ALL HE DESIRES (Voluptuous Woman Series) (13 page)

Dominique placed her hand on her hips. “You better be glad that’s all I left.”

Scowling, Jordan lifted a dark brow. “When did you become such a hellion?”

“About the same time you became a damn jerk.”

Slowly, still struggling to keep his anger under control, he stared at her for the longest time without saying anything. She stared right back.

A few moments later, he sighed in frustration. They weren’t getting anywhere. “Dominique, I--”

“What are you doing here, Jordan?” she interrupted whatever he was about to say as she tried to hold on to her composure. “Haven’t you done enough?”

Her questions had a staggering effect. Jordan studied and wondered if all their lovemaking yesterday had sent her to the emergency room or something. Had making love to her all those times with such intensity hurt her in some way physically?

Not knowing the answer to that question he leaned forward and asked softly. “Did I hurt you yesterday?” His voice filled with the same deep concern that was reflected in his eyes. He lifted his hand to gently rub his finger across her cheek.

Dominique drew in a shuddering breath from his touch, mesmerized by the intensity of his care and concern. Thinking he was referring to the phone call she had overheard, she responded quietly. “How could you think you had not hurt me?”

The distress and regret in his features were evident with her response. “You were at the hospital all this time?”

Dominique’s eyes glittered in confusion. “The hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Why would I have gone to the hospital?”

Now it was Jordan’s time to look confused. “You just said I had hurt you.”

Dominique shook her head. Clearly they weren’t on the same page. “Just what kind of hurt are you talking about?”

Jordan lifted a brow. “What kind of hurt are you talking about?”

Dominique glared at him. “Like you don’t know,” she snapped.

Jordan shook his head in frustration. “I don’t know, Dominique.”

“Then I suggest you go home and try to figure it out.”

Jordan met her glare. “I’m not going anywhere until we get this cleared up,” he snapped, finally losing it. “You and I are going to talk.”

Dominique crossed her arms over her chest. “We have nothing to say.”

“The hell we don’t,” Jordan said, crossing his arms over his chest as well.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, why can’t you—“

She never finished her statement because Jordan pulled her into his arms and began kissing her, and her treacherous body let him; and actually enjoyed it as his tongue mated with hers.

When he finally ended the kiss, she regained her senses and tried pulling away from him.

“I’m not letting you go. We’re having this out, baby. Here and now. I’m not going to lose another night’s sleep or miss another meal because of you.”

“Oh, your conscience is bothering you now, huh?” she snapped.

“Among other things,” he said thinking of how his body was aching for her.

She noted his arousal and lifted her chin and glared at him. “You’re nothing but an animal.”

He leaned against the door with his arms crossed over his chest. “Then I guess that makes you an animal’s woman.”

“I am not your woman!”

“Oh, yes you are. My brand is all over you, sweetheart. Have you taken a good look at your neck lately? And I’m sure if you were to take off your clothes you would find a number of other such marks over your body.”

Dominique stared at him, her face flush. “And to think that I thought you were special.”

He heard the pain as well as the disappointment in her voice and it cut him to the core. “And I thought you were special, too. I still do. I think you are very special. Nothing and no one will ever change my thinking on that.”

Dominique turned away from him, refusing to let him see the tears that had come into her eyes. But she knew she had not been quick enough and that he had seen them anyway. She suddenly felt the heat of him directly behind her.

Wanting him to know that she knew the truth she turned to him and looked up at him, not caring that he saw the hurt in her features. “If you thought I was so special why did you tell?”

Very gently he asked. “Why did I tell what?”

“Why did you tell what we did?”

For the longest time he looked at her, trying to figure out what she was talking about then said. “I didn’t tell anyone what we did. It was private and between us.”

A single tear dropped from her eye. “I heard you, Jordan. I heard you talking on the phone. I heard what you said.”

For the life of him Jordan still didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her, studying the tears in her eyes. “Okay, if you heard then tell me what I said.”

Dominique closed her eyes as the memory of his words brought her more pain. Moments later she opened them. If he wanted to play dumb he would do so by himself. “You know what you said.”

He reached out and gently pulled her to him. “No, sweetheart, honestly I don’t.”

Dominique glared at him. “Then by all means let me refresh your memory. You told whomever it was that you were talking with on the phone while standing in your kitchen that, and I quote as best I can . . . she was something else and I got just what I wanted and it was well worth the wait and that it wouldn’t bother you in the least if you didn’t see me again.”

Jordan frowned but didn’t say anything. He kept looking at Dominique. In fact he went so far as to tilt his head to the side as he continued to stare at her. When he still didn’t say anything, she said, “Does that ring any bells now?”

“Yes.”

He watched as her shoulders drooped. “And after eavesdropping on that conversation, only part of it I might add, you assumed I was discussing you?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, weren’t you?”

“No.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes. Had you hung around yesterday instead of jumping to your own conclusions, you would have known the person I was talking to on the phone was another attorney who is working on the same case that I am. The person I was talking about was a client’s wife who has been a pain in the rear-end. For the past six months she’s been fighting the petition for divorce and denying her husband’s claim that she was having an affair. Well, information I received yesterday from a courier while you were asleep indicated she’d been lying through her teeth and wasting all of our time. All I was doing was letting this other attorney know that from the photographs my private investigator had given me, that the woman was something else; and saying it was well worth the wait, merely meant that I had been waiting to expose her for the adulterer she was; and saying that it wouldn’t bother me in the least if I never saw her again meant just that, considering all the hell she’s put my client through.”

Dominique swallowed. She hated admitting it but his explanation was plausible. “And it wasn’t about me?”

That single question, after what he’d just explained, set him off. “I just said it wasn’t, Dominique. In fact, I’m highly pissed that you would think that I would tell anyone about what we did. What kind of person do you think I am? You certainly don’t hold me in high esteem.”

She could see the hurt in his eyes and it took her back. It also made her realize that she had been wrong about him. “Well, what was I to think?”

He moved closer to her. “You were to think, after everything that we shared, that I could not in any way say those things about you. But instead you lumped me into the same category as your ex-fiancé and took your role as judge to the hilt by being both judge and jury. And personally, I don’t appreciate you doing that.”

“Jordan, I –”

“No, I think you’ve said enough and it’s nice to know what you think of me.” He turned to leave.

“Jordan, wait!” When he stopped walking but didn’t turn around she said. “I’m sorry, I made a mistake. I jumped to the wrong conclusions. It’s hard for me to accept things at face value sometimes. I overreacted when I should not have.”

He turned around. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

“It’s hard for me to trust men.”

“I can see that. But I’m not just any man, Dominique. I’m the man who became a part of you yesterday in the most elemental way. The man who had to talk himself out of deliberately getting you pregnant, and last but not least, I’m the man who loves you.”

Dominique froze in place. Her gaze searched his. “You love me?”

“Yes, but I guess you’re not going to believe that either. You’re going to tell me that you don’t believe anyone can fall in love with another person that quickly.

New tears burned Dominique’s eyes. “No, I’m not going to tell you that because it happened to me.”

When she saw the uplifting of his brow she said. “I love you, too, Jordan. That’s why I hurt so bad when I thought all I was to you was a conquest to boast about.”

Jordan reached out and pulled her into his arms. “You were wrong, baby. But I guess when I think about it, I can’t expect you to trust me blindly since we haven’t really spent a lot of time together. I suggest we fix that. I want us to start spending more time together, building a stronger relationship between us so nothing like this will happen again.”

He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I love you, I want to marry you and I want you to have my baby. Do you think that’s asking for too much?”

She smiled as pure happiness shone on her face. “No, that’s not asking for too much.”

“Good, because I consider those things the bare essentials.”

Dominique reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I consider those things a part of every woman’s dreams.”

When he lowered his head to hers they sealed their love with a kiss.

“D
o you realize that in less than an hour you will be a married woman? I am so happy for you Dom.”

Dominique smiled at Michelle as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. A little more than a month after their disagreement she and Jordan were getting married, having decided not to wait, since they wanted to be together.

Instead of planning something elaborate they had both decided to do things simply with a private ceremony of family and close friends. Michelle was her maid of honor, and Royce Parker was Jordan’s best man.

Dominique looked across the room at her sister.

“Thanks. I’m pretty happy about everything, too. Jordan is everything I’ve ever wanted in a man.” She then lifted a brow at her sister. “I couldn’t help but notice you and Royce Parker last night. The two of you couldn’t keep your eyes off each other.”

Michelle didn’t try to hide her grin. “Oh, so you noticed?”

Dominique nodded her head. “Of course I noticed.”

Knowing Michelle wasn’t going to tell her anything until she was good and ready, Dominique stood and walked over to the closet to get her dress. It was an off-white tea-length gown. According to her mother and grandmother who had been with her when she’d made the purchase, the dress had been made just for her. She smiled. In a few minutes she would become united with the man she loved.

Jordan ignored the room filled with people as his gaze, his thoughts, and every single part of him concentrated on the woman walking toward him. She was beautiful; stunning.
His
.

He smiled with all the emotions his body could produce. And the warmth of love and appreciation that shone in his eyes sent a silent message to her. He intended to love her forever because to him she was everything essential.

***

NOTE
- If you want to read Royce Parker and Michelle Kincaid’s story, titled Bound by Passion, you can find it in the
ESSENCE OF DESIRE
anthology. ESSENCE OF DESIRE can be purchase at my on-line store –
www.brendajacksononlinestore.com
or at my website –
www.brendajackson.net
.

This story is dedicated to everyone who believes in the power of true love.

We tossed the coin but it is the Lord
who controls its decision.

-Proverbs 16:33

There’s no place like home.

F
or at least four weeks anyway, Blake Savoy thought, glancing around the bedroom where he would be staying for a much needed vacation. Although he totally enjoyed the work he did for a living, after consistently traveling around the world for the past two years he was glad to be back in Alexandria, Virginia.