This is the beginning of the rewrite of Supplicant, from Dom's point of view, that I blogged about here. Two paragraphs and various elements of this wound up in Angelic, but the rest was discarded. Once I started writing it, I realized that what I really wanted to do was to go back to the beginning of Dom and Gabriel's relationship:
Stephen-- Dom, as the press had insisted on dubbing him-- was the CEO of Dominick Technologies and a billionaire, and he was accustomed to being treated with respect and deference.
Which was a fancy way of saying the rest of the world generally went out of its way to kiss his ass.
But Gabriel Mason was the one person on earth who'd never kissed up to him. Gabriel had been an intern in Dominick Technologies' IT department last year, and even then he'd never looked like he was intimidated by Dom. He'd been friendly and polite, like the nice young man he was, who'd been brought up to show respect to his elders. But there had been no trace of obeisance in his bright blue gaze, no hint of fear or intimidation in his posture.
From the very moment they met, Gabriel had treated him just like another person. And that was a rare and precious thing in Dom's life.
Right now, though, Gabriel was treating him with even less deference and respect than usual. Which was to say the younger man had him up against the wall, his big hands clenched on Dom's rather nice shirt, his bright eyes blazing with rage.
"Son of a bitch," he growled, right in Dom's face.
Dom was hard-pressed not to flinch. When he'd first met Gabriel, a year ago, the young man had been-- well, lanky was a polite word for it. In fact he'd been outright skinny. The kid had lost his parents six months before, and he'd obviously been grieving too deeply to bother with proper meals. At first, Dom had befriended him mostly so he had an excuse to take the young man out for lunch and make sure he ate properly.
But he'd seen potential in the kid, too. Mental potential-- within five minutes into their first conversation, Dom had realized this was a hell of a smart kid. Despite the fact that he was going to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, he could easily have gotten into Harvard if he could have afforded it. But physical potential, too.
Gabriel Mason was beautiful.
Dom was something of a connoisseur of beauty, both male and female, and he'd had some of the world's most beautiful women on his arm, and, more privately, had enjoyed some of the world's most beautiful men in his ed. But in all his years of enjoying beauty, he'd never seen a face as exquisitely perfect as Gabriel's.
The young man looked like an angel. And yes, that sounded like hyperbole, but it wasn't. He had the sort of spectacular features that could only have been rendered by a great master. His dark, shaggy hair framed a face of stunning beauty, from the brilliant azure eyes to the full lips to the high cheekbones.
Dom had encouraged the kid to work out with him, and before long, Gabriel's body was just as perfect as his face.
Right now, though, Gabriel's handsome face was distorted with rage. "You," he snarled, "told Kerryn that I have the hots for you."
Dom had to struggle not to cringe. Gabriel was six foot four inches of steel and granite, in the first flush of early maturity, and he could probably beat the living hell out of Dom if he wanted to. Dom was pretty sure he wouldn't... but there was a dangerous light in Gabriel's eyes that made him a little uncertain. He tried to cover his uncertainty with a practiced contemptuous sneer.
"You do have the hots for me," he said coolly. "You're just too dense to realize it."
"Don't be stupid." Rage flared hotter in Gabriel's eyes, and Dom felt himself being shaken, the way a dog shakes a chew toy. Gabriel's big paws dug into his shoulders, and Dom realized he might be in real trouble here. "“I’ve been dating Kerryn for three years now. I love her, and when we graduate I’m going to marry her. She knows that, and whatever weird mind game you’re playing is not going to drive us apart, Dom. So cut it out, damn it.”
Was Gabriel really that oblivious? Dom looked into the brilliant eyes-- sweet, innocent, and so damn naive-- and decided he really was. “Kerryn is beautiful,” he said.
"Yes, she is. She's perfect."
Dom felt a little stab of-- could it be jealousy? Well, annoyance, maybe. He thought Gabriel was perfect and beautiful-- and Gabriel thought Kerryn was beautiful and perfect. Damn it, he'd been named one of America's top five bachelors, and had made People's list of the top 100 beautiful people. He wasn't exactly chopped liver.
He let his lips curve into a rather unpleasant smile. "So perfect you've never made love to her."
"She wants to wait till we’re married." Gabriel's hands dug into his shoulders harder, and the young man shook him again, more fiercely than before. The overlong ebony hair tumbled into his eyes, and Dom barely resisted the urge to reach up and gently brush it out of his face. "And I can wait. For her, I can wait."
"Because you don’t really want her." Dom was aware his tone was taunting, but he couldn't help himself. How could Gabriel be so obtuse? Surely he couldn't really be so oblivious to the sexual tension between the two of them. Surely he couldn't really believe he wanted Kerryn, not when he watched Dom with hungry longing every time they were together. He spoke bluntly. "I’ve been watching the two of you together for a year now, Gabriel. Ever since you got that internship with Dominick Tech and worked for me last summer. And I can tell you one thing for certain. You have no sexual attraction to Kerryn whatsoever."
"That's a load of--"
Dom spoke more gently. "It's the truth, Gabriel. It might not be easy for you to accept, but it's the truth."
Gabriel's lips drew back, exposing white, even teeth-- even his teeth were perfect, and that was fortunate, because from everything he'd said, his parents would never have been able to afford braces-- and he shoved Dom harder against the wood-paneled wall.
Dom figured if he had any sense at all, he'd be a little concerned. And his heart was definitely beating faster, but it wasn't because he was scared. He was having a physical response to being shoved up against the wall-- but it definitely wasn't fear.
Gabriel glared into Dom's eyes. He seemed unaware of Dom's arousal, unaware of anything except his own anger. "Let’s say just for the sake of argument that you’re right--"
Of course I'm right, Dom thought. He refrained from saying so, because Gabriel was pissed enough already.
"Which you’re not," the younger man went on. "But let’s say I don’t want to make love to Kerryn. Why exactly would you tell her I want you?"
Dom grinned. He couldn't help it.
"Because it's true."
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