It must be the right thing to do, because he shuts the door, and I’m left in silence. But unlike when I saw what happened to my room, where all sound seemed to stop, this time I don’t feel the vibration either.
Just complete and utter stillness.
I close my eyes and take a breath.
What am I supposed to do now?
Once I saw what happened, I sort of shut down. I let Domino’s guys get me out of my place and bring me over here. I remember everything. I just didn’t react.
Is this what shock is? I’ve never been in it, I don’t think.
I open my eyes and take in the room. Kinda big for one person; must be a suite or something. Pretty sure this place was a hotel before the club took it over. It’s got a small kitchenette, a living space, and a half wall with a rotating TV to block it off from the bedroom. Nothing screams Domino, but other than having a giant cock, I don’t really knowmuch about him. He told me he was new to the area, coming from Kansas. That he also tattoos when he can.
Other than a bag here and there, nothing else is in the room. It’s like this is a real hotel, and Domino just got here. Not a single photo beyond one of a motorcycle over the couch and another of a three-headed dog above the bed.
With no idea what I’m meant to do, I decide on what I always do after a fight—shower. I head to the bathroom, lock the door, turn the water on, and undress. As soon as I’m naked, I climb under the spray, face in the water as I just let it rinse everything away. It’s cold for a few seconds, but it’s the jolt I need for my mind to get out of whatever the fuck mood I’m in right now.
I take about five more minutes to let the water just flow over me before I grab Domino’s shampoo and body wash. I wish he had conditioner, but anything is better than nothing. After another ten minutes, I’m out, wrapping a towel around my body and another one for my head. I wander out to his room, see it’s still barren except for me, and head to the drawers in the dresser. Not much to choose from, but I grab some sweat joggers and a T-shirt that’s soft and also sports the Hounds logo of the three-headed dog. I toss my wet towel on top of my dirty clothes and leave it all on the floor in the bathroom. I’ll ask about getting them clean, but later.
Going to the fridge, I pull out what looks to be leftovers of pulled pork sandwiches. I give it the sniff test before popping it into the microwave and grabbing a bottled water. While my food is cooking, I snoop. Not for anything to catch Domino in some crazy act, just for pen and paper. I find the kind that every hotel keeps in the desk drawer and laugh to myself about it. For a biker club, they really do accommodatetheir guests. Hell, I bet they’d be great at customer service if they ever did the whole hotel gig for real.
At the ding of the microwave, I grab my food and take a bite before putting down the sandwich and picking up the pen I found.
“Now to make a plan,” I mutter to myself.
“Wake up, beautiful.”
I lean into the fingers caressing my cheek for a second before blinking my eyes open. Domino is squatting in front of me on his couch. I crashed out watching some movie about car racing in Japan or something.
“Hey,” I say with a smile and a sigh.
“Hey, yourself.” He leans in, his lips touching mine for a second. But it isn’t enough.
When he tries to pull back, I grab his vest and pull him back down. He chuckles as I grin through our kiss, and after a second, he deepens it. Unlike the first time, we aren’t fighting for control but rather letting the heat of the moment take away the outside issues as our tongues dance together, listening to their own tune.
With a groan, I flop back on the couch, and he stands with a grin.
“I see you ate my leftovers.”
I shrug. “I was hungry.”
Hegrunts in understanding as he goes over and picks up the third sandwich I didn’t finish, munching on it as he looks over the papers I spread out on the counter.
“What’s this?” He points to them before he grabs a beer from the fridge.
Rising, I stretch, noting him giving me a once-over. I might put a bit of sway in my hips as I saunter over and take a seat on one of the two high-top chairs.
“Started out with me trying to figure out some remodeling of my place, then turned into some new design ideas for my shop.”
He looks up from the papers with a head tilt. “Remodeling?”
I give him a wide-eyed look. “You really expect me to go back to my place after that?”
He coughs and then swallows some beer. “Got the boys cleaning it up. You can sell it if you want.”
I’m shaking my head before he even finishes talking.
“Yeah, not about to stay there till I get a full redo of it. I’m not going to move since my shop is below it, and I worked too hard to make it what it is. It’s exactly the way I need it for me to Zen out and just work. I’m not able to pack up and go somewhere else, so I’m going to make it a full change so it feels like a completely different place, even if the outside is the same.”
