Leveled Page 6

It was a monumental step. I went from falling to actively leaping into the unknown with someone that scared the hell out of me and the thrill of it popped and zinged up and down my spine in a rush.

  I reached the edge of the table and put a hand on his shoulder. I figured I could lead up to getting to the good stuff, but I already knew Dom was the impatient type, so it didn’t shock me at all when he took that hand off his shoulder and put it directly on his very eager and very erect cock. It jumped as soon as my fingers curled around the thickness and I let out a little moan as his hand slipped around the back of my head and pulled me down until our open mouths lined up. It was his turn to kiss me.

  It was less desperate and frantic than the kiss I had laid on him in the parking lot. He was more in control than I had been and I liked the push and pull of us against each other. I also liked the way his entire body tensed up and moved towards mine as I started to move my hand up and down the turgid shaft. It made my own arousal tighten and pulse in time to his rapid heartbeat.

  Our tongues tangled. Our chests pressed together. Our hands got anxious and grabby and our breath rushed in and out as we pressed closer and closer into one another. Dom’s hips kicked up off the massage table as the flat of my palm rolled over the sensitive tip of his cock. He was already leaking and quivering like it wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge and I liked the shot of satisfaction that gave me. I was all about making people feel good and when it was someone I wanted naked and all over me then I took extra pride in their pleasure. And god damn, did pleasure look good on Dom.

  It made him a little more rugged, a shade rougher, a hint more jagged than he already was and fuck if it wasn’t sexy as all hell. I tightened my grip even harder around him and started to pump my fist in earnest as he pulled back from the ravenous kiss and watched me with widened eyes. I normally had a pretty delicate touch, but something about him brought out the more daring side of my nature. It was an unbelievable turn-on to watch my much paler fist work his hardened and straining flesh. We both seemed mesmerized by the motion and he made a strangled sound low in his throat as he started to reach for the very tented front of my shorts.

  I shook my head at him and lowered my head a little so I could kiss him again. This time there was a little bite behind it. “Not yet. Just watch.”

  He was panting now in short and choppy breaths as we both zeroed in on my hand moving on him, up and down, as his hips occasionally bucked up to meet the downward slide of my fist. He was damp and shiny from both the oil that was already on my hands and his own excitement. I couldn’t recall ever seeing anything sexier. I wanted him in my mouth and inside my body. I wasn’t so sure about his welcome inside my heart yet, considering we didn’t know each other that well, but I could feel him knocking on the door.

  He muttered a few dirty words and wrapped his hand around my wrist and squeezed as I buried my nose in the curve of his neck. I could feel his pulse jumping and skittering erratically against the tip of my tongue as I licked the long vein that throbbed just under his skin.

  “If you don’t want this to be a solo show you better let up and let me get my hands on the goods, Mr. Fancy-Pants.”

  The nickname was ridiculous considering the compromising situation we were currently in with one another so I sank my teeth into the side of his neck in a little nip and shook his hold off so I could finish the job I started. His already tight abs turned rock hard and those thick thigh muscles started to shake a little. I used the pad of my thumb to rub circles under the edge of the very sensitive head of his cock and we both gasped a little when his body bowed up and stream upon stream of hot pleasure rushed out and coated both of us. It was brilliant and bright and even without letting him lay a hand on me I was more turned on then I could ever remember being. Dom took me out of my comfort zone, and I knew all about the benefits of stretching before getting down to any actual work.

  I lifted my head up from where I was still nuzzling his neck and let go of his now softening member. I wanted to touch the evidence of how well I had handled him where it was dotting his delineated abs but before I could get a word out or make another move towards him he was using the edge of the sheet to clean himself off as he swung his legs to the side and got to his feet.

  He loomed in front of me like a darkly satisfied warrior and started to advance on me. He was naked and loose from the orgasm, but the look in his eyes was focused and determined as he prowled towards me as I involuntarily took a step back. I took another and another until my back hit the door and Dom was right in front of me and in my face. His breath was hot as he leaned up until he could growl directly into my ear, “You always seem to be handling me, Orlando. In one way or another, you are the one calling the shots. I’ve got some shots of my own I want to take.”

  I wasn’t going to argue, but I wouldn’t have gotten the chance even if I was. His mouth was back on mine and he was pulling my T-shirt up and over my head within the span of a second. His lips were hard and left little doubt that he was serious about getting more than his hands all over me for a change of pace. I sighed lightly into his mouth as our tongues twisted together and his hands started to roam over my now bare chest. As big and as forceful as he often came across, his touch was surprisingly light and way more reverent and delicate than mine had been with him. It took me a second to realize he was taking the time to brush his fingers over each and every single freckle that dotted my skin. There were a lot of them so by the time he got to the ones below my bellybutton I was kiss drunk and sex stupid.

  I wanted to grab his head and force him to his knees in front of me. I could tell he knew it, too. He was grinning at me, which was extra sexy with his mouth red and shiny from being all over mine.

  He slipped a finger into the elastic band at the top of my shorts and tugged just enough to let the tip of my dick peek out. He lifted an eyebrow at the ruddy tip and his grin turned downright wicked.

  “I want to see how far down your freckles go.” His voice rumbled out of his chest and the deep rasp of it made my skin pebble in anticipation.

  I wheezed a little when he finally lowered himself to the floor in front of me, taking my shorts down with him.

  “I pretty much have them everywhere.” When I was younger, I hated them because I felt like they were just one more thing that set me apart from the rest of the guys my age. Now I had grown into them and I kind of liked them. Dom was apparently a fan.

  He chuckled and moved across my cock, which was practically leaping out to make his acquaintance. “I can see that. I like them. I want to connect them all with my tongue.”

  “Jesus.” He laughed again as I let my head fall back against the door with a loud thunk at the first swipe of his tongue across the already leaking tip of my cock. “I don’t know if I could survive that.”

  I looked down at him right as he leaned forward to wrap a hand around the base of my erection and at the same time surrounded the rest of the waiting length with the heat of his mouth. It was my turn to swear as my vision went cloudy around the edges and my knees went a little weak. I’d had plenty of guys go down on me back in my fuck-to-forget days, but nothing felt like Dom’s mouth on me. It obliterated thought. It killed common sense. It annihilated any hesitation I had about throwing myself in with this man. His mouth on me, his hand twisting in time with the motion of his bobbing head felt like it had to happen. It felt better than any blow job had a right to feel. It felt more intense and involved than the last time I had actual sex with someone. It felt fated and destined. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his as he looked up at me with a perceptive glint in his eye.

  I told myself to breathe because things were getting fuzzy and I felt lightheaded. I curled one hand around the back of his dark head and let his short hair tickle the tips of my fingers as I urged him to go farther and farther down. I wanted him to take as much of me as he could and he obliged without so much as blinking an eye. I put my other hand over my heart and tried to hold it in as it threatened to beat its
way out of my chest. The intensity of it all was going to take me to the ground.

  He made a pleased sound around the rigid flesh in his mouth and I couldn’t watch him anymore. I theoretically should have been the one in power, in control, as I stood over him, as he swallowed me back as far in his throat as he could. But it was all Dom. He was the one in charge as he worked me over and handled me like I was made of clay. I was pliable in his hands, willing to let him do whatever he wanted, and what he wanted was to make me come undone as quickly as possible.

  I swore again as his free hand, which had been hovering over his own reawakening erection suddenly appeared between my legs and wrapped around my overly sensitive sack. The caress had my eyes flying back open and my fingers digging into his scalp. He rolled his palm over the delicate skin and pleasure throbbed so hard at the base of my spine, at the skilled touch, it almost hurt.

  “Dominic …” I gasped his name out as a warning that I was close to the point of no return and he made a humming noise that shot all the way through my dick and into my gut. I groaned and then jolted as his hand left my balls and skipped up between my legs, along the curve of my ass and dipped into places I wasn’t sure I was ready to let him touch yet.

  Whether I was ready or not didn’t matter to Dom as the tip of his finger teased the tight and hidden place.

  I said his name, but it was broken and torn from my throat. It was all the warning he got before my body rebelled and gave into the rampaging pleasure he was coaxing from it. I panted, shallow and ragged breaths as I curled both my hands around the sides of his head and held him still as I danced and dripped desire all across the surface of his tongue.

  His eyes were alive with self-satisfaction and pride as he wrung me out to dry and left me slumped, weak and boneless, against the door. It was an unfamiliar feeling. I’d never handed myself over to someone else like that before. Not even with Remy. With him, everything had been a gentle exploration, a discovery of what love and forever should feel like. With Dom, it felt like I was already at the top of the mountain and ready to jump off. It was the exhilaration of the battle won and the fear of the unknown crashing that amplified every touch and every shared breath. He pulled back and kissed the center of my stomach, which had the muscles pulling tight.

  He went to get back up to his feet and halted before he got halfway up as his bad leg betrayed him. His face pulled tight in a wince of pain as I reached out and helped him up. We stood facing each other naked and as exposed as we could be.

  He lifted a hand and rubbed it over the surface of his short hair and gave me a rueful grin. “Maybe I should have let you focus on the other muscles that needed your attention after all. Those aren’t such an easy fix.”

  I cleared my throat and situated myself back inside my shorts. “I’m not sure anything about any of this is easy.”

  He rolled his heavy shoulders and turned to walk over to the hooks on the wall that held his discarded clothes. “Most things that are easy aren’t worth much. It’s the things you have to work for that matter the most.”

  I cleared my throat again. “I’ll keep that in mind.” And I would, because “easy” was not a word that I would ever associate with Dominic Voss, and how I was starting to feel about him was anything but.

  Chapter 7

  Dominic

  The call came in as I was headed out the door to go to my first physical therapy session with a trainer that wasn’t Lando. I was walking down the stairs of my apartment building and headed towards my car when Royal’s boyfriend’s name flashed across the screen of my phone. I contemplated ignoring it and him but figured he wouldn’t be calling me unless it was something important, like our girl had locked herself out of somewhere again and I was closer to ride to the rescue.

  I was so used to Asa’s slow, mellow southern drawl that when his words came out in a rush I had a hard time deciphering what he was trying to tell me. The bits and pieces I did pick out, like “accident,” “hurt,” “emergency room,” and “unconscious” made my heart lodge in my throat and the world tilt dangerously off-kilter. I had to grab the handrail on the stairs because I momentarily lost my balance and almost ended up on my ass.

  I asked Asa if he had called Royal’s mother and he just grunted at me and bit out a harsh “No.” I told him I would make the call since there seemed to be some kind of hostility on his end toward my best friend’s flighty parent. Royal’s mom wouldn’t ever be inducted into the parenting hall of fame, but they were close and she was going to want to be there if Royal was hurt, even if it meant facing the silent scorn that seemed to emanate off of Asa when she was around. He told me what hospital they were at and I jogged the rest of the way down the stairs calling not only Royal’s mom but my own as I did so. She would want to know what was going on with the young woman she loved like one of her own as well.

  The call to Royal’s mom was exhausting and frustrating. The woman was as dramatic as they came and since I didn’t have any details I couldn’t ease her fears or hysterics as she started screaming, “My baby! I told her she was going to get hurt!” over and over again. Finally, I couldn’t handle it anymore and just hung up on her. She was going to have to pull her shit together before she showed up at the hospital. I had a feeling Asa wouldn’t let her anywhere near Royal unless she showed up in full-on mom mode, something that was always a struggle for the woman.

  My own mother took the news more stoically and asked if I wanted her to meet me at the emergency room. I told her to hold off until I had more information and promised to keep her updated when I knew more. She was worried but not one to fly off the handle like Royal’s mom, and the calm assurance did wonders to slow my rapidly thundering heart. I wasn’t going to assume the worst. I couldn’t.

  When I got to the hospital, I moved as fast as I was able to since my own accident. I was intimately familiar with the emergency wing of the hospital, so it took me no time at all to maneuver my way through the sterile halls and around scrub-clad staff. Asa was easy enough to spot as soon as I hit the waiting room and intake area. He was standing by the desk talking to a lovely redheaded woman dressed in scrubs. Asa was a charmer and a stupidly attractive man. He seemed to attract female attention wherever he went, but the time and the place were not right for him to be flirting. It made me narrow my eyes at the scene before me.

  The nurse had a hand on the outside of his arm and was looking up at him in a way that seemed way more personal than professional. There was concern and sympathy stamped on every line of her expressive face and I could see that she was trying to comfort the tall, blond southerner the best she could. He would nod occasionally at whatever it was she was telling him and at one point he reached down and enfolded the woman in a hug, which made my back teeth clench together. His girlfriend was injured, supposedly unconscious somewhere in this hospital and he had the nerve to have his hands on the first pretty face that wandered by? I wanted to choke him and then kick him.

  The redheaded nurse returned the hug, said something else to him and then picked up a chart and disappeared down the labyrinth of hallways, giving me my opening to approach. Asa turned just as I reached him and his whiskey-colored eyes widened in shock as I put my hands on the center of his chest and gave him a solid shove. He fell back a step and caught himself on the edge of the desk where he had been snuggling with the nurse a moment ago.

  “Royal is hurt and you’re already lining up her replacement? I told you if you broke her heart again I was going to break you.” The words snapped out harsh and fast, fueled by worry and anger.

  Asa held his hands up and then moved them to shove back his sandy hair. “That nurse is engaged to one of my closest friends in case you missed the sparkler on her finger.” He lifted his tawny eyebrows at me. “She also used to live across the hall from Royal and considers her her best friend, so she’s just as worried as you and I are. Something you would know if you bothered to meet the new people in her life, Dom.”

  I winced as a bolt of shame we
nt through me. He had a point. When I got hurt, Royal had spiraled down into a dangerous depression and it wasn’t me that stopped her fall. It was her new group of friends, and this man who had been there for her without fail. I hadn’t made any kind of effort to meet them because it was a painful reminder that life and all the people I loved most in it moved on, grew, changed, while I was stuck just waiting to see if my body would heal. Everyone was going forward and I was stuck on pause. I hated it and kind of resented that while I couldn’t do anything about my situation, Royal’s life had become so full and vibrant. If I had been thinking clearly I probably would have put two and two together and realized the nurse was her friend Saint, who Royal talked about pretty much all the time.

  I grumbled a weak apology that Asa graciously accepted. “What happened? Did she get hurt at work?” I was picturing a high-speed chase gone wrong, or a desperate suspect ramming into her patrol car trying to flee the scene of the crime.

  Asa shook his head and heaved a deep sigh. “She was driving home from the grocery store and a kid texting ran a red light and T-boned her right on the driver’s side. The Four-Runner flipped, but she had her seat belt on, thank God.” He rubbed his hands over his face and I could see the pain and worry bright in his gaze. “She was in and out of consciousness at the scene, so they brought her in and rushed her in for a CT scan. Other than that, she got a wicked gash on her arm from broken glass and was complaining that it hurt to breathe, so she might have a couple busted ribs. Saint said she would come and let me know when they move her back into a room after the scan.” He blew out a breath and lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life, when Saint called and said there was an accident and that Royal was being rushed in.”

  I nodded a little and felt some of the resentment I had towards this man who held my best friend’s heart in his hands fade. “I felt the same way when you called me. I automatically thought it had something to do with work.”