Chapter 9 #3
“Thanks,” I croaked, reaching for them. I tried to take them but Dom didn’t let go at first, giving me a strange look. He signed something at me with his free hand and the most I could make out was let me.
“Let you what?” I asked.
He gently pulled his hand away then dunked the soap and cloth in the water, scrubbing, before lifting the cloth toward my face.
I nearly flinched as he dabbed at my throat and collarbone, getting some of the blood that must have been missed.
My eyes fluttered as I tensed up again, then forced myself to calm.
I didn’t turn away or protest as he washed me. Admittedly, I kind of liked it.
In fact, I was starting to feel woozy, tired even. Almost like I was a little tipsy…
The pill must be taking effect. The pain was already starting to lessen, making me feel heavy but somehow light at the same time.
Suddenly I was leaning into Dom’s hand, relishing in the feel of his warm touch as he carefully washed the blood from me.
Neither of us said a word as he cleaned along my jaw then back down to my shoulders.
My arms started to loosen from around my chest, my knees started to straighten.
I was so tired, so blissfully gone from the pain I didn’t really care.
Hesitantly, his hand moved lower, dipping into the water, and out of some crazy feeling, I grabbed hold of his wrist and placed his hand at the center of my chest just above my breasts.
“Heart’s starting…to slow down…I think,” I mumbled.
He didn’t move, but I thought I felt the muscles of his forearm tighten.
I don’t know what I was doing really, maybe something had taken over me and I was just acting on impulse, without thought, or maybe with only my emotions, but as I held his wrist, I pulled him down toward me.
I sat up in the water so I could turn my body and wrap an arm around him while pressing my face into his neck.
“I’m sorry. I just feel so messed up,” I said softly, my lips practically against him.
I thought he might yank me back. Instead, I heard the soap and cloth drop as he wrapped his arm around me and brought me closer. I hugged him and he hugged me back, not seeming to care that I was soaking his shirt.
We stayed that way for a moment with nothing but the slow drip of water and the dull boom of music somewhere in the distance.
When we finally pulled away, I tilted my head up and kissed the corner of his mouth.
I felt his body go rigid, his black gaze on me, until he lifted a hand and cupped the back of my head, almost fisting my hair.
His mouth pressed against mine and it was a tender kiss.
I kissed him back and felt his other hand caress my ribs, then move down my thigh.
I inhaled against his lips, heart starting to pump faster again as his fingers trailed back up and cupped my breast, squeezing lightly.
His thumb brushed across my nipple and a shiver went down my body.
A tiny moan rose in my throat as I clung to him, bringing my lips back to his.
Heat stirred along my thighs and lower belly, sinking deeper, as he kneaded and circled.
I wanted to be touched, to feel a firm but gentle hand, to feel some kind of love, to feel anything to make the dread and fear and loneliness inside go away.
With the pain numbed out and my body lighting up with his touch, it was nearly euphoric.
As if unable to control myself, I moved, placing my hand on top of the one he had on my breast and slowly bringing it down.
“Make me feel better, Dom,” I whispered, so quietly I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me. I was losing my mind, I was drunk, I was desperate, I wanted him, I didn’t know what I wanted…I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel good.
I brought his hand down, passed my stomach, down to my center. At first, I thought I felt him hesitate and I worried he wouldn’t. That he would leave.
“Please, Dom,” I whispered again, nearly begging. “Please make me feel good.”
I saw his chest rise and fall, his breath quickening.
He was struggling on whether he should for some reason.
But as I pressed his hand against my center and rolled my hips, his eyes darkened, his reserve cracked.
His fingers curled along me, brushing against my clit, and I moved against his hand, keeping a tight hold on his arm. “Please, Dom. Please.”
His fingers swirled around me, then dipped inside me, his thumb moving along my clit with ease.
I parted my legs, sinking down and arching.
He grabbed the back of my hair in a fist to keep me in place as I bucked against him.
I rolled my hips as his fingers slid in and out of me and circled my clit, feeling the pressure building in me, the heat coiling in my center, making me pulse against his fingers.
“That’s it,” I breathed. I moaned, not even bothering to control it anymore.
It felt so good, it felt amazing, the pain was nothing anymore and all I felt was him.
“Dom, you’re going to make me come,” I whimpered.
His grip on me tightened, his fingers pumping into me so hard I couldn’t take it.
I moved with him, little cries escaping me until I was undone and came against his hand, my pussy tightening and throbbing around his fingers.
I threw my head back as a pathetic cry ripped up my throat, my eyes shutting tight as my body shook.
The comedown would have been fantastic, a rush of relief really, if the door to the bathroom didn’t fly open as I was caught in the middle of my orgasm.
“Dom—Oh, fuck.”
I immediately sank back into the water, covering myself as Dom’s hand pulled away. He rose and I caught a glimpse of the fury on his face before he turned on the large man blocking the doorway. He shoved the man out, leaving the bathroom and slamming the door shut.
I sat there in shock, listening to the man apologize on the other end, trying to talk Dom down. His voice grew quieter until I heard another door slam somewhere outside, making me flinch.
Taking a slow breath, I sank further into the water, my body still throbbing, the heat of embarrassment starting to rise. I was lightheaded and wanted to sleep—to try to forget what just happened.
Maybe I did fall asleep for a moment because I heard the door open again and it startled me. I looked over and saw Dom staring at me as he closed the door behind him.
“Sorry,” he signed.
Shifting around, I found it hard to meet his gaze. “It’s okay.” I practically slurred.
He went over to his phone on the counter and typed. “Let’s finish cleaning you up. Then you can sleep.”
My face burned a little. “Sounds good.”
I didn’t make a single sound of protest as Dom returned to kneel by the tub.
He took the 2-in-1 shampoo and quickly lathered up my hair, making sure to wash out the blood.
I didn’t know what to say, or if I should say anything about what just happened so I decided to remain silent.
I could always just blame it on the pill later.
It suddenly occurred to me as he rinsed out my hair that I didn’t have my phone on me and had left my bag in my car. If someone found it in the morning, they’d definitely be suspicious. As Dom rinsed my hair one last time and started to move away, I reached up and grabbed his wrist.
“My car…it was at work...”
He grabbed his phone to type out. “It’s safe. Had someone bring it back here.”
“And my bag?”
“Still in your car. I’ll grab it after we get you settled.”
I nodded, thanking him softly. That was a relief at least. In the morning, I would check my phone and call in sick.
Dom opened the drain to the bath letting the water out before he wrapped me in a towel and lifted me out of the tub.
He carried me out of the bathroom and across the living room, down another hall, kicking open a door to the left.
The room was dark and cool inside with a blackout curtain over the window.
He took me over to a bed and set me down.
He came back with another towel and sat by me to dry out my hair.
I watched him carefully, my eyes half-lidded, my body swaying a little, wondering what he was thinking. “You’re not mad about what just happened, are you?” I blurted, unable to take the silence any longer.
His movement slowed. He dried out my hair as best he could before he took his phone from his pocket and typed.
“About Jake coming and interrupting? Yes, fucking pissed. Otherwise, no…why would I be?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe…” I almost wanted to say we shouldn’t have. After everything that happened between us. It would only complicate things. But I wasn’t in the mind to care about that. Not right now. I laughed a little instead and said, “I’m still mad at you and Lez.”
Dom smiled. “That’s okay,” he typed. “You went through some awful shit tonight. Most of the guys here wouldn’t have taken that beating like you did.”
I snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“It’s true.”
I sat for a moment thinking, then said, “You don’t regret what just happened?”
He shook his head.
“Or feel guilty?”
He hesitated. Then signed, “No.”
I knew I shouldn’t get close. Getting close to them again was asking to be hurt again.
But for tonight, I was desperate for comfort.
I pulled him in and kissed him, liking the way his mouth felt on mine.
He wrapped his arms around me, and I liked that too.
His kiss was tender like before, but a part of me wished he would deepen it.
As I flicked my tongue against his lips in hopes he would, he pulled back.
He put his hands together and placed them against the side of his head in a gesture of sleep, then he pointed to the bed.
I sighed and started to slide myself further up the bed. As he slipped the covers over me, I took his hand. “Will you…stay?”
He clasped his other hand over mine and nodded. When I let go, he typed on his phone, “I’ll go grab your bag first and be right back, okay?”
“Okay.”
He kissed my forehead, then turned for the door. As he closed it halfway, the room grew darker. Even alone in a strange place, somehow, I wasn’t afraid. I closed my eyes and waited for him to return.
I stirred in my sleep as I heard the opening and closing of a door. Someone talked nearby but the words were muffled. There was the dull sound of something heavy dropping on the ground, then the voice grew louder.
“They got what they fucking deserved,” came a familiar voice just outside the room, low and angry. “It wasn’t enough. I wished we’d done more.”
There was a pause and then a low grunt.
“I told you, I don’t give a fuck if it was reckless.
They started this. They fucked with her, they still have her sister.
It’s war. And frankly, I’ve been itching to stab someone for a long time.
” Another pause then. “They weren’t all there, but enough of them were, that's all that matters. No, Jasper wasn’t but I’ll track that motherfucker down and snap him in half. ”
There was another loud thud, which started to wake me further.
“I’ll kill every last one of them. I swear to god, I will, and you aren’t going to stop me.” Another pause and I heard mumbling but didn’t catch the words.
For a moment the voice was too low to hear.
Then light spilled into the room. I heard soft footsteps enter and come over to the bed.
I kept my eyes shut, wondering if it was Dom.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, then a set of knuckles on my cheek.
I didn’t stir as they brushed along me. The hand then lifted and petted my hair.
“Andrea take care of her?” came the gruff voice. It was Leslie.
A shadow blocked out the light, and I knew it had to be Dom at the foot of the bed.
I imagined he was signing something to his brother.
Leslie seemed satisfied with his answer because he brushed the hair away from my face and said, “She looks better without all the blood. But the bruises are coming in already.” He cursed, his hand lifting away from my head. “Good thing you were here for her.”
There was a moment of quiet then Leslie made a low noise. “Andrea gave her the strong stuff, huh? I’ve been meaning to ask for a refill.”
I laid perfectly still as I assumed Dom signed at him. Leslie’s hand went to my arm and squeezed gently. “What are you trying to say, Dom?”
I heard Dom let out a heavy sigh. More light spilled into the room as he opened the door wider.
“Alright, I got it.”
They left the room, closing the door behind them.
For a while I laid in a sort of daze, trying to listen for Leslie’s voice but hearing nothing. After a while, I stopped trying and fell back asleep.
At some point, I half woke again to the feel of someone lying against me, their arm draped over me.
I assumed it was Dom and didn’t move. Several times in the night, I woke in a groggy state to look over and make sure he was there.
Each time he was, I went back to sleep. A couple of times, I caught him with his eyes open watching me, black eyes shining in the dark.
Once, however, just once, I thought they had looked green.