Dom Wars Round Three (5 page)

It occurred to me that with his chaperone status, he would know at least the bare details behind this assignment. And it fucking scared him.

Fuck.

Exiting the elevator, we followed T-Rex Tara down a hall. You
'd swear she did this kind of thing five times a week. She paused at a door, and the first signs of hesitancy showed. Briefly. She turned and looked at me with a pleasant smile. "In and out. Demon domination 101 baby."

I raised my brows and nodded a little.
"Right with you love."

She regarded Steve. Then me again.
"Why not wait in the hall in case it gets…ugly."

"
No, no, no," Steve whispered back. "We
have
to both attend." He gave a regretful frown, more for himself no doubt. Who the fuck wanted to witness this? Besides me. And that was mostly to find out more about Tara.

"
Fine." She raised her wrist and spoke into her bracelet. "Demon domination in progress. Please pay close attention."

She opened the door and walked in, straight past the receptionist.

"Ma'am? Ma'am! You can't go in there."

Steve and I
followed quickly behind Tara as she barged right through a door at the end of the hall.

A man and a woman were engaged in conversation and he stood from where he sat on the edge of his desk and turned. The anger in his
handsome face became a mask of confusion the second he saw Tara. His confusion and maybe concern grew when he looked me and Steve over.

I finally realized that
Tara was speechless and staring at the woman. Uh oh.

"
Rita?"

The beautiful blond
e stood. "Tara." She smiled.

"
Why are you here?" Tara's voice held genuine confusion.

"
I…I work here. Transferred after college."

Tara nodded at her for several seconds then looked at the man. She cleare
d her throat. "I'm…I'm here to…here to…"

I stepped closer to her and put my hand on her shoulder, reminding her I was there.

She looked at me and I leaned in to her ear. "We can come back tomorrow," I whispered, extra quiet.

Her brows furrowed with the return of her anger and sparkly indifference. She looked back at the man who towered next to us. He was a half a head taller tha
n me and seemed to think that would keep me from kicking his ass if he made
one
wrong move or said
one
wrong word to her.

"
I'm here to tell you that I forgive you." She held out her wrist and his face went screwy.

"
For what?"

She shook her head slowly at him.
"You know what." Her words were soft and certain, with a hint of hurricane warnings.

"
Ummm." He raked his hand through jet black celebrity hair and wiped his mouth then spread his arms wide. "Are you referring to me finding out the day of our wedding that you were not the woman you professed to be?"

She went still for several seconds then her hip cocked.
"What?!"

"
What do you mean what? You know what. Your…" he glanced at me and Steve as though suddenly realizing they weren't alone. "Your condition. With…children."

My gut tensed and
Tara steeped forward, out of my reach. She held her wrist out toward at him. "So. You're saying you…left because I was raped and can't have children?"

He seemed embarrassed and looked down.
"I wanted kids."

My knuckles ached with the force
of clenching my fists.

"
We could have adopted."

"
I don't want to adopt."

"
Ah. And don't you think you could have told me that?"

More shame filled
his face and he stood there hemming and hawing. "Don't you think you should have
told
me something like that?"

Tara laughed.
"I did. What do you think 'I was ruined' meant?"

"
I just thought it meant metaphorically. You heard me talk about kids, Tara." He looked pained now. "You knew what I wanted."

She looked at me and giggled then presented her wrist to the man.
"So, you found out I couldn't have babies and left a poor girl standing like a
goddamn
idiot at the altar.

Oh. Holy. Fuck.
I glared at him, ready to tackle him.

He stared down at the floor and
said nothing.

Tara sighed.
"You know what? It's okay. Because like I said, I forgive you. That's why I'm here, in fact. To release you of the guilt you…apparently don't have. There." She looked at me and Steve then put her wrist to her mouth. "I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you. This. Is. Dominated." She held her wrist out to toward him. "I. Forgive. You. All better. You have a good life."

She
walked toward the door and suddenly paused without turning. "And Rita? You have a good life too. I hope the two of you have a farm of kids."

Steve and I followed in her ominous wake.
My gut tied itself into a million knots. I needed to stop her, hold her. Comfort her. But there was no way I was getting close to her now. I wasn't a religious man, but I was pretty sure the energy trailing behind her was not angelic.

Chapter Five

I sat on the hotel bed, wondering how long Tara would shower. God, please don
't let them make me do anything sexual with her. Or physical.

Left at the alt
ar. God. How fucking horrific. And betrayed by a friend? Jesus. Left by her parents. Left by her first husband before she could say I do. I suddenly got an image of her in a wedding dress. The groom late and her smiling that smile. My heart fucking hurt in my chest. Seeing her there, so beautiful, vulnerable, and about to have her life shattered.

My phone chirped and I closed my eyes
with dread. Well, that was quick. My mom would say,
you get as much as you give with God.
Guess that put me in serious debt.

I opened my phone and looked at it.

Lucian performs aftercare on Tara.

My body sagged
in fucking relief. Aftercare. Yes. The demon domination should require it. Even if she did miserably.

I let out a shaky breath and paced.
I definitely owed one to the man upstairs. Aftercare. Soothe her. I knew how to do that. I froze in my tracks when the shower finally shut off. I hurried back to the bed, feeling like I needed to put her fears at ease. She probably bathed so long because she didn't want to face me. Had to be embarrassing. The entire ride back from that place, she'd resumed her across the world distance from me, and gone straight into the hotel room then into the shower.

Maybe she was worried she
'd have to do something physical.

While she took another forever to get dressed, I stormed through aftercare ideas like a freak tornado. All the usual ones didn
't seem right. No, they didn't seem good enough for her. Nothing was.

All I knew
was that I needed to make her feel good. Maybe worse than she needed to feel it. I gathered my courage and mentally braced for being the strong one, the sure one, the irrefutable one.

Tara finally rounded the corner.
Oh fuck. Naked. Shaven. Nipples hard.

L
ike a magic trick, my hastily planned care package went
poof.

I finally managed to move my gaze to her face and found the surprise of the century written there.
I need you to fuck my brains out really bad.

This
extreme unanticipated turn of events dropped my jaw and train wrecked all the logic out of my brain. She bit her lower lip and looked down, semi hugging her waist. I suddenly saw her, standing at the altar in her wedding gown, waiting.

It reminded me of who I was. What I was. Why I was.
"Go to the bed."

Her immediate obedience
jerked my heart and got me so fucking hard. If this was what she needed, then that qualified as aftercare. I wasn't sure why exactly she needed it, but I did know I was thrilled that she did.

I went to the closet where
"toys" had been planted by the company and found silk ties. I selected five.

When I returned, I found her ready. Legs open, arms stretched out
, showing me that she wanted it. Standing at the side of the bed, staring at her, another urge slammed into me and rewrote the sexual dominance script burning in my head.

I tos
sed the ties and scooped her up in my arms. She stared at me, curious, but still eager and submissive as I made my way to the love seat. Her cheeks flushed as I sat and her lips parted in anticipation. I pulled her close to me and guided her head to my shoulder.

She gave a delicate moan
and snuggled into my body.

Fuck.
My heart slammed in my chest as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her face into my shoulder. I stroked her, beginning at her head, gliding worshipful fingers down her curled up body then back up again.

I fought the
wave of agony crushing me. I just…fucking needed so bad to climb inside her. Save her from the ghosts of her past. "I got you, love." I rubbed my face along hers and pressed her as tight as I could to my body. "You're mine. You're safe." It was my promise to her, and my declaration of war on whatever demons that dared keep her from me. Keep her from my love.

*
**

The next morning, I watched Tara while she slept, stroking the hair next to her face. God. She was fucking beautiful. So beautiful. Look at her. Fucking angel in sleep

A soft knock sounded on the door and I turned and looked at it, willing whoever it was to go away.

They knocked again and Tara moaned softly. I looked down in time to see her snuggle her face into my chest. The sight of it brought a profound revelation. Fucking wow. This… this is how she should
always
wake up. With me. In my arms.

"
What are you doing?" Her whisper held humor.

I stroked along her side and hip with careful fingers.
"Watching you."

Her lips smiled against my chest and I couldn
't keep my own grin back at how fucking awesome that felt. "Somebody is knocking." She slid her mouth and nose against me.

"
I fucking know. I want to kill them," I whispered softly.

She giggled as they knocked again, harder.

I laid a kiss on her forehead and growled as I sat up. "Coming," I yelled. "Yet
not.
Get dressed, love." I looked over my shoulder, longing for every bit of her silky skin. When she got her robe on, I opened the door to find Steve standing there with wide eyes and scary grin on, clutching a laptop to his chest with one hand, coffee with the other. "The scores for the rounds so far are being posted live," he whispered. "You'll want to see them."

My gut tensed at how his tone indicated the exact opposite. I stepped aside with a sigh of dread.

"Good morning sunshine," he literally sang in his strong soprano voice.

Tara nodded and tossed a wave, pushing hair behind her ear as he set up on the small dining table.

Tara met my gaze and I winked at her, seeing the look of worry in her face. Premonition? She had to know her first domination was an epic fail.

Steve tapped at his keyboard, mumbling.
"Aaaaaaand here are the current scores for the teams." He pointed to the screen. "That would be us. And that…" He singled out a number, "would be the score for your first demon domination."

Tara angled her head.
"Oh. Two hundred and fifty. That's…that isn't bad, right?"

"
These are the others' scores." Steve scrolled down. "The highest score is one thousand."

"
What!? One
thousand?
" She gasped and looked at me like she were clueless. And judging by her face, she was.

"
Sweetheart—"

"
Don't!" her hand shot out at me. "Do not even say it, I
dominated
that first mission. You saw, I went in there, I-I-I
laid
it all out and I
forgave
him. I mean what do they want from me? Shoot him? Because I could if that's what they want, but that doesn't really seem like dominating a demon." She finished her heated rant with a wild look on her face.

"
Well," Steve nearly whispered, "it would seem the audience is scoring the success of the main domination events."

"
Ugh!" Tara went to pacing and chewing her thumbnail. "No
wonder
! The audience isn't qualified to judge something like that!" She paced in exasperation, her steps getting shorter with her fuse. "This is the extreme epitome of ri-fucking-diculous, Bane."

My brows shot up at the odd use of my last name. That couldn
't be a good sign. "Maybe—"

"
Maybe what? Maybe what?"

I tried again.
"Maybe—"

"
Maybe they're on drugs?
Loopy
?" She nodded and paced faster.

Steve turned in his seat and looked at her, releasing the bank vault clamp on his mouth.
"Maybe forgiveness and sweetness isn't what they'd consider…dealing?"

She turned her wrath on Steve.
"Really? Really?" She put her bracelet to her mouth. "This. Is not. Fair. I have had
therapy
for this. Authentic, professional
therapy.
That should count! For something! More than two hundred and fifty goddamn points. I have
dealt
with this shit, do you hear me? Except for that…
bitch
Rita. Which is a brand new thing, but I handled it, you saw I did. I did
not
let the fact that my best friend…" Tara's voice suddenly broke and she stopped pacing. My heart ached and I ventured closer to where she stood with her back facing me and shoulders sagging. "I mean…" she began in a small voice, "I need a little time, that's all. To-to process this. I'm only
human
. Please, give me another chance."

At the start of her wail, I wrapped my arms around her from behind her, not letting her get away. She sagged in my arms, and I turned her and pulled her close to me.
"Fuck them love. They're fucking clueless. We'll make it up in the next one, I promise. You'll see." I kissed the top of her head over and over.

"
Yes, and there are the small assignments. You both have made excellent scores there," Steve said.

"
Of course she did. She's amazing," I whispered.

"
I need a shower," she mumbled wearily.

I led her to the bathroom, hating that she wanted solitude instead of me.

"We leave in one hour," Steve called. "Our second destination is four point three hours from here. We're on schedule. If everything goes smoothly."

She shut the door with a nod, looking like she could
n't care less.

Steve sat with a sigh and a shake of his head as he shut the computer.
"Do you have any idea what the next domination is about? I mean, maybe we can help prepare her?"

I sat on the bed and put my elbows on my knees.
"I'll see what I can find out."

"
Yes, you do that."

I looked at Steve when I heard an odd volume in his tone. He had his lower lip punished between his teeth and torment furrowed his forehead. His blue eyes shot toward the bathroom. He got up and retrieved the hotel pad of paper and pen.
"I'm going to the store to pick up a few items." He scribbled on the paper for several seconds. "You have anything you'd like to add to the list, put it here. Give it to me when we get to the car and we'll stop on the way out." He placed the pen exactly on the pad with that scary pointed grin and stood. "Call me when you're ready." He gave a single half bow and spun on his heels.

I stared at the pad of paper and figured out his game. I casually went over to it and sat, picked up the pen and read his note.
I googled the name on the next appointment. Mr. Sennat was a janitor at Tara's elementary school. He apparently locked her in a closet and forgot about her. Fired for it, ruined family business. She was seven. Soiled herself etc etc. Demon of humiliation??? Fear of closets??? Janitors???

I wrote random items on the paper, keeping it legitimate looking. I stood and paced. Fuck. She
's been knowing this was coming and having to face it alone. Look at that first fucked up assignment. Left at the altar. I should have kicked his fucking ass. Maybe that's what they were wanting, it's what I fucking wanted. Fucking bastard. How could he leave
her
at the altar?" And yet, thank God he had.

I got up and pulled on a clean t-shirt. I needed to find out where she stood with this next thing. See if I could prepare her. Talk about what she has in mind.

***

Mr.
Sennat.

I closed my eyes as the water hammered my eyeballs. Why should facing him be
more scary than facing my ex? Probably because I was guilty. Had to be that. I'd gotten him fired. Later I'd learned that he'd lost his son. Then his wife left him. I quit following him after that, it was too tragic to keep up with.

My body kept reminding me about other problems. Lucian problems. God, waking up next to him, his chest, was so amazing. He tasted like warm safety might smell. It was weird but yet so real. And the way he touched me. So careful and…God, so careful. And when he hugged
me… felt like he was making love to me with his arms and hands. I could let him do that all day. Like he was absorbing me into his body, and he loved it. Wanted it. Craved it.

He craved me. Yes, that. I could see it in his eyes, feel it in his touch. And it always set me on fire. And scared the
shit
out of me. I was so close to getting lost in him. Like
really really
lost. Then what? Then I would screw up the game and Gramma would be stuck in hell.

Dammit. He needed to back off a bit. Give me room to think in air not saturated with Lucian Bane. And yet there my heart went, hammering in anticipation of the next text. Would he dominate me? Would I dominate him? Would it be something I hated? Loved? Something he hated or loved? My clit throbbed with the thought of sucking his cock.