Dearly Beloved (5 page)

“Ok, Dominick. Listen. I’m going to just pretend that little episode didn’t happen. I am not here in some secret cavern with you, well away from any hidden cameras and sound feeds. I did not just go flying through the air, drop like a rock, and then end up in yet another massive bed. No. Didn’t happen. And I am not in a setting resembling something from a Victorian stag film. Not that I’ve ever seen one, but I’ve heard of them, and I have a fairly decent imagination. I mean, it must be decent…and then some. Look at what I’m imagining here. Oh my. I mean, oh frickin’
my
.”

Her words ended with a garbled sound. Dominick didn’t ask why. He’d leaned across her to set the candelabra on the headboard, using both hands so nothing would rattle. The headboard was crafted thick so it could support the width and weight of so much silver and candle wax. It was also high. Golden glow flickered about as it embraced the interior. Dominick didn’t wait to evaluate it. He didn’t dare. His fingers were giving him trouble again, and he needed to unlatch the semi-sheer panels of his canopy to pull them into place, creating an oasis of privacy. She started talking again as he reached the second post at the footboard, stopping him momentarily.

“You need to say something here, Dominick. I mean, really. I’m not exactly immune to this plan of yours. Damn it. Why does my mouth always have to trip me up?”

He slipped a glance at her then away. It was the best he could manage.

“Or at least ask. You’re transparent as all get-out. Anyone can see through this. And it’s not like I’d truly turn you down. What am I saying? Does any woman ever turn you down? Ever?”

Turn him down? He puzzled that before letting it go. It had been too many centuries since he’d needed a woman. There wasn’t much asking. What a man wanted, he took. Women were then left to fester with hate over it. His mother drummed that into him before he’d even reached puberty.

“I mean, I admit it. You’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. You’ve got the body of a god, the face of a model, and the heat coming off you is enough to melt asphalt. You probably have the package to back all that up. Geez. I should just shut up when I’m ahead. I wouldn’t even mind the ‘I ask the questions’ stuff right now. Trouble is…now that I’m ready, you don’t say a word. Not one. I mean, I’m all for the strong silent type, but you’re taking it to the extreme. And I do mean extreme.”

She’d interspersed her words with a low tone when she’d mimicked him. He almost smiled, but caught it before exhibiting elongated canines that were sure to startle her.

“You probably should’ve been warned that when I get nervous, I start talking non-stop, and then I sound like a complete idiot. As if you can’t figure that out for yourself. Shawn probably counted on it. Except…I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know where we just disappeared to, and how. Damn it! I’m not discussing how we got here, because I’m just not. It probably looked very good on the web, though. How did you do that anyway? Did we really just fly? And no. Don’t answer that.”

One panel had a knot in the tie attaching it to his foot post. Dominick pondered it.

“Um…I’m really nervous here and that means I’m talking. And you’re not doing anything to help the situation. Nothing. In fact, you’re making it worse. Oh, don’t look at me like that. You already know exactly what you do and in what measure. It’s probably practiced. I get it. You’re not just an actor, you’re an athlete. That explains everything. Women probably swarm all around you. All the time. You don’t have to sweet-talk them. It’s a waste of time. So. What sport are you in? Soccer?”

He didn’t answer, and she must have told the truth about her verbosity because she just filled in the gap with more words.

“Fine. Don’t answer. I’ll figure it out anyway. Can’t be soccer. They don’t have your height and bulk. That would slow them down. Swimmer, then? You don’t have to tell me. I’ll nail it sooner or later. I’m really good at this. It’s what I do. I facilitate communication. We need that in today’s web-driven world. That’s what I went to Shawn Elliot for. His money. I needed a guarantor for the bank loan. You don’t think I’d be with him for the pleasure of his company, do you? I’ve got it. You’re a dancer with a mean sense of rhythm and—.”

“Warrior.”

If the lifted eyebrows and open lips were an indication, he’d surprised her. Dominick watched where she sat, her words momentarily halted. Then something changed. Her face took on a blank look as she regarded him silently. It didn’t last.

“Warrior? Oh, please. Let’s just pretend that occupation didn’t disappear with what? The Trojan Wars? Roman conquests? Oh! I get it. You’re a Special Forces kind of dude. That’s what you mean. And you can just stop there.”

His fingers froze on the knotted tie while he looked across at her.

“What? I’m supposed to be too stupid to notice you’re setting up a seduction here? Give me a break. No. Give me two of them. Come on, Dominick, say something else. I’m really feeling awkward and nervous over here. And I just told you that keeps me talking. I’m called ‘motor-mouth’ for a reason. Heaven knows what will happen if I get scared.”

He yanked the drapery tie apart, making the entire bed structure creak. He regarded her through the sheer curtain, blurring the view. She did look a bit scared, with wide eyes, hair that haloed her head, while both hands were clasped at her breast.

She didn’t know what she asked. If he made any sound, it would contain the raw primitive emotion he was suffering. If she felt nervous now, she’d be in allover fright. He didn’t dare speak. So he kept his steady regard on her, fully and completely. He moved out an arm and lifted the drape, lowered his chin, and called on his skill to mesmerize and enthrall; concentrated to bring on the humming sensation that hypnotized and froze his prey…and got nothing.

Dominick blinked on the proof before his eyes. He should have known his power wouldn’t work. For centuries now, he’d been able to wield it. But not now. And not with her. If anything, it looked to have the opposite effect. He watched as she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and started breathing shallowly and quickly. The panel could just stay where it was.

The next moment he was at her side, rocking the mattress with the force of his entry as he gathered her into his arms.

Her words halted, and every thought behind them. He had her pressed against him, held in the curve of his body, while the most amazing vibration emanated from where her nose pressed, right beneath his chin. It spread from there until it encompassed her entire frame, sending her against him in a continual set of surges she hadn’t any control over. Or maybe it was his movements engendering the same response. It was incredible. Stirring. Sending myriad images in lightning progression through her mind, all of them featuring naked, entwined limbs. On this bed.

Nothing could have prepared her. Especially for what happened next.

He put a finger beneath her chin, using it to tip her face to his, slanting his head down slightly at that same time. She wasn’t given any choice save to look right into his shadow-enhanced gaze. The result was breath-stealing. Heart-stopping. Enough to stop time and make it cry defeat. Courtney was ensnared. She couldn’t blink. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. She didn’t know if she’d be able to take her next breath. Dominick had beautiful eyes of darkest brown. Deep, and bottomless, and sending her senses into overdrive. A flicker happened, coming from the depth of black she stared into. It was snuffed the moment it happened. The resultant shockwave jolting her entire frame wasn’t as easily extinguished. Or endured. And since there wasn’t a particle of air space between them, there wasn’t any way to hide it.

Except to open her mouth and say something. Anything. Before she dove right into the pit of sensual ecstasy his look promised.

Words didn’t happen. Dominick lifted her, the same moment he dipped his head, and took her lips, restarting her heart with such a kick of fury, it pained. Heat infused her, ratcheting everything to an even higher level. There was a long drawn-out moan happening and he stole it with a kiss that weakened not just her knees, but every muscle in her body.

He didn’t give her any time to assimilate any of it before shimmying his body upward slightly, sliding hard male against her, bowing about her, enclosing and protecting…and possessing. He moved the kiss to her chin, gaining a murmur from her, as he licked his way along her jaw-line. A thigh curled up, splitting her legs beneath it, while his hands moved to cradle her shoulder blades, lifting her without expending one ounce of effort. Courtney’s head lolled back, gifting her blessed space for air, as he slid his tongue to where the bandage should have been protecting her scratch.

His body arched more and his fingers tightened, gripping fabric that hadn’t any prayer of staying whole, and then solid absolute pain hit her right in the throat. Agony raced through every portion of her, chased there by each pulse beat. Courtney stiffened in shock and surprise. Every bit of her choked cry carried it. And then something changed. Stings of sensation erupted, spurting outward from where he sucked at her neck, blurring the pain into a riot of wanton, lustful, overwhelming need. She was soaring. Thrilling.

Courtney’s eyes slammed shut while her mouth stretched wide to let the longest, throat-tearing cry out.

“Agapimeni.”

Movement accompanied the gruffly whispered word, unlatching him from her neck to trail the kiss back to her lips. What felt like a razor sliced along her inner lip, paining to such a minor degree, it didn’t rate worry. There wasn’t any time before the pleasure hit again. Sweet heaven! Her body arched in reflex, planting her right against him. This time she was more than soaring. She was flying. And this time, her senses erupted with such amazing ecstasy, her entire being reveled in it.

She was lowered back to the mattress, still gulping solid enchantment from his lips as he did hers. He settled atop her, accommodating his bulk between her split legs, and she wrapped those about him, clamping to linen-covered hips and thighs to rub all along hardness his trousers didn’t do anything to mitigate. His other hand meandered from where her neck was throbbing with remembered bliss, down her arm, taking her clothing with it. Then he was above her, in a push-up that just put masculine perfection in perfect view. That black t-shirt thing was useless as covering once a light source got behind it. It was see-through. What a waste of clothing.

This guy should be forced to walk about shirtless. Her hands moved to mold around his pecs, supporting him while he studied her. The entire time he wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t blinking. He wasn’t doing anything other than focusing entirely on her while her heart sent every beat with force. Then he dipped his head, touched a kiss to her nose, and actually said something.

“I am asking.”

She was going to swoon. Literally. That had to be what the rush of ice-cold sensation portended, before it was followed by heat, and all of it chased with goose bumps that flew everywhere.

“Asking?”

Her whisper didn’t make sound, but it didn’t matter. He sent a look to where her hips straddled him, imprinting shivers without even touching.

“Yes. Asking. And now…I am waiting.”

His loins pulsed at her and then one side of his mouth lifted in a slight smile. Courtney felt her heart swoop with another physics-defying move to pound from her lower belly, where it joined the throb of need and lust and passion already there.

“You need it…in words?” She panted through the disconnected words. “Please say…you’re joking. Come on, Dominick. Really.”

He grinned, revealing the sheen of blood-red hued liquid as well as really sharp spikes. That just wasn’t possible. Or real. Or anything other than such over-kill, it was laughable. Shawn Elliot truly expected her to believe this guy was a vampire now? It was exactly what he’d need for his prank. Laughably, so. Her body couldn’t seem to find that reaction however, as Dominick lunged upward, unlatching her legs to yank off his shirt and toss it somewhere behind him.

Wow!

Courtney’s mind went blank on a view of masculine perfection that came close to strangling her with the sucked-in breath. It seemed to create a like reaction in him, and now the open mouth exhibited fangs that looked even longer than before. Her heart wasn’t just reacting; it was attempting a leap right out of her breast. She clamped both hands there as he shoved backward to the floor, unhooked his pants and dropped them, without releasing her unblinking gaze. Not once.

Her jaw dropped fully, especially as he stretched, as if preening for her gaze. The guy was strutting now? Was she that obvious?

Of course you are, Courtney
. She tried to tell herself any woman would be, and shoved that thought aside the instant it surfaced. He wasn’t with any woman. He was with her. The guy was perfect, he was definitely locked, loaded and ready, and she was the woman here. And if he wanted her to believe he was some sort of vampire, it was fine with her. She didn’t care. Not one bit.

“You did say yes?” He tipped his head slightly.

She gulped, nodded, and then he leapt atop her. The bed rocked in submission, her gown had the same issue as he literally pulled it apart down the front, and her entire form wasn’t far behind. Courtney’s mouth latched onto his, devouring the kiss with a fervor born of need. Passion. Absolute craze. She was drowning without one drop of water involved.