it’s working. Roman’s men have been sniffing around. Asking questions about Nico. He’s worried.”
I grinned with delight. “Really? How interesting. I’ll make a point to flaunt our love a bit more when we get to the Hamptons.”
“Just…be careful, okay?”
“Hey, Morgan? We’re fine, I promise you. Nico’s fine and so am I. We will continue to be so. Quit worrying.”
“Easy for you to say,” Morgan grumbled.
I laughed. “I’m hanging up now. We’ll see you on Monday.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You better have moved out by then, roomie.”
“Don’t fret. I’m already across the hall.”
I laughed. “How fortuitous for you that you always insisted on keeping it empty for security reasons.”
“Yeah. Fortuitous. That’s the word.”
I hung up on him, laughing all the while and went back to my newspapers.
I hung around, working on my computer until Nico showed up. She still seemed frazzled, distracted. Clearly whatever had been on her mind in the morning had not been resolved.
“How was your day, dear?” I looked up from my computer with a smile.
“Just lovely, pet. How was yours?” She threw her bag on the sofa and flopped down on it with a tired sigh.
“Can I get you a nice cup of tea to revive your spirits, darling? Or perhaps a fifth of whisky?”
“How about a cup of tea with a fifth of whisky?”
“Ooh, I like it.” I got to my feet and moved to the kitchenette to boil some water, still trying to think of a way to turn the conversation to whatever was bugging her. I made her Irish tea and presented it to her with curtsy as if I was an English maid.
“There you go, my lady.”
“Much obliged, Jarvis. Would you bring me my house slippers?”
Amused at the name, I hastened to do as she bid. I couldn’t help noticing the delicacy of her arch as I took off her loafers and replaced them with the comfy cotton rabbit slippers the hotel provided. I ran my hand along her elegant foot, pushing up her pants as I wrapped my hand around her ankle.
“Mm, your muscles seem tense. Do you need a massage?”
She stretched her back, arching it up so that her breasts jutted out like two beacons. “Actually, that would be really nice. Are you good at massages?”
I licked my lips and swallowed. “Yeah, I think I’m good enough. Would you like to take me for a test drive?”
“Sure. I do have rather a pain down my shoulder blade.”
“Probably from bad posture. Lie back on your stomach.” She obeyed me instantly. “That’s it. You should probably take off your shirt first.”
She sat up, unbuttoning her shirt and taking it off before lying back down in her bra. She did not seem in the least self-conscious. I considered her pants but decided for the moment to let her keep them.
“I’m just going to snag the massage oil I glimpsed in the bathroom. Won’t be but a minute.”
“Okay.” Her eyes were already closed.
I raced to the bathroom, not even sure myself why I was so eager to rub oil all over her. Well, I knew why, but there were easier ways to get into someone’s pants. Soon I was back, kneeling on the floor, and pouring oil on her back. She made a moaning sound of content and my dick jumped. I ignored the treacherous thing and began to rub in ever-widening circles. She rewarded my efforts with louder moans and other sex noises. I thought it grossly unfair because I wasn’t even trying to get her all heated up.
Not yet anyway.
I ran a finger down her spine and she gave a contented sigh, relaxing into the chair.
“Hey, you know, for a second day of marriage, I think we’re doing really well.”
She turned, one hazel eye meeting mine. “Yeah, you’re right.”
14
Nicolette
I just wanted to sink into a stupor of pleasure and forget about my day, but Dom insisted on talking. Every time he opened his mouth, Danna’s words echoed in my head. She’d cornered me as soon as I got to work and one look on her face let me know she’d seen the announcement of my marriage.
“You think you’re someone now, don’t you?” she sneered, her eyes literally turning green with jealousy.
I got right in her face. “I was always somebody.”
“Oh, yes.” She looked around as if we had an audience. “She definitely has developed some airs now that she’s Mrs. Domenic Cliff.”
I was startled. That’s the first time someone had ever called me that, and it was said with such hatr
ed. I was momentarily struck speechless. Danna stepped closer.
“You know what a player he is, right? If you think you’ve snagged him for yourself, you’re sadly mistaken. Considering he was cozying up to Lady Sanders just last week in the club, I highly doubt he’s serious about you.”
I didn’t even know who Lady Sanders was. But considering that we weren’t even together last week, I couldn’t confirm nor deny the veracity of that statement. I decided to go with a blank expression.
“Honestly, this shows just how horrible your decision-making is.”
“Shut up.”
Even as I said it, I knew I was conceding ground to her, showing her that she’d upset me. I was caught off balance and she was taking full advantage. She smirked at me. “Hit a raw nerve, did I?”
I inclined my head, studying her with contrived curiosity. “A raw nerve? Now why would that be? Because of your lies? I know how poor you are at data collection, Danna. I would need independent confirmation to take anything you say seriously.”
Jacinda laughed loudly from her corner of the room and Danna blanched like I had hit a nerve. It was gratifying if only for a moment. “Now get out of my face, because unlike you, I have work to do.”
She flounced away like the spoiled brat she was, and I tried to put her words out of my mind, but they kept echoing. When Dom called me, I couldn’t quite keep the upset out of my voice. Talking to him, hearing the genuine-sounding affection in his tone, I was confused.
It was as if two realities were fighting to coexist in my mind. The rational side of me knew for sure that Dom wasn’t playing me. With his hands on my body, so gentle, yet firm, smoothening out the kinks and knots that had resulted from a long day of tension, it felt stupid to even be affected by Danna’s words. Especially since this was totally an arranged marriage. The lines were already getting blurred and my heart couldn’t help but contract with fear.
Everybody leaves me.
Why the hell would Domenic Cliff, who could have anyone he wanted, choose me?
It made no sense to even be obsessing because I as far as I knew, I had no interest in Domenic Cliff desiring me. Well…not in a serious, he-might-fall-in-love-with-me-one-day sort of way.
