Part of the Family

by Cristina Grenier

  She was soft, wet and utterly decadent against his mouth. Dominic swallowed a groan of undeniable pleasure as he lapped at her slowly - long sweeps of his tongue against the most sensitive part of her. After about a minute, she moaned again - louder this time, and attempted to shift away from his mouth. He held her firmly in place with his hands against her thighs and simply moved lower, to stroke his tongue over the seam of her entrance.

  A soft whimper escaped the sleeping woman and her toes curled as a slight tremor swept through her. Dominic took that as a sign to set his whole mouth against her, tasting her deeply as he licked lightly on the small bud of her pleasure before his tongue wedged beneath it, lifting it further against his ministrations. A single, hard suck was all it took for Kayla to come awake with a gasp, shifting drowsily beneath him.

  “Dominic?” When she murmured his name, it was lustful and sleepy all at once. That, coupled with the taste of her, was nearly enough to make him ruin the bedspread beneath him. It took her a moment to realize what was going on, and when she looked down to see him quite contentedly mouthing her between the legs, her eyes widened. “Dominic.” When she moved her hands to try and stop him, he merely caught them and pinned them against her hip bones, never missing a beat.

  Makayla squirmed - she panted and writhed, her body responding more and more flagrantly as she came awake. Within short order, she was moaning continuously - a mixture of his name, curses, and a series of Oh Gods that told him that she was close to the edge. Dominic finally released her hands to curl his own tightly around her thighs and draw her slick flower tight against his mouth as he finished her eagerly, devouring his prize like a man starved.

  She was still too tired to scream, but Makayla’s entire body seized as a choked moan left her. Her fingers curled against his scalp, tugging at his hair so hard it hurt, but Dominic could have cared less. His tongue stroked over her until she had come down from her high - until she was absolutely sated against the sheets and he was as smug as a cat in literal cream.

  Pressing a relatively chaste kiss to her pelvis, he straightened to lie beside her, licking his lips indulgently. At the sight, the young woman reddened, still trying to catch her breath. “Good morning.”

  Makayla groaned, her eyes falling shut as she threw her head back against the pillow. “You’re trying to kill me. You’re going to kill me, Dominic.”

  He smirked in satisfaction, his masculine pride all but purring. “I thought I let you off rather easy. I could always try for another-” When his hand moved towards her still trembling thighs, Makayla caught it between her own, her expression pleading. “Dear God, no. Let me wake up, please.”

  The dark-haired man chuckled lowly. “I’m way ahead of you there. Already had my breakfast.”

  “Stop.” She all but begged, rolling over onto her side to bury her face in his chest so she wouldn’t have to look into his insinuating eyes. “God, you’re so cruel.”

  She was so damned cute like this, all flustered and warm from her orgasm. Dominic decided to cut her a break. “So, after you wake up, what are we going to do today?”

  Her head popped up in surprise as she eyed him skeptically. “You don’t have to work?”

  He did. He was sure that the Paris office would be none too happy when he called out - but Makayla said she missed him the previous day. Was he supposed to leave her after that? “I can make an allowance for one day.”

  The smile she gave him was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, and he found himself smiling in return. “I found a lovely little cafe by the Eiffel tower that has a promising breakfast menu. We could go there.”

  He couldn’t explain it - how the warmth in her eager expression made his heart stutter in his chest and his palms slick. It had to be the fact that he hadn’t come - that he wanted her like there was no tomorrow, but couldn’t let her touch him, or that would be the end of their agreement.

  That had to be the explanation.

  Dominic didn’t want to contemplate anything else. If he did, he might not like where it led.

  Or maybe he would. That, he realized, would be far more disturbing.

  **

  Makayla had never been abroad before, but by the time they returned to the United States, she was certain that Paris was her favorite place on earth. The food was amazing, the city was gorgeous, and the memories...well, she’d have them for as long as she lived.

  Though she knew there was no way Dominic didn’t have to work most of his time in the city, he spent no less than four of the seven days they had with her, showing her around Paris and indulging her curiosity. He showed her several sites she didn’t find in any tourist guide, and, atop that, took her back past several of the shops that had tempted her and ushered her inside.

  Makayla realized, to her complete shock, that it gave him some sort of weird pleasure to watch her spend his money. When she asked him why, he merely replied that the funds would just sit in his account otherwise, and should be put to good use instead. As a result, she now had a handsome Louis Vuitton handbag, a few cashmere scarves, and a set of forest green lingerie so risqué she didn’t know if she would ever take it out of the box. Dominic had quite enjoyed shopping for that one, even though she had been more embarrassed than she ever had in her life.

  The media had, of course, collected a wealth of shots of them together, most of which were now circulating around the globe. In her opinion, the two of them looked a lot cozier than they had in the city, which, of course, resulted in an explosion of reporters following them the moment the returned to the US.

  Dominic eventually had to hire a two-person security detail to follow her around to her classes at Columbia, and once Makayla got over her embarrassment, she had to admit that they were pretty handy to have around.

  It was apparent, once they had been back for a week or two, that their time together in Paris had changed things. When she wasn’t in class and Dominic wasn’t in the office, they were almost always together. He had her meet him for dinners once he finished work - took her to lavishly expensive places and holes in the wall alike, showing her the finest New York City had to offer. She, in turn, took to showing him new places she had found, both on Columbia’s campus and in the city’s outer boroughs. When they were in the penthouse, she got Sophia to teach her how to make Dominic’s favorite foods, to hilarious results. She had never been much of a cook, but he seemed impressed with the fact that she tried.

  And Brett didn’t seem to mind cleaning up their messes.

  Life fell into a blissful routine - whereby they shared the study every evening, she curled up with her books and he pouring over his laptop, and weekends were spent either sequestered in the penthouse or taking trips to sites outside the city. In one month, Makayla visited the Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard and Syosset, marveling at the moneyed people that vacationed there.

  Then, there was, of course, the physical aspect between them.

  While they were in Paris, Dominic had touched her whenever she let him. Whether they spent the day together or not, each night, he made her come until she all but passed out from the intensity of the pleasure assaulting her - and sometimes he caught her unaware in the mornings to do it again.

  They weren’t breaking their agreement, she reminded herself upon several occasions. Not once had he actually tried to make love to her - though not for her lack of trying.

  Once they returned to the US, a forlorn part of her had assumed that things would go back to the way they were before.

  Wonderfully enough, Makayla found herself sorely mistaken. While they were proprietary enough around Brett, Sophia, and most of the world at large, the moment the man got her behind closed doors, things were a different story.

  He started by proposing to her that she deliver a good-night kiss to him every evening - just for the sake of acclimating herself to his touch. This was, of course, absurd, as by the time he suggested this, he’d been far more intimate with her than simple kissing. Makayla, however, didn’t prot
est. She was far from minding the way Dominic touched her anymore - in fact, she craved all that he could give her and more.

  And she wanted to touch him in return.

  But, as much as he liked to touch her - to taste her and torture her until she begged for succor - Dominic never let her touch him in return. Every time she tried, he stopped her before she got very far, citing that he had little self control where she was concerned. Dominic was convinced that if she touched him, he would end up inside her.

  If Kayla was honest with herself, the prospect became more and more tempting with each passing day. The more pleasure he brought her, the harder she found it not to think about what it might be like to make love to a man who was already so talented with his mouth and hands.

  But still, she supposed there were some lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

  At least, that’s what the rational part of her said.

  At this point, they were comfortable enough with one another that the entire world believed that they were really, truly, head-over-heels in love. They were so convincing that she’d seen several tabloid covers speculating about marriage. Whenever he saw them, Dominic merely scoffed and asked for more coffee over breakfast.

  Makayla knew that she should be equally amused, but there was a small, deeply buried part of her that stung every time Dominic wrote off the prospect so easily. Of course, she didn’t expect him to marry her. That would never happen. But was the idea - the simple notion - so far fetched?

  The young woman told herself that she was being ridiculous. What more could she want from Dominic West than to have him bring her otherworldly pleasure, pay for her every whim, and sponsor her schooling? The very suggestion that she might want something more was ludicrous.

  So she pushed it to the back of her head and put her heart and soul into her coming finals. It would be the end of her first semester as a medical student, and though her grades were top notch, Makayla wanted to make sure that they stayed that way. She began studying whenever she had a spare moment - to the point where Dominic had to pull her out of the books and remind her to eat and sleep.

  The man obviously had no idea how easy it was to be distracted when he was around - especially when he was fresh from the shower or working out.

  She was buried in a rather thick and convoluted volume about the nervous system on a Friday evening when Melody called. Though she was always glad to talk to her friend, upon seeing her name scroll across the caller ID, Makayla groaned. She’d already been having a rough time - reading the same page over and over again - because Dominic had sent her one of the most obscene texts she’d ever seen a mere half hour ago. He had told her, in minute detail, how he was going to pleasure her with his mouth later, and Makayla had read the damned thing over and over until she had to change her panties.

  Goddamn him. There was nothing fair about the fact that he got to touch her and she couldn’t touch him back. Even when she went for him while he was asleep, he often woke up and thwarted her - and those times were the most frustrating of all.

  By the time she picked up the phone, any and all thoughts of the nervous system were far from her mind. “Hello?”

  “Well, it’s nice to hear your voice too.” Melody sniffed, obviously upset. “I haven’t heard from you in ages. I thought Mr. Master-of-Orgasms had finally killed you.”

  Makayla felt her face burn, though no one was around to hear what her friend said. Maybe it had been a mistake to reveal to the blonde that it was Dominic who had single-handedly changed her perspective on touch and sex. Naturally, she wasn’t out to let just anyone touch her - she still had her boundaries - but she was nowhere near as careful as she had been before when it came to meeting new people.

  She had never thanked him for that.

  “Not funny, Melody,” she returned quickly, before changing the subject. “I’m still alive, I just have finals in a few days.”

  “You have finals in two weeks. It’s December thirtieth. There’s no way you should be in panic mode.”

  “I’m always in panic mode when it comes to school,” Makayla responded, absolutely deadpan. “These are my grades we’re talking about. My future.”

  “Well, if you ask me,” Melody’s tone turned teasing, “Your present isn’t all that shabby right about now. Doing well in school, pampered and cared for...Mr. Dominic West at your beck and call.”

  “He’s not at my beck and call.” Makayla tried her best to keep her voice defensive, but she couldn’t keep the smile from tugging at the corners of her mouth. “He’s at his company’s beck and call.”

  “Please. If a man treats your kitty like an all-you-can-eat buffet and doesn’t expect anything in return, he’s at your beck and call.”

  “Melody!”

  “What!? It’s true.” Groaning, Makayla shook her head. Despite being friends with the blonde for years, she was still astounded by how little filter Melody had. “Let’s just hope his Mom likes you as much as he does.”

  Immediately, Makayla stiffened.

  Oh God.

  Oh fucking God.

  How could she have forgotten about his mother? Makayla had been so absorbed in her studying that she’d forgotten that Dominic mentioned he was flying his mother into the city for the holidays. Even worse, she’d forgotten the way he said it.

  I’m not really worried about it, he told her in a voice that suggested that he had been worried about nothing else as much as he worried about this. For all she knows, we’re a happy couple, and all we have to do is make sure it stays that way.

  Right after he told her, Makayla had speculated on what his mother must be like that Dominic was hell bent on convincing the woman that he was happy as a clam with the love of his life. When he told her about his childhood, he didn’t let fly anything that might suggest that his mother was controlling or manipulative - quite the contrary in fact. She supported him when no one else had, and she seemed pretty content to let him live his own life halfway across the country.

  But this holiday was the first that Dominic had been able to spend with her in a long time because of work - and Makayla felt that she owed him at least the sure convincing of his mother, if that was what he had planned.

  It shouldn’t be too hard, right? Not when they were kissing and touching and otherwise completely at ease with one another?

  “She’ll be here a week before Christmas,” she finally stammered, in reply to Melody’s question. “I think we’ve got this. I mean, all I have to do is what I’ve been doing, right? The media has been eating it up.”

  “True,” Melody replied thoughtfully, “But a man’s mother is a completely different story. I feel like if anyone can tell you’re faking, it will be her.”

  Well, that was an amazing vote of confidence. “Ugh…” Makayla groaned, pushing her curls up and out of her face. “Can’t I just spent Christmas with you instead?”

  At that, Melody chuckled. “I wish, honey. But my parents are coming down and I have to make the apartment all nice for them.”

  Makayla laughed softly. “The apartment is nice - especially for what we’re paying.” Dominic had even continued to pay her half of the rent on the California apartment - something for which she was eternally grateful. If this little arrangement worked out between them for the whole of her medical school career, she eventually planned on paying him back for all this. Without him, she would never have had the opportunity to chase her dreams.

  She would never know how good it felt to be wanted - really wanted, and not just as a vessel to assuage a man’s desires.

  “You sound happy, Kayla.”

  Melody’s comment caught her completely off guard, and, for a long moment, Makayla merely stared at her phone in surprise. When she finally gathered herself enough to stammer an answer, she was surprised at how relaxed she sounded. “I am. Happy, that is. I thought it would be harder for me to adjust, but things are...they’re comfortable here.” It was more than that, really; but Kayla didn’t know how to put her sentiment int
o words. Dominic provided for her - he took care of her in a way that no man had, without being controlling or possessive.

  She was...fond of him. Fonder than she’d ever realized she could be.

  “Well, I’m going to come visit you soon. Make sure he’s treating you right.”

  Makayla laughed. “Oh, he is. Very, very right.”

  “Oooo, Makayla. He’s turned you into a little slut.”

  “Jesus, Christ, Melody. You’re awful.”

  The blonde all but cackled. “You love me.”

  And she did. In fact, the hardest thing about living in New York was being so far away from her best friend. She looked forward to her summer vacation, when she planned on going back to Cali to visit her and give her all the gifts she’d accumulated over the year they’d been apart.

  Makayla worked for an hour more once she had finished speaking with her friend, before she ventured from the study and into the kitchen, where Sophia was busy preparing dinner. The moment she sat down at the bar, the woman passed her a cup of hot chocolate, and Makayla beamed. “You’re magic, Sophia.”

  The mistress of the kitchen laughed. “You make an old woman feel good, mi amour.”

  Makayla sipped at her chocolate, her eyes sliding closed at the rich, sweet flavor against her tongue. “What’s cooking?”

  “Chicken stew.” The older woman answered promptly, adding spices to a large pot with the finesse of a scientist at work. “Best thing for a cold winter evening.”

  Makayla smiled knowingly. “It’s not quite winter yet.”

  “Dios Mio, might as well be. It’s freezing outside, mija.”

  She couldn’t argue with that. The last week of November had seen a significant temperature drop in the city, and Makayla wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed soon. She had only really seen snow once, after a long drive to Washington she’d made for a school trip she had just managed to afford in college. She was wildly enchanted with the deep, frosty drifts, and had to be pulled out by her waist when she wandered into one, thinking it would easily take her weight.