Five

Dom was in the living room with Rome, Vince and Brian waiting for the others so they could head to the races. He was facing away from the stairs looking at the others. Rome was telling them a story from his derby days when he saw Kylie coming down the stairs. He stopped mid sentence and stared. Vince and Brian looked up to see what had caught his attention. Vince let out a long whistle as the other two broke into grins.

"Damn, Baby, you are looking hot tonight!" Rome said.

Dom turned to see which of the ladies was on the stairs. When he saw Kylie he damn near dropped the Corona in his hand. He was once again amazed at her beauty. As she stopped on the last step and turned to face them he thought of angels. That's what she looked like, he thought, his very own angel. He absently set the beer bottle on a side table and walked over to her. He looked her up and down before bringing his eyes to meet hers. Despite her bravado he could see she was nervous. Did she think he wouldn't like her dressed up like the other ladies? Did she think she didn't look good? With her low self-esteem it was hard to know what she was afraid of. Wanting only to reassure her he brought his palm to her cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed her.

What he'd meant to be a light kiss quickly escalated out of control. His hand slid to the nape of her neck as her hands came around his shoulders. His tongue darted out and when her lips parted, slipped into her mouth to duel with hers. His left hand settled on her hip and he pressed her body tight to his. His right hand slid down her back and cupped her bottom. She let out a tiny moan and pressed herself closer to him. When they final pulled back, foreheads resting against each other, both were breathing raggedly. Suddenly the group of guys behind him in the living room, and the ladies clustered at the top of the stairs let out a cornucopia of catcalls, hoots and whistles. Dom watched as Kylie turned bright red. Tipping his head he kissed her forehead and then slipped his arm around her waist and drew her down the last step. He guided her towards the front door.

"That's enough. Let's go!" he called to the rest without sparing them a glance.
-

Dom looked around at the competition. Hector had pulled together a worthy group of racers. A black Mustang GT, a green and black Mazda RX7, and a racer red Lotus Elise stood next to his midnight blue '67 GTO. He rubbed his hand up and down Ky's back as he applied the mad scientist's comments to each car. The Mustang was pure American muscle with an 8 cylinder, 250 horsepower engine. The Mazda and Lotus each had 6 cylinder engines with, fuel injection and twin turbo respectively. He grinned knowing his own car featured a v-8 with 335 horses under the hood. All the vehicles were equipped with nos. His own had four tanks.

Next he checked out the drivers. The owner of the mustang was a Fonzie look-alike, brash and cocky. A young African American kid whose glasses kept sliding down his nose owned the Mazda. Last but not least was a slender Asian chick that stood next to her lotus. She had come close to beating Brian last week on Braden Blvd. Ready to race he turned to Kylie and pulled her into his arms.

"You gonna be my trophy girl when I win?" he asked as he nuzzled her neck.

"If that's what you want, Dom," she answered, trying to draw him out. She was still frustrated on where they stood. She was pleased he'd finally kissed her like that in front of the others, always before he'd treated her like a sister around them. He'd been extremely possessive of her since they arrived, keeping an arm around her shoulders, a hand on her back, even holding her hand. He 'd kept her at his side the whole time. But he'd introduced her to people as "the newest member of the team", not as his girl and that hurt a little more each time he did it.

He pulled back to study her, aware that something wasn't quite right. Her eyes were wary and sad, despite the smile she gave him.

"What's wrong, Little Girl?" He asked wanting to make her smile real.

"Noth-," she began, only to have him cut her off.

"I want the truth Kylie. Now," he demanded.

Kylie dropped her eyes, trying to hide the tears welling up in them. Now on top of everything Dom was angry with her. She blinked furiously as he said her name and slipped a finger beneath her chin. She knew he wouldn't let her hide from him.

"It's silly," she began as blue eyes met brown. He let out a frustrated hm-pf and she raised her hand to his chest.

"I ah…I'm just a little scared," she hedged, thinking fast. "Racing is dangerous. You could get hurt."

Dom studied her for a moment. The concern for him in her eyes was real, but he felt it wasn't what had been there just minutes ago. There was more going on than she was ready to share with him. That was OK, though. He knew he could be patient and wheedle it out of her later.

"I'll be fine, Little Girl. I'm a good racer, and I'm careful," he said trying to alleviate her fears. "Besides," he added, grinning. " I've got my trophy girl waiting for me."

He tipped his head and his lips captured hers. "OK?" he asked.

She nodded and he kissed her again softly.

"Good," he replied just before his lips claimed hers for one last kiss. Then he led her over to the rest of the team and went to chat with Hector before the race.