Page 84 of A Good Girl's Guide to Dominance
When he's finished, Rome drops down to one knee just to gather his strength again. He takes in huge breaths, looking up at me with love beaming from his eyes. After a moment, he leaves me fastened to the cross and comes back with a warm towel, using it to clean his cum off of me before releasing my restraints. Once I'm free, he swoops me up into his arms andcarries me over to the black bed in the corner, where we lay with his arms wrapped around me.
Here, in his arms, I am safe from all harm. The drama of it all is now over, and I am free. I am protected. I am certain. I am in love. In his arms, I am home.
Forty-Five
“So you're not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“You'll see when we get there,” Rome replies as he exits the crowded highway.
I can tell from the look on his face that he's nervous. There is something in his eyes as he stares through the windshield that he hides when he looks at me. Although he hasn't told me where we’re going, I can tell it’s someplace important to him.
The thrill of last night still hasn't left my body. Disbelief and elation flow through my veins, making reality feel like a fever dream, because Rome showed up to the restaurant and told me he loved me. To people who read romance all the time, this might not be a big deal. But Rome had informed me that he didn't love me and that he never would. He said it with such finality that I had no choice but to believe him, so when the words, “I love you,” swam into my ears I didn't know what to do. But when I saw his face and heard his sincerity, I knew I couldn't turn him away. After all, I'd already told him that I loved him, and I meant it.
After what can only be described as make-up sex last night, I woke up to Rome talking on the phone while sitting on the side of the bed. His conversation had been ongoing while I was asleep and he was ending his call, but it was clear he was setting up some sort of meeting. All he told me was that he wanted to take me somewhere special and that I needed to get dressed. So, he freshened up before taking me back to my place so I could, too. Then the drive began, and he has barely spoken since. I've watched him wavering back and forth between excited and nervous the entire car ride, but now that we’re getting close, I can see him starting to fidget from the nerves.
We make a turn into Society Hill, one of Philly’s most luxurious neighborhoods, and I'm so distracted by the beautiful, gargantuan houses that I don't even notice when Rome turns the car into a gorgeous horseshoe driveway. When it dawns on me that we’re at someone's house, I snap my head over to him.
“Are we meeting people?” I ask, knowing how private Rome is and how he doesn't have any family left since his father passed earlier this year.
He turns to me with pure emotion in his face. “Yes.”
The idea of meeting anyone who he holds dear makes me feel unbelievably special, but I also don't want him to do anything that makes him uncomfortable.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask. “I know you love me, Rome. I believe you when you say it, and I don't need you to do anything more to prove it.”
Rome reaches across the car and takes my hand. “I know, and it’s true that I've never done this before. But Iwantto do it, Nia. Not out of obligation, but out of love. Trust me, my little goddess.”
I smile as I begin to blush just from looking in his eyes. “Okay, Sir.”
Rome flashes a quick grin before pulling me into a kiss, then he steps out of the car and I follow.
Hand in hand, we walk up to the massive, three-story home, and I'm suddenly overcome with my own nerves. Before Rome, I had been on date after date without ever getting to the point of introducing anyone to my friends or family. At the age of thirty, introductions are not run of the mill. I would never take this step without it being extremely serious, and I realize that Rome and I arethat serious.
Rome presses the doorbell, and the decorative gray door swings open to two beautiful people standing behind it. The man looks at me before reaching out to shake Rome’s hand, while the woman keeps her eyes on me only, her face alight with joy. Both of them smile like they just won the lottery.
Rome clears his throat. “Nia, I'd like to introduce you to my best friends in the whole world. These two people are my family. Through thick and thin they have been here for me, fighting to keep me upright when I didn't have the strength to stand on my own. This is Nikola Collazo, and his beautiful wife, Isabella.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” I say as Nikola reaches out and shakes my hand with a proud smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” he says.
As I go to shake Isabella’s hand, she extends her arms as her eyes fill with tears. She pulls me into a hug that feels as comforting as affection from my mother, before kissing me on both cheeks.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she says, and I’m moved to tears from the emotion displayed on her face. She turns to Rome and lightly punches him in the shoulder. “You finally brought her over.”
Rome smiles, his eyes misting, too. “Yeah, well I told you when I brought someone over that she’d bethe one. Well … she's the one.”
Isabella pulls us both into a hug a second time before inviting us into their beautiful home. When the door closes behind us, it feels like a circle is being completed, the final pieces of a puzzle coming together to reveal the whole picture—and it’s stunning. I’m truly happy, and I have a feeling that Rome and I will be spending plenty of time here with new friends, new love, and brand new joy.
Forty-Six - Rome
The last time I was here, it was right after my father's funeral. I was an emotional wreck, stumbling my way across the grass after everyone had left, with a bottle of Disaronno in my hand and fog in my vision. I tripped over rocks and long weeds on my way, and by the time I reached my destination I was covered in mud, sweat, and tears. It was a living nightmare I couldn't wake up from, especially the fact that I was visiting three people on the same day, at the same place.
I had left my father's freshly dug grave to visit my mother’s old one, only to say my goodbyes and visit my wife’s.
I hate the fucking graveyard. I don't come here often. Who the hell wants to spend all of their time crying over their dead loved ones, surrounded by headstones covered in tears and moss? Agony floats through the air here, and I made a promise to myself that I would show up on birthdays only, because there is no way I could stay away forever, but I also don't want to spend too much time here mourning the dead instead of living my life. Today isn't my father's or mother’s birthday. I’m here for onereason, and as I walk up the hill toward her tombstone, I know this is about to be the hardest thing I've ever done.
Natalia Marissa Giovanni.
