Domino slept late into the next day, only waking long enough to email her boss and tell her that she didn't feel well. It wasn't entirely true, but she was so sore and exhausted, it had been a bit of a chore to get up and do the essentials, like urinate and make coffee. Her body still tingled, even now, later the next afternoon, and Domino found herself smiling at random times as she was reminded of ways that Alexandru had touched her, of how he had tasted and felt. He had done so many truly sexual things to her that every movement she made was a harsh reminder of how insanely desirous he was, and how much it pained her deep inside that he was gone.
She was so wrapped up in the reminder of the sensations he had sent coursing through her body that, at one point, Domino had just returned to bed again and spent a great amount of time running her hands over her body, caressing her breasts, tickling her sides and belly, and then burying her hands in her crotch, rubbing harshly against her clit and sliding against her aching pussy. Her ass was slowly returning to normal, but she knew it would be days before she felt more normal in the back, and even her stretched pussy would need time to recuperate. She figured a month was more than enough time.
The following day was Saturday, and she woke that morning feeling much more refreshed and a forceful need to pee. She'd saturated herself the day before with water and had ordered beef and broccoli for lunch for the iron that Alex had suggested. Once she took a shower and dressed, she pulled her shoes on and unlocked her front door, walking out of it and was halfway down the stairs, going over her shopping list in her head, when she suddenly stopped, gasping and looking around her.
She was in the hallway.
Her heart wasn't pounding.
She had left her house without even thinking about the process of doing so.
Her eyes widened and she shivered, half needing now to turn around and go back, but instead, she steeled her shoulders and walked the rest of the way down the stairs. She bit her lower lip as her mouth spread in an excited smile. She opened the door and felt the warm morning sun hit her face and she closed her eyes and took it in for a moment before turning to walk back to the market she had visited so fatefully a few days ago. Her fear was gone. There was no way great sex could have gotten her over what had held her so captive for so many years. But the vampire had done more than just fucked her, she supposed. He had allowed her to be in control, despite the obvious need he had to take what he wanted from her. She had made all the decisions. She had made them gladly.
Inside the market, she grabbed a basket and filled it with the items that she would need to hold her over, at least for a few days. She could always come back. Domino smiled to herself, she could always come back. That option had never brought her so much pleasure before, and she giggled as she walked along the frozen food section. She would get some ice cream to celebrate her own personal victory.
~*~*~*~
Today was a huge day for Domino Ashburn, and she woke up to her alarm invigorated and ready to start her morning. First, she showered, shaved and brushed her teeth before taking the time to dry and style her hair up in a side braid that left little wisps and curls to fall around the rest of her head, and then she carefully looked over a few of the outfits that she had purchased for this particular moment. Eventually, she settled on the below the knee red dress with the little white polka dots. It had a modest scooped neck, half sleeves and a small bow at the waist and the skirt flared out somewhat from there. She paired it with vintage-y black heels that she'd purchased online on a whim years before but had never had a reason to wear them. The dress had come off of an online site, as well, and Domino had had to return it at first to get a smaller size. She'd lost a little weight in the last month, which she'd attributed to the fact that she was more active. She'd even went so far as to join an albeit small gym where she went three times a week to walk on a treadmill.
Putting a dab of red lipstick on, she smiled at her pale complexion and then walked out of her bathroom and made her way into the living room to get her lunch and computer packed into a bag. Once she had everything ready, she grabbed an apple from her stocked pantry and made her way out of her apartment. Outside, she smiled at a woman walking by with a stroller and made her way down to the bus stop. She waited quietly with a few other potential bus passengers until the light blue and green bus finally rolled to a stop in front of them. Boarding it, she took a seat near the window and enjoyed the view that passed by as it made its appointed stops on the way to the large office building that she was heading to.
It was her first day of work...in an office...with coworkers, and it wasn't her living room. Domino had waited a while to see if her insecurities had returned, but had found that every time she left her apartment, doing so again was just that much easier, and she was excited to attend to every chore, and found herself leaving as much as she possibly could now.
"That's a nice dress." A deep voice said from the seat behind her and Domino turned around to see a blond haired man with a jaw that needed a bit of a shave wearing a flannel shirt and worn out jeans smiling kindly at her.
"Thank you." Domino nodded at him, feeling the smallest blush creep up her neck as she turned back around.
"I take this bus every day, I've never seen you on it before. Car break down?" He asked, leaning forward and resting the underside of his left forearm on the empty seat beside her.
She shook her head, turning her head to meet his gaze again, she was still uneasy talking to men, but this was good practice, she supposed, she knew a lot of her coworkers were male.
"No, I don't drive."
"Lucky me." He winked at her and she tilted her head a little as she took in his handsome face with the light blue twinkling eyes. He looked like a college student, probably at UVM.
The bus rolled to a stop and she watched him as he looked out the window and frowned, "My stop. It's a shame. Maybe I'll see you again." He shifted so that his face moved closer to her and she watched as he breathed in deeply, and his body seemed to shiver a moment as his mouth fell into a stress-filled frown, his eyes searching hers for a moment before he stood up and looked down at her.
"Maybe so?" Domino responded, wondering at the change in him as he moved into the aisle, his eyes on her for another moment before he nodded shortly and left the bus. She looked out the window and watched as he moved onto the sidewalk. He turned and looked towards where she sat on the bus, his eyes still just as questioning as they'd been after he'd smelled her and she almost thought she saw him shake his head as the bus started to drive off.
She looked into her lap to see that her hands were shaking a little, she didn't understand. What had made the man react to her smell the way he had? Why had he seemed to change his entire demeanor toward her in that one brief intake of air? She shivered a moment, but Domino was not going to let some weird guy on the bus ruin her whole day. She was going to work, damn it, and that was something to celebrate! When the bus finally got to her stop, Domino exited it and quickly walked into the front doors of the building that she'd only been to the one time, her initial interview with the tech company. A smile on her face, she walked to the elevator and pushed the button for the floor that she knew her office was located on, and waited the few minutes it took for her to get to the appropriate floor.
Walking down the hall to the right, Jenna had told her exactly where to go, she'd even texted her a video of the floor in preparation for today, Domino looked ahead and her grin widened into a tooth-exposing smile as she saw her desk covered in toilet paper and balloons, and Jenna and several other people were surrounding it, blowing on party horns as she stopped in front of them.
"Welcome to work, Dom! It's about damn time!" Jenna laughed at her and walked over and gave her friend a big hug.
"Thanks, Jenna. You guys really didn't have to do this." Domino nodded at the others, who she was quickly introduced to.
Her first work day was a success and Domino felt very proud of herself as she left the office later that afternoon. She'd met pretty much everyone who worked in the office, and they'd taken her out to lunch, even. All had been friendly, and more than one of the men had looked at her a little longer than socially acceptable, but had been completely gentlemanly with her. It was an amazing feeling, to once again be part of something, part of the world. She had so much to thank Alexandru for, if she ever saw him again.
Jenna had given her a ride home from work, and she'd entered her apartment building through the back door, slyly looking towards the little alleyway off the alcove, she had very fond memories of that quiet little area. She'd snuck down the afternoon after Alexandru had visited her and found her clothes pretty much exactly where she'd left them. She'd thrown the pants and undies in the trash, but had cleaned up the shoes and tossed them in her closet.
The following weeks were close repeats of those first few days of her work, and Domino had gotten into a relative routine of work, exercise and home. She'd started taking classes at a local bakery that taught people to decorate cakes and cupcakes, and Jenna had invited her almost weekly to some adventure or another. Sometimes it was just the two of them, and other times, it would be a small group that they would head out with. She saw a few movies, went fishing, and even drove with a car full of people over to the Ben and Jerry factory to take a tour and eat some ice cream. It was something like a dream that she desperately wanted to never wake up from.
But like all dreams, the happy, easy, contented life that she had started to live was interrupted one afternoon when she stepped off of the bus in front of the stop in her neighborhood and looked up and saw a face that she hadn't seen since that first day that she'd taken it to work. Despite what the blond man had said, he hadn't seen her again, though she had looked, and had taken the bus later or earlier a few times just to see if he showed up. He was sitting, his elbows on his knees and his hands folded in front of him, his eyes watching her approach closely, on the bus bench. He wasn't alone, there were five other men with him, all tall, like he was, all dressed similarly in casual clothing, and all seemed to have their eyes centered completely on her.
Oh, what was she doing out of her apartment? It was the first thing Domino thought as a nervous shiver worked through her body. She pulled her bag closer against the dark blue dress that she wore and nodded at him, it would be rude not to acknowledge that she'd seen him before, and a nod seemed the most noncommittal thing that she could do. Turning to her left, she started making her way to her apartment building, her body tensing and heating up when she saw several of the men shift in her direction as she started moving away from them, and the blond stood up, his hands shoving into his pockets as he started to follow her.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. She dug her keys out and put them between her fingers like they tell you to in defense classes, or at least that's what she'd heard in the past. Domino thought she heard a dog growl nearby and moved her eyes down to the ground around her, but she couldn't see any animals anywhere. Frowning, she knew he was about ten feet behind her now and she sped up a little.
"Wait." His deep male voice sounded and Domino felt her entire body tense and sizzle in fear and she stopped in front of her apartment complex door and shoved the key fob against the sensor as she felt his body come up behind her.
He didn't press in, he just stood extremely close behind her, his hands moving to rest on her shoulders as she shook against the door. Tears fell from her eyes as she felt him pull her hair back over one shoulder so he could move his mouth closer to her ear.
"I'm not trying to scare you. We need to talk." He told her and she whimpered.
"If you're not trying to scare me, then why are you standing so close and why did you follow me to my apartment?" She whispered against him as he took a step away from her and let his hands fall to his sides.
