The Duchess of York

Margaret- Departure

The country was my home, cities felt too cold to be considered anything other than a place to shop, granted I didn't like to shop either. As I watched the last bit of trees fading from my view as the car we were in sped down the road, Dominick's driver was taking us to the airport, to an unknown destination. My mother had lost it when we weren't packed, she had broken down crying in front of Dominick. She had apologized for my "dramatic" event, I couldn't speak when she had fallen to her knees, I was devastated. My mother had lost any sense of self respect, Dominick had looked disgusted as he stared down at my mother. It broke my heart. Dominick had dismissed her quickly, he told her he would buy anything we needed on our trip, I was grateful he hadn't called it a honeymoon. In an instant my shameless mother had stopped crying, stood up and left the room with a smile and wave. The disgusted look on Dominick's face didn't falter, until he looked at me. He pushed his hand through his hair and I noticed it was a reaction he did a lot whenever he seemed uncomfortable. I looked at him as he typed away on his laptop, he had mentioned he had emails that needed to be answered. The little bit I knew about Collins CO was centered around the other businesses they bought, they owned multiple companies ranging in different types of products and services. They were one of the most well known holding companies in Europe, with a good connection with other companies in America. Dominick was concentrated on his work and he scrunched his nose whenever he read through a new email. It was cute, his attitude still needed to be fixed, though I doubted he would ever change in that regard. The driver cleared his throat catching my attention, Dominick was still glued to his work and I honestly hoped he would stay that way for the whole week we would be away. He would be less tempting that way, I focused my attention on the driver as the car slowed.

"Mr. Collins we are approaching the airport" His voice had a thick Scottish accent, Dominick looked over at me and nodded seemingly to himself.

"Thank you Rory." Dominick sounded tired and I watched as he again pushed his hand through his hair. I bit my lip to stop myself from asking if he was okay, I had to stop. It was a reflex, but it gave the wrong impression. I looked at the building we were now parked in front of, a plane flew over us and I felt my stomach flip. I had only been on a plane a handful of times, it was not a past time I enjoyed. If I were to go on a vacation I would rather ride a train or boat, those were comfortable forms of transportation. Dominick exited the car and walked around to my side, he held out his hand to help me out. I wearily grabbed his hand as I moved to leave the car, the heels my mother suggested I wear were not suited for travel. Though they did make my legs look good, I knew because I had caught Dominick staring twice. He had tried to seem nonchalant, but he had the look of a school boy who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Jasmine had pulled my hair into a loose bun, allowing a few strands of my hair to frame my face, I looked decent enough to stand next to Dominick in all his easy good looking presence. He was wearing a casual pair of trousers with nice looking trainers, he looked normal, not a wealthy business man or future Duke. But he was still getting looks from every woman and some men as we passed through the airport, he really did look good no matter what he wore. I didn't realize I had been staring at him until he smirked at me and put his arm around my waist, I nearly tripped over my feet at his touch, but he kept me steady.

"My Love, you are making me blush, should we cancel our trip and head back to our bed?" The prick had the audacity to nearly yell and I glared at him. He wanted people to look at us, he loved that the attention might embarrass me. Well two can play that game. I shifted my expression into one I hoped was seductive to others, I moved closer to him as we stopped in line to a baggage claim, strangers were now openly staring at us. I lifted one hand to his chest and looked up from underneath my lashes.

"Dominick, how could I pass up a honeymoon with you? I want to be in as many beds as I can with you." I felt my cheeks blaze, but the expression on Dominick's face was worth it, he looked annoyed and possibly in pain. I wondered if he was holding back from yelling at me, the giddiness I felt in winning the battle took me over and I grinned up at him. He slowly leaned down to whisper in my ear, I froze.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep Margaret." His voice was low and I shivered in his arms, he grinned at me as he moved away. He won. I said nothing as I turned away from him, I tried to keep my breathing even as my body responded to his words. No man had ever caused such a strong reaction from me, and I didn't know how to react to that knowledge, I looked over at him as he handed his briefcase to a guard in the line, he was still grinning. He was so annoying! I passed my hand bag to the guard on my side and we were ushered through the line to collect our items on the other side of the conveyor belt. We walked up to the terminal matching our tickets, flight from London City to Aruba. I looked at Dominick and I knew my mouth was hanging open, what was my mother thinking?! It was at least a 12 hour flight! My stomach churned as my anxiety about traveling rose to the surface. Before I lost entirely to my mind I heard a chuckle, I snapped my head to Dominick who was looking down at me.

"I have never been to Aruba, maybe we can make a good trip out of it." How was he so carefree? I was used to that attitude from Jas, not Dominick freaking Collins. I looked between him and the woman now calling for first class passengers, Dominick walked forward and I had to nearly run to keep up with his long strides. He grabbed my ticket and passed it to the woman who was leaning over her podium, she was giving him bedroom eyes and pushing out her chest trying to show as much of herself that would be considered socially acceptable, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh two for first class thank you for choosing our airlines today!" Her enthusiasm must have been too much because Dominick grabbed my hand and pulled me forward.

"My wife decided on this airline, it's our honeymoon." He leaned down to peck me on the lips, and the look the woman shot me proved she had been hoping to flirt with Dominick more. I kicked his shin when his lips lingered a second too long and he stood up smiling down at me as if it hadn't even phased him. As we walked by I heard Dominick chuckle, it turns out he laughed a lot.

"Why did you do that?" I seethed at him, he looked at me before laughing some more. A flight attendant showed us our seats and offered us wine which I gladly took.

"Would you like me to go back and accept her invitation? She did have a nice body, wouldn't be bad for a night. Maybe you could watch from the couch of our shared room." His eyes darkened as he spoke, maybe he enjoyed an audience while he got pleasure but I sure as hell would never be a part of it.

"In your dreams" I spat at him, ignoring the blush creeping up my neck.

"If my dreams were on the table, you would not be in the corner." the look he was giving me made me feel ten times hotter than it actually was, I wanted to look away but I couldn't.

"No, Margaret if it was my dream you would be under me." The sound of his voice was so damn low and I felt heat run over me, s**t. I had to be as red as a tomato but Dominick's eyes were watching me as if I was the most captivating thing he had ever seen. I bit my bottom lip and his eyes darted down, he lifted his hand and ran his thumb over my lip releasing it from my teeth. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me, and I was probably a second away from crawling into his lap, but a woman cleared her throat and Dominick released me. I ignored the words they exchanged as I attempted to get my traitorous mind calmed down. The flight would be about 12 hours of pure torture. I was not prepared.