Heart of Darkness (13 page)
Though she’d never been the make-out-with-a-man-in-a-nightclub type, she sure was just then. Like whoa.
“We should go.”
He was so close, his heat against her face. She
so
should not. Yes, they had sexual heat. No question they wanted one another. But that wasn’t the issue.
so
should not. Yes, they had sexual heat. No question they wanted one another. But that wasn’t the issue.
He walked her to the car and once they were both inside he turned to her. “You’re going to make me wait, aren’t you?”
“We’ve known each other a few days. I keep telling you sex will make this need stronger. You’re going to see me tomorrow night anyway.”
He groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. “We both know this is going to happen.”
“Exactly. So why rush?”
“You’re holding sex hostage.”
She burst out laughing. “Is that what you think? Really? Oh, Dominic.” She shook her head. “I want it as much as you do, silly. This isn’t easy for me either. I’m not holding anything hostage. Such an assertion is insulting. Like I’m some dumb bimbo who has to trick you into sex.”
She straightened her spine and he groaned again. Lethal, this woman. And still he smiled because she totally caught him.
“Fine, fine.” He pulled away and headed back to her place. “And I don’t think that, by the way. The last thing you are is dumb. It’s all the backup of sperm in my system.”
She laughed again, the annoyance gone from her features.
“I have to go to New York on Sunday. I’ll be back Thursday unless something dire comes up. That friend I told you about? He’s opening a new club and we’re going to be talking about some possible joint business ventures. The rest of my group of friends will be there too.” He realized he wanted her to know he’d be back.
“Oh. All right then.”
He pulled up in front of her building. “Have a coffee with me?”
Chapter 10
DOMINIC was fairly sure he’d never wanted to have sex more in his entire life. And that included the year he was fourteen.
He’d picked her up at her place for the opera and she’d come to her door looking like she’d stepped from a magazine ad. Hair in a chic updo. She wore some sort of fancy dress and equally fancy shoes. No one could accuse Meriel Owen of not dressing up enough for an evening out.
She’d been elegant and beautiful on his arm. He’d never been to the opera and found himself totally falling into the story. But never enough not to be totally aware of the way she smelled. Or of the rise and fall of those ridiculously beautiful breasts heaved up at the bodice of her dress.
She’d shared a big part of herself that evening and the one before. She’d shown him some of her magick, had helped him with his. They’d debated politics both witch and human. She was a fierce opponent and their discussions had the sort of heat that only left him craving more.
They stopped by Heart of Darkness for a bit, but all he really wanted was her. All to himself. “My building has a rooftop garden. Would you like to come up and see it?”
She grinned. “Is that like asking if I want to see your etchings?”
“It is a lovely garden, even in the cold and wet. And yes, it would leave us astonishingly close to my place. Where my bed is.”
She watched him, clearly wrestling with herself. He gave himself stern lectures to let her figure it out without any pressure.
“I suppose I like gardens.”
“So glad to hear that,” he said as he pulled her from the booth.
He was pretty sure if he didn’t get inside her soon he might die. She was something else and he wanted more.
“FEELS
like you can see my building from here,” she said as she shivered just a little.
like you can see my building from here,” she said as she shivered just a little.
Nice opportunity for him to touch her though. He took his suit jacket off and put it around her shoulders and held her to his side.
“My father has a garden. Like an acre and a half of garden. Every year he takes on some new project and my mother just sighs and tells him to get on with it. He loves working in the dirt.”
“Are you a gardener?”
She laughed. “No. I am a disaster with plants. I can’t even keep a houseplant alive. At work my office has fake plants in it. What about you?”
“I haven’t been up here in ages. I like gardens and all, but I’m not usually around during the day.”
And then she turned to him, remaining in his arms. “I’d like to go inside now.”
He tried to remain nonchalant but it was a chore not to drive her down to his place at a harried pace. As it was, it wasn’t until he’d closed the door, locking it as he watched her toe her pretty heels off, that he allowed himself to believe it was going to happen. She turned her head, still slightly bent to get her shoe loose, a sexy smile on her face.
“I swear to you I totally am fine with whatever increased connection we gain after we have sex,” he blurted and she straightened, one hand on her hip, head cocked to the side.
“I don’t know if you are really. But looking at you right now, feeling the way you make me feel … I can’t seem to find any willpower at all to make you wait. Hell, make
me
wait. I want you, Dominic. The need will grow, but I can’t manage to tell you no anymore. I’m not expecting more than sex from you at this point. Feel what you’re supposed to feel.”
me
wait. I want you, Dominic. The need will grow, but I can’t manage to tell you no anymore. I’m not expecting more than sex from you at this point. Feel what you’re supposed to feel.”
She reached up to the neck of the dress and undid something. The material slid from her body and pooled at her feet.
“Uh …” was all he could think to say as he looked his fill at her.
Her smile lost all its caution and he found that a good reason to get out of his shirt. He missed the buttons a few times because he couldn’t take his gaze from her bare breasts. Just beautiful.
She stepped to him, gently moving his hands from the way and finishing unbuttoning his shirt and the cuffs. “I love it when a man wears French cuffs with cuff links. It’s so deliciously old-school and gentlemanly.”
That’s always what he’d thought too. He’d watched Cary Grant in the old movies as he’d been growing up. It hadn’t been a casual coincidence that he’d ended up with French cuffs and a tray full of cuff links. Each set had been a way of telling himself he’d made it. Built himself into a success.
“Your breasts look even better when you’re so close I can see how tight your nipples are.”
Her skin, so warm and very soft, drew his lips. He took his time, tasting and teasing. Wanting to savor her now that he had her in his bed.
Of course now that he had her here in his bed, he was totally going to keep her.
He paused at the base of her neck, feasting on her frantic pulse and the echo of her soft, sexy moans.
He heard the intake of breath when he pulled away. Liked the way she licked her lips as she looked at him. Hungry. Loved the confident way she slid a palm from the waist of his pants, up the wall of his chest and around the back of his neck. Her nipples brushed against him and they both groaned.
“You’re nearly naked. In my front hallway. It’s like Christmas and my birthday all at once.”
She laughed and he twirled her, drawing her back to his bedroom and his bed. They paused at the doorway where he backed her up against the jamb while he made quick work of the barely there panties she had on.
“Now I’m totally naked.”
He walked her back until she landed on his bed. “You are. My favorite.”
And that wasn’t a lie. She was long and curvy. Her skin was pale and pretty. The only tattoo she appeared to have was the mark at her wrist, but he liked the pierced belly button. He bent to tug it with his teeth.
Everything in him wanted her. Wanted this beautiful, intelligent and strong woman all for his own.
“I’m naked,” she repeated, waving her hand at him, “and you’re not. You’re giving me a bad case of the sads, Dominic. Why do you want that?”
Before he could answer, she sat up on the bed and pulled his belt off, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants and shoving them down his legs. “There. I did most of the work for you. Get to it.”
Laughing, he kicked the clothes off and leapt on the bed to straddle her body. He couldn’t recall the last time he ever laughed this much with a woman, much less one he was having sex with. Probably because he never had.
Those lush lips, glossy and swollen from his kisses, called to him again as he pulled her so she rested on top of him, close enough to touch.
“Finally,” he said before taking a nipple between his teeth, “you’re just where I want you.”
She laughed. “Is that a compliment?”
“God, yes.” He kissed his way to the other nipple, enjoying the way she squirmed.
“Okay then.”
The curve of her hips called to fingertips and mouth, the dip at her waist, the swell of her thighs, velvety soft at the back of her knees. Tickled the backs of her thighs as he rolled her over. Her back was a perfect curve as he kissed up the long line of her spine, pausing to kiss each indentation at the base, right above her perfect ass.
Sweet … her soft shudder when he gave her a gentle edge of his teeth at the back of her neck.
“Hurry,” she whispered, rolling her hips back toward him, inciting his want.
“I’m trying to take this slow. Greedy.”
She turned around and grabbed his cock, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want slow. Not this time.”
It was his turn to swallow hard. “I don’t want to hurt you. I want you so much.”
“I won’t break. I promise.”
She dragged the head of his cock through her slick folds and he might have blacked out for a minute or two at how good it felt.
His resolve melted away and he leaned over, grabbed a condom and was ready for action.
“Still with me?”
She paused, looking up into his face. “You’re very sweet.” She stretched up to kiss his lips. “It undoes all my defenses.”
He pressed in, counting to fifty to try not to lose it before he even got all the way inside her.
Resolve? Ha! He had none left. She’d torn it to shreds. He wanted inside, wanted to be in her as deeply as he could get and still, he knew without a doubt it wouldn’t be enough.
She stretched beneath him, tightening her muscles and then wrapping herself around him.
Which took him deeper and made him forget how to count.
“So good.” He kissed her lips, across her chin, down to her neck where he nuzzled, breathing her in. Her nails sank into his skin as she held on.
Her body received him and as he seated himself in her fully, he had to pause to appreciate just how amazing it felt.
He breathed deep and began to move.
Hard, she’d said. And he’d agreed. Every cell in his body had agreed as he thrust into that wet, snug heat.
He’d kept his face buried in her neck. Tenderness rushed through her, spicing the arousal. This was so much more than having sex had ever been. She’d thought she’d loved before. Had been close with those men she’d slept with. But
this
was different.
this
was different.
It was different because he was different. His weight against her was just right. He fit her just right. A silly sort of Goldilocks moment, but it was true nonetheless. Sweat-slicked skin slid together, the friction of it delicious. Leaving her delirious with need. Need she understood only he could fill.
That connection to him shook her. She was glad it came as he was inside her. Glad it came as his lips rested against the throbbing pulse at her throat. Possession swept over her then. She’d never been the jealous type. After all, if a man didn’t want her as much as she him, it was his loss. But Dominic Bright was her man.
Hers
.
Hers
.
And she had zero intention of giving him back.
He angled himself, adjusting the legs she’d had wrapped around his waist. He pushed her knees up and apart, fitting into her so deeply it stole her breath. The length of him stroked over her clit over and over. The pressure hard enough that she understood he knew exactly what he was doing.
He’d moved his head; this time they were nose to nose and the intimacy of it made her nervous even as it titillated. Being seen by this man, in such a raw way, left her short of breath. Or it could have been the way her orgasm began to hover just at the edge of her vision. Waiting for that right stroke, the perfect amount of pressure for long enough.
He thrust, playing her body like a master. And she wanted more.
“More,” she heard her stuttered whisper and forgot she hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
Harder this time, so that her breasts bounced up each time he slammed into her all the way. He reared back and she was able to take him in better. He had tattoos on his biceps and along his belly. She’d need to investigate that further. Like with her mouth.
“Come on, gorgeous. Come,” he whispered against her lips when he dipped his head down for a kiss.
Nearly there …
Just a little more pressure …
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