Page 22 of Masters of Pleasure
Avery smiled and relaxed.
“You’re interested in joining?”Domi asked, even though the answer was obvious.She wanted to get Avery talking.She was genuinely interested, and if this helped her keep her mind off Mitch for the rest of the night, even better.
“I belonged to a club before I moved here,” Avery admitted, a wistful expression growing.It was clear she had good memories of the place.“It wasn’t anything like Marquis, but I enjoyed it.Working down here, knowing what’s going on upstairs… I thought maybe I should get back into the scene.”
“That’s great!”Rae beamed at her.“What else do you want to know?”
Avery turned out to be a lot of fun—they all bonded over their love of terrible chick flicks and bad shark movies, along with their interest in kink.Unlike Domi and Rae, Avery was neither a masochist nor a baby girl in denial.She called herself a ‘service sub.’Domi found the idea kind of fascinating but not particularly appealing for herself.
So, the day wasn’t a total loss.She’d lost a bondage buddy but gained a friend.
ChapterSeven
Mitch
Another day, another flurry of emergencies.
It could be worse.So far, nothing life-threatening had come in—sprains, a couple broken bones, two guys high as kites, and one dude who had lost a glass dildo up his ass.Mitch had had a quiet talk with him about stuffing his butt responsibly.Things that didn’t have a base to keep a part of themoutsidethe body did not belong in the butt.If only he could make that into a sign and put it up somewhere, people would actually read it.But by the time they got to the ER, it was too late.
All throughout the day, Domi hovered in the back of his mind, just as she had the past few days.He still didn’t know what he wanted to do.The indecisiveness wasn’t like him, but he’d wanted to take a few days to see if his life really was all that different now, without her in it.
One difference was he never got the little jump of excitement when his phone went off anymore because he already knew it wasn’t her.
Another difference was he had trouble keeping his head in the game.He was constantly wondering what she was doing.What it would be like to try a relationship with her.Whether she’d even want to try with him.All the ways it could go wrong.On the other hand, they were already not together now.What’s the worst that could happen?That they’d not be togetheragain?Same boat he was in now.
Right now, she still liked him… he was pretty sure.If they got together and things crashed and burned, she might not like him at all anymore.
But what if it doesn’t crash and burn?
Then… they’d be together.Stay together.Marriage?
For the first time, the thought didn’t give him an itchy feeling that made him want to rub calamine lotion all over himself—which was disturbing all on its own.Shouldn’t he still feel itchy and uncomfortable?What was so different about Domi?
“It’s kinda slow in here today, don’t you think?”Jane asked, coming up next to where he was standing at the computer, entering butt-stuff guy’s details.Mitch winced.Jane was their new intern, fresh out of medical school, and she’d only been there a week.
“Shh, don’t say that!”Dr.Brady, who was running the room that morning, glared at her.Despite only being five feet tall and one of the warmest, friendliest people Mitch had ever met, she could also be fierce as hell.Especially if someone jinxed them like Jane had just done.
“Sorry!”Jane clapped her hands over her mouth.When Dr.Brady turned away, Jane leaned in toward Mitch.“She’s really superstitious, huh?”
“For good reason,” Mitch said, shaking his head.“You’ll learn, newbie.”
Less than five minutes later, they were all running their feet off as victims of a multi-vehicle car crash were wheeled in.Jane looked sick to her stomach, but she followed along quickly enough when Mitch hurried toward the stretchers, along with the other nurses.Yeah, she’d learn.
Domi
Watching Ana prancing around in her Elsa dress, Domi had to grin at the enthusiastic hand waving going on.It didn’t matter the weather was warm or her name actually matched Elsa’s sister—as far as Ana was concerned, she was the snow queen.She had a great imagination.
“Queen Elsa, I request permission to return to the house,” Domi said finally, getting her daughter’s attention.She was still sitting on the chair Ana had directed her to before doing her snow queen thing.“I have work to finish.”
Ana’s face fell, but she nodded.Domi’s chest tightened.She hated disappointing her daughter, but she couldn’t play all afternoon, as much as she might want to.Part of her was a little exasperated.It wasn’t like Ana had included her anyway, but she knew Ana still liked having her there, even if Domi was only watching from her chair.
Then Ana brightened again.
“When the new baby gets here, she can be Anna!”
Domi had to laugh.Thankfully, Ana was very excited about becoming a big sister, just like Elsa.She hadn’t even been bothered when Julia’s morning sickness had become so bad, Marcus had asked if Ana could come back to Domi’s early.Poor Julia had started throwing up almost constantly on Monday, and even though she was now on anti-nausea medication, Marcus wanted her to get a few days' total rest while she recovered from what had been a truly awful few days.
“It’ll be a bit before the baby is able to play like that, but eventually, yes.”
