Page 117 of Between Love and Loathing

“Please just make me forget,” she said instead.

Her begging for that just made me fuck her more desperately.

And she cried out, “Harder, Dominic. Harder.”

I was gripping her hips so tightly, I knew there would be bruises but she met each thrust of mine with her body, like she couldn’t get enough. “You feel that? Your pussy feels who owns it for real, little fighter. You can’t fight this. Tell me you understand.”

Again, she didn’t respond.

“So, I guess you’re going to make me prove I own it.”

She nodded right as her sex clamped down on me like a vice.

I thrust in twice more as I ground out, “That’s it, Clara. Take my dick, baby. Just how you like it. Just how it’s meant for you. You do it so well.”

I emptied all of me into her.

It’s the only place I would do it from this point forward anyway.

And I was going to prove it.

CLARA

He said he had something to show me after we’d made a complete mess of ourselves in Valentino’s restaurant, that we deserved a weekend away to figure everything out.

I wasn’t so sure. Could you figure out love and heartbreak at the same time?

I was only sure that suddenly I was strong enough to endure them both. I’d confronted him. I’d lost myself to him again. And I’d picked myself back up.

That week, I’d also stood up to my family, opened my bakery, taken what I wanted finally, and managed to get through it. I wasn’t just surviving, I was thriving here, and I wanted to thrive with or without him.

I owed that to myself. Everyone did. Our hearts and souls deserve for us to be our number one advocate. If you don’t fight for yourself, who will?

I agreed to go with him under one condition. “You bring Sugar and Spice over after if we don’t work all this out, no fight.”

“Clara,” he warned, but I was ready.

“They’re mine, and they need their mother.”

“When do I get to see them if you’re not happy after this weekend?” He looked so desperate in his pursuit of me suddenly and my heart yearned to just give in, but I had to be sure.

“Well, I can bring them to the bakery, I guess.” I tried not to laugh because I knew he would totally disagree with cats in his resort.

His jaw ticked, once, twice, three times before he ground out, “Fine. At least two days a week.”

I think my eyes bugged completely out of their sockets, but I tried to hide it by blinking over and over again at the tears that were filling my eyes. “Fine. I’ll go with you this weekend.”

“There was unexpected weather there so I’d like to see it now if possible. Two days. Make sure your staff can manage without you this weekend.”

I had to clarify. “I’m not staying with you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see.”

That’s how I ended up in the SUV with Callihan driving us up the side of a mountain that weekend. When I got in, I started, “It’s probably best to clear the air.”

He just shook his head, laptop already open as he typed away. “Wait until we get to the resort I want to show you. I’m working on something.”

“Working?” I questioned and he just nodded. “Didn’t you invite me so we could talk?”