A Few Sips Ch. 01

Dear readers! Thank you oh so much for all of the comments, praises, criticisms, and guidance through feedback and the viewable comments. I really do appreciate them and have been slowly working through the next story that needs to be told about one of the characters from Vorhees. I hope you enjoy this one, I have been working hard to make it right and am hoping to keep the chapters coming quickly.

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Step one, first name. She frowned. Even if she put her real name, no one would ever believe her. It had been cute in grade school, embarrassing in middle school, and a nightmare for her in high school. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and thought about the promise that she had made to her friend, Jenna. 'Domino.' Location was next, so she quickly typed 'Burlington, VT.' That was easier. Age was, as well, '23.' Occupation was one that she wasn't really sure what to put. 'Professional agoraphobe' seemed like it would attract the wrong type of people, or no one at all. 'IT Support' was a much better answer, and probably more of what the dating site was looking for there.

Likes. Seriously? How in the world would anyone ever know what to actually put there? Domino sighed again, grabbing another candy corn from the bowl at her side and popping it into her mouth, she mass purchased one of the only sweets she really liked in October to hold her over each year. 'Halloween. The sound of crickets chirping at night. A hot bath. Eating good Chinese food. Puppets.' She was pretty sure if Jenna saw what she had put, the spunky woman would yell at her and take over the setting up of her dating profile, but Jenna just happened to be in the middle of a teleconference and she'd set a timeline for Domino to get the account set up. And she only had 20 more minutes.

Dislikes. Oh, she would need a lot more characters than allowed to answer that one. 'People who don't like goats. Ryan Gosling. lo fi. Grocery shopping. Cooking fish.' What is your best personality trait? Oh Jesus. 'My expectations are low.' What is your worst personality trait? 'I am Jack's inflamed sense of rejection.' Wait. No, she couldn't put either of those. It made her look desperate and sad. Well, she was kind of desperate and sad. She changed the best trait to 'attentive' and worst trait to 'sarmassophobia.' At least she'd get them to google something.

What was she looking for in a date? Domino had never been on a real date before, so how in the world did she even know? She hadn't even left her house in the last three months. 'Patience and understanding.' Sure. Where would she go on her ideal date? Seriously? Did they mean seriously or like, if she had access to an airplane and unlimited funds? 'A good place for dinner where the music was soft and the conversation was good.' What do you look for in a date? 'Someone who is nonjudgmental and has possibly laughed at a cat meme on the Internet.' Ok, she had somehow decided to answer all the questions in such a way as to ensure that she never went on a date in her life, but Domino was having a hard time with this.

Setting up an Internet dating profile would have been easier when she was seventeen, but now, after what she'd been through, it was like going to the dentist for her, something that almost required an Ativan. Clicking the next button, she was glad to see that everything else was a 1-5 scale of likes and stuff, which she went through quickly. Once she was done, she finally hit the submit button and then bit her lip as she went to the 'upload photo' button. Was she really considering putting her actual picture up on the Internet? The thought was stress-provoking and she lingered over the array of photos that she'd taken earlier in the day. All were of her sitting in front of her computer, turning her head one way or the other, her long, thick, wavy blond hair falling around her heart shaped face.

Rolling her eyes, she clicked on one, knowing it was not what Jenna would have chosen, but she had only promised to make a profile, she hadn't promised to care about it. The picture she uploaded was of her, but instead of showing her big brown eyes and pale skin and dark brows, she was wearing a a Catwoman mask that covered her head from her scalp line to her lower cheeks and nose. She'd even put on red lipstick in the picture and had puckered just a little bit. Done! Domino clicked 'finish' and watched as her profile uploaded.

Once it said that her profile would be reviewed and then taken live, Domino snapped her laptop closed and got up from her couch. Setting the machine aside, she walked from her living room into her small kitchen and pulled open her fridge. Speaking of grocery shopping, she was going to have to do it again, and soon. There were only condiments and a half stick of butter on the sad looking shelves. Frowning, she closed the door and opened the freezer to find a nearly empty ice cube tray and a partially empty box of frozen waffles. Shutting that door, she went to her cabinets and was equally disappointed by what she was seeing inside.

Looking at the time, she knew it was too late to order a grocery delivery, it was evening, the darkness creeping through her windows confirmed that. Fuck, she felt a shiver work up and down her arms. She could just order take out. Then she wouldn't have to leave. But Domino knew that she needed to just go to the store. She would need food for the morning, as well, she was tired of eating waffles. Grabbing her jacket, she threw it over the black NiN shirt she was wearing with gray yoga pants and slipped into her black moccasins. There was a market a few blocks down from her house that was open late. She'd been there many times and it usually was pretty empty.

Unlocking the deadbolt and lower lock on her door, Domino opened it wide and looked out into the hallway of her second floor apartment. She could feel the heat in her body as she looked at the threshold. This was ridiculous, she thought to herself, it was ridiculous to not be okay with leaving your own apartment to get food. She reached to the side table and grabbed her purse, looking into it as she forced herself to walk over the line that marked her space versus the more public space of the hallway, and then she pulled her door shut behind her and locked it. Domino refused to let her mind get the better of her and she walked down the staircase, stealing herself for the sick feeling that was bound to work up from her gut when she opened the front door of her apartment complex and stepped out onto the front walkway.

Domino was intelligent enough to know that she had nothing to fear from being outside, she knew her phobia was completely irrational. She hadn't been this way her entire life, she used to love the outdoors, in fact. She had enjoyed going kayaking and swimming with her foster family, had loved to go snowboarding and hiking. Domino couldn't remember ever wanting to stay in a house, no matter where she was living at the time. She had been outdoorsy. It had only been after she'd found herself the subject of the attentions of her slightly older foster brother that she'd started to develop a fear of being around other people, and that fear had festered and grown until she'd been forced to quit her job at a local tech company because she was having a hard time getting into the office to work.

Pete Seares had done this to her, and she knew it wasn't fair to herself to let the man have so much control over her still. It had been five years now. Five years since he had last gotten her naked in the den when he thought everyone else in the house was asleep. Five years since he'd last forced her to go down on him. Five years since he had shoved his cock high up into her ass while she sat with her back to him on that ugly paisley couch in the den, his hand toying with her clit as he slammed his hips up into her from underneath. He had loved to fuck her ass, he'd done it so many times that she'd been surprised that they hadn't been discovered before they had. When their foster father had walked in on them that night, it had been humiliating, and then she'd been kicked back into the system while Pete got to stay, Pete got to age out there. Domino had aged out in a group home on the other side of town. She'd never seen him since that night, and she certainly didn't want to, but she knew the fear that they would cross paths was just one of the reasons now that she worked from home and watched a lot of Netflix.

She barely had any friends. Jenna was the one she was closest to, and they had only met in person a few times, and mostly at Domino's apartment. Jenna was convinced that Domino needed to conquer her fears and get out and meet people, hence the stupid profile that she'd just created. It was sprinkling outside, she realized at she looked up at the night sky. There was a full moon, also, which made her slow her steps a little to take it in. It was very beautiful, and she was glad that she'd went outdoors, she couldn't see the moon very well from the windows of her apartment. A few minutes later, she reached the door of the market that she wanted to go to and pulled it open slowly. Stepping inside, she felt a little bit of the tension in her shoulders dissipate and she looked around the interior of the store. There was a young man sweeping the area in front of the cashier desk and a young couple a few rows over near the back looking at something on the shelf.

Domino turned to her right and made her way to the frozen food section. She opened a door, not caring really what was inside, just needing to feel the cool air for a moment to slow her breathing and calm her body. She closed her eyes and stood there for a little while until she felt herself finally relax enough that she could complete the task that she'd come here to complete.

"Excuse me, can I grab something?" A deep, rumbly sounding male voice said and Domino jerked back a little and looked up at the large, tall man who had somehow appeared beside her.

He was tall, hulkishly so, and his broad shoulders were ridiculously muscled under the black jacket that he was wearing. He had black hair that fell in waves behind his ears and his jaw was chiseled and very very sexy, with the type of stubble that was probably too stubborn to ever be shaved completely away. His lips were firm and wide, and lifted slightly at the corners in a warm smile. She ignored the smile, and the weird brownish, red? color of his eyes as she moved her eyes down to his equally impressive chest that clung to the black t-shirt that he wore beneath the half unzipped jacket. His waist was narrow, still the same size as a massive tree stump, she figured, but packed with hard muscle and not an ounce of fat.

His thighs were the same, encased as they were in black denim, which she suddenly felt irrationally jealous of as she looked him over very slowly. His soft chuckle finally brought her wide brown eyes back to his face.

"Wh-what? Oh, excuse me." Domino said and backed away, waving from him to the open freezer door.

"Please, don't let me stop you. I'm enjoying the view myself." He nodded down at her and Domino felt a whole different kind of heat fill her body, this one centering quite fiercely in the space between her legs, and she knew she would be wet if she were to touch down there, if he were to touch her down there.

Her breath caught and she dropped her mouth open as he stepped forward, grabbing a water out of the cooler before closing the door and turning to stand very close in front of her.

"What's your name?" His question surprised her, and the heat from his body made her shiver and she felt her pussy clench, it was a strange sensation, this arousal, to a man that she had only just seen for the first time.

"Domino." Really? Great way to start this conversation, he probably thought you were lying. Her brown eyes, thickly lashed, looked straight into his.

"Domino," The way he said her name so low in his throat sounded like he was having sex with it, and she felt a heat creep slowly up her neck, "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

"Dinner? What? I don't-." Domino shook her head. Sexy, big, enormous, powerful guy taking little, nervous Nelly, Domino to dinner? Totally not plausible.

"There's a cafe a few doors down. I'm sure they have a table." He murmured and she felt her breathing deepen as she let his words waft over her.

"I'm sure they do." She muttered as she looked around her, why had she left her apartment? Food?

"My name is Alex. I'd love to take you to dinner, but if you're not sure, if you need a moment, I'll leave first and go sit at the cafe. If you show up, I'll feed you, if you don't, well...missed opportunity on my part, I suppose." He shrugged his shoulders softly before he very very gently ran the pads of a few fingers along the very edge of her right shoulder.

Domino felt her body doing somersaults as desire burned through her in crashing waves as the man walked away and took his water bottle up to the counter. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he paid for the water and then put it in his jacket pocket before walking out the door, his strange eyes watching her as he exited. Domino frowned, every thought in her mind was a mistake. If she followed him to the cafe, it could be a trap, he could be a sleazy rapist, or some other type of monster lurking around in the dark. If she went home, she could be missing a golden opportunity to have a nice meal with a man who had been nice in their few moments of conversation. And how excited would Jenna be to hear that Domino had actually left her house AND gone on a date, of sorts, with a stranger? She'd practically jump out of her skin.

She knew the cafe he was talking about. She'd actually been to it before. Jenna had made her sit inside of the brightly lit room for an hour before she'd finally relented and walked with Domino back to her house. She wasn't sure, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea, and she certainly didn't know if she could actually do it, if she could actually sit in the cafe long enough to eat and have a conversation with the strange, intensely attractive man.

Her feet seemed to finally give up on her mind's battle to come to a decision, and Domino walked slowly out of the market, not buying a single thing that she'd intended to, and she walked down the street to the door of the cafe. Two people were walking out, so she waited to go in, her eyes sweeping through the relatively few patrons inside. It took only seconds to spot the man who had invited her in to eat with him. He was sitting at a table, his back to the window, near the rear of the cafe. His shoulders were relaxed, as if whether or not she appeared made no real difference to him.

Domino sighed and stepped through the door of the cafe and slowly made her way over to him. As she slid into the seat, thankful that it faced most of the cafe, she watched his weird eyes lift to look at her, and his mouth widened into a smile that hit her pussy like a ton of sexy sexy bricks. Jesus, how could she want to crawl over the small table and jump this man? She didn't know him AT ALL.

"You came." His voice was barely audible, it was so deep a baritone, and her skin prickled and her nipples hardened within her t-shirt. The dreams she would have tonight, Domino thought to herself, they would be intense.

"I did." She settled herself down, hanging her purse over the upper corner of her seat and taking her jacket off and putting it over top the wooden chair.

"Here's the menu." He handed her one and then returned his hands to his knees under the table.

Domino wondered as to why he wasn't looking at one but didn't ask. Instead, intimidated by the way he made her feel, she moved her eyes over the choices in the menu and finally, knowing that a waitress had arrived at their table, she moved her eyes up to the black haired girl that couldn't take her eyes off of the masculine form across from Domino, she understood it, she had a hard time not looking at him herself.

"What can I get you?" The question was 100% directed at her dining companion and Domino felt him stiffen a little, they were sitting pretty close, the table was rather small.

"Domino?" He asked, tipping his chin at the pretty blond with the gently curved ass and amazing, full breasts that he had smelled before he'd even seen her in the small neighborhood market.

Domino frowned as she looked at the menu, "Can I get an iced tea and the club sandwich?"

"Sure, do you want chips and a pickle or fries?"

"Chips, please." Domino told the girl and watched as she nodded and wrote her order down. Domino half expected the woman to spit in her sandwich before she brought it to her from the way she was salivating so openly over Alex.

"Fine. And you?" Now her voice was sickly sweet, she was looking at him with so much lust, she might well have put herself on the menu.

"The same." He said, and Domino noticed that his eyes never left her face, and she could feel the finger pads of his right hand flutter over her left knee.

"Okay. I'll be back over soon with your drinks." The waitress walked away, slightly defeated that he hadn't given her as much attention as she'd hoped for.

"I think she might serve your sandwich to you completely naked if you asked her." Domino heard herself say and bit her lower lip to hide her embarrassment.

He chuckled as he squeezed her knee gently. "That's unfortunate."

"For you or her?"

"For her, I would rather see you naked." His words further made her body sizzle and she shifted uneasily in her chair.

"That's a little forward for a first conversation." She told him, pausing for a bit after as their iced tea was delivered.

"No one is ever honest in their first conversations with each other. Maybe we should try it." He smiled when she looked at him with a lot of doubt in her eyes.

"What do you suppose we say then?"

"I could ask you a question and you answer honestly, and then you do the same. And just be honest, no judging, just honesty." He was running the pads of his fingers over her upper knee as she sipped her tea.

"Okay," Domino set her glass down and thought of what she wanted to ask him, "Are you on steroids?"

He laughed deeply, and more than one woman in the cafe looked in their direction, a bit of jealousy on their faces at the sight of the masculinity he emanated. "No, Domino, I am not on steroids, or any other drug for that matter."

Domino nodded and waited for him to ask her a question.

"How old are you?" His question was easy, it wasn't nearly as personal as she had expected, especially with the fact that her pussy was very much enjoying the caress of his fingers on her lower thigh.

"Twenty-three. You?"

He frowned, "A little older."

Domino raised a brow, "I thought we were going to be honest with each other?"

"I turned 41 on my last birthday." He told her as the waitress brought over two plates of food and put one in front of each of them. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No. Do you?" She smiled softly when she realized what it sounded like when she'd asked her question.

"No, no boyfriend, or girlfriend, by the way. Why are you scared right now?"

Domino tensed a little and looked down at her sandwich. She'd just taken a bite and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing and looking back up at him, "I have agoraphobia. This is my first time out of my apartment in months and you're as big as an ox and you frighten the shit out of me."

His fingers only seemed to press harder, and a little farther up on her thigh.

"Are your eyes red?"

He nodded, "Most of the time. Sometimes they seem to go almost black. How long have you had a fear of leaving your home?"

She shrugged, "It sort of started when I was eighteen and lost my foster placement. It got worse and worse until I couldn't get to work, or go out with my friends. It's just been easier, I guess. Do you typically pick up young women at night in corner markets?"