CHAPTER 22

I paced the “guest room” for about an hour. Probably I should have been taking advantage of this period of forced inactivity to catch a few Zs, but I didn’t think I’d have much luck falling asleep. I was starting to get hungry, my stomach protesting my failure to eat either breakfast or lunch, when I heard footsteps in the hallway. I smelled food, and my stomach immediately let out a howl that would have been embarrassing if I thought anyone could hear it. I guessed that meant my visitor would be Dominic, not Adam, and I had a momentary urge to rush the door and see if I could escape in a moment of confusion. But for all I knew, Adam was sitting downstairs, and I’d get my ass handed to me if I tried anything.

The first thing I saw when the door opened was Dominic’s back, because his hands were full and he was using his butt to hold the door. When he turned toward me and let the door go, his head was bowed, and I thought at first he was keeping an eye on the bowl of soup that rested on the tray he carried. But then he turned to put the tray on a desk, and a beam of light illuminated the side of his face.

I gasped when I saw his ostentatiously black eye. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he let out a sigh as he turned to face me. He crossed his arms over his chest, and his body language screamed that he wanted to be left alone. I doubt he was surprised I ignored it.

“How’d you get the shiner?” I asked, though I knew from his discomfort who must have given it to him.

He grimaced. “Adam. And no, he didn’t do it on purpose, so quit looking at me like I’m some battered woman.”

I tried to picture Adam hauling back and punching Dominic, and I just couldn’t do it. I realized with a little start that despite Adam’s aggressive and overbearing personality, I’d never once seen him and Dominic fight. Oh, they grumbled at each other occasionally, but even then it was with such affection it was obvious they didn’t mean it. And it wasn’t because Dominic was a doormat, either. He stood up to Adam in situations that would have had me running for the hills.

Come to think of it—and this was a really scary thought—theirs was probably the healthiest romantic relationship I’d ever seen.

Dominic’s shoulders were tight with tension, and his jaw worked like he was grinding his teeth. Everything about him screamed defensiveness, and I realized he was braced for an argument. I let go of my own tension and flashed him a rueful smile.

“Relax, Dom. I believe you.” He blinked in surprise, but with my stomach reminding me once again that I was hungry and that there was food nearby, I decided questioning Dominic could wait, so I took a seat at the desk and dug into the bowl of soup. I let out a moan of sensual pleasure when I tasted it. I’d never been a huge fan of minestrone, but I now saw the error of my ways.

Dominic got that pleased look he always gets when someone compliments his cooking, then took a seat on the recliner and waited in silence for me to finish eating. It didn’t take long.

“Would it be terribly uncouth of me to lick the bowl?” I asked, wanting to see his smile. I got my wish.

“You don’t need to go to such drastic measures. Seconds are available.”

I patted my full tummy. “I’d love to spend the rest of the afternoon stuffing my face, but I’ve got to watch my girlish figure.” That won me another smile.

Dominic reached for the tray, but though I’d have liked to let him leave on a high note, I just didn’t have it in me.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened between you and Adam?” I prodded.

The smile faded and his shoulders drooped. If I read the look on his face correctly, he was seriously contemplating leaving without answering me. I’m not sure I would have blamed him if he did, but he’s not as likely as I am to run from conflict. He set the tray back down and returned to the recliner.

“He told me everything,” Dominic said. “About Saul, and about what he does at The Seven Deadlies.”

I winced. There was such a thing as too much honesty. I wished Adam had kept the last part to himself, at least until we’d gotten Saul another host—however we were going to manage that.

“Did you decide anything?” I asked, then practically held my breath as I awaited the answer.

He nodded. “A number of things, actually.” He started counting off on his fingers. “One, that Adam’s a prick.”

I couldn’t help a snort of laughter. I would have felt bad about that if the corner of Dom’s mouth hadn’t twitched upward ever so slightly.

“Two, that he’s an insecure prick. And three, that I’m a mean little bastard for not immediately reassuring him that I don’t want to host Saul again.”

For reasons I didn’t want to examine, I rose from my chair and gave Dominic a quick, awkward hug. “I’ll agree with your assessment of Adam, but if you’re a mean little bastard, then I’m Miss Sunshine-and-Roses.”

He laughed and visibly relaxed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. But I really was pretty mean to Adam earlier. I wish he’d had enough faith in me to tell me about The Seven Deadlies from the start, but I understand why he didn’t.”

“And have you told him yet that you’re not going to take Saul back?”

He shook his head. “I was too busy brooding, and now he’s gone off to talk to a hostile demon who inhabits a superhost who may have abilities of which we are not aware. I feel like shit.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” I said, and I meant it. It was hard to imagine Adam getting into any kind of trouble he couldn’t handle. Perhaps I was overestimating him, but his combination of competence and confidence made him seem almost invulnerable to me.

“Do you have any idea where he’s gone?”

I shook my head. “No. Why?”

Dom’s lips pressed together in a tight line, his eyes narrowed in pain. “Because I’m worried about him. I hurt him, and I’m worried he’ll be distracted by it, get himself in trouble. .”

I thought I understood what Dominic was trying to say, even though he didn’t come right out and say it. “You want me to go look for him?”

His brilliant smile lit up his face. “Would you? He’s turned his phone off, and I don’t know how to reach him. I want to make sure he knows I’m staying before he faces Tommy.”

I almost took him up on it without thinking, but every once in a while I surprise myself by considering the consequences of my actions. “You know he’s going to be pissed at you for letting me go.”

Dom’s smile turned into a grin. “Do you think I’m afraid of him? It won’t be the first time I’ve pissed him off, and it won’t be the last, either.” He sobered and looked at me gravely. “Sometimes he has trouble understanding that people have a right to decide things for themselves, even if he doesn’t like their decisions.”

I had a feeling he was talking about more than my own situation. Had Adam tried to bully Dom into not taking Saul back? That would explain why Dom hadn’t rushed in to reassure him.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll go see if I can find Adam and make sure his head is in the game where it belongs. But first you have to tell me about the black eye.” I believed him when he said Adam didn’t do it on purpose, but considering they’d obviously argued, I felt like I had to know the circumstances before I could get near Adam without killing him. “Were you fighting?”

Dom stared at his hands in apparent fascination. “We were play-fighting, though we both should have known better. You don’t do any kind of BDSM play when you’re angry. At least, you shouldn’t.” I must have looked horrified, because he hastened to reassure me. “We weren’t throwing punches or anything, just wrestling. Of course, I don’t stand a chance of winning a wrestling match with a demon, so usually I don’t try very hard. But I was angry, so I fought harder than usual, and I managed to break his grip.” A wry smile twisted his lip. “I was as surprised as he was, so I lost my balance. You’ve seen the bed next door.”