WICKED ✓

10

Stella smiled to herself as she picked Dominic's favorite cereal from off the shelf. The two of them had been skipping through the steps of a relationship so quickly, simply because they agreed on everything and neither of them had felt the need to wait. 

Except for one step.

Dominic was still withholding sex from Stella, much to her dismay. The two of them were constantly hot and bothered around each other, but the only orgasms they were having were self-induced and solitary. In a way that Payton never could, Dominic set fire to Stella's soul and she didn't know if that flame could ever burn out; she didn't want it to.

Checking out at the grocery store, Stella climbed into her car and made the short trip back to the apartment, eager to see her boyfriend. Unlocking the door, Stella entered the open room and immediately knew that Dominic was still at work. With renewed purpose to have dinner ready by the time he got back, Stella rushed into the kitchen to start the preparation.

An hour later, the sound of a key in the lock reached Stella's ears and she perked up, eyes fixated on the door as it swung open to reveal the shockingly handsome figure that she loved coming home to. Not even two weeks is all that it took for her to fall for Dominic, but she hadn't realized that she'd been falling since she met him at the hospital. With no real connection or loyalty to her ex, Stella's heart had been free for the taking the entire time. She'd never given it away to anyone, but if he had asked, she would have reached into her chest and placed it in Dominic's large hands, confident that he would protect it with his life.

Stella didn't have to know trivial things about Dominic, because she knew how she felt and she could see how he felt about her in return.

"Hey babygirl. Get over here." Dominic said with a huge grin stretching his face, growing larger with each step she took. His hand quickly loosened his tie and then reached for her, lifting her against his body with one arm around her waist, the other still to his side, gripping a briefcase. Releasing the leather handle, he wrapped his other hand around Stella's shoulders and gripped the back of her neck beneath her short brown hair, pulling her soft lips to his.

Moaning into his mouth, Dominic's lips caressed Stella's until they could no longer breathe. Gasping as they pulled back, Stella's big blue eyes looked into his with so much love that even someone with no experience with the emotion could have recognized it. But he didn't dare say the words just yet. 

"I made you dinner." She said adorably, sliding down Dominic's chest slowly as he released her. He closed his eyes on an inhale and the smell of roasting meat invaded his nostrils, causing his mouth to water eagerly.

"You sure did. Thank you. How was your day?" 

"Did some schoolwork. Grocery shopping. Pretty boring. What about yours?" Stella asked and Dominic wondered how much longer he would be able to avoid her questions about his occupation without telling outright lies.

"It definitely wasn't boring, but nothing exciting enough to talk about. What do you say you relax while I dish out plates? We can watch a movie." He offers.

"Sounds perfect. I'm just going to put on some jammies." Stella said, standing on her toes to reach Dominic's lips one more time before walking off toward her bedroom. Each night, since the first time they kissed, they had been retiring to Stella's room with her legs wrapped around Dominic's waist, heavily making out until he would pull back, tell Stella goodnight, and stalk off to his own cold bed with a painful hard-on and racing thoughts.

Stella's body language was constantly telling him that she was ready, but he wished that he had the ability to read her mind. How soon was too soon? How would he know if she was truly ready?

Dishing out their plates, Dominic took a seat beside Stella on the loveseat and watched the screen as she selected a movie from Netflix. Settling on a movie with a particularly gifted hitman as the main character, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the choice.

"What? I love the John Wick." Stella defends and he tries to hide his smile. "There's just something about him. No matter what he does, he's redeemable. Killing people is his job, it isn't who he is." 

Dominic nods, turning to face the screen with hope that one day, Stella could be the person that he confided in. One step at a time. He was worried that the intelligent woman next to him would start putting the pieces together before he was able to organize them.