Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Domi
“Do you think the green is unprofessional?” Rae asked, peering into the bathroom mirror.
Even the bathrooms in Marquis were posh, with lots of gleaming black-and-ivory tiles with red accents, a couch, and a little sitting room with extra full-length mirrors just inside the main door before reaching the actual bathroom.
Rae was standing in front of the gilt mirror above the sink, more drunk than sober, staring at the lime green braids threaded through her hair almost suspiciously.
“I’m the last person you should ask,” Domi said with a snort. “I wake up and put on ‘work pajamas.’ Sometimes, I don’t even do that.” One of the many benefits of working from home.
Rae rolled her eyes.
“You still know what looks professional.” She frowned into the mirror.
“Is someone at work giving you a hard time?”
“Not exactly, but Sheila from HR has made a few comments about keeping hair colors more to natural colors.” Rae made a face. “As if her fire engine red is natural. That’s only natural on the Little Mermaid.” Domi giggled.
“I don’t think the green is unprofessional,” Domi said, tilting her head and looking at it. It wasn’t as if the green was all over Rae’s head, just a few braids scattered against the black. Though Domi had to admit, she didn’t think she’d seen too many accountants with green hair.
“Ugh, I want to quit so bad.”
“You know what you have to do then,” Domi said in a sing-song voice, stepping to the side, so she could bump her hip against Rae’s.
Her bestie had been writing erotic romances for years, but the only person who had ever read them was Domi, who totally thought Rae could make it as an author.
So far, Rae had refused to put them up anywhere anyone could see them.
To Domi’s surprise, instead of her usual denial, Rae ducked her head. Was that… was she blushing? It was hard to tell with her dark skin tone, but Domi was pretty sure Rae was blushing.
“Rae? Did you publish something?”
“Not exactly,” Rae said, still avoiding Domi’s gaze. “I put up one story on a free site for people to read.”
“And?” Domi was practically bouncing on her tiptoes, waiting for the verdict. “Has anyone read it? What did they think?”
“They seem to like it.” Rae shrugged as if it was no big deal. Rolling her eyes, Domi dug into her purse to pull out her phone.
“Where is it? I want to see.” It only took a little begging and pleading before Rae gave in and shared the web address. Domi pulled up Their Sexy Secret—her favorite one Rae had written—and squealed when she saw the rating and the comments. “Rae, this is amazing! They love it!”
“Not everyone,” Rae muttered. Domi hip-checked her again, still not looking up from the screen.
“Oh, shut up, almost everyone does, and you can’t please everyone. Look! This person thinks you need to publish it for real, and this person is saying they’d totally have bought it, and—”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Rae interrupted her. Yup, definitely blushing now. Rae gave it away by rubbing her cheeks as though she was attempting to rub away the heat filling them.
The door opened, and another woman walked in.
Both of them jumped, looking up almost guiltily.
To Domi’s surprise, they knew the new occupant.
Domi recognized her from the times she and Rae had come to Marquis for their submissive class before it was officially open.
A pretty white woman, she worked in the kitchen and looked like she’d just come off her shift, although she’d changed out of her chef’s coat.
Her hair was still pulled back in a utilitarian ponytail, and the tight tank top she was wearing didn’t leave much to the imagination.
Damn. Domi wished her boobs looked like that.
Heck, she wished she had half the woman’s rack.
“Hey, Avery,” Rae chirped. Right, that was her name. Rae was actually good at remembering names, unlike Domi.
“Hi, Avery!” Domi repeated.
“Hi,” Avery came to a halt, looking at them apologetically. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your names.”
That made Domi feel a little better about initially forgetting hers.
“That’s okay,” Domi reassured her. “I forgot yours, too. Rae remembers everyone’s name, though. I’m Domi, and this is Rae.”
“Nice to see you again,” Avery said with a smile. Something flickered in her expression. “Hey, um… this might be a little weird to ask, but you two were going to that, uh, class upstairs, right?”
She knew they had been, but the uncomfortable way she asked and the pink tingeing her skin said she was asking for a reason. Rae and Domi exchanged a glance. Was Avery submissive?
“Yup, we were. The special class.” Domi winked at her. “Did you want to know more about it?”
“If you don’t mind.”
Looks like I’m the only one not blushing tonight.
“We’re about to head back to our table, but you should come join us.
It’s to the left of the bar, one of the booths,” Domi said enthusiastically.
Maybe she and Rae had fallen down on the job when it came to making friends with Samantha or trying to give Morgan a chance—though she still doubted they’d have ended up friends—but they could make up for that now.
Make a new friend and help out someone interested in being a submissive.
“Yes! Come join us, and we’ll chat.” Rae was clearly on the same page… or maybe she was drunk and feeling extra friendly… either way.
They’d show Mitch and Brian.
Even if Domi wasn’t supposed to care what Mitch thought anymore. Yeah, clearly, she was going to need to work on that.
Mitch
He needed new friends.
“Seriously, Mitch, why don’t you want a relationship with Domi?” Kincaid’s cop training was showing, refusing to give up the interrogation.
“It’s not her. I don’t want a relationship with anyone.” That had always been his motto. “Relationships aren’t my thing.”
“Aren’t your thing?” Brian asked incredulously. “Then what do you think you and Domi have been doing these past months?”
Mitch took another swig of his beer to avoid answering and give himself time to think. What had they been doing? Having lots of hot sex. Exploring each other’s boundaries. With just each other and no one else. That made them exclusive lovers but nothing more.
Sex was easy. Make her scream, make her feel good, get her off. No promises, no expectations, and no hurt feelings.
Do you really think Domi’s not hurt? If she wasn’t hurt, she wouldn’t be pulling back.
No, she was afraid of being hurt. That was different. He hadn’t hurt her yet.
You sure about that?
No. No, he wasn’t. And he didn’t like that, either. That was the opposite of what he wanted. He wanted to make Domi feel good, make her happy. Because he liked her. Was going to miss her.
Was falling for her the same way she was falling for him.
Aw, shit.
Could it really be that simple?
“I think I’m falling for Domi.” He said the words slowly, trying them out to see how they tasted.
“Hallelujah. I was starting to think you’re dumber than I realized.” Master Andrew threw his hands up in the air in mock celebration. Mitch scowled at him, but the corner of his lip twitched. A class clown always appreciated another class clown.
“So, you do want a relationship with her?” Kincaid pressed, clearly still in questioning mode. Brian chuckled. Now, Mitch felt like throwing up his hands.
“I don’t know. What does that feel like?” He shook his head. “The last time I had a ‘relationship’ with someone was high school.”
That had ended when they’d both gone off to college.
No broken hearts on either side—they’d just drifted apart, easy peasy.
After his parents’ divorce, he’d decided his way was better.
No screaming, no crying, no hurt, no putting on a brave face, no pretending things were just fine when they were anything but.
“Yeah, I don’t think that counts,” Brian said dryly.
Master Andrew pointed a finger at him. “Hey, don’t knock high school relationships.”
“You and Kate were high school sweethearts?” Mitch was confused. Club gossip said Master Andrew had been a bigger man whore than Mitch before he’d gotten together with Kate. How was that possible?
“We broke up for a few years.” Shrugging with a nonchalance that didn’t seem quite real, the bartender leaned against the bar, his eyes unfocusing and a little smile growing on his face.
“I moved to New York, she went to California. Lost touch. Then we both ended up back here around the same time, and that was that.”
“Sure… that was that.” Mistress Lisa stepped around Andrew to grab a bottle on the other side of him, shaking her head. “You’re leaving out an awful lot of drama.”
“The important thing is,” Andrew continued, raising his voice to drown out Mistress Lisa’s commentary, “you both have to be on the same page. If Domi wants a relationship and you only want sex, it’s not going to work out. Or vice versa.”
“But how do I know if I want a relationship?” Mitch persisted, looking around at his friends.
Brian and Kincaid were both unattached, but neither of them was anti-relationships the way Mitch was.
They were open to them. Obviously, Master Andrew had managed to make the jump from being the club’s biggest manwhore to being monogamous and engaged.
Sure, he and Kate might not make it in the long run, but they were making it work right now.
It wasn’t that Mitch thought long-term commitment and marriage couldn’t work out for people. He just hadn’t seen it happen very often. Marriage, relationships… they were all a bad bet a surprising number of people decided to gamble on, anyway.
Domi made him want to try.
“Do you want to see her outside of the club? Do you care about how she’s feeling when you’re not having sex? Do you miss her when she’s gone?”
Well… yes.