Chapter 17

"Dom?" I hear a voice creep into the room. I turn to face Letty as she walks in quietly, her face glistening. I stand and walk over to her.

"What happened, are you okay?" I ask surveying her body for any damage. If she's crying, someone had to hurt her pretty bad.

"I should ask the same questions," she says softly taking my still bleeding hands in hers and wincing. I pull them away, embarrassed, and lower my head.

"It was an accident, Let, I swear...I never meant to..." I start shaking my head in disbelief.

"Just wait here," she tells me before leaving then returning moments later with bandages, towels, and a brown bottle.

"Let, you don't have to..." I begin, but she totally ignores me and kneels down in front of me as I sit on the bed. She begins cleaning my hands and wrapping them snuggly, but not tightly. She's done it a million times. Whether it is from me punching a wall out of anger, or loosing my grip on the hedge clippers, she's always there with gauze and peroxide, listening to me vent, while she fixes my wounds. I don't vent this time. I just sit and let her rinse my cuts, wincing slightly.

"I don't want to know what happen...just tell me it wasn't my fault", she looks up at me, beginning to cry.

"Letty.....why would you think..." I begin, but she begins shaking her head.

"Just tell me, Dom," she sobs slightly. I place my hands on hers and we stand. I hug her tightly.

"It wasn't your fault," I whisper into her neck. I can feel her nod into my shoulder and hold me tighter. I pull back from her and sweep away falling tears with my thumbs, looking deep into her hurt eyes. They've always looked hurt and painful, but now, more than ever. Without thinking, I lean down and place my lips on hers. I pull back a few inches expecting to catch a hand across my face, but she looks at me, and grabs my head, causing our lips to slam gently into each other. I suddenly feel her soft tongue dart slowly into my mouth. Her lips are salty from crying, but her mouth is still sweet. Our tongues dance slowly together, alternating from my mouth to her mouth, and the spaces in between. My hands that were at my sides, unconsciously move to her hips, as her hands slide from my face to my neck. We stand there kissing slowly, moaning quietly in the dim room. Letty pulls her lips from mine and looks up at me. I know she's gonna tell me this was a mistake. I knew that, before it even started. She closes her eyes, and lets her head rest on my chest for a moment. She grabs my hands. She looks at my bruised, crimson hands, now wrapped in bandages, then lets her eyes move up my arms until she reaches my eyes.

"Just for tonight, we forget all our bullshit...and we lay here...and we sleep...okay?" she asks softly, with a tired look on her face, the same look that must be on mine. I nod, and she leads us over to my parents' bed. She lets go of my hand long enough to slip off her pants and top, leaving only panties and a strapless black bra. I take off my bloody shirt and pants leaving me in only a pair of white boxer-briefs. She grabs my hand again and pulls back the covers. I reach over and turn off the lamp on the nightstand. She crawls into the blue tinted sheets with me close behind. In the darkness, light from the askew drapes highlights her curves. Like a mountain range, they peak and dip perfectly. I keep my distance from her not wanting to push her into anything. She lays with her back to me as I watch her breath. Suddenly, she turns over and nestles into the curvature of my body. I lift my arms to let her get closer, laying them back down around her. Her face lays contently in the crook of my neck, just like always. Her warm breath sporadically rolling onto my chest, I lay content also, forgetting the shit that brought us to this point. Letty is lying in my arms again. That's all I can think about. That's all I want to think about. Thinking about how amazing it feels to have her pressed against me, I drift off to sleep, probably with a smile on my face. I almost hope we never wake up.......never wake up.

"Wake up!!!............Dammit, Dom!!!......Get your ASS UP!!", I can hear Letty yelling only inches form my face. What the hell?