Enchantress

Chapter 10

I spent my entire vacation locked in my room in tears. The last few months I kept to myself and studied. I didn’t go out, I didn’t party, I didn’t do anything. Malachi and Dom reached out, sometimes they would bring movies and popcorn and we’d just hang out. I didn’t see much of Viv. She met Nathan on break, and they had become serious, so she spent a lot of time at his place. On a very rare occasion, like tonight, she was home.

“What are your plans for tonight?” She asked from her closet where she was bent over digging through her shoes.

“You know, the usual, sitting here studying.”

“Why don’t you come out with me tonight and cut loose a little. You deserve it.”

“Viv, you know I can’t. Running into Matti would be unbearable.”

“Listen, Matti should be at home taking care of Eva. He shouldn’t be out clubbing. If he is, then you know he was on bull s**t. If he’s going to be on some bullshit, then I’ll help you make him regret the decision to leave you. Deal?”

I gave a little laugh. “You drive a hard bargain. I guess it won’t be so bad. I could really use some girl time anyways. Malachi and Dom are too much testosterone for me.”

“Then you better get that ass up and get dressed.”

I quickly threw on the black Chanel romper she handed me and paired it with my black strappy heels. I left my hair down and gave it some curl and threw on some make up. We grabbed an Uber and headed for downtown.

The club was packed full of people dancing and laughing. As soon as I walked in Dom’s eyes met mine. I knew he was here before I walked in. I could sense it and he probably could too. He met us at the bar and gestured us toward Malachi’s favorite booth where they were sitting. We chatted amongst ourselves and sipped our drinks. Then a group of girls came over to compete for Malachi’s attention.

Dom scooted closer to me and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Want to dance?”

“I’d love too.”

We slid out of the booth and hit the dance floor. I put my arms around his neck, and he slid his around my waist. Even though the tempo of the music was fast we danced slow while we chatted and laughed. Suddenly, Dom froze, and I could feel him stiffen against my body, his icy eyes glaring behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know what he was looking at. I knew somewhere behind me stood Matti and I couldn’t bear to turn around and see him. Dom got a text and looked at his phone. Suddenly, his lips pressed against mine and the world melted away. He pulled away after a minute.

“Want to get out of here?”

“I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard all night.”

He grabbed my hand and we headed out the nearest exit into the crisp March air. We walked to that old familiar street bike and I took my helmet and my seat behind him. As he drove me home, I straddled the back of the bike and held on tight, listening to the humming of the engine. His familiar smell, so sweet and luscious, filled my nostrils. I had missed him. We had grown close, but I kept my distance because of Lila. She has been making my life a living hell. She blames me, why wouldn’t she? Right at this moment I didn’t care. I wanted him. I wanted him to touch me, to feel his fingertips brush across my skin. Would he deny me if I tried?

He parked the bike in the parking lot at the dorm. He apparently wasn’t planning on just dropping me off. I climbed off the back of his bike and handed him my helmet.

“Back at the club, what was that?”

He pulled out his phone and pulled up the text from Viv. By god a promise is a promise and she followed through. She texted him what to do. I handed the phone back to him.

“Movie? I don’t really feel like going home and I definitely don’t want to go back to the club.”

“Sure. Viv said she’d catch me later anyways.”

We sat on my bed and watched Ted. We were laughing so hard we couldn’t catch our breath and then our eyes met. The laughing instantly stopped, and his fingers delicately tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He leaned in placing his hand on the bed beside me and gently placed his lips on mine. I felt the spark instantly. When I didn’t push him away, he deepened the kiss. He crept forwards forcing my body to lie back on the bed. I wanted this. I wanted him. My hands went to the button of his jeans grasping it to undo it. He started to undress me, undressing himself at the same time. He was kissing every inch of my body and it was driving me insane. Then he was inside me making me gasp. I was grasping the sheets bucking back against him. A heat began to rise at the pit of my belly. With every stroke I wanted to cry out. I could feel him swelling inside of me and with it the heat sensation grew. I dug my nails into his back, and he thrust harder into me. I began to explode allowing the sensation to take over. He gave a final thrust and collapsed on top of me.

We laid there in the dark. The light from the television dancing across the wall was the only light in the room. He held me and buried his face into my hair. I rolled over to face him. His features were soft and luminescent. I stared at him, taking him all in. I opened my mouth to say something and then there was a banging at the door. I made a move to get up and Dom stopped me.

“You wait right here.”

He got up and slid on his boxers and jeans and I threw on a pair of my shorts and a T-shirt out of my drawer. He opened the door to a shocked and now seriously pissed off Matti. Their eyes were locked on each other and neither said a word. Dom raised his eyebrows waiting on Matti to speak. I sat on the bed and grabbed the bowl of popcorn we had been eating and returned to eating it. This should be interesting. Dom stepped to the side and ushered Matti through the door.

He sat on Viv’s bed across from me and put his elbows on his knees. His hands were in his hair. He didn’t look like he had been sleeping. He looked up at Dom who was standing next to me.

“Can you give us a minute?”

Dom looked at me, “Do you want me to stay or go?”

“It’s OK Dom, could you grab me something out of the vending machine? Then we can finish our movie.”

He threw his shoes and shirt on and bent to kiss me before he left.

“What do you want Matti?”

“I owe you an apology.”

“For?”

“For putting you through hell. For ruining what we had and most of all for hurting you. The baby isn’t mine.”

“How do you know? It's not even here yet.”

“She had the baby tested for genetic disorders. It has a genetic disorder and it’s hereditary. It can only come from the father and when they did my testing, I didn’t have it. Eva was so jealous of you and our relationship she got pregnant on purpose and tried to trap me.” He paused and continued,” I tried to call but you didn’t answer. I went to find Malachi so I could find where you were, and I found you in Dom’s arms on the dance floor. I was crushed but I did this to myself. I’m in love with you Taryn. That hasn’t changed. You're also worth waiting for. For now, I wish to at least be friends?”

“We can try.”

“Good. I must go. I have a flight to catch. Can we catch up when I get back?”

“Sure. Get ahold of me.”

He saw himself out and I waited for Dom to come back. I only had to wait about ten minutes, and he came strolling through the door with a bag of chips in his hand.

“How did it go?”

“He apologized.”

“That’s interesting. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. Matti and I are over. He wants to be friends and I’m OK with that. I’d rather focus on my future and he probably won’t be a big part of that.”

“So, who will be?” He asked, laying down on the bed next to me.

“Malachi and Viv for sure. My parents. Maybe Nathan if Viv keeps him around and you.” I said looking directly at him.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily. I don’t plan on going anywhere. I wanted to see if you wanted to move off campus. Maybe into my apartment with me?”

My mouth dropped open. I had to quickly collect myself. I loved being near Dom. He was intoxicating and drove me wild. I loved the feeling I got when he was near. Even if he wasn’t in my eye line the familiar pull told me he wasn’t far away. I wanted him. I wanted to be with him. But was I ready to take a big step and move in with him?

“What about Lila?”

“I’m not concerned with Lila,” he replied.

“I am. She is already determined to make my life a living hell. I don’t want to attract anymore of her attention than necessary.”

“How about you let me worry about Lila? If she gives you trouble, I’ll take care of it.”

“If I say yes, can we keep most of my things here for a while? Just until we're sure it will work out. I snore and I like to dance around in my underwear to Aretha Franklin. Those might be deal breakers,” I said with a giggle.

“There are no deal breakers when it comes to you,” he said kissing my forehead, “We’ll do this however you want to. I just know I’m in love with you and have been since the first time I saw you. All I want is to be with you.” He kissed me gently on the lips as he produced a key.

“You knew I was going to say yes ahead of time.”

“No. I was hopeful.”

“How do you think Malachi is going to take this?”

“Probably as well as he did when he found out I seduced his baby sister,” he said with a laugh and a smile that reached his eyes.

At this moment, I’m happy, and everything is perfect. If I only knew what awaited me in the future. Right now, nothing matters, just him and I and our future. Only a s**t storm had been brewing and we were at the center of it. All the perfect elements came together and had aligned for the perfect storm. We weren’t prepared for the storm and it was about to hit us head on.