A Dominant Fallen (A Dominant Series Book 2) (49 page)

He must feel me watching him because his eyes spring open, startling me. I smirk down at him nervously, feeling as if I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t. He smiles sleepily back at me and wraps his arm about me, pulling me into my nook. I rest my head on his steadily moving chest and listen to his strong heartbeat, letting the reassuring rhythm calm me. He rests his cheek atop my head, and I let out a sigh, pleased by the tender gesture.

“Why are you still up, angel?” He brushes some loose, fair strands out of my face. “I would think you’d be out for a week after the fucking I gave you.”

“I’m just thinking about the wedding, my vows.”

“Would you like to go over them with me?” he asks, kissing me on the crown.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I mean, isn’t that against the rules or something?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never been married before.”

“You better not,” I teasingly threaten him, poking him lightly in the chest, and I feel the smirk stretch across his face.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he suggests in a youthful tone.

“You are so immature,” I giggle out.

“More mature than you,” he retorts with a chuckle. We laugh together, enjoying this rare moment of youthful playfulness.

I ease, sinking into his side, and inquire, “Would you tell me yours first?”

He pets the side of my face, making me feel loved, secure. I tilt my head up to look into his emerald eyes, focused intensely on mine.

“Gabrielle, my angel, my light, the love I possess for you is infinite. You are my heartbeat. Without you, I would not exist. I give you my love to keep in your heart, beating for only me, as mine beats for you.

“My dearest Elle, I vow to love you as you deserve, protect you from those who seek to harm, and nurture you for all my days on this earth, as long as air fills my lungs. I vow, not just as your husband, but as your Dom, to worship you with every fiber of my being, my sweet sub, to free you from your emotional cage and help you discover the woman you are destined to become. I vow to be everything you need, friend, lover, mentor, keeper of your mind, body, and soul. I vow my life and everything I am to you, my world.”

I stare up at him with large, watery eyes, watching him with loving fascination.

“Oh, Damian, that was truly beautiful,” I murmur with quivering lips.

“I meant every syllable, angel.” He kisses me on the forehead, breathing out a sigh of contentment. “Those are my vows to you, for only your ears.”

I nuzzle my head into his chest, nervous about what I’ve decided to say to him. His words are pure poetry. He could order a grilled cheese sandwich and make it sound appealing.

Well, here goes everything.

I clear my throat and lift my head up to gaze into those bring-me-to-my-knees eyes. He stares at me with an inquisitive gleam.

“What is it, angel?”

“Damian, my loving Dom, you’ve freed me from myself. I love you more with every second, minute, hour, day that passes. My vows may be simple but they are honest and come from my heart.

“I vow to be open and honest with you, to let you inside. I vow to understand that you only have my best interest at heart, guiding me toward the woman I want to be, a woman worthy of you, which I hope to be one day. I vow to be your obedient, giving sub when you desire it, and your strong, feisty partner, keeping you in check when you get out of line. I vow to give myself to you wholly, to trust you with everything I am because you deserve nothing less.”

“I love you, Elle,” he murmurs and kisses my lips gently, holding them there for a moment. When we break, his brilliant green eyes are full of love and hope, gazing at me in a way I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen his worshipping look of devotion, and his body-trembling look of passion, both intense, but this, this far surpasses them all.

Something Blue

I
’m gently roused out of slumber by Hunt’s lips up and down my body. I smile to myself and reach out for his hair. He looks up at me from my tummy and smirks back at me, never stopping his admiring attention to my body.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door, and we stare at each other with wide eyes.

“Damian, open up, we know Elle’s in there with you,” Maya states and knocks again. We start laughing softly. Hunt presses his face into my stomach, still chuckling and shaking his head.

“I guess we’ve been caught,” I whisper, rubbing his sexy, sleep-mussed hair.

“I suppose we have.”

He lifts his head up and gazes at me.

“Come on, you guys,” Maya practically bangs on the door, “open the dang door.”

“Give us a minute,” I call back to her.

She groans and walks away.

“So, are you ready for the big day, Miss Hyde?” Damian inquires, lifting himself up the bed to lie beside me.

“I’m excited, but nervous,” I answer honestly.

“You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?” He curls his arm about my waist and pulls me into my nook. I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, strong and steady, and sigh, content.

“No second thoughts…I’m anxious about all those people’s eyes on me, watching me, admiring me. It just isn’t my cup of tea.”

“I would think you’d be used to it by now.”

“Why do you say that?” He scoops his finger under my chin, lifting my face close to his. “Gabrielle, don’t you realize how fucking beautiful you are? Don’t you notice how men and women gawk at you?”

“No, I can’t say that I have. However, I do notice how the women fawn over you, practically begging to worship your glorious Dom cock.”

He laughs uproariously. “They may fawn over me all they please. I couldn’t care less. The only woman’s affection and admiration I crave is yours. As long as I have you, nothing else matters…You’re the most exquisite, classy, sexy, intelligent woman, Elle, and I thank the heavens every day that I have you in my life.”

“Oh, Damian, I love you,” I murmur, entranced by his beautiful words. “You always know just what to say.”

He glides his finger down the side of my face, gazing down at me with a worshipping glint in those endless pools of green. His lips creep toward mine when there is another loud knock at the door.

I sigh, aggravated, and say, “We said we need a moment, Maya.”

“Guess again,” Pierce says with a less-than-happy tone in his voice. Hunt and I leap out of the bed and throw on our clothes, which are tossed about the floor. Then, once we’re decent, we unlock the door and open it up, finding him standing before us with his arms crossed and his brow raised. He’s obviously disappointed in us, and I can see where Hunt got his intense, all-knowing stare from.

“I don’t think either one of your mothers would approve of this, do you?”

Is he really doing this? Seriously?

“No, sir,” Hunt answers, but I can only stare at him, embarrassed.

“Well, young lady, do you?” he inquires, turning his gaze on me.

“No, sir,” I reply without hesitation.

“Excellent,” he says, relaxing. “You’re lucky they both went out to run a few errands…I believe you’re needed back up in your room, Ellie dear.”

“Yes, sir,” I utter and walk past him, heading down the hall as quickly as my feet will take me.

“Gabrielle,” Hunt calls out to me.

I turn back to him and spot the overjoyed look on his face, his smile stretching from ear-to-ear. I smile back at him then make my way to my room.

A
fter hours of girl time, prepping and primping, I stare into the mirror, studying myself with disbelief. Here I am alone, moments away from the most significant thing I will ever do, and all I can do is stare at my white-adorned reflection, petrified.

Get ahold of yourself, Ellie girl. It’s just that shitty old panic. You got this.

I admire my breathtaking satin gown, with a trumpet silhouette, hugging my curves to just under my full hips, cap sleeves, and a V-neckline. My freshly polished feet are adorned by matching white satin, pointed toe pumps with an opulent wing-shaped crystal embellishment. My golden, wavy tresses are swept back into a low, loose bun, and my makeup has been applied to perfection, a subtle cat eye with cherry red lips. I feel very old Hollywood.

“Oh, Ellie,” my mother’s voice coos out, “you are an exquisite bride.”

I turn to her with the panic splashed across my face.

“Mom,” I murmur.

“What’s wrong, darling?” She walks over to me, clasping her hands on my biceps. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I don’t know…Am I making a mistake? Is this too soon?”

“Ah, cold feet. No, Ellie, you aren’t making a mistake. Every relationship is different and moves at its own pace.”

“But,” I sputter out.

“I know just what you need. Wait here,” she orders, leaving and heading down the stairs. I stand there in the middle of the room, frozen like a statue. A few moments later, I hear heavy footsteps coming back up, not the soft step of my mother’s delicate, tiny feet.

“Gabrielle?” Hunt says, finding me and staring with utter awe on his stunning face. He’s dressed to the nines in a charcoal gray three-piece suit and a plum tie. I notice his belt, my favorite belt, when the late afternoon sun hits the buckle, glinting in the fiery light. He’s simply breathtaking. “Oh, Elle, you really are an angel.”

I notice the tears forming in the corners of his eyes, the admiration, the pure love that he holds for me. I realize why my mom sent him up here. She knew once I saw him, all my fears would vanish, and they have.

“Your mother told me you needed me…Are you alright, angel?”

“Yes, I am now,” I assure him, smiling softly. “I thought you weren’t supposed to see me in my dress before the wedding. It’s terribly bad luck.”

He chuckles. “I don’t believe in silly superstitions. I’m a man who believes you make your own luck in life. Besides, we seem to be breaking all the rules,” he says, referring to our night together.

“Well, in that case,” I murmur, taking a slow spin so he can study me better, then I lift the hem of my skirt to show off the crystal encrusted angel wings on my shoes.

“Those are very fitting for an angel such as yourself, my angel. Gabrielle, you are beyond any words could ever hope to describe. You leave me speechless.”

“Thank you, sir,” I say with a shy smirk. “You look quite dashing yourself.”

I notice the two glasses of wine in his hand as he walks toward me. “Do you think wine is a wise choice?”

“Normally, I would say no, but this is special.” He hands me a glass. “This is your father’s private reserve. I thought…”

“Oh, Damian, how thoughtful,” I say softly as tears begin to choke me up. “It’s perfect.”

I lean in and kiss his chin, shutting my eyes tightly until the tears are forced out. He wraps an arm about my waist, holding me at his side, right where I belong.

“To us and our family, both present and future,” he toasts.

“To the future.”

We clink our glasses and take a nice, nerve-calming sip. The fragrant wine fills my mouth and lingers in my nose. It’s delicious.

“Are you feeling better?” he asks, tightening his grip about me.

“It was just my old panic come back to haunt me,” I say and tilt myself in to whisper in his ear. “Can I tell you something?”

“Anything, you know that,” he whispers back with a gentle smirk.

“When I first saw you the night we met, I knew you were going to be important to me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to live without you, and I know it more now than I did then. You’re the sun to my world, Damian. It’s revolves around you.”

He takes the glass from my hand and sets them both down on the bedside table. He turns back to me and shoves his hand in his pocket, pulling out a black velvet, rectangular jewelry box.

“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about this, but I wanted to give you a wedding/ early birthday gift.”

He opens the box, revealing a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet with matching diamond stud earrings.

“Oh, Hunt,” I whisper.

He takes out the dazzling bracelet, holding it up so I can admire it, and asks in a gentle tone, “May I?”

I nod and hold out my hand, allowing him to clasp it about my wrist. He picks out the earrings and proceeds to pin them into the soft lobe of my ear as I twist the bracelet about, admiring its sparkling radiance when the light hits it just right.

“Thank you, Damian, these are absolutely exquisite.”

I stare up into his emerald eyes, clear and brilliant, and smirk at him lovingly. He snatches me up into his arms, in that way only he can, and comes down on me with a desperate yet loving passion that causes the world to vanish around us.

I wrap my arms about his neck, pulling him harshly onto my ravenous mouth, and his hold on me tightens. We start grabbing wildly at each other while our mouths greedily attack.

“Oh jeez, not yet,” Maya says with mock disgust from behind me. We release each other quickly and fix ourselves up. “You’re at least supposed to wait until you’ve said I do.”