“Ugh, you don’t have to do this.” I didn’t have the energy or temerity to argue, but Dom was already on his knees removing my boots, and when he liberated my feet from them, I could’ve wept in relief. I couldn’t even bend down in the bathroom to unzip them, because the second I folded over, I would copse on the bathroom floor. The only thing I managed was to change my underwear, put in a fresh tampon, and ssh water on my face. Not necessarily in that order. “This is not part of the arrangement.”


    “Quiet,” he ordered, spearing me with a censuring gaze. “As a friend, I would have had the decency to do this at least.”


    He scooped me up in his arms and headed to the bedroom. “Would a warm bath help?”


    “Yes.” When he was about toy me on the bed, I said, “Lay a towel on top of the sheet. They’re in the bathroom closet.”


    The way he set me gently on my feet made my heart squeeze. It was as if I was an injured kitten. The sound of the bathtub faucet running made me smile. For a hookup who wasn’t getting any sex, Dom was going above and beyond. He returned with a towel and set it on the bed.


    I sank into the high-end mattress that Dom bought to rece the one he ruined.


    “Where are your pajamas?”


    “They’re in the corner.” My closet space was probably five percent of his, maybe even less. I usually had to swap out my clothes for the seasons. He came back with a set and went directly to the dresser to open the top drawer. He’d seen me get underwear from there, so I wasn’t surprised that he had my change of clothes ready.


    “Do you want tea?”


    “Dom, you’ve done enough.”


    “Well, since I’m here, I want to offer you my services.”


    “That’s quite a one-eighty from your rude texts earlier.”


    He winced and sat on the bed and stroked my leg. “I’m sorry. I was being an ass.”


    I waited for him to borate.


    He huffed. “I should have responded to yourst text about the bed.”


    “Why didn’t you?” I challenged. “I don’t like games and the only reason I didn’t respond to your texts earlier was because you were like a dog with a bone.” When his eyes red, I added, “Don’t deny it.”


    A muscle worked in his jaw, as if still debating whether to deny my usation or admit to it. “I wanted to see you, but family business required my full attention.”


    “I’m not asking for a lot. The reason this was supposed to work was because we were both too busy for a rtionship.” A faint smile quirked my lips. “The sex is great, Dom, but show me respect. My time is as valuable as yours. If you can’t see me as an equal in that regard, then this ends now.”


    My body was struggling with the pain in my pelvis, but I held his eyes. I thought he was going to scoff at my words, use his position as boss to belittle what I did, but by now I’d concede that one reason I was attracted to Dom was because he was one of the good-guy mobsters. I’d met a lot of assholes where misogyny and entitlement were embedded in their DNA, a birthright, but the De Lis were more evolved, judging by how Bianca, Sera, and Ivy were thriving. Bianca’s mom Ava headed a sessful Irish pub franchise, and I heard how her husband, Cesar, empowered her.


    My information was sparse regarding Dom’s parents, other than his mother was the sister of Luca, the Chicago crime boss who Bianca wasn’t too fond of.


    So Dom was still a wild card to me, but if he’d been a doctor, I would’vemended him on his excellent bedside manner.


    “Do you have a heating pad?”


    That question caught me unaware, and at the furrowing of my brow, he said, “What? I have a sister.”


    “Her name is Lucy, right?”


    “Yeah.”


    The only time I’d seen her was at Bianca’s wedding. She was one of the bridesmaids.


    “So, were you a doting older brother or the type who dismembered her Barbies?”


    “Thatst bit was oddly specific. But I was both.” He winked and rose to his feet. “I’ll check on the water.”


    I hugged my knees to my chest as another cramp hit me, but my thoughts drifted to Dom’s sister. From what I’d gleaned from my chats with the girls, Lucy was the rebellious child of the De Lis. She didn’t get along with her mother, but I didn’t remember why. She seemed to get along with Bianca and Sera at the wedding, although I wouldn’t describe their interaction as spontaneous. It was more typical of a rtive who you see during the holidays and not the daily-text-exchange type.


    Dom returned. “Ready, Firecat? I’ll undress you in the bathroom.”


    “I can walk,” I protested, but he’d already lifted me.


    “Why deny yourself a full-service spa experience?” he drawled.


    “I don’t want to get used to this,” I argued, but I burrowed deeper into Dom’s chest. This was surreal. I’d seen shes of his caring side, his ideal-boyfriend material side, and at times it made me wonder why he wasn’t in a rtionship. Then these past two weeks of silence reminded me why. But he followed it with this. I had to remind myself that the reason I didn’t want to ask for help from other people or depend on other people was because then I wouldn’t get hurt when they abandoned me. If Dom hadn’t texted me for another week, I would have moved on and excised him from memory and never given him a chance again.


    What if I hadn’t sent that picture to Bianca? Would he be here?


    When we entered the bathroom, the tight space was already filled with steam. Dom set me down, and helped me out of my dress, and slid off my panties.


    He kissed my forehead before turning me around and kept my back warm in my nakedness while we waited for the tub to fill up.


    “I wish I could have rinsed first before getting in there,” I said. Dom’s chin was resting on my shoulder.


    “And I wish I could get in there with you.”<fnca52> This update is avable on find?novel</fnca52>


    Despite my wooziness, Iughed a little. “Your long limbs would make it hard. I can barely fit in there.”


    My tub was tiny. I was lucky this unit had one at all. But it was abo tub and shower. Dom must have found myvender bath bombs because the scent reached my nose and it was soothing.


    “Come on, baby.” Dom edged me closer, bent past me, and shut off the water.


    “I need to remove my tampon.” My cheeks burned. “Can you…”


    I was about to ask him to leave the bathroom when I felt his fingers between my legs.


    I gasped, “Dom!” and squeezed my thighs together, trapping his wayward hand, my mind spinning on what he was about to do.


    He lowered his head by my ear, “Open, baby.”


    “What are you doing?”


    “Removing your tampon.”


    “I can do it myself,” I hissed, but he continued to wedge his hand higher.


    He nipped my ear, temporarily weakening my resolve and releasing the press of my thighs, and allowing him to touch my pussy. He inserted his fingers.


    My cheeks were on fire. No, scratch that, my entire body was on fire.


    “Dom,” I said his name weakly.


    “See,” he murmured by my ear. “Was that so hard?”


    “You’re impossible.”


    “Blood doesn’t deter me. Haven’t you figured that out yet?” He wrapped it in tissue and discarded it in the wastebasket. He rinsed his hands beforeing back to help me into the tub.


    “I’ll get you all wet.”


    “You worry too much,” he said. “Now, just rx.”


    When I settled in, Dom stood and stripped down to his boxers. Then he grabbed the sponge hanging by the shower handle and lowered to a crouch. “How’s the water temperature?”


    “Perfect.” I closed my eyes. The hot water gradually prated my muscles. I felt the sponge glide on my back in circles. I leaned forward and let Dom massage my lower back. He circled round and round in soothing therapy. The pain in my belly dulled.


    “Better?” Dom asked huskily.


    I popped one eye open. “I don’t want to leave the tub.”


    “Let go, baby. I got you.”


    I was submerged in a cozy haze. Sometimes I emerged from the cocoon of warmth, and at times I retreated. My limbs were lethargic, yet my whole body was alive. A pleasant sensation low below my belly stole my sleep.


    Dom was palming my pelvis and alternately rubbing the top of my mound. I was familiar with those sensations. It was the buildup to an orgasm.


    “What are you doing?” I asked, voice scratchy.


    He was curled behind me, and I could feel his erection pressing against my ass. I didn’t know how we got from the tub to the bed.


    “Did you know orgasms alleviate period cramps?” he murmured.


    I had to smile. I was surprised he didn’t propose this earlier instead of going through the trouble of running me a bath. But then again, I got the feeling Dom enjoyed taking care of people.


    “Yes, the uterine muscles contract during orgasm and relieve cramps. Not everyone, though.”


    Dom chuckled. “I was thinking along the lines of endorphins.” He started rubbing my clit. “Do you wanna?”


    I was usually horny during my period anyway if the cramps didn’t get to me first. I woke up with an orgasm pulsing between my legs the other night, but attributed it to Dom ying a starring role in my dreams.


    Wetness pooled between my legs. I hoped we weren’t making a mess again, but I was greedy enough to take advantage of this new experience.


    “Yes.”


    Dom groaned and circled my sensitive bud harder. He inserted his fingers. The slide of them was different. There was something so raw about it, so elemental, that my orgasm took me by surprise.


    I cried out.


    Dom withdrew his fingers and climbed over me so we were face to face. This time, he used the heel of his hand to prolong the pressure. Wave after wave, my orgasm pulsed through me.


    “That’s it…ride my hand,” he rasped before silencing my scream with his ravaging mouth, so out of control, like my orgasms were fueling his desire.


    I needed something else, though. I broke away from him and moaned, “I need you inside me.”


    Forget out of control, my request turned him feral. Pushing my knees up to my ears, Dom rammed inside me.


    He pounded me fast and hard until I wasing again.


    “Fuck, Sloane, fuck,” he growled. “You feel so good, baby.”


    His cock turned rock hard. His agonized eyes met mine before he squeezed them shut and groaned deep. He grunted. He continued to pump, but his hooded eyes assessed my face as if searching for difort.


    When azy smile stretched my mouth, his expression softened, then he withdrew and looked between us.


    “There’s a theme of blood each time we have sex,” Iughed lightly.


    “We should do a blood exchange next.” Dom rolled on his back.


    “I need to get cleaned up again.”


    “In a minute.” Dom flung an arm and a leg over my body, effectively trapping me. “I’m enjoying this post-coitus.”


    “Post-coitus. How romantic.”


    He nuzzled my neck. “I really am sorry for being an ass.”


    “Let me get this straight. You’re sorry for today. For simply showing up here after I didn’t answer your texts.”


    “That…and…” He exhaled heavily and let me go to sit up. “I know it’s not fair to you. I don’t want to stop sleeping with you, but this month is going to be hectic as fuck.”


    “I’m busy too,” I retorted.


    “Finals, right?”


    “Yep, and then it’s winter break.”


    “Have the Russians been bothering you?”


    “Nope, they’ve been quiet. I haven’t heard from Billy.” Which was a good thing.


    Dom merely nodded and muttered what sounded like, “That’s good. That’s good.”


    “Is there anything else? Because I really want to hit the shower, wear jammies, and sleep the entire weekend.”


    “Sloane, I’m going to have to take other women to holiday events. This was scheduled before?—”


    I held up my hand. “We’ve already talked about this. As long as you don’t have sex with them?—”


    “If it bes too hard for you…”


    “Stop, okay?” I rolled out the other side of the bed and padded around it to get to the door. “You’re making itplicated.”


    “No, I’m not.” He jumped out of bed and sped my arm. “Knowing that you were out with Phil?—”


    “You thought I was going to sleep with him?”


    I shook my arm free and crossed my arms. “Wait a minute, you’re not suggesting while you take beautifuldies to these gs, I’m not allowed to go out with guy buddies.”


    He scrubbed a hand down his face in frustration. “You can’t deny that Phil wants to get into your pants.”


    When I didn’t say anything, he put his hands on his hips as if saying I rest my case, but I couldn’t help admiring his toned abs and his semi-erect cock which hadn’t fully gone down.


    “Baby, if you continue looking at me like that…”


    “And I’m sure the women you take to these events want to sleep with you.”


    “But I’m not remotely attracted to them.”


    “Neither am I with Phil and if you say he’s a man and he could take advantage of me, see yourself out.”


    His jaw clenched. “I’m worried about you…what if I assign you a bodyguard?”


    “Hell no.”


    His phone went off. Taking advantage of his distraction, I slipped out of the room and into the bathroom. Physically, I was feeling much better, but my brain was fuming at Dom’s double standards and it was giving me a migraine.


    I was already in the shower when Dom came in.


    He yanked the shower curtain aside. He was dressed.


    “You’re letting out the heat.”


    His answer was to grab the back of my skull and nt a forceful kiss on my lips.


    “That was the club. I’m going to call or text you tomorrow. I’m not disappearing for weeks again.” He released a fractured breath. “We’ll figure this out.”


    He followed that with a lighter kiss and closed the curtain.


    There was something in Dom’s voice that sounded like surrender. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it because that would mean I needed to give in a little, too. But what he didn’t understand was I had more to lose.


    Right now, I needed rest and to prepare for a week of tests.