“But I’ve been good. I kept to our agreement. I serve only you. Mmm… Please!”

  I sucked on her clit as I licked it, shutting her up. “You have. Consider this a reward, then, gingersnap.”

  I flipped her, following my treat, and got back to work on branding her pretty pussy as mine. Each lick seemed to drive her insane as she clawed at me, which only motivated my efforts. Rolling my tongue, I wrote out my name inside her folds over and over. The entire thing. First, middle, nickname, and last.

  I dripped onto the sheets, evidence that I was aroused as hell and enjoying my wife. I was unable to control that. Her pussy was juicy, sweet, and responsive, how could I not be aroused? And why should I not coat this entire house with us? This was my fuckin’ domain. I owned everything in California, including her. MINE.

  Yasmine lasted twice before she was back to begging.

  “I promise. Whatever you want. Just please… please…”

  “Whatever I want?” I confirmed that she’d offered up that kind of power to a man who thrived on having that much control.

  Yasmine paused, realizing the error. Yup, she’d said it.

  “Let’s cash in on that.”

  I spread her legs wide and got on my knees between them. Wetness glistened, welcoming me to exactly where I wanted to be, inside her.

  “What are you doing?” She moaned but her words showed exactly how much she was hesitating. She could feel the wrath before I’d even delivered it.

  Not answering her verbally, I tapped her clit with my dick before sliding it through all of her juices.

  “It’s time, gingersnap.”

  “For?” She hissed as I parted her folds. Yeah, she was going to be spectacular.

  Entering her for the first time wasn’t for the weak. Slow? It was a snail’s pace with how tight she was. She fit me like a glove.

  “No, no, no…” she shouted, yet she pulled me closer with her legs instinctually.

  “Just like that…”

  Yasmine flinched before she held her mouth, crying silently. I hadn’t meant to hurt her, but it was all part of how things worked this first time. I’d kiss it all better in a second. Moving my hips closer, I slid deep inside her. I paused, regaining control. Tight. So fucking tight. Then I moved.

  “Oooh!” Yasmine moaned.

  “See, I’m making it all better already. Sometimes a little pain is needed to get to the pleasure. Let me show you, baby.” I reassured her.

  I leaned over her and her arms wrapped around my neck as she pulled me in for a kiss. Her moans muffled between us. Her body accepted mine and begged for even more. She gave me her, and I took every bit. It was almost like she was trying to crawl inside me as I penetrated her. She poured herself into this mating dance, accepting me as her king while I took her as my queen.

  Something in me shifted when she let out the sweetest sound. I arched into her again, hitting that same sweet spot. There it went again. It was a mix of a needy whine and a satisfied moan. All I knew was that I had to do it again. Her pussy milked me just right when I did. Ripple effect.

  Yasmine held on to me tightly, I presumed that we were getting somewhere. Slowly, I continued giving to her, satisfying us both. But then… she became greedy. Her hips rolled toward me, pushing me deeper, fucking us both up with how good that felt.

  Hot. It was so damn sexy. Her scent coated the entire room in that sweet honey-ginger smell. Our bodies were slick with everything us. Sweat sheened, juices moistened, mouths hummed, fingers pressed, legs entangled, and our hearts… I shook my head, not wanting to go there. It was the fact that she took care of me that drew me to her. Nothing else. This was a business arrangement. One that we both benefited from. This was just a bodily need.

  Yasmine clawed at my back as I sped things up.

  “Good. So fuckin’ good.” I growled out.

  Yasmine spewed something in Arabic that sounded too sweet. The words continued rolling off her tongue as she drowned in ecstasy. Fuck!

  I held her legs wide and used them to shift back to the first sweet spot that I found inside her. Her words grew louder and more desperate.

  “Please, Dominic! Please!”

  The door opened to my room, and I heard a chuckle. “Guess you found her,” Saint said.

  “You don’t even know,” I confessed. “Now get the fuck out.”

  “Aye aye, captain.” The door closed behind a laughing Saint. I’d handle that motherfucker later.

  “You didn’t stop,” she lectured.

  “Baby, come back to me. Get back to this.” I said as I tried to pull her back into the moment. Shit!

  “But he… Oooooh!” There we go.

  Directly on top of her pelvis to the chest, I nibbled her neck and mumbled into her ear.

  “Gingersnap, you’re trying to pull me into you. Make me weak for you. It will not happen so easily,” I admitted.

  “I need you to be mine, too…” she whined.

  Fuck! “Easy, baby.” Something about her staking her claim unleashed something deep inside me, but did she mean it?

  Why did that sound so good? I am Domino. King. I bow to no one. Not even to a woman that was quickly becoming not just a wife, but a queen in her own right. She ran my house like she was born to, cared for my children like they were hers, and had me on my knees ready to cater to every single whim she had without even speaking a damn word. And the way she’d said that she needed me to be hers, it did something. It moved parts of me that I didn’t know existed and if I was right, though I didn’t want to be, she would be the one to settle those pieces into the correct places. Risky as hell.

  “Please, Domino. Will you be mine, too?” Her hands pulled me into her at the right but wrong moment.

  I was losing control, and it would be inside her. Control. I needed control. Shit! Too slick. Too wet. Too good. Too… FUCK!

  “Please. Please. Please.” She chanted. She was there, right with me.

  “Fuck, yes!” I growled out. The growls continued next to her ear as her pleas continued into mine. We were losing the battle against destiny. Now was the time though we both wanted it to last longer. Then, we tipped.

  Yasmine

  The sound of chuckling woke me up. I wasn’t in my room, this was Domino’s bed. My heart swelled when I realized it.

  “You will be a heartbreaker, you know? I expect a world of trouble from you.”

  I rolled over to see Domino holding Laila and nuzzling the side of her face as he fed her.

  “Already wrapped around her finger?” I asked.

  “As much as I want to say no, I know I am. Good morning.” He leaned over and kissed my shoulder before sitting back up.

  “Good morning, Domino.”

  “Thank you for taking care of my babies. I don’t know what I’d have done without you the past few months.”

  My heart beat faster, growing in fondness. There was that teddy bear side of him again. It’d been about a month since that day in the kitchen when he told me that he considered me to be the babies’ mother. Since then, he’d been busy putting things back to order. Not that they went to crap after his trip, but he ran a tight ship. He was the law around here. Period.

  “You’re welcome.” I knew I was blushing, but I was helpless.

  “You’ve done an amazing job with them. I know they need more things. You probably do, too. I’ll have an account made up for you and whatever you need. It won’t take Abigail long to get you set up. If I’d thought of it before, you could have been settled. I feel like there is so much for us to talk about. So much to learn about one another.” He turned and looked at me, and time stopped for a second. He was actually seeing me, Yasmine. Not the arranged wife, mother of his children, or caretaker of him and his men. Me.

  Who was Dominic? Bully to sweet man? Why was he so guarded? What had made him so hard on the exterior and how did I get closer to the interior where all of the gushy parts of him lived?

  I knew that our paths here weren’t the best circumstances, but I’d resigned my indifference weeks before he came to Morocco. I’d expected nothing to come of the marriage. Never thought I’d feel anything for the man that it contracted me to. I did it for the opportunity. No love expected but...

  At home, there was the constant fear of something going wrong. Though my father was powerful, he couldn’t protect my every step. Not when he still had to protect himself and my mother. They had injured him once already trying to handle things, and I didn’t want to add to that burden. I didn’t consider myself weak or unable to handle myself, but I’d seen the things that those guys had done to people. I was trying to be smart. And though coming halfway around the world to find my new normal was a gamble, it seemed better than my odds at home.

  Divorce wasn’t something that I would have considered at home. I married for life. But here in America, I had the freedom to do so if I needed to get away from Domino. Here I could break away from any problems. Though how far could you get from the king of California? And how long would it be before he ruled even more?

  I didn’t think that would be a problem, though. Somewhere in all of this, I’d cared. It’s the reason Domino’s behavior bothered me when he turned into the big nasty bully I knew him to be. It’s why I was so attached to Laila and Jr. It was why things felt so wonderful last night. My mind, body, and soul were in line with his. I didn’t know if he would ever give me his heart, but even if things stayed how they were, I could handle it. As long as he stayed true to me.

  “Where is their mother?” The question fumbled from my lips, too late to pull it back, and ready to be answered.

  “Birthmother, you mean? Because I consider you to be their mother. You’ve done more for them than she ever has. They were a means to an end for her. Money securers. She never wanted them. My only regret about my children is who their biological mother is.”

  “Then she won’t be coming around?”

  “She’s dead to me. Dead to them.”

  What if one day I wanted to have children of my own? Having a family has always been a major thing for me. I grew up in a broken home in a non-traditional sense. My mother and father are married, they had children. Other than that, they rarely spoke to one another. And when my father was home, he never spent time with her. I’d always wondered how they’d managed children if they disliked each other so much.

  “Dominic…”

  “Domino.”

  “Sorry. Domino, I’m not sure what the expectations are now that you’re well.”

  “No expectations. We take things one day at a time. If you feel like cooking, do it. If you don’t, don’t. If you want me to hire a nanny, I can.”

  “No. No nanny.” That wasn’t an option. I wouldn’t raise my children that way.

  I wanted to be everything that my parents weren’t. I wanted them raised in a house filled with love. I’d never expected that with this marriage. I only suspected this to last as long as the deal did. That would be a problem since I deeply cared about Laila and Jr. I don’t know how I would walk away from them. They weren’t part of the plan.

  “Okay.” He chuckled. “No nanny. What else don’t you want?”

  Now that he was better, I had issues with us sleeping in different beds. It made me feel alone. And now that he was around less and less, it was worse. That’s how I ended up here last night. I missed him.

  “I enjoy cooking. But… will I work?”

  Domino laughed hard, wiping at his eyes. What was funny? “No. I’ll provide for you. And with all the money that I have, we should be good for a long time. If you want to leave to go to the store, I only ask that you tell me so that I can send someone with you. Your safety is always my concern. Until I know what your father is into, I have to be extra safe. Not to mention that I have my own enemies.”

  “Not that funny, Domino.”

  “It was. I’m the king of California. You’ll do best if you remember that. My queen will not work. If what you want is to take care of the house, then have at it. I think you’ve spoiled my men, though. They were pretty pissed when they thought I was cutting out the meals.”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. “I enjoy cooking for them. My mother’s family is large. They would gather a few times a week to cook for the family. I’m used to cooking enormous meals all the time.”

  “Outside of Saint and Turner, I don’t have any other biological family that I know of. My father was murdered and our mother disappeared when we were children.”

  “I haven’t met Turner. Just Ward and Saint.”

  “Ward and Saint act like they don’t have their own homes. Ward, O, Perc, and Deer are my brothers from another mother.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I pushed pillows up on the bed, leaned back, and picked up Jr. He was getting restless in the bassinet.

  “Those four aren’t biologically my brothers, but we’re closer than just friends. I don’t know what I’d do without the six of them.”

  I was about to ask him how they met when there was a brief knock at the door and then Ward entered. I pulled the blanket higher up to cover me completely, avoiding looking at him directly, letting my hair fall to cover my face. I didn’t have my hijab near, so I couldn’t cover my face. I moved closer to Domino, hoping not to anger him by the indirect offense. He was the only man allowed to see me unclothed. I knew he wasn’t muslim but I was. And I honored my customs.

  “This better be good,” Domino stated. I could tell that the entrance disturbed him. I hoped it wasn’t because of me. Everything was still so confusing and I couldn’t read him the way that I wanted to.

  “We’re good with that thing from yesterday.” He paused. And as much as I wanted to see what was going on, I didn’t dare look in Ward’s direction.

  “As it should be. Any updates on Paula?” Domino caressed my thigh underneath the sheet. I was happy that Ward couldn’t see how much I blushed behind my hair. He was stirring a need that burned slow and started low in my belly.

  Wait… Who is Paula?

  “Same. We noticed that she’s acting weird. I put some more men on her trail to see what she’s up to. There’s something that we’re not catching.”

  “Probably. It was the same way when she was in Cincinnati. And like I said then, she’s always up to something. Normal behavior for her is mischief and chaos. You should get with Turner. He may be able to talk to some of his tech friends for help. Vegas is big and we don’t want to miss anything important.”

  “On it. I need to know what you want to do about Lily?”

  Domino froze beside me, body tense, and I looked up to see his face. There was something there between them and it was all over his features. He was shocked, conflicted, and even speechless about the question. Something twisted in my gut and I didn’t like it. Was she his girlfriend? Did he care for her? He could keep her if that’s what he wanted. It’s not like we married out of love, right? Anger, hurt, and jealousy coursed through me so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. I needed to get out of this room for air not contaminated by us, but I couldn’t go anywhere with Ward here staring.

  I don’t know what I was thinking. Getting lost in his world. Delusional. Letting him consummate our marriage should have never happened. There was an agreement that I needed to remember. Security for access to Casablanca. I knew the terms. And maybe getting a nanny was best. That way I didn’t get attached much more to the children and him. If he wanted this Lily person, he could have her.

  “Are you okay?” Domino asked me.

  Ward was gone, which meant that I’d missed their exchange and Domino’s answer. I needed to get up and put some serious distance between the four of us.

  “Yes, I wanted to leave the house today. I was wondering if you could keep the babies while I did. On second thought, maybe we should get that nanny so we don’t have to figure out where they’ll go if I need to step out or go somewhere important.”

  I could feel the anxiety building around Domino being with another woman. A chill settled somewhere around my heart and I ignored it. I put Jr. back inside his bassinet and stood looking for my gown. Where was it?!? My chest was heavy and I needed to breath in air that wasn’t in the same room as Dominic.

  “Are you sure? You look… like something is off. I was kind of hoping that we could spend the day together getting to know one another better. Maybe go somewhere and have lunch or dinner.”

  My heart sped up a beat, but I couldn’t get my hopes up. I wanted to say yes, but something inside wouldn’t let me. Hurt, maybe? It was better that we left things alone. That way he could fix things with Lily and not worry about me. I was an arrangement. She was… well, whatever she was.

  “Maybe another time?” I asked.

  “Uh, sure. Why are you acting weird?” Domino tried to read me, but I’d locked away my emotions. I just needed to keep it together until I was alone.

  “I’m not. I just realized that I need to go.”

  Finding my gown. Slipping it on, I hurried out of the room and into mine. I wasn’t seen and when I got into the room; I closed the door and did the one thing that I’d tried not to. Falling apart, I climbed into bed, hiding my head, and letting the tears fall. It would be hard to reign in my already spiraling emotions for Domino, but I’d have to manage. I just had to.

  I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to Domino kissing my shoulder. Startled, I pulled away.

  “Sorry, I must have dozed.” I said quickly.

  “Are you sure that you’re okay? You’ve been asleep here most of the day. I thought that you wanted to go out. Since it’s Sunday, I will take the littles with me over to O’s place. We usually have wings and pizza while we play video games. Join us?”

  “Um… no. I’ll read my book and get a few things handled here. I’ll fix myself something to eat.”

  “If you don’t want what we’re having, I can get you a salad or have something else delivered. You don’t have to cook for just yourself today.”

  “What will the rest of the guys eat?”

  “I usually send food over to them.”

  Something inside didn’t like the sound of this. I was about to spend the day alone with takeout as my only companion.

 

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