Nothing Gets Through Ch. 01

"No problem," he assured her. He felt slightly guilty for thinking she was cute when she panicked like that. It didn't seem right that he'd enjoyed the way she'd pressed up against him when trying to get away from the rat. He kept his arm around her shoulders.

"So what parts of Canada are you from?" she asked to distract herself as they walked again. Her heart was still pounding. Ugly little bastards, she thought. She'd been having a perfectly wonderful evening, then the fat furry thing had to show up.

Dom shrugged. He didn't like to talk about such things, so he just said, "Here and there. We moved around a bit." He flashed her a smile. "The cold parts," he said. She smiled and they walked a few minutes more.

"I can get off here," Lani said, stopping at the entrance to the subway. "Thanks for the game, the walk... everything. I had a great time."

"Oh." Dom stood for a moment, lost for words. It was late, and he was tired, but he wanted to stay with her longer. Lani made him feel... happy? he wondered. Something about her had a calming, soothing effect, and he wasn't quite ready for it to end. He searched for a solution, found it when a car whooshed by and honked a horn.

"Let's take a cab," he said. "My treat."

"No, really, that's okay," she said, shaking her head. "You probably need to get back and sleep and have practice or something and --"

"Please," he said. Struck by the force of his gaze, Lani nodded.

x-x-x-x

They talked quietly in the cab, breaking only for Lani to give the occasional direction to the driver. When the cab pulled up in front of the apartment building, Lani was surprised to see Dom step out of the car and pay the driver. She had expected him to continue on to his place. I'd invite him up, she thought, but I don't think I want to subject him to Cherie.

"It was nice of you to see me home," she said, feeling slightly awkward, "but you don't have to stay. I'll be fine from here."

Dom smiled. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Lani blinked. "I wasn't trying... I mean..." then she gave up and laughed again. Dom couldn't help feeling pleased that he'd done it. He found he loved making her laugh. "Okay, sure," she said.

She pressed the button to call the elevator. She tried not to feel self-conscious as Dom studied her again while they waited, but could feel her cheeks flushing. The doors opened and they stepped in. "So, I wanted --" she began, but got no further as Dom pressed her against the back wall with a hungry kiss.

Dom had wanted to kiss her since she'd stumbled over her words in the restaurant. He'd hardly taken his eyes off of her after that. He'd been entranced by the dark hair that matched her eyes, the shape of her mouth as she talked and laughed, and when she'd gone with Dee to the ladies' room, Karl had accused him of ogling her body. Karl had been correct, but Dom had smacked him on the back of the head anyway, on general principles.

Now he wondered how he'd managed to wait so long. Her lips were supple and he held back a groan with difficulty as he pressed his own against her. One hand held her close around the waist and the other traveled almost independently to bury in her silky hair. Her skin smelled lightly of coconut and vanilla, making him think of tropical islands he'd never been to. He teased her lips with the tip of his tongue, and when they opened for him, he thought he might never leave those islands.

Intense. I should have known it would be intense, was the last coherent thought Lani had before Dom's kiss blasted her ability to think. She wrapped her arms around his neck as much to stay upright as to feel him against her. He seemed to want some control, and so she let him take it, sighing lightly when his tongue found hers. His arms felt so strong as they held her in place; he made her feel safe.

They broke the kiss quickly when the elevator chimed and stopped, but apparently whoever had called for it had opted for the stairs. Dom turned to her with a smile, which she returned.

"You're blushing," he told her. She narrowed her eyes.

"It's your fault," she said. He laughed and took her hand.

"It certainly is," he agreed, then pulled her close. "So, is that a penalty?" he asked, eyes glinting.

"I think maybe we'll just stop play and start again in a minute," she teased.

"Okay," he decided. He was about to move in for another kiss when the elevator chimed again for Lani's floor.

"I have to warn you," she said as the elevator stopped, "my roommate is... let's say she entertains a lot. Not clients," she said quickly and Dom grinned, "but she's got a lot of friends." The doors opened and they walked down the hall.

"She sounds... friendly," Dom said with a wink.

"A little too friendly, sometimes," Lani said. "Or at least, I wish she would take her friendships to places a little more private. That's why I was at the coffee shop this morning," she explained. "Cherie had a friend over and... oh, let's just say I felt like the proverbial third wheel." She thought about that. "No, like an involuntary Peeping Tom."

Dom chuckled. "I didn't know you could do that kind of thing involuntarily."

Lani rolled her eyes. "Cherie can make a person do all kinds of things they didn't think they could. Believe me." They were at the apartment door. "Dom, I'd like to invite you in," she began.

"I accept," he said immediately.

"But," she continued, raising an eyebrow, and he feigned disappointment, "I have no idea what I'll find when I open the door. It may not be for the faint of heart."

"Lani," he said, leaning against the wall, "I spent nearly three hours tonight having frozen rubber coming at me at nearly one hundred miles per hour. I don't think your roommate can scare me."

"That's what the last guy said," Lani told him. It was hard to get that sentence out with Dom lounging there, staring down at her with those mischievous but intense eyes. She inserted and turned the key, praying there wouldn't be a repeat of the weekend where she'd walked in on Cherie and one of her "friends" in a compromising position on the coffee table.

"Hey, Lani!" Cherie called when she opened the door. Lani groaned inwardly; Cherie was drunk, she could tell by her voice. This can not end well, Lani thought. "Who do you have there?" Cherie strolled towards the door, hips and wine bottle swaying. Her clothing left little to the imagination, and Cherie had a body that men liked to imagine.

"A friend," Lani told her.

"Then come join the party!" Cherie giggled and pulled Lani in. Dom followed. "Hey, handsome," Cherie said, wrinkling her nose. Dom supposed that was supposed to look cute; instead it made her look like she'd tasted a lemon.

"Hi," he said. Now he understood why Lani had been reluctant to have him come in. He couldn't blame her, and began to wonder if he could get Lani to come to his place. He didn't like the idea of her being here, although he wasn't sure he could give a coherent reason why.

Cherie was about to say something else when a man came over to her. He was shorter than Dom, and was starting to go bald, which didn't prevent him from trying to camouflage it. The man whispered in Cherie's ear and she let out an ear-splitting bray when he finished. "That's an idea!" she said, tossing her head back and laughing again. Dom winced.

Lani thought that was bad enough, but when another guy came in from the kitchen wearing only leopard print briefs, she nearly died of embarrassment. It was one thing, she thought, to have a roommate who liked to sleep around. Lani didn't even mind how open Cherie was, so long as Lani could find space and time to herself. This, though -- this was too much. She had to get Dom out of here so she could be mortified in peace. God, he's going to think I live in a brothel, she thought miserably.

"Look, Dom," she said, taking his arm and tugging him toward the door, "I'm really sorry about this. I had no idea. You should go. It was really nice of you to get me home but..." she gestured helplessly toward Cherie and the men, hoping desperately no one else was hiding in the kitchen.

"But?" he prompted. He couldn't help but be amused at the whole situation.

"But I'm incredibly embarrassed and you don't want to stay here," she said in a rush.

"You don't either," he observed.

"No," she sighed, "but it's where I live." She looked over and turned to fully face Dom when she saw both men's hands roaming over Cherie's barely clothed body. "I'll just go in my room, lock the door and pretend I live in a nice big house out in the country or something. Alone." A squeak and a laugh made her wince.

"On second thought, I think I'll go to a hotel," she said.

"Come to my place, Lani," Dom said. He shook his head before she could protest. "It's late, and you don't want to be here. I live alone and my place is quiet. Why don't you get what you need and come with me?" Lani felt herself wilting under his gaze. "Please." He traced a finger over her cheek; she was a goner.

"Okay," she said. "Just wait here and I won't be long..." She bit her lip, then zipped into her room.

You're nuts, completely nuts, she thought furiously as she threw a change of underwear and clothes into a bag. She continued berating herself as she grabbed a toothbrush. You hardly know him. He could be a pervert. A gorgeous pervert who kisses like a dream, but a pervert none the less. She zipped up the bag, compromised by telling herself she could always change her mind about the hotel, and went back out.

Dom was at the end of the hallway, near the door, leaning on the wall as he'd done earlier. That was just not fair, she told herself, that he could just stand there and look so handsome.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," she said, risking a look behind her. "Oh, geez." She turned back and covered her eyes, hoping the image she'd seen wasn't permanently recorded in her brain.

"Don't worry about it," Dom said as he opened the door. "Think of it as the after-dinner show."

Lani snorted. "That kind of show would bring up my dinner, thanks."

Dom had called a cab while she had packed, and it was waiting for them when they got downstairs.

"Thank you, so much," she said. The air felt cleaner, even in the cab. "I've walked in on her before and could ignore it, but that... that was too much."

"The balding guy certainly was," Dom commented and Lani couldn't stop a giggle. They drove for a bit, and as they were going through the business district, Lani sat up.

"Why don't you have the cab drop me at one of the hotels, Dom?" she asked. "It was really nice of you to offer your place, but I know you must be busy and --"

"No, thanks," he said. He had expected something like this. Lani was the type of person who didn't want to put anyone else out. He'd seen that when she'd tried to take the subway, and even at her own place. Instead of yelling at Cherie, or asking to go with Dom, she'd tried to get him out and to go somewhere on her own.

"But --" she started and he just shook his head again.

"Please, Lani," he said. "I'd like you to come back with me. I like being with you and I'd like to keep doing it a little longer." He indulged his earlier urge and ran his fingers through her hair.

Lani sighed and sat back. "That's just not fair," she said.

"What?" Dom asked curiously.

"How can I resist when you say things like that?" she asked. He grinned.

"Then it's working," he said.

x-x-x-x

Dom had a quiet, neat apartment. There was very little decoration, and a bare minimum of furniture. That was all Lani could observe before Dom took her coat, removed his own, and then pulled her into another searing kiss.

He couldn't remember at what point on the ride to his place he'd discovered he'd wanted her so much. After she had given up on going to a hotel, they'd both relaxed. There wasn't much conversation, but he hadn't minded, especially when she'd laid her head on his shoulder. He'd liked her there, she fit so comfortably against him.

It must have been that, he decided as his tongue dove into her mouth, greedy for another taste. He found it, more of that coconut and vanilla that he'd discovered earlier. Her body had rested against his in the cab, the warmth seeping through his coat and driving him crazy. Here in his apartment, he wasn't sure he could stop unless he felt her skin against his own.

Lani tried to sort her thoughts, but thinking at all was difficult with Dom's arms around her and his lips furiously moving against hers. God, he feels good, she thought as her arms linked firmly behind his neck. She wasn't usually like this; maybe it was old-fashioned, but she tended to stick with a peck on the cheek after a first date. Dom was different.

Different how, she wasn't exactly sure, but he was. Different enough that she didn't care that he was pulling her with him, keeping her close as he sank back onto the couch. Different enough that even with her body laying over his, she wanted to feel more of it. She wanted to get through all the layers and find him.

"I don't... I don't do this," she said breathlessly. His lips moved to trace her jaw and he tugged her hair gently so she would expose her neck.

"Do what?" he asked as he pressed his lips to her pulse. He smiled darkly as she trembled.

"This," she struggled to say. "I'm not... not like that." It was the most wonderful frustration not to be able to think clearly.

"I know," he said, moving his head back so that those eyes focused on hers again. He took her face in his hands, stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "I know you're not like that. You can tell me to stop any time. I hope you don't." He pulled her lips to his and she felt something inside her crumble to dust.

She began to kiss him back more forcefully, but he still had control. She let him keep it, as he seemed to need it. Not to control her, she realized, but more to control himself. So she let him lead, unafraid. It was an odd sensation to feel so safe with someone she hardly knew, but she did. For once, she would trust her instincts and simply let her feelings guide her.

His hands wandered down her back and she sighed at their strength. Dom heard the sound and it drove him just slightly mad; he found the hem of her sweater and jerked it up so that he could feel her bare skin. It felt like satin, as he had imagined it would. Now that he had made the contact, he slowed his hands and let them move lazily over her.

"Oh, wow..." Lani rested her forehead on his shoulder. His hands were hard, strong, and wonderfully warm. She could only think that she wanted them all over her body, and not just on her back. "Someone must have spiked my drink," she said with a half laugh. "This is just so unlike me..."

"I think it's very like you, when you're with me," Dom said. He slid his hands further up, letting his thumbs trace circles over her ribs and grinning smugly when she shivered again. Then she shifted her head and brushed her lips over the curve of his neck and it was his turn to tremble slightly.

"Two can play," she teased him.

"I only play to win," he warned her. He threaded his hand into her dark hair and kissed her long and hard. "Tell me now if you want to stop," he said, his voice rough, "because I'm about to move to another playing field."

"Don't stop." Lani said it without thinking.

"Good." Dom sat up and crushed her against him while he kissed her again. He could feel all of her curves, all of her heat pressed against him. He wanted more.

He stood up, slid one arm down behind her knees and lifted. He laughed when she protested she was too heavy. "Lani, you're a feather. I bench press at least twice what you weigh." He silenced the next protest with a kiss, then carefully carried her to his bedroom.

"See, now," he said, laying her on the bed and moving over her. "Isn't this much better than hiding with an iPod while your roommate gets it on in the other room?"

"You could have joined her," Lani pointed out with a smile, sliding her own hands down over his chest. She tugged his shirt out of his waistband. "Tonight it looked like the more, the merrier."

Dom took her hands in his, pinned them near her shoulders and locked his eyes on hers. "I didn't want your roommate," he said. "I only want you." Her eyes widened for a moment as he captured her lips again, then gave herself over to the satisfaction of knowing she was desired.

She ran her hands along Dom's back, savoring the smooth muscles that rippled under her hands. He growled, sat up on his knees and nearly tore his shirt off. He pulled her up and had her sweater off in one swift movement. Gently, he pushed on her shoulders so that she lay back again, let his fingers run lightly over the golden skin. "You are so beautiful," he said, running his fingers along the lace edge of her bra.

Lani couldn't talk. His eyes and his words held her spellbound. She ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders and tugged him down so she could kiss him again. His kisses, she decided, were instantly addictive. He tasted slightly of the wine from earlier, and something darker that drew her in.

"I need more," he said and easily slid his hand behind her to undo her bra clasp. She didn't even have time to blush as he removed her bra and then lowered his mouth to a breast. He kissed and teased with his tongue and his teeth until she was arching off the bed, one hand unconsciously wound through his hair.

"More," he said again, and this time moved his hands to slide her slacks off. Lani was gasping as he dragged his fingers along her legs, teasing her by slowing down as he moved closer to her center. She wanted desperately for him to touch her, or to be able to touch him, but he had her half-pinned with her body and seemed content to have her there.

"Dom, please," she whispered, amazed she could even form a word. He teased her a few moments more until she couldn't stand it and grabbed his wrist to move his hand up. They both groaned as he finally touched her, she in relief and he at the heat. She released his hand as he slid his fingers into the wetness, stroking and thrusting to drive her to a peak.

"Let me," he heard her say. He was so lost in the feel and scent of her that he hadn't heard her the first time. "Please, let me touch you." Her hands wandered aimlessly along his sides and over his back and he hissed out a breath.

Dom shook his head, brushing his lips against hers. "Next time," he promised, pressing his lips to hers, and then to her neck and shoulder. "Go on," he said, "I've got you." He whispered more to her and was rewarded when she cried out softly and shook beneath him. His hand moved steadily, keeping her on the edge until she tumbled over. At last he stopped and simply held her, letting her calm down.

He stared at her face, loving the way she bit her bottom lip, which was slightly swollen. Her eyes were mostly closed, and he wanted her to open them so he could fall into their warm darkness.

When she opened them, there was desire more than warmth. "Now, Dom. I need you know." She rubbed her leg against his and arched her hips. With a shuddering breath, he reached into a drawer and found a condom. Resenting the time it took to slide it on, he turned back to her and gave her another passionate kiss. Then he laid back and pulled her over him.

"I need to see you," he said by way of explanation. She nodded and moved slightly, gasping when he thrust smoothly inside her. "Oh, God, Lani," he said, keeping her still for a moment with hands on her hips. "Don't move, it'll be over too soon." This was a feeling he didn't want to end; his hands on her smooth skin, her slick heat enveloping him, and that tropical scent of coconuts over everything.

She had to move, she just had to. Lani flexed her fingers on his shoulders and rocked her hips just a little. His fingers tightened on her hips but she couldn't stop. He felt too good, she felt too good with him inside her to stay still. At last he gave what might have been a muffled curse and began moving to meet her. She stifled a cry as she came once more, tightening her body around him and eliciting a growl.