Granting Wishes Read online

  Easing it up as far as it would go; Dom reached behind her and unzipped the top so he could see what he’d envisioned for as long as he could remember.

  He came to the conclusion that his imagination wasn’t for shit.

  She was so stunning that she took his breath away. The creamy expanse of her shoulders weren’t the only spots on her that held those sexy freckles. They dotted down her cleavage and across the smooth slope of her belly, disappearing into the tight blond curls that covered her dewy sex. His throat went dry and he felt like a starved man who had just seen the most beautiful plate of succulent fruit one could imagine.

  When shimmering pink fingernails came in to view and attempted to cover the beauty of the vee between her thighs he couldn’t help but growl at her for daring to shield what he needed to taste so badly. So he did what any hungry male would do. He sucked her fingertips into his mouth and in the process, slipped his tongue over her blond curls.

  “Oh, Dom, I’ve never,” she undulated her body like a mermaid in the sea, riding the waves with the ease of a lovers dance. “You’re going to…”

  After his teeth scraped the pads of her fingers, he let them go and used his mouth on her damp center. The scent of her arousal was intoxicating, but the taste of her heat on his tongue was nothing less than perfect. No longer was she trying to cover her nakedness. She was lost in pleasure with half-lidded eyes that spoke volumes.

  Dom slid his arms under her thighs so her milky white stems draped his muscled shoulders. Dragging his tongue up her slit in long, deep licks, he gripped her ass in the palms of his hands and went to town, feasting on her flesh. It didn’t take long for him to feel the sharpness of her heels digging into his back when she gave in to his assault and let go, exploding in a sweet rush of desire that coated his chin.

  He was undone. Ravenous to sink himself into her slick sheath and match her hips, thrust for thrust. And he would, but first he wanted to bring her back up so she would fall over the edge of infinity with him.

  While his mouth got familiar with the curve of her hip where it met in a delicious dip to her waist, up to the full underside of her left breast, he ran his fingers through her hair pulling pins out until the mass of soft curls was splayed around her like a silken blanket. Burying his face there, he breathed in the soft scent of her shampoo mixed with the lusty fragrance of her feminine sweat that glistened on her soft skin. Her fingertips raked down his chest, reaching the waist of his trousers and unfastening them too slowly for his taste. The slow creeping pull of the zipper over his pulsing rod was pure torture. But when her soft hand closed around him, he forgot about teasing her into a frenzied state again. In fact, he forgot everything when she stroked up and down his thick, impossibly hard length.

  With a roar of pure lust and energy, he pulled her hand off of his sex before he exploded, and shoved inside her welcoming, slick heat. It took him a moment to realize what he had just done when she tensed up and pushed at his chest, her face not lost in pleasure, but wincing in pain.

  Chelsea had been a virgin. And he was a big man.

  “God damn it, Chels. Why didn’t you tell me?” He groaned, gripping the sheets next to her head, as if trying to grasp at some sort of control.

  “It’s okay, Dom. Really,” she whispered. Her flushed cheeks seemed to turn a brighter shade of pink. “Don’t stop, not now. Please,” her hands touched his face, sliding to wrap around his neck as she pulled him close, kissing him with such tenderness he could only let go of the sheets and wrap his arms around her.

  Dom cradled her soft body against his, kissing her succulent mouth with long, drugging kisses until the tension left her body and he felt her relax. Her thighs wrapped around his waist and she tentatively moved her hips. Still, he didn’t move. But his mouth continued its assault on her senses, wanting to make her so weak and wanton it would somehow make up for his earlier roughness. He felt like a dick. Mauling her like a panting dog after his first bitch instead of cherishing her like he should have. The damage is already done, he thought to himself. He might as well savor every minute of making her remember this night with nothing but fondness.

  Now he had to show her.

  “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Chels. Never again, never will I hurt you.”

  She shushed him by touching her fingertip to his lips, and he proceeded to make her forget there had ever been a single moment of pain from him making love to her.

  No matter how many times her hips lifted and rubbed against his, he didn’t move inside her. Instead, he pressed his hips tighter and pinned her to the bed so she could barely move. Lips drifted down her neck, sucking and biting her skin where the slope of her neck met her freckled shoulder. One strong hand fitted under the curve of her breast, stroking his thumb over her nipple in languid strokes. When it was swollen and puckered to his satisfaction, he lowered his head and suckled her while his fingers began the same sensual manipulation on her other breast.

  He could feel her slick sex working around his arousal and it was the sweetest torture he’d ever experienced, but it didn’t deter him from his new found addiction, tasting her sweet skin. Getting familiar with how her body felt, learning where she liked to be touched and what sexy sounds she made.

  Turning his attention to her other breast, his mouth moved across her cleavage with purpose. Once his lips sealed over the tip of her puckered handful of heaven, he rubbed his hand down her side and over the curve of her hip. Her ass was the perfect overflowing handful when he squeezed it and lifted her against him, grinding his hips between her thighs. His attempt to drive her wild with desire was beginning to backfire on him.

  She felt like heaven.

  So wet and hot, gripping his sex within hers, he was starting to have to count backwards to maintain control.

  When she made a sultry mewling sound and raked her nails across his shoulders, he realized she was right there with him on the edge.

  Then, and only then, did he slowly pull his hips back, sliding nearly all the way out of her before gently sliding back in until he was fully encased in her velvet heat.

  God she was wet.

  A hungry whimper was muffled against his shoulder as she lifted up and bit his shoulder, licking and sucking his sweat slicked skin. It drove him to the brink of no self-control. As much as he was trying to be gentle and tender with her, her scratching nails and none-to-tender bites was enough to let him know she was ready.

  She needed.

  He needed.

  He crushed his mouth to her and let go, thrusting his hips between hers while his tongue slipped and slid against hers in the same sensual manner. Dom was sure his back was bleeding from her nails and he loved it, loved her wild passion and the way she matched each of his thrusts and rolled against him with her own.

  Chelsea was so beautiful, a lush goddess with an angelic, yet sinful quality about her. Now that he had a taste of her he’d be hard-pressed to ever let her go, especially when she cried out his name and arched against him with utter abandon. Her body tensed, taut as a bow string and he followed her over the edge as she trembled against him, filling her with the hot rush of his orgasm. Dom kissed her tenderly, stroking her flushed cheeks. With a gentle roll, he was laying on his back with her draped languidly on top of him, her mass of blond curls covering his chest and shoulders like a golden blanket. Gently, he massaged his fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead, waiting to see if she said anything. Her breathing slowed, as did his, and he stopped holding back and being afraid. He loved her. A part of him knew he always had and he’d been too scared and stubborn to show it.

  Later, as he held her against his chest and gently stroked her back, he whispered three little words that were pouring from his heart. “I love you, Chels.” He waited for something, any kind of response from her but he got nothing. His heartfelt words weren’t responded to.

  Chelsea was softly snoring.

  Chapter 9

  Chelsea woke from a deep sleep to Mariah Carey singing Anytime
You Need A Friend, signaling her best friend was calling. She answered the call with a sleepy, “This better be good since it’s still dark outside.”

  “Chels, please come get me.” Lilah cried.

  Chelsea was out of bed in a flash at the desperate, tearful sound of her best friend’s voice.

  “Are you okay, honey? Where are you?”

  Getting dressed as fast as she could, she waited for an answer. She didn’t waste time bothering with anything more than yoga pants, a hoodie and her flip flops. She wasn’t trying to make a fashion statement. Chelsea grabbed her keys and was out the door as Lilah gave her directions in between her heartbreaking hiccups.

  As Chelsea drove, Lilah was explaining to her what happened. She said that her and Jake had drinks, possibly a few too many, and she’d fallen asleep there only to wake up to him crying out for his ex. Chelsea didn’t push for more info but she knew there had to be more to it. She could feel it in her heart. Lilah sounded completely wrecked. She hadn’t heard her cry like that in years.

  When she pulled down the driveway and saw the state of her friend, she seriously wanted to order Lilah to get in the car while she went inside and gave Jake a piece of her mind. But the utter despair on her face and the way she reached for her, clinging to her as she sobbed, kept Chelsea in the car. Lilah didn’t need any more drama right now. She simply hugged her tight, and got the hell outta there as fast as her beat up Ford would take them.

  “Do you want to go home?”

  “No. God no. Not yet. I can’t go in like this or my daddy would be out the door in a heartbeat with his M16 rifle to hunt down Jake. As bad as my heart hurts right now, I don’t want Jake shot or my daddy in jail for defending me.”

  Chelsea giggled a little at the image that popped in her mind of that happening. Lilah’s dad would do exactly what she described. Except he was smart enough to not get caught.

  “You can shower and change at my house and tell your family I came and picked you up last night from Jake’s cabin. No one has to know, honey.” No one, but her twin who happened to be the one that actually stayed the night—in her bed, naked. Make that, gloriously naked.

  Lilah choked out a sob and buried her face in her hands, and it effectively made Chelsea drop her wayward thoughts of last night and turn her concern to her friend.

  “I feel so stupid! I thought he cared for me like I do for him. But he still loves her, Chels. He loves her even after she deserted him and their newborn baby less than twenty-four hours after she gave birth. How could he love someone like that?”

  “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry! Are you sure he said her name?”

  “Oh I’m sure. I’ll never forget the way he was crying in his sleep. Never,” Lilah shook her head from side to side, her soft spiral curls springing out every which way made her look even younger than her twenty-one years.

  The rest of the drive was silent. Chelsea was trying to figure out how to not only comfort her friend, but break it to her that Dom had stayed the night and was still at her house, in her bed…but she hadn’t come up with the right words. She breathed a sigh of relief when she turned on her street and Dom’s bike was no longer in the driveway. At the same time, it kind of made her heart ache that he’d left without saying goodbye.

  “Thank you for coming to get me at this god-awful hour.”

  “Of course. I’ve got your back, girl, always.”

  While Lilah headed in, going straight for the shower, Chelsea grabbed a change of clothes and left them on the bathroom counter for her. She went back into her bedroom to see if maybe Dom had left her a note. The scent of his cologne lingered in the air. Chelsea’s felt the sting of regret for leaving without waking him but she’d been frantic to get to Lilah. Wondering what he thought when he woke and saw she was gone was driving her batty. Did he feel as she did now? Unsure. Maybe a little hurt and confused; or had last night been another notch in his belt? She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check for messages but nothing was there.

  “Double dog damn it.”

  “What’s wrong, Chels?”

  Chelsea had been so lost in thought about Dom she hadn’t heard the shower turn off or realize her friend had entered the room.

  “Oh, nothing. Want some coffee? I have an apple cinnamon coffee cake we can dive into that I picked up at Ms. Lola’s yesterday.”

  “God, yes! Coffee and sugar. A girl’s best friend. I need it terribly bad. It might even make me feel human again. Right now I feel like hammered crap. I know I can’t hold liquor but it tasted so good and calmed my nerves. So stupid of me. Ugh!”

  “Coffee and sugar are about the best fix for anything. Well, that or wine and chocolate.”

  “Mmm, wine and chocolate. Later on we might have to switch to the wine. In fact, I’m pretty certain that will be a necessity.”

  After a few cups of coffee over cake and conversation, Chelsea and Lilah decided it was time to take Lilah home, hopefully before her family noticed she was gone and panicked. The ride was a silent one, each lost in their own thoughts. They had come to the conclusion it was a good day for chick flicks and junk food, their usual go-to when men or life in general, threw them a curve ball.

  They went to Lilah’s room and changed into their comfy pajamas and headed for the kitchen to gather snacks and drinks to take to the theater room to watch P.S I Love You. Nothing could possibly be better than a love story with Gerard Butler in it. The man was a dream boat of epic proportions.

  Dom was sitting at the counter with his protein shake and a big bowl of oatmeal with sliced banana on top and a cup of coffee. Chelsea stopped and stared at him, unsure of what to do, say or how to act. He looked so sexy in his workout gear that her mouth went dry and an ache settled in the pit of her stomach. The muscle shirt did nothing to hide, and everything to accentuate his ripped, muscled arms and chest she remembered scratching the night before.

  “Morning, Twinnie,” Lilah went around the counter and hugged her brother affectionately.

  “Mornin’, brat,” he teased her, kissing her forehead and ruffling her hair. His eyes had yet to move from Chelsea’s and she could feel the heat emanating from his stare.

  “Mornin, Chels. What’re you ladies up to this morning?”

  “Vegging out and chick flicking is the only thing on the agenda.” Lilah was digging in the fridge for something more substantial than the cake they had consumed earlier. Chelsea was still standing awkwardly in the center of the kitchen quiet as a church mouse with a blush staining her fair cheeks. Dom was still looking at her while he chugged his protein shake and smacked the glass on the counter loud enough to make Chelsea jump at the sound. Lilah stopped what she was doing and called out to her.

  “Chels, what’re you doing?”

  At her name being called out while she was so intently focused on Dom, Chelsea blushed all the way down her neck, shrugging her shoulders. “Uh, nothing…I’m just not awake yet I guess. I need more coffee.”

  Dom smirked at her, digging into his oatmeal again. “Didn’t get much sleep last night, Princess?”

  Chelsea dropped the mug she was getting out of the cabinet onto the counter with a loud clanging sound. Thankful it didn’t break, she picked it up quick. “No, I…well, yeah. I slept well, but I woke up earlier than usual for my day off…and the wedding last night. You know, it was late when I got home.” She was stumbling over every word and he wasn’t helping at all with his questions.

  “Hmm, why’d you get up so early then? Have somewhere you had to be this morning—before dawn?”

  “We had a girl’s night, Twinnie. Stop picking on her. It’s too early for that.” Lilah was opening a frozen pizza and putting it on a pan.

  As she put it in the oven, Dom grinned at Chelsea rather wickedly. It made her involuntarily rock on her heels and she rubbed her hand over her face, shaking her head at him. She mouthed silently at him to be quiet. With a shaky hand, she filled her coffee mug and took a sip.

  Dom wasn’t letting her off that ea
sy, or Lilah for that matter. He knew something was up and he was going to be persistent until he got an answer. “Twinnie, didn’t you leave with Jake last night?” Lilah tensed up and slammed the oven door.

  “Screw Jake stupid ass Kringle. I don’t even want to hear his name, Twinnie. Not even from you joking around.”

  Dom dropped his spoon and was around the counter, grasping his sister’s arms to gently turn her towards him. “Did he hurt you, Lilah? I will gladly kill that motherfu…”

  “No, Twinnie. It’s not like that. Just my stupid, sensitive feelings got hurt. I don’t wanna talk about it. Ever…”

  Concern was etched on Dom’s face. He took her cheeks in his hands and tilted her face up to meet him in the eye. “You always tell me everything. We’ve never kept secrets from each other. Why can’t you tell me this?”

  Lilah’s eyes watered up and she hugged her brother tight, resting her face against his chest. “Because, I feel so silly for caring about someone who obviously doesn’t return the feelings.”

  “Then he is more of an idiot than I originally thought he was. You deserve better, sis. Say the word and I will deliver a beat down the likes of nothing he’s ever seen. Please…seriously!” He insisted.

  Both girls laughed at that and the mood lightened a little.

  “And why in the hell are you fixing pizza for breakfast? You should let me make you a thick protein shake and eat some good carbs so you girls can come kill it in the gym with me. Work off your aggression.”

  Lilah and Chelsea looked at each other and snorted with laughter.

  “Fat chance of that happening. We’re going to munch on yummy, decadent treats and load up on sugar while we cry and swoon at all our favorite movies where there are happily ever after’s and men aren’t complete jerks.”