Chapter 4

Dominick laid there for a moment, wondering if this was a dream or he really did hear Mandy confess her love for him. While she snuggled up against him, he gazed at down at her. Mandy had a cute button nose, full-lips the color of roses, and long, black, hair. However, what Dominick loved the most was her sapphire blue-eyes, which sparkled with golden highlights that were framed behind long black lashes. All she had to do was bat those eyes and he was mesmerized. His heart skipped a beat; his whole body trembled with desire--no with love, as he just realized that he too loved Mandy.

He chose his words carefully as he wanted this moment to last for an eternity. "Oh my darling Mandy, when I hold you, my heart goes all aflutter, and I cannot think straight. When you're gone, I feel empty inside. Oh baby, my sweet precious angel, I must confess that I've fallen for you too. I love you, not like a father does a daughter, but as a man loves a woman."

Mandy looked lovingly into his eyes and uttered, "What do we do about it?"

He placed his hands under her chin, drew her lips into his and kissed her deeply and then answered, "Nothing, let's just continue things like they are and see what happens. Baby, if it is true love, it will be here next month and all the days beyond that."

Mandy looked into his eyes and confessed, "Oh honey, you seem to always know what to say. I agree, let's not rush it, and see where all of this takes us. I do want to suggest one thing though."

He had a puzzled look on his face and asked, "What' that?"

She grinned, kissed his cheek and announced, "I want to call you Dominick from now on instead of dad. I also want you to call me Mandy, and not refer to me as daughter."

He smiled, as he felt the love they shared radiate between them. "I can do that baby. Now I have a request."

She gave him her undivided attention and asked, "What is it?"

He flashed Mandy a devilish grin and suggested, "That you start sleeping in my bed all the time, and not yours."

She flashed him a sultry look and said, "I thought you'd never ask."

Mandy ran her hands down Dominick's strong but gentle right arm noting a tattoo on his right bicep. It looked altered, a heart with a banner which looked like it had someone's name their. "Dominick, tell me about your tattoo love."

He smiled and she saw tears in the corner of his eyes as he began to recall the story behind the tattoo. "The year was 1942 and I was in the Navy, and stationed in San Diego, California. While there I met and became friends with a sergeant who was a year younger than me. She had one hell of a figure with gorgeous auburn-hair. We dated casually for about a year. One night I mustered up enough courage to tell her that I was deeply in love with her. As it turned out she felt the same way about me. After that, we were inseparable, well as much as possible. We even talked about getting married after my tour was up. We were on a weekend leave that summer when she suggested that I get a tattoo to prove my devotion to her. So I did."

Mandy stroked his hair, kissed his cheek and purred, "Aww, that is so romantic, tell me more."

Dominick continued his story. "Well, as it turned out that right after that, we both got called to active duty, due to the war. She went one direction and I went the opposite, and we kept in touch by mail. All of a sudden her letters stopped and I didn't think much about it, as mail often got lost. I really got worried when four months passed and I hadn't heard anything. So I contact my chaplain, and explained things to him and begged him to see what happened to her." Tears rolled down his face, and his voice quiver and he sighed heavily. "It was then I found out she was killed in combat. I couldn't take looking at her name on my arm after that, the memories were too much for me to handle. So I had the tattoo altered to say, USN."

Mandy wiped the tears from her eyes, put her arms around him and cradled Dominick in her arms as he unleashed the emotions kept hidden so deep inside.

She kissed him softly in response. "Honey, thanks for telling me that story, it was so touching."

Dominick stroked her long hair, kissed her, feeling the love they had for each other radiating between them. "Your welcome sweetheart. I adore how much you understanding and compassion to me."

They both heard his stomach gurgle as it churned with hunger and laughed.

His response was, "Honey, I don't know about you, but as you heard my stomach telling you, I've worked up an appetite."

Mandy giggled and replied, "Yeah I did. Well it is suppertime; would you like to eat, besides me, as I'm talking about food right now?"

He thought for a moment then answered, "I just remembered that I pulled some steaks out of the freezer this morning. I was thinking I could grill them, while you help fix something to go with them."

She licked her lips, as purred, "Now you're making me hungry. Why don't I take a quick shower, and then help you with supper."

He winked, laughed and suggested, "Want some company in the shower, we can save water."

She winked and said, "Sure, I have a request to make."

He smiled and teasingly chirped, "Oh-no, not another request! What is it?"

She giggled and purred, "Well, I was just going to say no hanky-panky in the shower this time. I want to save it for later when we celebrate our first night in the same bed.

Dominick put his lips down on hers as they shared a heated moment. After that he answered, "That my love, sounds like a wonderful idea."

The two of them showered, dressed and then headed for the kitchen to fix supper.

As Dominick cooked the steaks on the gas grill, Mandy began to prepare, a salad, steamed broccoli, and French bread.

While everything was cooking she went to the back door, opened it, and hollered out, "What do you want for dessert?"

Dominick, stopped grilling came over to the door with a mischievous smirk on his face and whispered, "You are my dessert, dear."

She blushed, laughed and suggested, "You want whip cream and a cherry with it?"

He smirked, laughed out loud and replied, "Not really, just some sweet pussy pie. Enough talk about what we'll do later, because you will get me turned on again. Let me finish these steaks, they're almost done."