MY SKIN FELT SUNBURNED, and my core was molten. Having a sexy, gorgeous woman writhe all over me had turned me on, but she wasn’t who set me on fire.
Dominic did.
It started with the way he encouraged me to enjoy myself. He never once tried to rein me in or mold my experience into the shape he wanted. I knew it killed him not to touch me in front of the others, but he held back because I had asked, and that in itself made me want him more than ever.
The private dance had only fanned the flames. He made me the center of both his and Raquel’s attention. The thinner, sexier, more conventionally beautiful woman had barely turned his head.
The ride back to the hotel was interminable. I kept apart from Dominic, because once we got started, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop, and I wanted more than a quick fuck in the back of a limo.
When we were finally back in my room, tension and lust stood so thick between us, it was almost impossible to move through it.
He took a seat on the end of my bed. “Will you dance for me?”
“Really?” My heart skipped a beat from both excitement and nerves. “Would that make you happy?”
His fingers tapped one at a time on his thighs. “A dream come true.”
Not giving myself time to get nervous or overthink it, I took my phone from my purse and switched on one of my playlists. “Electric Love” cut through the air, and I kicked off my heels, bouncing to the beat as I made my way to Dominic.
Draping my arms over his shoulders, I rotated my hips in languid circles. He captured me in his gaze, but what he didn’t understand was I was willing. He didn’t have to cuff me or tie me down with some four-week contract. I wanted him, and I wasn’t running—even if I’d never danced like this for anyone and doing so took me away from my comfort zone.
He trailed his knuckles down my sides as I moved with the song. Leaning forward, I dusted a kiss across his lips, but he was quicker than me. Long fingers threaded in my hair, keeping me in place to devour my mouth like a starved man.
Breathless, I pulled back. “You’re distracting me from my dance.”
Dominic licked his bottom lip and held out his palms. “By all means, continue.”
Swiveling away from him, I gave a sharp rock of my hips so my dress shimmied around my legs. Dominic’s hands were on me again, gliding up the outline of my curves, following my movements. He kneaded my breasts, then made a path along my stomach with his fingers. I watched him touch me in the full-length mirror facing the bed. The rough tattoos on his skin contrasted with the smooth fabric of my dress so beautifully, I shivered.
He could tear me apart, but instead, he was reverent. Careful. Worshipful in his gaze and touch. I didn’t shy away from seeing how we looked together in the reflection. When his fingers toyed with the clasp of my dress just under my bust, I helped him open it to reveal my cream, silk thong and miles of freckled, bare skin.
I cupped my breasts as I sat down in his lap, gently grinding on his erection. Dominic’s gaze met mine in the mirror, just as entranced at watching us together as I was.
Turning my head, I nuzzled my mouth into his beard. “Take your shirt off so I can feel you.”
He released my waist to unbutton his shirt, his nimble fingers flying, and tossed it aside. His touch immediately returned to glide the rough pads of his fingers along my lust-drenched skin.
I tipped my head back to rest on his shoulder, rolling my hips to the new, dream-like song that had begun playing. Dominic kissed along my collarbone and neck—everywhere his lips could reach—and took over cupping my breasts for me. He plucked at my nipples, eliciting whimpers of pleasure from deep inside me.
“Open your eyes, Claire.” His words were low and commanding, and my compliance was automatic. He squeezed my breasts together, then let them fall as his hands splayed on my stomach. “Do you see what I see?”
I spoke around the knot in my throat. “Tell me what you see.”
“This stunning woman,” one hand dipped into my panties, teasing my slit with a fingertip, “owning her power.”
“What power?” I whispered as he tapped on my clit.
“You wield all the power. Every day, I drop to my knees for you.” He gripped my pussy in his palm like he owned it. “Your cunt drives me out of my mind. Your whole fucking being does.”
“It’s mutual.” Although, I didn’t know if I had lost my mind or only just come to my senses. This thing between us was crazy, but it made more sense than anything had in a long time.
I reached up to wrap my hand around the nape of his neck, arching my back in the process. Dominic growled, plunging two fingers inside me to the hilt.
“It’s outrageous. Fucking criminal, Claire.”
His fingers moved with expert precision, thrusting and playing with my clit at the same time. I tried to keep moving to the beat of the music, but I got lost in Dominic’s rhythm, riding his hand and the thick erection prodding my ass.
I came so fast and hard, I saw stars. My breath evaporated, and when Dominic ordered me to open my eyes, the reflection showed a lust-filled woman, plump lips parted, nipples in tight peaks, lush hips and thick thighs, spread for the man beneath me—the man with midnight eyes who held me by the throat and pussy with tremulous hands.
“Dominic,” I rasped.
He told me to stand, and when I did, he stood at my back, removing his pants and my panties. He was a dark tower behind me, keeping his secrets in the shadows he shrouded himself with. Dominic was beautiful in the same way as a rolling storm—fascinating to watch, and almost impossible to look away from, but equally dangerous.
For a brief moment, when our gazes clashed in the mirror, his guard collapsed. There, in his stern brow and tight jaw, behind the stardom and fame, was a man on the precipice. That split-second showed me how unsure he was. About what? I would never know, because he pulled me back down to the bed, onto his lap, and thrust inside me.
My legs hung on either side of his knees, giving him full control—what he needed after that accidental slip of vulnerability. He spread me wide, and the sight of my slick pussy molding around his thick length as he moved inside me held both of our attention. He went slow and deep, dragging along my inner walls with that same precision his fingers had.
My nails dug into his corded arms. “This makes me scared.”
He nibbled on my earlobe, breathing hot and heavy from his nose. “You have nothing to fear from me, Claire. I told you, you have all the power here.” He jerked his chin at our image. “I can’t even look at you for very long or I’ll lose it.”
“I’ve never seen myself like this.” I barely recognized my own voice. It had gone mellow and raspy, my tongue curling each word with sensuality.
His beard scratched my neck and cheek as he pressed his face next to mine. “And I am never going to forget you looking like this.”
“My body.” I trailed my hand to where his was spread wide on my curved stomach. When he touched me like this, I couldn’t even be bothered to hate any part of me. “I don’t know this body.”
“I know your body. If I could live inside you and feel every one of your soft places, I would.” His fingers flexed, pushing into my flesh. “You are Eden and damnation, Claire.”
That hurt, but I couldn’t really explain why. Not with my mind overloaded with pleasure and lust, every corner filled to the brim with Dominic’s name, face, his teeth on my skin, his voice…
I twisted my head to kiss him and relieve some of the ache his words had caused. He took control of my mouth too, his lips moving over mine sensually while he held my throat. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, tasting me and laving mine. Everywhere he touched seemed to have developed a direct connection to my core.
Dominic raised his hips, hitting an even deeper place inside me. I gasped, my inner muscles clenching hard around him. We wrenched our mouths apart to face the mirror as I came. My limbs and belly trembled like leaves from the storm Dominic had stirred within me.
“Beauty,” he growled. “So perfect.”
Some of his carefully crafted control fell away, and his grip on me tightened. Fingers dug into either side of my waist as he plunged into me from below. I rolled my hips again and again, my channel a live wire. Each pass of his cock sent shocks of electricity down my spine.
“Dominic…oh, that feels so good.” My hands covered his again, fingers locking between his like puzzle pieces.
“Yeah?” His eyes found mine in the mirror. He jerked his hips, making me shake like he’d hit a raw nerve. “Like this?”
“Yes, yes, just like that.”
We kissed again, our mouths moving together just as languidly as our bodies. I’d felt frantic with need when we’d arrived at the hotel, but now, I wondered if it was possible to keep doing this forever.
If the devil appeared at this moment and asked for my soul, I might have signed it over so I could stay here making slow love to Dominic Cantrell for the rest of my life.
My pleasure mounted again, this time from Dominic’s fingers circling my swollen clit. When I came, tears welled in my eyes, and he saw. He saw everything. He wouldn’t allow me to hide—and I didn’t want to.
His hips jerked, and then he started bucking beneath me in earnest. My ass slapped against his pelvis, skin connecting with skin. He grunted my name, called me sweet, told me I smelled like honeysuckle, then he clamped down on my shoulder, our eyes staying locked.
My receptors were set to pleasure only. The dig of his teeth in my skin and his cock pounding me so thoroughly I had to will my eyes not to roll back, felt like I’d been transported to paradise. Eden.
We showered together after, both of us moving slow. I laughed when I dropped my washcloth for the second time.
“Crap. I’m weak.” My arms fell limp by my sides.
He held up his big, soapy hand. “I’ve got you.”
Dominic rubbed soap all over me, not missing a spot. For some reason, I’d expected him to pull away after the intensity we’d just shared, but he hadn’t at all. I had been close to crying while he was inside me from how exposed and raw he made me feel.
I leaned into him, circling my arms around his waist. “You always seem to have me.”
He planted a kiss on my temple. “Tonight was good, huh?”
Warm water sluiced down my face as I pressed my cheek to his chest. “Mmm…yes.”
“You were going to tell me all about it.”
“I was.” My fingers drummed the rose tattoo on his chest. “But then you forced your way in.”
He squeezed my butt. “Are you trying to tell me you really had a problem with me being there?”
“I am not. I liked you being there. A lot.”
“Then tell me about it. Come to bed with me and tell me all about your night.”
We dried off, I threw on a T-shirt, Dominic a pair of briefs, then I climbed into bed, and he wrapped his arms around me.
“Tell me.”
My lips curved into a soft smile. I didn’t quite understand why he wanted me to tell him about the night since he’d been there too, other than he wanted to know exactly what I’d experienced.
“Well, it started with my man dressing up and looking really fine for me. He’s older, and kind of grumpy, but I like him.”
Dominic growled, giving my ass a quick smack.
“Then we met up with these people who’ve become my friends so quickly, I sometimes can’t believe it. Especially Marta. I love Marta.”
He kissed my chin. “She likes to go and make unwilling people love her.”
“True, except I wasn’t unwilling.” Our legs tangled together under the sheets, and my chest panged, but I shook it off quickly. I’d gotten way too used to this.
“After that, we went to this…den of iniquity. Beautiful, naked women everywhere. One in particular caught my attention. I liked her hair and her crazy curves. My friends tried to buy me a lap dance, but I wasn’t into it. I really loved when the man I was with stood down and didn’t try to impose any restrictions on my behavior or reactions.”
I wove my fingers through the side of Dominic’s hair, letting my eyes close as his warmth seeped into me. He brought me even closer to him and nibbled on my bottom lip.
“And then?”
My lids lifted, and we were face-to-face, almost nose to nose. “And then my man bought me a dance with that beautiful woman. She kept whispering how hot he and I were together. She told me my man looked like he worshiped me like a queen. I got so hot from everything she said, I thought I would combust.”
“But then,” I brushed my lips over his, “we got back to this room and you opened me up.”
His lips curved into a small, naughty smirk. I tapped them with my fingertips, a tired laugh slipping from me.
“Stop that. You opened me in every way. I can’t remember very many times I’ve been as vulnerable as I was stripped and raw in front of that mirror. But with you, I felt safe to lean into my vulnerability and explore the raw parts of me. And I think…I think once this is over, I won’t go back inside my shell ever again. That’s what I meant by being opened up.”
Dominic was still, the rise and fall of his chest his only movement. I mirrored him, waiting to see if I’d gone too far, shared too much.
He finally blinked and brought my mouth to his, moving his lips over mine in a slow, tender slide. When we separated, his forehead rested on mine so I couldn’t see his expression.
“It’s a fucking honor to be part of your journey, Claire.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. The tight ball in my throat made it impossible to speak anyway, so I kissed him again. We fell asleep like that, embracing and kissing like it was the end of the world. Truly, it was almost the end of the world we’d created just for us.
