Irresistible Forces (6 page)

Taylor took a deep breath while thinking that, yes, there was something she would like to do until then. Jumping his bones seemed like an activity worth trying. But she knew she couldn’t do that. She had put too much work into her seduction scene tonight to get carried away by a few errant hormones. Well, maybe more than a few.

“What about a walk on the beach?” she decided to ask.

From the look on his face she could tell her suggestion surprised him. “A walk on the beach?”

“Yes, and then we can return to the room and shower for dinner,” she said.

“Ok, then let’s take a walk on the beach.”

She glanced at his clothes. Not the typical attire for walking on the beach. “Do you want to change first?”

He smiled. “No, I’m fine.”

He most certainly was.

He moved toward the door. Paused and glanced over his shoulder. “Are you coming?”

Not yet, she thought, but she had a feeling that’s all she would be doing later tonight underneath his hard, muscular body. “Yes,” she said, crossing the room to where he was standing. He smiled again and she felt all kinds of flutters fill her stomach. She couldn’t wait until tonight.

Dominic thought the same thing as he walked beside Taylor on the long stretch of beach. He couldn’t remember ever taking the time to do something so relaxing. He definitely hadn’t ever done so with Camry. Their lives had been fast paced—jetsetters—with no thought of settling down and taking things slow or making a family. They’d figured that would come later. And they had been so wrong.

Not wanting to think of his life with Camry—and what he’d lost with her death—he wanted to concentrate on what he would gain with Taylor. Since he had no intentions of every marrying again, at least he would have a son or daughter who would inherit what he was working so hard to acquire. His own Saxon dynasty.

He had removed his shoes and socks and actually liked the feel of the sand beneath his feet. He also liked having this woman beside him. They continued walking down the long stretch of beach. The sugar-white sand gave way to a clear blue-green sea and the scent of the ocean filled his nostrils. Taylor wasn’t saying much but then neither was he. He was too busy thinking of what he would love to be doing with all those jars of flavored creams this week. What he
intended
to do with them.

“The beach is simply gorgeous, isn’t it?”

He turned his head and caught her gaze. His eyes moved to her lips, remembering how they’d tasted and a sensation passed through his body. “Yes, it is,” he responded, thinking so was she. “I can’t recall the last time I’ve done something like this.”

“Really?” she said, looking at him. “But you own an entire island on the ocean.”

He wasn’t surprised she knew that. Other than his parents, Matt and the IRS, she was the only other person who knew the vast extent of his wealth. The media thought they knew but in essence they really didn’t have a clue. His grandfather was determined to make sure Dominic took his place as the rightful Saxon heir and had set up various accounts for him in all parts of the world. Dominic wanted no part of it and to this day refused to acknowledge the old man’s generosity. Dominic was determined not to accept his grandfather’s money, which he saw as a device Franco Saxon was using to alleviate his guilt and buy his way into his grandson’s affections. As far as Dominic was concerned, it would not happen.

“Yes, I own that island but I rarely have time to enjoy it. You of all people should know how busy I am.”

It seemed he was driven to accumulate even more wealth and was beginning to believe the accusations his father had once made were true. As long as he maintained a degree of his own wealth, he would not be tempted to accept what his grandfather was offering.

“In that case I’m glad at least you have this week to relax and unwind.”

He chuckled. “Um, is that what I’ll be doing?”

Her grin was almost contagious when she said, “Somewhat. But I promise it will be a week you’ll remember.”

She sounded confident. Certain. But then he was also convinced it would be a week he would remember. Deciding he needed to talk about something, anything that would take his mind off bedding her, he said, “I understand your sister is getting married in June to Cameron Cody.”

She glanced at him. “Yes. You know Cameron?”

“Yes. We’ve met. We’ve even been partners in a few business ventures. He’s an astute businessman.”

“So are you. It doesn’t surprise me that you know Cameron. We met when he tried to take over my family’s business.”

Dominic lifted a brow. “You’re kidding, right?”

She smiled. “No, I’m not kidding. It was supposed to be a hostile takeover, but he never got all the voting shares he needed.”

“So your family became friends with him instead?” he asked, amazed. He’d been involved in a few takeover attempts himself. The last thing the parties involved felt toward each other afterward, regardless of whether the attempt had been successful or not, was friendliness.

“Yes, at least, my four male cousins did,” she was saying. “It was a male thing. I think they admired Cameron’s tenacity and respected his drive to succeed. They never saw him as a threat because the Steele family is so close, so we weren’t worried about anyone defecting. But Cameron had to learn a valuable lesson.”

“Which was?”

“No matter what, blood is thicker than money. And trust me, he was offering a lot. But for us it wasn’t about the money. It was about the legacy that my father and uncle passed on to us. They started the company many years ago and had always intended for it to be family owned and operated.”

Dominic nodded. “And now Cameron will become a part of your family.”

“Yes, he will be. He loves my sister very much and she loves him.”

Love.
He was familiar with that word because of his parents but had yet to experience the emotion himself. He had loved Camry but not in the same way that he knew his father loved his mother. What he’d felt for his wife had been more fondness than love. They respected each other and were good friends during their brief marriage.

“Ready to head back?”

Taylor had stopped walking and was smiling politely at him. “Yes, I can certainly use that shower,” he said.

And he could also use something else. Something he was looking forward to getting later.

“Are you going to take a shower with me?”

Dominic’s question made Taylor’s stomach lurch in heated lust. An ache started at the juncture of her legs. They had returned from their walk on the beach and were standing in the bedroom. He had wasted no time removing his shirt and stood with his hands in his pockets, which caused the material of his pants to stretch tight against his thighs. And they were such muscular thighs.

She cleared her throat to swallow the lump that had formed there. “I’d rather wait until later, after we make love.”

He looked amused at her statement. “And may I ask why?”

Yes,
why?
She shrugged. “Although we won’t know the exact moment it happens, I know that I will get pregnant from you this week and I’d rather not let the first time we come together be in a shower.”

He gave her a smile that intensified that ache in her body. “You don’t think we can share a shower without making love?”

“What do you think?” she countered.

He stared at her for a moment, in that way that always got to her, making her hot all over, as his gaze traveled up and down her body. Finally, he said, “I think that you’re probably right.”

Oh, yeah, I am right, trust me,
she thought. “I’ll wait in the other room for you to finish and then I’ll take my shower,” she said, heading for the door.

“Taylor?”

She turned back around. “Yes?”

“I think you should know that I want you.”

She saw the heat in his eyes, felt the lust and desire in them from across the room. She was no novice at being wanted by a man, but this was the first time she could actually feel the intensity. And what was so amazing was that she craved him just as much.

“Thanks for telling me,” she said softly. “And I want you, too.” She decided to lay her cards on the table since he was laying down his.

“Come here. I want to give you something to think about while I’m in the shower alone,” was his comeback in a husky tone.

She started to tell him that it wasn’t necessary. She had enough to think about already. But she figured he was going to kiss her again, which she didn’t have any qualms with. She was looking forward to it. Her lips were still tingling from their last encounter.

She retraced her steps and crossed the room to him, trying not to focus on his naked chest and finding it hard not to do so. Especially downward, where the sprinkle of hair seemed to take a low path toward his waist, even lower toward his…

“Taylor?”

She shifted her gaze from his chest to his eyes. “Yes?” She’d been caught staring.

He didn’t say anything for a moment; he just continued to look at her, especially her mouth. And the more he stared the more her lips itched for him to taste them. “I’m going to enjoy being here with you for the next seven days,” he said, as he reached out and untied the straps at her shoulders, and then gave each a quick tug.

She hadn’t been expecting it and before she could blink, the top of her sundress dropped and she was naked to the waist. She opened her mouth to say something and that’s when he inserted his tongue inside. At that moment she forgot about everything else except what his mouth was doing to hers. He was part French and she wondered if it was an inborn part of a Frenchman’s nature to master the art of French-kissing, because he certainly had. She would even go so far as to say he was an expert. She’d been French-kissed before but never like this. His tongue was definitely a weapon of mass seduction.

Automatically, she angled her head to get more of the pleasure. If this was what he wanted to give her to think about then he was succeeding. He had her thinking. He also had her panties getting wet.

He released her mouth. They were standing so close, their lips mere inches apart, as if ready to go at it again, devour each other senseless, when she discovered the kiss wasn’t all he wanted to give her to think about. She sucked in a deep breath when she felt his fingers touch her breasts. At that moment her brain seemed to turn to mush. He cupped her breasts in his hands and began ardently caressing them, letting the tips of his fingers rub gently across her hardened nipples.

He met her gaze and the heat she saw in the depths of his green eyes made her a lost cause. At that moment she wanted to make love to him and she didn’t care if they conceived their child right there, while standing up. She wondered if that particular position was in that little book.

He lowered his mouth to her breasts and like a vacuum he sucked a hardened tip into his mouth. Then his tongue went to work like a man famished for the taste of her. She responded with a soft moan and reached out and sank her fingers in his hair to hold his head to her, experiencing a heated breakdown of all her senses. Her stomach began quivering with a need that was as intense as anything she’d ever encountered.

She let out a deep, startled moan when he suddenly slipped a warm hand under her dress and immediately went to the area between her legs. Slipping underneath her panties, he planted his fingers in her sensitive flesh. Blood pounded in her ears when he began stroking her intimately. She wasn’t sure what was sending her over the edge the fastest, his mouth or his fingers. She released a soft sigh when he intensified the kiss at the same time he increased the tempo of the stroke of his fingers.

He was showing no mercy. She tightened her grip on his head and called out his name when a shudder of immense proportions rammed through her, shaking her to the core. She squeezed her eyes shut when everything in the room seemed to come rushing together, bearing down on them. She could barely stand and her mind was void of any conscious thought except the intense pleasure ripping through her.

When he finally released her it took a few moments to get her mind back in check. She opened her eyes and nearly lost it again when he took his finger, the same one that had intimately stroked her, and brought it to his lips and tasted it.

The corners of his mouth distended into a serious smile when he said in a huskily erotic voice. “Take my word for it. The last thing you need tonight is arousing gel.”

Chapter 5

A
t the sound of the shower going Taylor expelled a sigh. She then began pacing the room, needing to do something. Otherwise, she would be tempted to strip off her clothes and join Dominic.

The man had given her one hell of an orgasm just from foreplay. She didn’t want to think just how explosive the real thing would be. If his aim had been to prep her for tonight then he had succeeded—she was set on go. In fact, she’d been ready for Dominic ever since he had agreed to this week.

The ache returned to her body just picturing him standing naked in the shower under a spray of water. She’d gotten a glimpse of his chest, more than a glimpse actually. Before she had left the bedroom, he had pulled her in his arms, letting her taste the essence of herself off his lips. Her naked breasts had pressed against his bare chest, and the contact had nearly given her another orgasm. She had a history of being someone not prone to climax easily. In fact, usually it would take a while for any man to light her fire to the degree where she would want to make love more than once in one night.

Deciding she needed to sit down and relax she dropped down on the sofa and then out of curiosity, she picked up the book Dominic had pulled out of the gift bag earlier. Her eyes widened at each page. She hadn’t known there were so many positions a couple could use. Not surprisingly, it said the best position to conceive was man on top. It didn’t take much to fantasize about Dominic on top of her in bed, inside her body and…

She stood up and tossed the book on the table, deciding she’d imagined enough for now. She needed to take her mind off things, namely sex and Dominic. After he finished his shower, she would take hers, and then they would get ready for dinner, which would be delivered to their room at exactly six o’clock. Once dinner arrived their night of initiating conception would begin. Lord, she hoped they made it through dinner because they would need all their strength for later.

One way to get her mind off Dominic, she decided, would be to call Vanessa and talk to her for a short minute. She had spent time with her sisters while home getting fitted for the bridesmaids’ dresses. It didn’t go unnoticed by her that Cheyenne wasn’t as talkative as she usually was and looked a little on the thin side. Not that her sister’s perfect model figure still didn’t look to die for. Vanessa had picked up on it, too, and had pulled her to the side and asked her if she knew what was wrong with their baby sister. She didn’t have a clue then and didn’t have one now. As far as they knew it couldn’t be man trouble since Cheyenne didn’t have a steady beau.

Crossing the room, Taylor pulled her mobile phone from her purse and clicked on Vanessa’s number. She smiled when Cameron answered. That, she noticed, was becoming a norm. “Hi, Cameron, is Vanessa around?”

“Yes. Hold on.”

Moments later her sister came on the line. “Taylor, are you okay?”

Taylor lifted a brow. Vanessa sounded breathless, like someone who had run a marathon. Or someone who had just finished making love.

“Yes, I’m okay. Sounds like you’re okay, as well,” she couldn’t help but say. She knew if she was there she would see a huge blush on her sister’s face.

Vanessa gave a shaky laugh and said, “Well, yeah, I’m okay. Cameron is here.”

“So I notice. Am I interrupting anything?”

There was a pause and then. “No, I’m fine. Cameron just went into the kitchen. He’s going to do the cooking tonight. I was hoping you would call. How are things going?”

“Fine. I arrived here around eleven o’clock today and Dominic got here around two. We’ve taken a walk on the beach.”

“That’s all?”

She shook her head. Her sister had turned into a regular little miss hot pants since hooking up with Cameron. Vanessa figured just because she spent most of her free time in bed that everyone else should do the same. “Yes, that’s all. We don’t want to rush anything. We have all week.”

“Nothing like getting a head start. The more you do it, the better your chances of getting pregnant, right?”

“Right, but it only takes one good time and according to the doctor I’m all set. I took my temperature early and now’s the time. He said it’s important for me to make love a day or two before I ovulate and then the day of.”

“That sounds so technical. Just roll with the flow.”

Taylor smiled. “Have you heard from Cheyenne?”

“No. Have you?”

“No.”

“Really, Taylor, I’m worried about her. She looked somewhat under the weather when she was here a few weeks ago. I called last night but got her machine. I told her to call me back but so far she hasn’t.”

“Is she out on a photo shoot?”

“No. She talked to Mom last week and told her she had come down with the flu. She was canceling her trip to Ethiopia and remaining at her Jamaican home to get some rest. She probably hasn’t been eating right and her resistance is down. I’m going to try calling her again tonight. I’m really going to give her a good looking-over when she flies in for Marcus’s graduation in a few weeks.”

Taylor nodded. Their cousin Marcus, Chance’s oldest son, would be graduating from high school. The family was excited about his acceptance into Yale University. “Okay. Let me know if you get Cheyenne and she tells you anything. Like you, I think she hasn’t been eating properly.”

“Do you plan on leaving your phone turned on during the time you’re on that island?”

“No, but I will make it a point to check my messages.”

Vanessa laughed. “Do you think Dominic is going to give you the time to do that?”

She knew what Vanessa was insinuating. “I’m going to take the time regardless.”

“If Dominic Saxon is the man I think he is, the man I read about in all those magazines, you won’t have time to do much all week but stay on your back.”

“Vanessa!”

“Just being honest, so get prepared.”

At that moment Taylor heard a sound behind her and turned around. Dominic was standing in the doorway that separated the sitting room from the bedroom, still wet from his shower with only a towel wrapped around his waist. The heat in his eyes, the ones staring at her, were scorching. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Vanessa, I’ve got to go.” Taylor clicked off the phone without waiting for her sister’s response. She was suddenly filled with the thought that even if she tried, there was no way to get prepared for Dominic.

“The shower is yours, Taylor. But let me go on record as saying this is the last time I plan on taking a shower alone while we’re here.”

Dominic didn’t even attempt to understand why he was so adamant about that. Probably because all the time he had spent in the shower, standing under the jets of the water, he’d been thinking of how it would be to have Taylor in there with him, all the things they could do.
Would
do.

“And if I protest?” she asked with a teasing smile on her face.

Of course, she could protest, but he figured she wouldn’t. He would make sure of it. Besides, any woman who got as hot as she did just from a man kissing her, stroking her intimately, wouldn’t be hard to persuade. Not only had he felt her heat, he had tasted it. “Go ahead, if you think that you can.”

The look that suddenly appeared in her eyes let him know he had been right—she would be wasting time to try to deny him. They clicked. They would probably burn up the sheets. And in the end, they would make a baby. For some reason he felt very confident about that.

His gaze roamed up and down her. She had fixed what he’d done to her sundress, but he much preferred seeing it down to her waist. He liked her breasts. The feel of them in his hand. The taste of them in his mouth.

He saw she hadn’t moved from the spot. “Aren’t you going to take your shower now…or do you prefer we get into something else?”

She crossed her arms over her breasts. “You’re blocking the doorway.”

“Oh. You don’t think I’d let you get by?”

She chuckled. “Not without trying something.”

He smiled. “I thought one of the perks for this week is for me to try just about anything.”

“Yes, but the key is perfect timing.”

His smile widened. “Trust me, every time we come together will be perfect” He stepped away from the doorway. “Go ahead. I’ll behave.”

She gave him an
I don’t believe you
look, before heading toward the bathroom. When she got close by him she slowed her steps and looked at him up and down. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

“Then I can only assume that you like what you see, Taylor Steele.”

She met his gaze and his heart began thudding hard with the look in her eyes. “Yeah, I like what I see.”

“Do you want it?” he asked, feeling a sizzle low in his belly.

She tilted her head at an angle that got his attention because it made him see just what a beautiful neckline she had. “Not only do I want it, Dominic, I plan on getting plenty of it. Later.”

When she slipped by him and went into the bedroom and closed the door, a heated rush flooded his insides at her bold statement. As far as he was concerned, later couldn’t get here quick enough to suit him.

Taylor leaned back against the door the moment she shut it behind her and breathed in a deep, shaky breath. How on earth was she supposed to get through dinner when Dominic exuded so much temptation? And he knew exactly what he was doing to her. She didn’t have to be convinced that he was a man who knew how to please a woman in bed. There was no doubt in her mind that he would please her. And just thinking about the degree of pleasure she would receive made her weak in the knees.

When she thought her wobbly legs could support her, she moved away from the door toward the drawers where she had placed her undergarments earlier after she’d unpacked. She would get everything she needed now before coming out of the bathroom after her shower. Chances were Dominic would use the room to dress for dinner and she wasn’t ready to walk in on him while she was half-naked. Grabbing a bra and a pair of panties out of the drawer, she headed for the bathroom, taking time to grab one of the courtesy bathrobes out of the closet.

After a walk on the beach she needed the shower, but more than anything, she needed to take a shower to cool off.

Except for the sound of the shower, the suite seemed quiet, Dominic thought as he finished dressing. Never before had he wanted a woman the way he wanted Taylor. He was beginning to feel restless, on edge, horny. He couldn’t help thinking of just how sexy she was, and how much she seemed to enjoy his kisses. He took pleasure in the art of seduction and kissing was just one of the elements he used. There were numerous others and he planned to put each one into practice before leaving the island.

It didn’t take much to see that Taylor was a very passionate woman and she wasn’t trying to be coy about it. He could tell she was someone who was confident with the degree of her own sensuality. But not to the point where it swelled her head. And she had to be one of the most positive people he knew. He had discovered that fact the first time they had met. She wasn’t all somber and serious like most financial advisors tended to be. He recalled her saying once that she believed that one of the biggest secrets to achieving what you wanted in life was believing that you could. Just the way she believed that the two of them would make a baby this week. And because she believed it, he was convinced, as well.

There was no doubt in his mind that she would be a good mother. In his opinion his mother had been a stellar mom, and, although Taylor was fairly young, she possessed his mom’s strong characteristics, as well. It amazed him at times how she had the ability to feel him out before he could utter a single word. And he liked the way she always kept her cool. She wasn’t one to freak out or get frazzled easily—like the time he had invested a large sum of money without consulting her and had come close to losing it all.

Then there was her playful side. Once when she had detected him getting tense about a risky business venture, she had encouraged him to take time off and go with her to Coney Island for an afternoon of fun. Officially that had been their first date, although at the time he hadn’t thought of it as such. But still, she had shown him how important it was to occasionally get in touch with your carefree side, something he failed to do often enough.

Deciding that since he had finished dressing there was no reason to linger around in the bedroom, he walked into the sitting room. For his peace of mind he felt the best thing to do was to remove himself from temptation’s way. Put his mind on something else. So he thought about his parents. He had spoken to them yesterday. After spending two weeks in France they were back in the U.S. According to them, Franco Saxon’s health had greatly improved. Conversely, they had known that Dominic really didn’t give a royal damn but his mother had mentioned it anyway. There had been so many times when he’d been younger, when after hearing his classmates talk about their grandparents and what a blessing they were in their lives, that he had longed for grandparents of his own. His father had told him his mother—Dominic’s grandmother—had died when he was a little boy, but his grandfather was in France. As a young boy, Dominic could not understand if he had a grandfather that existed, why he never came to visit to spend time with him like his friends’ grandparents had.

Much to his parents’ credit, they had never spoken ill of Franco Saxon. Over the years they had accepted the older man’s decision not to be a part of their lives. It was only when Dominic was grown that he discovered why his grandfather was not a part of his life. And it was a reason Dominic had found unacceptable.

His ears suddenly perked up. The shower was no longer going, which meant Taylor was finished with that particular segment of her toiletry. Dominic could imagine her damp body wrapped in one of those huge fluffy towels. He wished he was there to dry her off and thought of just how he would complete the task. He would go slow, taking time to pamper every inch of her body, starting with those luscious breasts he had tasted earlier, then moving lower to her flat stomach and small waist and then to that gorgeous pair of legs.