Sweet Seduction Sacrifice (12 page)

"Gentlemen, can you give us a moment." It was a question, but Dominic didn't phrase it that way. Quite clearly he expected everyone to comply, which, to my surprise, they all did.

The room cleared within seconds and I was left alone with Dominic, who hadn't given up on killer lawyer yet and was quite clearly thinking of bringing scare-me-half-to-death lawyer out as well. He didn't speak immediately, just stood several feet away watching me. The silence was worse than if he shouted. His stillness, worse than if he threw something or punched a wall. All of it held a type of menace I had never seen before in my life. And Brett had been, on occasion, quite menacing, but he had nothing on Dominic Anscombe.

"I bet that look works well for you in court," I offered and then because he was scaring me half to death, I kept going. "Not that I would think family law requires you to intimidate your client's exes, but I guess it could make negotiations go in your favour." He blinked at me. Great, movement. "Scare them into giving up half their assets and sharing custody of the kids." OK, now would have been a good time to stop. "But my mother always said, you catch way more bees with honey than vinegar. Maybe you should try that, because I'm telling you now," - and here we go, Gen Cain and her big, fat mouth - "it won't work on me. I'm made of sterner stuff." Total crap, but I could bluff just as well as the next guy.

"Do I scare you?" he asked evenly.

I snorted, it just slipped out. "Well, yeah."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yes, you should be scared of me."

"Why should I be scared of you?" Macho men were intriguing and all, but if he was going this route, I'd obviously made a mistake and escape would be a very good plan about now.

He stepped forward, and because he'd moved at all, I missed at first the air changing. It was no longer menacing, but heavy with something else. Something promising, something sensual.

"You should be scared of me, because you've intrigued me, Genevieve Cain. It takes a hell of a lot to capture my attention, and
you
have caught it." How did I manage that?

"And that's something to be scared of?" I asked in an embarrassingly small voice. He stepped closer again, now within a foot of where I sat on a sagging couch.

"At first I thought you would be a nice distraction." Now hang on a minute,
distraction
? "Delightful in every way, but probably not enough to hold my attention for long. They never do."

He stepped closer still, I glared at him. He wasn't winning any Brownie points with this speech.

"But with those ridiculous socks and the way you sang with your whole heart behind it and cleaned your store, I knew I was in trouble." Oh. And he thinks
he's
in trouble? "And the way you talk non-stop when you're nervous and
what
you say." He chuckled and shook his head from side to side.

He was right before me now, standing so tall above me, but I didn't feel scared of his size or presence anymore, I was scared I was falling for him. He crouched down in front of me, his hands resting on both my knees, fingers kneading, his blue-blue eyes looking into mine.

"It's too late now, sweetheart."

What? "Too late?" I asked dumbly.

"Yeah, too late," he whispered. "You've intrigued me, you've captured my attention. I won't let you go now. That is why you should be scared."

I think I had stopped breathing. Was this man crazy? Did men actually talk like this having only known a woman for just over twenty-four hours? He sounded so sure, so determined. Dominic Anscombe had just announced his intentions and no matter what anyone thought about how ridiculous they might have been, he'd spoken. His word was law.

I'd seen the way the room responded to him, when he
asked
them to leave us alone for a moment. No one questioned him, no one doubted his right to speak to me in private. He said it, they did it. And I got the impression now, that this was the same. Dominic had declared he wouldn't let me go now, and I had the feeling that was definitely the case. He didn't strike me as man who said things for the hell of it, every word from his lips was premeditated, thought through - calculated. He meant everything he'd just said. But what the hell did that mean for me?

"You're crazy," I declared without thinking. I couldn't think straight to save myself right then.

He smiled,
that
smile. My breath left me in a rush. His hand came up and cupped my face.

"Now we've got that established, what the hell did you mean by
um
?"

Maybe it was his declaration, maybe it was his touch. It probably was the smile though, but whatever it was I answered. And I answered him with the truth.

"Brett will take the store if I don't let him move back in. I can't lose the store, so I agreed. Kind of, anyway, I didn't say the words but he knows me, he could tell I wouldn't chance losing the store by pushing him away."

I watched as Dominic's face turned to stone. I should have been scared, I should have read the warning signs, but I was on a roll and when my mouth gets on a roll, my brain disconnects. It's a hazard, but I can't seem to avoid it - I barrel into it head first every time.

"I don't love him," I declared as though it mattered that Dominic knew that. "But I won't lose Sweet Seduction, I
can't
lose it."

"What makes you think you'll lose it?" he asked, voice low.

"He said he'd take it away from me if I refused to let him back in. He said it would be my word against his, about how much he contributed to the relationship. He said he'd prove I owed him for the time we spent together." Well, he hadn't said that in so many words, but I knew Brett too, and his few words and actions had implied it.

"He stole your inheritance, he hasn't got a good case," Dominic pointed out, not surprising me in the least that he knew the particulars of my case. He may not have been my lawyer, but he had been the one to approve me as a pro bono case. He would have been made aware of all the details.

"Can you guarantee that?" I asked, voice firm.

He blew a breath out harshly. I couldn't tell if it was because of frustration or anger or maybe disbelief that I'd ask such a stupid question. "Nothing is guaranteed."

"Exactly," I shot back. He frowned.

"It's just a store," he said, sounding dumbfounded.

I blinked at him. How could he call Sweet Seduction
just a store
. He didn't know me at all.

His hand came back up from where it had rested at my side and cupped my cheek again.

"Sweetheart, I know it means a lot to you. But can you honestly tell me, it means so much you would let a man who steals from you and kidnaps you, back in your bed?"

Who said anything about my bed? He'd get the couch, like he'd had the couch for the past year. I didn't say that though, instead I said, "Yes, it does."

He stiffened. "Perhaps, I've made a mistake," he muttered as if to himself.

I watched him closely, unsure what he meant by that. He looked deep in thought for a moment and then his eyes flicked up to mine and I sucked in a breath at what I saw. They were still so blue-blue, but there was something else there. Something determined, something basic, as in an animalistic basic, a base emotion that all animals have at their very core.

"You don't see it yet, you're blinded by your fear of losing your dream."

He knew. He'd somehow pieced it together. I couldn't remember referring to Sweet Seduction as my dream, but maybe I had over dinner, when he drilled me with questions about my life, my past, my passions. Of course I had. I wouldn't have been able to talk of my passions without talking of Sweet Seduction. But he was calling me out on it now. He knew why I was taking Brett back. He knew it wasn't love, it was necessity. A sacrifice to protect my dream. The only dream I will ever have.

I didn't realise how important his understanding was to me. I had only just met this man yesterday, yet somehow he had entrenched himself in my life. For a brief moment I had contemplated letting him be a second dream, albeit borrowed. But I
had
thought for a little time I could have him and my one and only dream as well. For a while I had allowed myself to fall a little for him, in the hopes of living a second dream. I couldn't now of course, taking Brett back had meant handing that borrowed dream back to whoever it should belong to. It wasn't mine to keep. But despite that, his understanding now meant so much to me, I felt tears well up and spill over from my eyes.

His thumb wiped each side of my face softly, swiping at the falling tears.

"No, you don't see it, but I can show you." He'd lost me. I was still back on the dream.

Then suddenly he was close, so close I could feel the heat from his chest against mine, his hot breath against my lips, his fingers already entwined in my hair. One arm wrapping around my back, shifting me forward on the couch, so my legs had to part and allow his hips between them. He was kneeling on the floor and I was still sitting, but my chest rubbed up against his and his arms tightened bringing me closer still. I felt his groin press into me, such an intimate and unexpected position to be in.

I thought he understood. I thought he knew he couldn't be my second dream now. So, maybe he was taking one last opportunity, before I walked right out of his life. I couldn't blame him, I'd contemplated it too. More than once. But he still surprised me. Enough for me not to push back and stop his pursuit.

His lips brushed mine in a soft caress once, then came back for a second sweep, this time his tongue ran a hot, wet line along my bottom lip. It sent an immediate shiver down my spine and heat began to unfurl inside my belly. I was still in shock, so didn't react. He pulled back and looked at me, his eyes flashing their own kind of heat that made the butterflies milling in my belly flutter excitedly.

"I see I'll have to try harder," he murmured and then his lips pressed into mine again, this time firmer, more forcefully, his whole body pressing against mine too.

I parted my mouth on an expelled breath of surprised and incredibly turned on air. He pounced on the opening, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth. I think I might have groaned. His head tilted sideways, as though he was
really
getting serious now. His body shifted even closer, his hand in my hair, tugging my head down gently so my mouth was tipped at the right angle for him to plunder. And he did. No longer soft and slow, the kiss escalated, blew right past delightful and daring and slammed into decadent and dangerous.

Our whole bodies melded together as our tongues tangled in a hot and furious dance. Somehow my legs had wrapped around him in a wanton display of hussy-ness, aided by a pull of my body closer with one of his hands under my rear. My arms were now exploring as well. One hand up on his head, messing that glorious mop of dark hair, the other inside his pulled out T-shirt, which if I had been able to process properly would have alarmed me to hell. I was stripping the guy all because he was kissing me like I had
never
been kissed before in my life.

I thought he might just consume me, but my desire to taste him was just as great and for a while it was
me
who consumed him. I don't know how much time passed, I didn't care, all that mattered was kissing the gorgeous god-like man before me. Feeling his hot smooth skin beneath my fingers, trailing the pattern of his well defined muscles. I wanted to rip his T-shirt off, I wanted to lick all over his skin. To taste him everywhere, and
I mean
everywhere
. I couldn't get enough. I couldn't contemplate stopping. I wanted him. I had to have him. He was
so
divine.

We pulled apart and I found myself kissing down his chin, laying a trail of hot kisses across his throat, burying my face in the crease at the side of his neck. My tongue getting only a fraction of the taste I wanted of his body. He tasted
so
divine.

I felt his chest shudder beneath me, his hands languidly running all over my back and up into my hair. He was panting as much as me, a soft groan emitting from the back of his throat when I nibbled on his ear. He pressed our bodies closer together, how he managed that I'm not sure. But the movement let me know how turned on he was too. I wanted to run my fingers down his abs and make my way even lower, but he tangled his fist in my hair again and pulled my lips from his skin, bringing my face back to look me in the eye. I let a small mewl of protest out at being denied my goal. He made a sound of amusement, somewhere between the cough-which-could-have-been-a-laugh and a chuckle.

"Do you see now, sweetheart?" I blinked dazedly back at him.

"What?" I husked, he smiled,
that
smile and I was sure I had died and gone to heaven.

"You are not taking him back," he whispered against my bruised lips. "You are already mine."

Some of the fog lifted, I blinked again, but this time it was to clear my head, not in reaction to the sound of his voice spoken so softly and so near.

"What did you just say?" I asked, pulling against his hold, but he wouldn't let me budge an inch.