Sweetness

by S Gonzalez

  Dominic grasps my waist and kisses me while we settle back in and I allow the sun to absorb the tension that has been surrounding us.

  A silent half hour passes and Justin doesn’t return so Rocco and Chris tell me embarrassing stories about Dominic to lighten the mood. They remind me of brothers with their inside jokes and adolescent banter. It is nice to be around normal people who truly care for one another. After Chris spots a brunette in the pool giving him a come-fuck-me look he leaves the group.

  The Miami heat is getting to me so I decide to go for a swim also. The second I get up Dominic is beside me, shielding me from the world. “Where ya’ going?”

  “Pool. It’s hot. Want to join me for a swim.”

  “If that’s where you are, than that is where I am.” I can’t tell if he is being incredibly over protective or incredibly sweet. Either way, I’ll take it. His need to protect me in endearing. I feel safe around him. I know he would never intentionally hurt me.

  We walk around the pool to the steps and begin to enter the cool oasis when I see Gabe sitting at the pool bar in a pair of red board shorts. He is wearing sunglasses but the prickling on the back of my neck tells me his eyes are on me. As much as I convinced Dominic there was nothing wrong with my suit, when Gabe looks at me, I feel naked and exposed. A shiver runs through my body, I convince myself it is because of the coolness of the water on my hot skin and not the mocha, brown eyes boring into me. Dominic stands in front of me holding my hands as I enter the water, breaking my trance.

  “Too bad this pool doesn’t have a grotto,” Dominic jokes while lifting me in the water and pulling my legs around his waist.

  “Humm, sex in the pool, huh,” I say as I nibble on his ear. “My tub is big enough for two.”

  “Oh yea,” He pulls my head back so he can kiss the hollow of my throat. “I may need you to prove that to me later.”

  “So what is the plan for tonight?” I ask as I continue to run my fingers through his short blond hair.

  “What do you want to do? I would be happy just relaxing in front of the TV with my favorite girl and a good movie but if you-“

  “That sounds perfect. I don’t want to share you with anyone,” I cut him off.

  Dominic’s grin turns wicked and I feel his pleasure rod rubbing against my down under smile. “Good. I don’t want to share you either. I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay out in this sun much longer either. You are going to burn. If you burn I won’t be able to touch you the way I want to.”

  I plunge my tongue down his throat as soon as the words are out of his mouth. We are all lips and tongues so I didn’t even notice that he has led us over to the deeper end of pool where there are less people hovering around. His hands are splayed on my upper thighs just teasing the edge of my bottoms with his fingers. My legs are wrapped around his waist making me weightless in the water. I feel his one hand inching toward my front and I pull back, staring at him wide eyed as his malicious grin widens. I look over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching and to my surprise the pool area has thinned out considerably in the late afternoon hours. From anyone else’s perspective it just looks like two affectionate people canoodling innocently.

  Dominic’s long finger slides between my folds until he locates the nub of pleasure my folds conceal; he starts rubbing slowly in small leisurely circles as his eyes look deeply into mine. I grip tighter on his shoulders digging my nails into him as the pressure in my core increases. He backs me up into the corner of the pool and drops my one leg so he can get a better grip on me. My eyes never break his and as he pulls me in closer so I can feel him between me.

  Shrinkage my ass.

  He glides his finger down and thrusts it inside. My other leg drops as a small moan hisses between my teeth. He stills. I can see the thoughts in his head swirling around. As quickly as he started his assault is as quickly as he stops.

  What the hell?

  He starts to walk toward the stairs and after a few feet he looks over his shoulder. “You coming?”

  “Well, I was trying to until you stopped,” I snap in a very annoyed tone.

  “Shhhh,” He scolds putting his finger up to his lips. Amusement alights his eyes.

  “What he hell, Dominic? Why did you stop?” I ask while standing in front of him practically panting.

  He leans into my ear, “I want to make you scream and since your boss is a few feet away, I didn’t think it was a good idea to fuck you in the pool. As much as that image pleases me, I don’t want anyone else watching you.”

  I blush at his response and kiss him hard on his soft lips. While we exit the pool and gather our stuff I feel Gabe watching me again. It is a good thing Dominic stopped us. He’s right I don’t want him to see us like that. It would be silly of me to think others couldn’t see us.

  After a long, sensual bath Dominic and I lock ourselves up in my bedroom and order room service before we watch his favorite movie, “The Boondock Saints”. After it’s over it is time for me to pick my favorite movie. I think he will enjoy the irony of my selection.

  “Seriously?” He laughs as I order the movie. “Yes, why? You don’t like this movie?” “Actually, I have never seen the movie. I did see it

  on Broadway and it was good, but the thought of Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin making out makes me a little sick.”

  “Yeah, but the cute rock stars more than make up for it.”

  “Cute rock stars, huh,” he climbs on top of me and tickles my sides, making me giggle. “I’ll show you cute rock stars.”

  “Oh good you will! I have never met one,” I laugh as he tickles me harder. “Okay, okay. I give up. Stop tickling me. Please.” I laugh, breathlessly, barely able to get the words out. Dominic stops and stares down at me with an unknown expression on his face.

  “What?”

  “You are so beautiful. I just want to freeze this moment in time.”

  He brushes the hair from around my face with his finger. I can’t help but fall deeper and deeper in love with him when he looks at me like this. He is the most amazing person I have ever met in my whole life. The love I feel for him is unnerving.

  “I love you, Dom. You are the first person I have ever wanted a happily ever after with. I hated every minute you were away.”

  “I love you too, Sweetness. You are my happily ever after. I know the distance is hard but with trust, we’ll get through it. Besides its not forever.”

  “I know, but it feels like forever. I hate not being with you,” I groan and slam my hands on the bed. Dominic, still perched over me, looks into my eyes. His face saddens and he drops his head on my chest. I lift my arms to run my fingers through his hair. He settles down on top of me with his head on my stomach. Both of us just savoring the contact.

  “I’m sorry, Emma. I know this can’t be easy for you. Its not easy for me either,” he sighs, holding on tighter as if I would disappear if he loosened his grip.

  The room is getting sullen with the thoughts of having to say good-bye again. We still have a few days and I will spend every waking moment making them count. We will figure this out. I love him and he loves me. No matter what happens, we will be together.

  “Alright that is enough of this sad shit. Come back up here and lay next to me so we can watch hot actors sing 80’s rock music.”

  Dominic lifts his head and slides up my body, kissing me sweetly on my lips before flopping next to me and holding me tight to his chest. All during the movie he felt the need to sing and dance around my room. After the movie was over and we scarfed down a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, Cherry Garcia ice cream, we lay in each others arms listening to Dominic’s IPod. The playlist he created was full of soft ballads starting with Open Arms by Journey followed by my song, Sweetness.

  When my song starts playing, Dominic rolls me onto my back and strips me of my clothes. He lays soft kisses all over my body and very slowly and very sweetly makes love to me. There is no urgency. No strip teasing. No kinky sex. Just us. Being together,
loving each other. It is a feeling I will never forget as long as I live.

  “Rise and shine beautiful,” Dominic drawls. His heavy body straddling my lower half, presses me into the mattress as he trails light kisses down my throat and between my breasts.

  “Uuuuhhhhh. No, go away.” I try and flip over, only to have my arms restrained on either side of my head.

  “Baby you have to get up. The reporters are going to be here in a few hours.”

  “What time is it?” I question with my eyes still closed. I can feel his warm minty breath drifting over my lips as I speak.

  “Nine.”

  “Ughhhh. Fine,” I grumble as I open my eyes to meet his. Dominic slips off me and pulls me from the mattress, much to my objection. The coolness of the room snaps my eyes open in realization that I am in fact, very naked.

  “I have to take a shower.” I scurry into the bathroom to hide, but before I can close the door it is pushed open. Dominic is the only man I have every woken up naked with. I am a bit self-conscience for him to be watching my naked form walking about around the room.

  “So do I, and I am not showering solo. That’s why I woke you up.” He follows me into the bathroom and removes his boxers without giving it a second thought. I mentally slap myself. I mean, it is not as if we haven’t seen each other naked before. And we have showered before. But showering together in the bright morning light is a bit more intimate then sex, if that makes sense. Everything is on display.

  Dominic grabs my hand and leads me into the large shower before turning on the water and fixing the temperature. Once the water is warm enough I slip under the flow and wrap my arms around his waist. I think he was expecting some hot shower sex but I make it obvious I am not a morning person. He doesn’t seem to mind though. In fact, his sweet self seems to take great pride in soaping me up and massaging my scalp with shampoo and conditioner.

  This is heaven. My heaven. Waking up and showering, with the man I love more then life itself, is beyond heaven. But as is my life, it won’t last. He will be gone in a few more days and I will be back in New York. All alone. My heaven will turn to hell in the blink of an eye and there is nothing I can do about it.

  “You okay?” Dominic’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I look up and give him a half smile before nodding and holding him tighter as the water cascades over our bodies. He doesn’t say anything else. He knows. From the way he is holding onto me I know he feels it too.

  “It’ll be fine babe. One day at a time. I’m not leaving yet.”

  “I know. I just want to stay right here. Forever.” I squeeze him tighter so there is not even a water droplet between us.

  “I do too, but I don’t want you all wrinkly. Come on. Let’s get ready before the guys come looking for us. They won’t hesitate to barge right in here.” On a laugh, I release my incredibly handsome man and step out of the shower to get ready. I know he is not lying about the guys barging right in.

  Since I am technically working, I decide that my white pencil skirt, white camisole, and a sheer pink, sleeveless blouse with small, tight, ruffles down the middle, where the buttons are, is my outfit for the day. Stockings aren’t necessary so before exiting my room I slip into my light pink heals and give myself one last once over.

  I join Dominic and Gabe, who are talking and going over some tour dates. They pause their

  conversation when I sit down at the table to eat breakfast. They’ve both eaten without me. I guess I can’t blame them for not waiting since I took over an hour to get ready. Since this is obviously business time I don’t make any attempt to kiss Dominic or make any excuse for Gabe to tell me I crossed the line. While I am working I will be as professional as possible, and not let Mr. Rock God entice me with his naughty ways. Even though I desperately want to rip off his shirt and let him bend me over this table when he looks at me through the tops of those long black lashes.

  “So Emma, I was talking to Dominic and we decided that since you are handling things for them so well, you should join them on their journey up the west coast,” Gabe states, causing me to choke on my coffee. “You okay?”

  I waive him off and cough gently into my napkin as he pats my back gently. Go with them? Why would he want me to go with them? Gabe has rode my ass about being professional, and not a groupie, from day one. And Now he wants me to hit the road with them. What kind of shit is he trying to pull?

  “Yes, I’m fine. What do you mean join them?” I look at Dominic who is watching as Gabe and I interact. His face is cold and expressionless as he is rubs his thumb and forefinger across his lip, with his elbow propped up on the table. Dominic knew Gabe was going to say this? I don’t like them making decisions without me. As I look between the two men sitting in front of me I get a nervous feeling in my stomach.

  “Once Lost leaves here, they will be hitting a few big venues starting in Texas, then up the west coast. When they hit Seattle you can fly back. You will only be gone about a month or so. This will allow us to get a better handle on the press, since you will be personally heading up this project from now on.”

  I think my ears are deceiving me. Not only is Gabe allowing me to go on tour with my boyfriend, he is handing over this project to me on a silver platter. There has to be a catch to this. He can’t possibly think that I am ready to do this. I can’t screw around with the bands career. This is their big shot at making it. I don’t know the business well enough to handle this. I am going to fuck it up.

  Maybe that is what Gabe wants? On second though, maybe that is what my father wants. He has not been too accepting of my relationship with Dominic. So needless to say, me screwing up a big promo tour for him, and him ultimately dumping my ass is probably just what he wants. The thought of that infuriates me.

  “Dominic can you please excuse us for a minute,” I ask my very displeased boyfriend. Dominic reluctantly pulls himself away from the table with the excuse; he needs to make a call in my bedroom. “Mr. Hernandez why are you doing this. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful, but why all of a sudden do you feel confident that I can handle this.”

  Gabe just looks at me for a few seconds contemplating what he wants to say to me. Whatever he is mulling over his head clearly bothers him and causes him to look at the ceiling so he doesn’t have to look me in the eye. After a few long seconds he takes a deep breath and pulls his eyes back to mine.

  “Emma, you can do this,” Gabe tells me as he grabs my hand on the table, sending my nerve endings on a race to my groin. This feels very wrong. His hand on mine shouldn’t do things like this to me. Especially with Dominic in the next room.

  “You are a smart, driven, and confident woman. I have seen what you can do and I am impressed by your drive.” There is something in the way Gabe speaks about me, that evokes confidence. I gaze down at his hand holding mine but he doesn’t pull back. He has way more certainty about my abilities than I do.

  “You really think I am ready for this?”

  “Yes. I wouldn’t give you this opportunity otherwise. You will be with them for four weeks and during that time you can get the hands on experience that very few people in your position get to have. I will still expect you to conduct yourself appropriately. Living this type of lifestyle can get a bit out of hand at times. The minute I think you can’t handle it I will pull you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes I do. Thank you Mr. Hernandez. I will do my absolute best I swear.” I throw my arms around Gabe’s neck, giving him a big hug.

  He stiffens and turns his face into my hair, I can feel his breath on my neck as he inhales deeply. Gabe is sitting at a weird angle so all he can do is pat my back awkwardly in response As soon as his hand touches my back I feel a tingle run though me and I shudder. He clears his throat and I stand up while apologizing for losing my head for the moment and retreat back to my room to discuss this mater with my new roommate.

  I am thrilled that I will be able to spend more time with Dominic. But he didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm when he left the
room. When I open my door, he is sitting on the edge of my bed with a huge grin on his face.

  I launch myself at him, forcing him to fall back. “So I guess this means I have to share my bed with you,” he says as I kiss him all over his face.

  “No. You can always sleep in in one of the foxholes with one of the other guys if you prefer.”

  “Uh, no.” Dominic sits up and looks at me seriously. “I am just as excited as you are, don’t get me wrong, but you have to be prepared for what is about to happen. Life on the road is not for the faint at heart. The guys will bring girls back to the bus with them and the parties get a little intense sometimes. You have to stay close to me and not get caught up in all the nonsense. And you have to trust me.”

  “I do. I trust you,” I exhaled out harshly. “You act like there will be 24/7 orgies or something.”

  “If Rocco had his way, there would be. All I am saying is that there are girls all over the place and the guys will bring some of them back. It will be

  uncomfortably with you there as it is, so you will have to chill out and not cause drama.”

  “If you don’t want me to be there, then I will just tell Gabe no,” I say in an annoyed tone. I climb off him and stand next to the bed with my hands on my hips and my head down.

  Gabe is giving me exactly what I want, what I thought we both wanted; more time together, and he doesn’t want me there. Dominic is acting like I am going to be a bother to him and cramp his style or something. If he has nothing to hide then I don’t see what the big deal is.

  “Baby, its not that I don’t want you there. I just need to prepare you for being on a bus with 4 men. The guys like to party and they are not shy about it. They are my friends. I have to attend some of these after parties. I just don’t want some chick to approach me and have you punch her in the face or something. I also don’t want some asshole trying to touch you because I will lose it. We have only ever been together with not many outside influences. That’s going to change now. There are going to be people everywhere.”