The Domination of Dominica Dunn: Discovering New Worlds of Sexual Sensation

by Divine, Daniella

  My God, if Dominica has ended up here, anything could happen.

  There is no sign of the police. Dominica is not surprised. After all, a teenager who has been missing for barely half an hour is not really a No.1 priority – especially at this time of night at the weekend. No doubt all the patrol cars are busy dealing with drunks, fights and vehicle collisions. Maybe they will get some help later. Maybe it will be too late by then…

  Where the hell can Jo be? Please God, let her be OK…please…

  Dominica is not a religious person, but when her daughter’s safety is on the line, she will grab at any straw she can get. She rattles off prayer after prayer while Max turns off the main road into the side streets. It’s even darker here. There are no street lights at all, and the only light is from the windows of the rundown houses that crowd together on tiny lots. This is gangland, the kind of place where the gun is mightier than the sword. From time to time her heart leaps with hope when she sees someone moving, but every time it turns out to be a drunk staggering home, or a hobo rummaging amongst the garbage cans.

  Where are you Jo? Where the hell are you?

  Dominica cannot believe how quickly everything has changed. Just an hour or so ago, she was living a life of blissful ecstasy…now she has been dragged to the pits of despair.

  ‘Keep looking, Dominica,’ Max shouts over the roar of the engine. ‘We can’t give up. We’ll stay out all night if we have to.’

  ‘I’ll never give up,’ she replies. ‘I won’t stop looking until we find her.’

  Max is forced to slow down as the road degrades into a dirt track. They pass an alleyway on the left, and Dominica peers into the gloom. Just another alleyway, full of garbage cans and strewn with junk and abandoned cars. Then she sees movement. A person…wait, more than one person. Several people. She taps Max on the shoulder.

  ‘Over there…down that alley. There’s something going on there. I can see people…three or four of them at least.’

  Max turns the Harley on a dime and roars down the alleyway, the big headlight cutting through the gloom and illuminating a scene that fills Dominica’s heart with despair and horror.

  ***

  There are four people at the end of the alleyway, and in the first instant Dominica realizes that the first one is Jo. They have found her, and she is alive. She breathes a huge sigh of relief.

  Thank you God, thank you so much.

  That’s the good news. Unfortunately, there is plenty of bad news in the shape of three young men who are obviously up to no good. They look like they are in their late teens or early twenties, and their whole appearance shouts ‘gang member.’ One of them is holding Jo by the arms, and another has his hands at the top of her jeans. It takes a moment for Dominica to realize what this means, then she does a double take as the awful reality sinks in.

  My God, they are about to sexually assault her. We got here just in the nick of time.

  Whatever plans they had for Jo are about to come unstuck now that Max Rockford is on the scene. It seems he has made up a plan of action on the fly. Without hesitating, he drives the bike directly at the guy who is tugging at Jo’s jeans. The front wheel hits him in the thigh and he goes down, releasing Jo as he falls. Jo staggers, but regains her balance. She stares into the glare of the headlight, unable to see who is riding the bike.

  Max stops the bike and jumps off, jacking the bike up on its stand as Dominica climbs down behind him. He leaves the motor running, the strong headlight illuminating the scene like a searchlight. Dominica calls out.

  ‘Jo…are you OK?’

  ‘Mom!’ Jo’s voice is thick with relief and emotion.

  ‘Don’t worry, Jo. We’ll have this sorted very soon,’ Max calls out. Then he turns his attention to the three thugs.

  ‘OK, you guys can back off right now,’ he says.

  ‘Oh, yeah? Who says so?’ The biggest of the three youths steps forward. He is well over six feet tall and built like a station wagon. Even so, he hesitates when Max takes his helmet off and places it on the seat of the bike.

  ‘I say so,’ Max states firmly.

  ‘And who the hell are you?’

  ‘I’m the guy who’s telling you to back off. That’s all you need to know. So back off.’

  The big guy sizes up the situation, and decides that he has the advantage. ‘Let’s see. Three guys against one guy and two girls. Are you sure you want to take us on, Mr. Boss Man?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m sure.’

  ‘So are these ladies good fighters?’

  ‘They are both too ladylike to get involved in a brawl with scum like you. I’ll take the three of you on my own.’

  The kid that Max hit with the bike has staggered to his feet. He and the third youth stand next to the big guy, looking tough and giving him support. Big guy laughs.

  ‘So you want to take the three of us on? Better say your prayers, mister. You won’t be coming out of this alley alive. Better give your ladies one last kiss before we kick your ass and send you to hell.’

  ‘No need, I’ll be able to talk to them later, while you three guys are being treated in the ER department.’

  The big guy snorts with derision and turn to his two buddies. ‘OK, you two…take him out.’

  Now it is clear who is boss in this particular little gang. The two smaller thugs step forward. It seems they are used to taking orders from their oversized buddy. One rolls up his sleeves, the other grins menacingly and raises his fists. Jo sees her chance to escape and runs past them into Dominica’s arMs Dominica squeezes her tight, holding onto her precious daughter so that no-one can take her away again. Jo hugs her back just as tightly.

  ‘Oh, Mom…thank God you came.’

  ‘Thank Max, you mean. But hold on, honey, We’re not out of this mess yet.’

  Max turns and gives the two women a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t fret. This won’t take long. Just give me a couple of minutes, OK?’

  Dominica smiles back, showing relief that is greater than she feels. Max is a businessman, not a prizefighter. And as much as Dominica believes in women’s rights, she knows that pound for pound, she is no match for these tough guys. And the same goes for Jo. There is nothing they can do to help resolve this situation. Max is going to have to tough it out on his own. Not that the prospect seems to faze him very much.

  One of the thugs steps forward angrily. ‘A couple of minutes? You think you can take out the three of us in a couple of minutes. Why, you arrogant son of a bitch!’

  He steps forward and throws a punch at Max’s jaw. Max dodges it easily, grabs the thug’s arm and uses the forward momentum of the punch to throw him to the floor, smashing him in the gut with his left fist as he passes. The youth crashes to the ground and curls up in a ball, gasping for breath. It’s immediately obvious that he won’t be playing much more of a role in this particular battle.

  The second thug steps forward, trying to catch Max off balance. But this guy is already weakened by the collision with the bike earlier. He limps forward. Max takes advantage of the weakness in his leg, giving a karate chop to the thigh that doubles him over, then following up with an uppercut that knocks him to the ground, barely semi-conscious. Two down, one to go.

  The big guy doesn’t seem quite as confident as he did a few minutes before. He looks at his fallen comrades and takes a step backwards. Max walks towards him.

  ‘Why don’t you make it easy on yourself and start running,’ Max says. ‘It will be a lot less painful that way. Only your pride will get hurt. That will save you a week of eating hospital food.’

  The big guy spat on the ground. ‘Huh…you think you’re something don’t you, Mr. Boss Man? OK, so you can fight a bit. Let’s even up the odds.’

  He reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a hunting knife. The blade is at least nine inches long and gleams in the glare of the Harley’s headlight. ‘Now it should be a fair contest.’

  Jo huddles against Dominica, who shouts out at Max in a panicky voice.

>   ‘Back off, Max. He’s dangerous. We’ll just cut and run. I don’t want you to get hurt. He could kill you with that knife.’

  Max answers without taking his eyes off Mr. Big. ‘I’m sorry, Dominica, but I can’t do that. We can’t have dangerous criminals like this running round the streets. If I let him go, he will only hurt someone else. He needs to be taken into custody. The world will be a safer place when he is doing a ten stretch behind bars.’

  ‘Well, let’s see what you’re made of, Mr. Boss Man. Come and feel a length of cold steel and see how you like it.’

  ‘If that’s what you want, big guy. Let’s do it the hard way, then.’

  Dominica screaMs ‘Max…no. It’s not worth it.’

  But it’s too late. Max has already stepped forward. He feints to his left, forcing the thug to lunge in that direction. But as soon as he does, Max is ready. He leans the opposite way and swings a hefty kick that catches the thug in the groin. Then he grabs the guy’s knife arm and twists, twists…and twists again. The thug is a strong man, but Max has better style, better technique. Brains beats brawn every time…certainly this time. The knife clatters to the floor and the man screams in pain.

  ‘Oh my God…that really hurts. Let go. For Christ’s sake let go.’

  But Max has no intention of letting go. He twists again and there is a crack as the thug’s arm is dislocated from his shoulder. He drops to the floor screaming in agony, his arm now an ugly distortion of an appendage dangling uselessly at his side. Max steps on the knife to secure it, then looks over at the two women.

  ‘It’s over, girls. Are you both OK.’

  They both nod dumbly. Max reaches into his pocket for his cellphone and dials. He smiles at the two women.

  ‘Anyone know the number for 911?’ he quips.

  9: Secrets in the Basement

  A few hours later, Dominica is sitting at her daughter’s hospital bed with mixed feelings. Jo looks OK, but it turns out her ordeal was even more unpleasant than it initially appeared. Jo has injuries that were not apparent in the darkness of the alleyway, but which look pretty scary under the unforgiving lights of the hospital. Jo tries to explain to her mother and Max what happened.

  ‘I’m sorry I scared you like that. I shouldn’t have run off, it was stupid. I mean, I didn’t know where I was going…I just ran. I felt I just had to get away, and find myself some space.’

  ‘I understand that, honey,’ Dominica says. ‘You should not have been put in that position. I’m so sorry…you shouldn’t have witnessed what you saw. But it wasn’t planned. It just happened.’

  ‘I take full responsibility for that,’ Max cuts in. He is standing at the bottom bed looking rather presidential, but the reminder of what had occurred earlier made even Max look sheepish. ‘We just went with the moment, but that’s not an excuse. I can only offer you my fullest apologies, Jo. I’ll make it up to you in any way I can.’

  ‘You don’t have to apologize,’ Jo says. ‘You are the one who saved me. You were awesome. Where on earth did you learn to fight like that?’

  ‘I didn’t always have a silver spoon in my mouth, despite what people think,’ Max says. ‘I’ve had to fight my way out of worse situations than that. And guys like those aren’t hard to beat. They are all mouth and no technique.’

  ‘I thought guys like you only fought boardroom battles.’

  ‘Those are even tougher. Business executives are the meanest bruisers of all. Street fighting is easy by comparison.’

  Dominica interrupts…she has to know more about what happened. ‘But Jo…how on earth did you end up with those thugs? What were you doing in that alley way? I mean of all the places in the neighborhood to run to…’

  ‘I know, it was stupid. But I didn’t mean to end up trapped like that. They chased me down there. I was walking along the main road, and I had just about made up my mind to go home. I had calmed down a bit, and I realized I had put myself in a vulnerable position. Then those guys saw me and starting making rude suggestions…you know…’

  ‘I think we can fill in the blanks,’ Dominica says. ‘Did they chase you?’

  ‘Well, I tried to keep calm for a while and just walk slowly. But they got closer and closer, and what they were saying got more and more suggestive. So then I decided to run for it. I thought I might lose them down that dark alley, but they caught up with me. The big guy grabbed me and I fell face down on to the sidewalk. My head really hurt.’

  ‘I bet it did, Jo. You’ve got a lump on your forehead the size of an egg. It’s painful just to look at it. You are lucky to be alive, honestly.’

  Dominica isn’t exaggerating. The ER doctor was concerned enough about the injury to keep Jo in for further examination. Fortunately, the X-rays were clear, but the doctor is taking no chances. Jo is to stay in hospital for more checks. Max very generously offered to pick up the tab, and Dominica was happy to agree. She doesn’t intend taking chances with her daughter’s health. Some things are more important than pride.

  And anyway, Max accepts that he was at least partly responsible for the situation. If he hadn’t been so horny…she grins inwardly at the thought. She realizes Max is speaking.

  ‘Jo, I promise you will get the very best care here. I just want you to relax for a few days while you recover. If you need anything, just contact me or your Mom, and I will take care of it. No expense spared.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you.’

  ‘It’s the least I can do.’

  Dominica and Max stay with Jo until she finally falls asleep and there is nothing more they can do. When they get outside, it is daylight. Dominica realizes they have been up all night. She is tired, very tired.

  ‘Wow, we even missed the dawn. That sure was a long night. We had better get some sleep, Max.’

  ‘Yes, I agree.’

  ‘So will you drop me at home?’

  ‘No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t want you to be alone and worrying about Jo. You must come home with me, so I can take care of you.’

  ‘Oh, no Max…that really isn’t necessary.’

  ‘Dominica. I’m afraid I must absolutely insist.’

  Mr. Bossy Boots again. But somehow Dominica likes the way he takes control. At least he cares. Darren would have just shrugged and said ‘whatever…do what you like.’ It is great to be in the company of someone who is interested in caring for her. Anyway, she is much too tired to resist. Anything will be good enough for her now. She would sleep on the sidewalk if someone gave her a pillow.

  ‘OK, if you insist. I guess there’s no point in arguing, right?’

  ‘I do…and there’s not. Your carriage awaits, Cinderella…’

  Max waves his arm in the direction of the Harley. They climb on and soon they are whistling through the hills towards Max’s home.

  ***

  Even in the comfort of Max’s enormous bed, and even though she is dead dog-tired, Dominica struggles to sleep. Max has drawn the curtains to keep out the morning sunshine, but the thoughts of what might have happened that evening crowd her mind and prevent her from settling.

  What if those thugs had raped Jo? Or murdered her…or both? What if they had left her physically and mentally scarred for ever – the life of a beautiful sixteen-year old ruined?

  Dominica tosses and turns, trying to find comfort and peace. The only consolation is Max’s strong arm around her, protecting and comforting her. But even that makes her feel guilty. After all, it is her relationship with Max that caused all the probleMs Maybe she should leave right now…get her life back to where it was, forget she ever met Max…forget all the great sex…

  Oh no, I don’t want to forget that…it was just TOO good!

  Comforted by the thought, Dominica finally slips into an uneasy sleep. The hours pass in a confused dream world of bikes, thugs and hospitals.

  She is awoken by the sound of Max’s voice, and his hand on her shoulder.

  ‘Wakey, wakey, Cinderella. Your fairy godmother says it�
�s time you should eat.’

  Dominica awakes, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The curtains are open now, and she can see the sun high in the sky.

  ‘What time is it?’ she asks sleepily.

  ‘Lunch time. I would have let you sleep longer, but then you wouldn’t sleep tonight. And before you start panicking, Jo is just fine. I spoke to the consultant at the hospital ten minutes ago, and apparently she is eating like a horse and chatting up the junior doctors. So it sounds like she is doing just fine.’

  Dominica manages a smile. ‘That sounds like Jo. She is always hungry, but she is one of those people who can eat anything and not put on weight. Fast metabolism or something. And she has a bit of a thing about men in uniform…especially white coats. Billy had better watch his step.’

  ‘Apparently, he has already been round to visit. I don’t know how he found out where she was, but he seems to care enough to make it his business. I like that in a guy…he could go far. But never mind all that, you need to eat. You must be starving by now – I know I am.’

  Dominica sits up in bed and sees that Max has placed a tray of food on the bedside table.

  ‘I’ve already eaten,’ he says. ‘Now I want you to get some food inside you. You’ve had a stressful night.’

  ‘Thanks, Max. But when I’ve had this, I’d better get going. I want to go and see Jo, then I need to go home and get ready for work tomorrow.’

  Max raises his hand. ‘That’s all taken care of. My driver will take us to see Jo this afternoon, and you don’t need to worry about work. I’ve already spoken to your assistant and explained what happened – although I skipped a few of the details. She is rearranging your meetings and taking care of anything else that is urgent. You can take the week off to focus on yourself and Jo.’