“I know,” she whispers and her bottom lip quivers.
“Why do you still cry when I bring him up?” I suddenly have to know if there’s something about me that makes her think of him. There’s a burning need to know if, in her mind, he still owns her or if there’s something else that makes her tear up with a simple mention of him. The fucker whose name I don’t even know, and at this point don’t want to know, for my own sanity. I may very well hunt him down and beat the shit out of him if I found out.
“It still hurts, Dom. It bothers me that I’m so weak,” her eyelashes flutter, fighting back tears as she speaks.
“You’re not weak. You’re a survivor. What did I say about disparaging yourself?” I ask, not in a domineering way, but a gentle reminder to help her state of mind. A good Dom, a goodman, knows when to push and when to soothe.
“No one gets to talk about me like that—not even me,” she recites back to me.
“That’s my girl,” I say before leaning over to give her a chaste, but lingering, kiss.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not disparaging myself,” she starts to speak, then waits for my nod of affirmation before continuing. “This is a compliment for you. You are too good to me. I’ve done nothing to deserve you.”
“No,My Angel, you only deserve the best of everything. Let me give it to you. Lifting you up to the highest pedestal gives me pleasure and it’s exactly where you deserve to be.”
Shaking her head in obvious disbelief, Sophia leans over toward me. Just as I think she’s about to kiss me again, she wraps her little arms around my neck and clings tightly to me, squeezing me as hard as she’s able. In our embrace, I feel the remaining walls she’s built around her heart begin to crumble. It’s an amazing feeling to know that this incredible woman is all mine.
I murmur into her hair, “Let me feed you, love. You’ll need your energy tonight.” The promise is there, hanging in the air and waiting for her to take it, accept it, and surrender to it.
“Then I guess it’s a good time to tell you that I’m starving, huh?” she murmurs back. “Just not so much for food.”
I chuckle at her response and she coos, “Dom, I love the feel of your laugh as it rumbles through your chest. It’s so sexy.”
“After we eat, I will show you all the sexy you can take,My Angel.” My solemn vow to her, no matter how lightly or how seriously it’s stated.
“I’m ready, Dom.”
With that, I take her back to my favorite restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel. As we approach the valet stand, I glance over at her and say, “You know, you really do need to tell me what your favorite restaurant is so I can take you there.”
“I go where you go, Dom. That’s all I really want.”
Dinner cannot come and go fast enough for me tonight. I usually prefer an unrushed, relaxing dinner after a long day at work, but tonight, all I can think about is getting Sophia home.Home—that word just popped into my head. Not to myhouse, but home. Depending on how tonight goes in the playroom, I've considered having her stay a few nights a week with me. Perhaps on our agreed play days—Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We can discuss it if she still wants Sunday to herself. For now, anyway.
Just as we are finishing our main course, a voice from my past interrupts the pleasant evening I was having. The very sound of it is worse than a thousand fingernails scraping across chalkboards. He’s yelling across the room, calling out to me, and acting like we’re long lost best friends. I know him all too well, however, and can hear the disdain for me permeating his voice.
“Dominic Powers? Is that really you?” he yells in mock surprise. “Well. Fuck. Me,” he rudely roars, drawing out ‘fuck’ in his Southern accent for as long as his breath allows. Every eye in the restaurant turns to my table, disgusted with the inappropriateness of his comments. “Never thought I’d seeyouagain.”
Looking around him, I signal our waiter for the check and then look up at Harrison Dictman, who doesnotunderstand the concept of personal space and is standing entirely too close to me. Stretching my elbows out, I intentional hit him and force him to take a step back. He’s lucky that’s the worst he got from me.
“Harry Dick-man,” I purposely mispronounce his name just as I did in the past. My intense dislike of him has only deepened over time. “Never thought I’d seeyouin a place like this. I thought you preferred the seedy strip clubs.”
Hell yes, that’s conceited of me, but this guy deserves so much worse.
“Aw, you know me,” he continues, unaware that he’s just been insulted, “I have to get out with the high-falutin’ crowd every now and then. Show them what arealman looks like. They forget with all these sissy boys hangin’ around.”
The waiter brings the check, and without looking at it, I hand him my card and tell him we’re in a hurry. He takes the hint and sprints off to settle the bill. Harrison continues his tirade, insisting that any man who has money can’t have a shred of manliness about him. The waiter appears just as I start to rise from my seat and prove him wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I quickly sign the receipt and help Sophia out of her chair. Turning to Harrison, I quickly dismiss him, “We were just leaving. So, Harry Dick-man, we will let you get back to your dinner.”
Sophia and I turn to leave and she doesn’t question me, sensing that I’m on edge and about to lose my composure at any minute. Not at her, of course—I know she doesn’t want to add fuel to the already blazing inferno inside of me. As we approach the front doors of the hotel, several couples are quickly making their way inside. The wind has picked up and lightning flashes across the sky in the distance, forcing the others inside to await their valeted cars.
“Sophia, love, why don’t you wait here while I get the car?”
“Dominic Powers!” that same, irritating voice roars from behind me. “Don’t you fuckin’ walk away from me like that! Just who the fuck do you think you are, anyway?”
All heads turn to look at Harrison and several move out of the way, appropriately sensing this will not end well from his tone and words. I glare at him intently and grind my teeth. As much as I don’t want to get into a knockdown, drag-out fight here in the lobby of the hotel, he will not get away with disrespecting me like that.
“Why don’t you show at least alittledecorum, Harry Dick-man? You may need a dictionary to look that word up later. But for now, why don’t you and I just step outside and we’ll finish this discussion?” I growl back at him.
