Nineteen

Like several other occasions, hearing Kyle’s name triggered something in me and in a jiffy, I retracted my hand from his hold and sat up. I gathered the sheets against my naked body and glared at the man who had just taken me to new heights of pleasure. “Grace…” I held out a cautionary finger at him as I scuffled out of his bed.

“Don’t…” As I got down, a huge ball of not so necessary realization hit me and I faced the naked man with a frown on my face. “W…what am I even doing here? I…” I searched for my clothes frantically. “I shouldn’t be here. We… we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Grace…” He sat up, reached for a towel folded at the end of his bed and he wrapped it around his waist as he got up and stood in front of me. “Grace, just calm down.” His hardened face looked down at me.

“I can’t calm down. You know I should not be here, I should not be doing this.” I ranted on as I struggled to keep the sheets around me intact. “Wait, how do you about Kyle?”

“I had to find out who you went to visit that made you get so sad and... drunk.” He responded gruffly.

“ You had to freaking find out? There is something called privacy Mr. Powers and you even though you have seen all of me, you still need to respect the fact that are certain things I would like to keep to myself.” I reached for my night gown and put it on hurriedly.

“Grace you clearly need to talk about him. So just calm down.”

“No, no.” I shook my head at him as disbelief ran through my head. I finally knew why I wanted to feel like I was betraying someone after my first heated moment with Mr Powers.
“I need to get out of here.” I searched for my undergarments and when I found them, I sent him a sharp glare. When I saw how calm he looked, I suddenly realized that I was over reacting a bit. But still, I needed to get out to clear my head, so I left and went into my room.

With no intention to start thinking about the man who was once in my life at that moment, I dropped my bra and panties onto the bed and jumped into bed to force myself to sleep.

*********

“Grace are you fine?” Jeremy’s already distant voice called me out of my deep thoughts. Shaking off the fog in my mind, I faced him with a little smile.

“Yes, yes. I am.”

He and Ruby shared a look. “You have sighed three times in a row since you sat down. There is clearly something you are dealing with.”

I leaned into the couch and dropped my phone beside me. “There is something I am dealing with.” Ever since the previous night I was not able to get Kyle out of my mind no matter how hard I tried. The look on his face when…

“Grace, you are doing it again.” I raised a brow in question. “Over thinking.” He left Ruby’s side and had a seat beside me. “If there is something I have learnt in life it would be sharing my problems when they become too much of a burden to bear.” His green eyes darted across my face.
“ So, I highly recommend that you talk to someone about whatever is bothering you. And…” He reached for my hand that kept tapping the hard leather and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I am here to talk, if you decide to.”

“You are right, I should talk to someone.” I bit into my lower lip. “I should talk to someone.”
But not you. I said in my mind as I got up and made my way upstairs, ignoring the inquisitive look on Jeremy’s face. “You guys will be fine right? You won’t need anything?”

“No,” He shifted in his seat. “,we won’t.” With his eyes narrowed at me, I threw him a grand smile and went all the way to Mr. Powers room.

Standing in front of his door, I started to replay my reaction when he had mentioned Kyle’s name the night before. I said things that instantly looked like a lie immediately they were blurted. But I was angry and sad and… terrified?

My hand made into a fist, I hit the hard wood with three knocks. “Mr. Powers? It is me, Grace.” And I waited.
Soon, his door was whipped open and my line of sight went to the tall man who held on to the handle of the door as he took a step forward. He looked oddly different, like he added a feature or two to his whole being that just made him look beautiful in my eyes. Unable to decipher what it was and… entranced by him, I stood there staring at him until he called me out of it.

“Miss Sands?” He had a brow cocked.

“Oh! I uh…” I sagged my shoulders a bit as I struggled to find a word to say. “I might have over reacted yesterday.” I clasped my hands behind me as I awaited a response from the man who happened to be playing with his jaws as he grazed me from head to toe.

“I should have approached the matter differently.” His lips parted to let out a whiff of air.

Playing with my fingers to help ignore the feeling his little eye excursion was giving me, I said, “I really do need someone to talk to.”

“I happen to be a great listener.” Maybe it was his extremely roughened hair that made him look different.

I tried to hide my smile. “I guess I am in luck.” He opened his door a bit wider and gestured for me to go in. The bed was still rough and the thought that he was taking me inside him against those very sheets made my skin flush.

I took a seat on his bed.

When Mr. Powers, found his seat just beside me, I looked up at him. Giving him a shy smile which he returned with more eyebrow quirking, I started to reason out where to start the conversation from.

“You were severely drunk Grace.” His long lashes blinked and his eyes went to his feet. “I was so concerned.” I felt my heart jump . When his blueness met my eyes again, I felt a flutter in my stomach.
“I just had to know who it was that you went to visit at the graveyard that made you that sad.” For a man that had little emotions displayed over his face, his deep voice did not hesitate in giving hints of the ones tucked inside him.

“Dominic…” I could tell how genuine his words were, I instantly felt guilty for telling him off. “I…” I closed my eyes briefly as I realized I was about to talk about the one topic I have avoided for two solid years.
During my struggle to let words out, I felt a large hand cup mine assuredly and I just had to smile to express the bliss I felt within me.

“Kyle is,” My heart squeezed so tight with pain that I squeezed the mattress with my free hand to get a hold of myself. “,was, my fiancé. He died two years ago.”
I could already feel tears forming a film on my eyes. This was going to be hard. But according to Jeremy, it was time I got my burdens out of my chest. “After two years of dating, he proposed to me. I still remember his proposal.” I let out a light laugh. “It was sort of cliché, but I loved it anyway because I loved Kyle so much. He proposed just right beside the Empire state building."

I chuckled sadly as my already pouring eyes faced Mr Powers.

I wiped off the tears and looked down at the tiles, the tone of my voice soon changing into a more serious one. “I had already said yes, the ring was sitting so beautifully on my finger. I was happy. But not for too long.”
Slowly, I removed my hand from his hold and ran both of them through my hair which I clutched at some point because the pain I was feeling at that moment was becoming too much. So much that I couldn’t cry anymore.

“Kyle got a call. He had to cross to the other side to get something after the call ended. You should have seen me, the happy bride to be, I kept my eyes on him as he crossed. I shouldn’t have looked.” I threw my hands dejectedly.
" I still… it happened so freaking fast. Next thing I know, Kyle…” My hands shook as I took a very deep breath in. “Kyle was…” I gulped. “Kyle was lying on the road shattered into pieces.” With bulged eyes I faced Dominic who had kept his sight on me all the while.

“He was shattered. Into pieces. His eyes were staring right back at me. I was so shocked that for a year I kept believing that he was going to come back to me. I didn’t cry for a year.” I huffed. “I just went by my normal day and kept telling myself; Kyle is coming back.”

I gripped onto Dominic’s left arm, my tiny hand barely covering any area. “He never did. Almost another year went by, he still never did. Then, I knew that he never will. I watched him die, so he never will.” I removed my tightened grasp.
“Before I lost my job, just right after I realized he wasn’t ever coming back, I cried myself out for two weeks. The tears I avoided for more than a year, I cried them all out just in two weeks.”

I shook my head pitifully. “I was a mess. And I further became a bigger mess when I took up the lifestyle of getting excessively drunk then having numerous night stands. It took losing my job to realize how much that lifestyle was affecting me.” I made a clicking sound with my mouth.
“And for the first time, I visited his grave two years after his death. I lost it and I had to just fall back into my old lifestyle for a bit and I am sure I made a mess of myself.”
My head tilting towards, his direction and I gave him a messed up sheepish smile.

“I told you, you were sexy.” His voice came out hoarse and I could tell he did not intend that because he cleared his throat right after.

Flattered and amused, I looked ahead. “I love Kyle a lot. But then, I hate him too. I hate him because he is never going to come back. I hate him because even though I know he isn’t going to come back, I cannot help but hesitate when it comes to moving on in that aspect because I am afraid he would suddenly pop out of nowhere.”

“That is a lot of hate for someone you love.”

“I can’t help it.” Sighing, I faced him with my lips parted and eyes narrowed as I found my words. “I think I know why I over reacted last night.”

“Why?” He folded his arms.

“I have found a way to move on… with you, somehow. Hearing his name pop up after such an… such a moment, made me angry that he was hindering me from having something more.”
I was speaking with a calmer, less pained mind. Besides, what good is it if I choose to dwell on the pain? I will just end up depriving myself of something good.

“Is that it?”

“No, it is actually me. I am scared. I was scared when I heard his name all of a sudden. I felt…”

“Like he would suddenly pop out of nowhere?”

I inhaled deeply then dropped off the air abruptly. “Yes. I like what is… going on here. I can’t believe I just said that, but I do.” The volume of my voice had turned low like it was telling a dark secret.

He narrowed his beautiful eyes. “Do you need me to kiss the fear out you again?” I laughed out loud, my eyes definitely beaming with delight as they settled on his amused ones.

“I have ignored the need to heal from my pain for too long. I think it is time I faced it. And I know just how…” Slowly I leaned in closer towards Dominic’s lips but he soon stopped me with his finger.

“Grace, are you sure this is what you want? I can’t promise anything Grace.”

As his eyes searched mine, I replied, “Yes Dominic. I want this. You are my way to deal with this pain. Kyle is gone and I need to move on. And… I want…” A short smile played on my lips as I became more certain of what I was about to say. “I want you.”
I know I wanted him to always be the one making the first move, but I just couldn’t hold back.

“Don’t tease me Grace.” His eyes flickered to my lips that had made it inches away from his. “Don’t, tease me. First…” He shifted a bit. “I need to make sure you are fine. You just downloaded a very sad tale to me. It is quite weird that the next thing you want is to want me. If I am correct, most people cry after such things.”

“My days of mourning are over Mr. Powers. I can no longer afford to brood over the past. So, I am fine.” I assured him. My days of running away from a significant change in my life was over. And with a seemingly interesting thing already going on between my employer and I, I was more than fine.

Studying me with his narrowed eyes, he gave a curt nod and a smirk soon replaced his grim look. “Call me Dominic, Grace.”

I leaned in a bit further. “Yes sir,” I replied with this soft whisper that I could tell moved something in the man.

“Damn you Grace.” Soon, his hand pulled at my hair gently and he attached his lips to mine. With a new sense of hunger rushing all over me, I stood up slightly and positioned myself to straddle him as the kiss got the room more tensioned.
His hand found my butt cheeks and he squeezed a side a bit to my pleasure, I just had to moan into the kiss. With a sensation triggered at my center, I begin to grind rhythmically against his manhood in order to start my trip to pleasure land.

I was beginning to take control when he held me by the waist firmly and took charge. Soon, I was moving at his own pace. Which was a better pace because it made me unlatch my lips from his as they let out an unexpected gasp. “Dominic!” I cried softly as his already hard member made the friction a lot more better.

“I love it when you call my name.” His lips reached for my right ear and he licked across the lobe to my delight. “It is just so sexy. You are beautiful.” His words just kept making my heart jump out of its position.
He planted a kiss behind my ear and soon left a trail down my neck. Already ready and eager to feel him, I reached for his t-shirt and pulled it off him.

“Now, to make it even.” I looked lustfully into his eyes as I reached for the zipper of my gown and got the dress off me. Enjoying the manner with which his eyes hungered over the sight before him, I resume grinding into him through his shorts.
I felt the pool down there get bigger by the second as I got more and more ignited. After a minute of doing nothing but look at me, Dominic reached for my pant but he is interrupted when a knock came from outside.

“Grace, I am on break,” Ruby’s tiny voice said from the other side.

“Oh shit.” I jumped off him. As I hurriedly put on my gown and got myself adjusted, I informed Dominic, “It is time for her to take her medications.” As I made for the door, his hand pulled me back towards him and he gave me a kiss.

When the kiss ended, he said, “We will continue this some other time.” I grinned at him and walked out, feeling sexy because I could feel his eyes watching me.

“Hey Ruby. Sorry, I was just having a little chat with daddy.” I reached for her hand and as we both walked towards her room, I just couldn’t wipe away this dreamy smile off my face. I guess sharing my burden with the man I was extremely attracted to turned out to be a good idea.

I was feeling happier for the first time in two years