by Lisa Childs
And she cried out.
He jerked back. “Are you okay?”
Had he hurt her? The thought filled him with dread.
But she shook her head, tousling her silky hair over the pillows. “No, it’s just been a while...”
Really? Sex was what she did for a living, wasn’t it? He wanted to ask, but he didn’t want to think about her with other men. Not now. Not ever.
And as she shifted and took him deeper inside her, he couldn’t think at all anymore. He could only feel how amazing she felt, how perfectly she fit him. And he thrust again. And again...
She arched up, matching his movements. They moved together, as if they’d choreographed the dance. And as they moved, they touched each other. She slid her hands around to his ass, her fingers kneading his buttocks as she urged him deeper with each thrust. He touched her silky thighs, holding them up, as she easily bent herself nearly in half. Was the woman double jointed? Or just so slender and fit that she was naturally flexible?
He moved his hand between their bodies and stroked his thumb over her clit. She tensed then shuddered and cried out as she came again.
“Dominic!” she shouted his name as the orgasm overwhelmed her – and him.
Her inner muscles gripped his cock, squeezing tightly, and he spiraled out of control. Finally giving in to his need for release, he came - his body shuddering with the force of his orgasm. It had been a while for him. But he couldn’t remember if he’d ever felt pleasure as intensely as he just had with her.
Reluctantly he pulled out and hurried off to the bathroom to clean up. Although he was gone for only moments, he returned to find her back in her nightgown – not that the thin silk had left much to his vivid imagination. And she’d straightened out the sheets they’d tangled – as if trying to remove the evidence of their passionate encounter.
Did she regret what had happened between them?
He didn’t. He probably should. She was virtually a stranger to him. But then perhaps not. She was Michelle’s friend. And he’d always considered Michelle an excellent judge of character. But then Michelle was a madam. So what did that say about her own character?
It didn’t change her heart, though. She was still a loving and generous person. Was Taylor?
He grabbed his underwear from the floor and pulled them up before sliding back into the bed with her. She lay near the edge of the side on which she’d been sleeping before she’d turned toward him. And he remembered that she had initiated this.
“Are you sorry?” he asked.
And she tensed. “About what?”
“Are you sorry about what we just did?” he asked. “What else is there?”
She sighed. “The charade we’re playing for the weekend...”
Yeah, he was sorry about that. He really didn’t want to cause any upset for his brother and the bride. But if he told Taylor he wanted to end the charade, then she would leave. And he might never see her again. Unless he hired her...
That was something he never would have considered – until now that he’d had her. He realized he could easily become addicted to her. Even though he’d just had the most powerful orgasm he could remember, his cock began to harden again – just from the heat of her closeness and from the smell of sex lingering in the sheets. She hadn’t been able to hide all the evidence of their encounter.
“The charade was Michelle’s idea,” he said. And maybe the sex had been, too, since she was the one who’d packed the condoms. Taylor hadn’t even known they were in the suitcase. He’d taken them from the red-faced concierge and shoved them into his pocket.
Taylor turned toward him, and in the straightforward manner he was coming to respect about her, she said, “The sex was mine.”
So he asked again, “Do you regret it?”
“No.”
“You said it had been a while for you, too,” he said. “Why?” Better yet, how? But he didn’t want to sound too incredulous. Had she just told him that so he would feel special?
“Escorts aren’t prostitutes,” she informed him. “Most men just want a date – someone to bring to dinner or social functions.”
And no one would look more beautiful on a man’s arm than she would. But she seemed to be so much more than eye candy. She was smart and resourceful, too.
“Why has it been a while for you?” she asked as she leaned closer to him, her deep blue eyes full of concern. “Are you still recovering from your broken heart?”
“Broken heart?”
“From cranky Courtney’s betrayal.”
He nearly laughed at the thought of Courtney breaking his heart. But he was enjoying Taylor’s concern too much. She laid her hand on his chest, as if she were checking to see if there was hole in it from where his heart had been ripped out.
But Courtney had never had his heart. No woman ever had. He knew better than to risk it on relationships when he had never seen one that had lasted. He doubted that one could with anyone – let alone a Rowe.
He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She fit perfectly against his side like they were the last two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. With them in place now, the picture was clear. But it made no sense to Dominic – to feel this way.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said, her body stiff against his.
“Do what?” he asked, as he stroked his hand down her back.
“Hold me,” she said.
“I want to,” he admitted. But he knew it didn’t matter how tightly he held onto her, she wouldn’t stay. No woman ever had. Not any girlfriend. Not even his mother or any of his many stepmothers. “For tonight...”
Putting the time limit on it seemed to relax her because she settled her head against his chest, and her silky hair stroked over his skin. “For tonight,” she agreed.
Taylor had no intention of sleeping. She’d never slept with anyone before. But Michelle and Elaine and Shawna – and of course, they hadn’t had sex. They’d just shared a bed during some sleep-overs and even on that cruise they’d taken to celebrate graduation. Sharing a bed was all she’d intended to do with Dominic, too.
But she hadn’t been able to resist the temptation of having sex with him. She’d thought maybe once would suffice her desire for him. But it had only intensified it. She wanted him again – because she knew how incredibly pleasurable it would be. She couldn’t remember ever having as powerful an orgasm as the last one – the one she’d thought would never stop crashing over her like a tidal wave hitting a beach.
She felt drowned now and exhausted. Maybe that was why she closed her eyes. And even though she had no intention of sleeping in his arms, she drifted off – with her head lying yet on his shoulder. It was hard muscle, but yet it was comfortable. She fit perfectly in the crook of his shoulder and neck – like it was her place and her place alone.
But she knew that wasn’t true. Taylor had never had a place that was truly hers. She lived above Michelle’s garage. She’d lived in Aunt Mattie’s house. And hell, even when they’d been alive, her parents had never stayed in one place long. She’d never had a home. So why did she think that lying there – in his arms – felt like home?
She had nothing to which to compare it. Maybe she’d had more to drink than she’d realized although, given her parents’ tragic history with alcohol, she was always careful to never overindulge. She felt drunk now. But it had nothing to do with what she’d had to drink and everything to do with Dominic.
She suspected he could become more addictive to her than any drink and drug. Despite the fear that gripped her, she succumbed to sleep and to a dream she knew would never be realized. A dream of happily ever after...
Chapter Six
May 16
Morning
Taylor isn’t answering her phone again. Maybe she’s still sleeping. But I doubt that because she rarely sleeps in. She’s usually too eager to start her day and get the most out of every moment of it. That’s probably because she’s well-aware of how short life can b
e – with as short a time as her parents lived. They were only in their early thirties when they died.
Knowing that, she should seize every moment. She should seize Dominic. He wouldn’t have let her stay if he really wanted her to leave. Did he want her? Did they use those condoms I packed? Or is she so mad at me for packing them that she isn’t speaking to me anymore?
I promised her that I’m not matchmaking. And we never lie to each other. Yes, she is probably furious with me and rightfully so. I shouldn’t have meddled. What is my issue? Am I that bored? Do I need a life of my own?
Now that we’ve graduated, all my friends are starting their new careers, living their new lives. But for me...
All I’ve started is FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT. And it isn’t even real.
Michelle stared at the cell phone lying on her desk next to her cup of English breakfast tea. What was she? An eighty year old spinster? She spent too much time at this desk, writing in her journal. While her friends were out living life, she was only writing about it.
Yes, she needed a life of her own. And she would step away from the journal and FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT once the wedding weekend was over and Taylor no longer needed the cover.
She glanced again at the phone, but she knew she wasn’t waiting for Taylor to call. She was waiting for Detective Sam Butler. It was better if he didn’t call her again. During their last conversation he’d claimed to have a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
And with Taylor not calling her, Michelle was beginning to get that feeling as well. Maybe having her go undercover as an escort hadn’t been the best idea.
***
Taylor peered into the screen inside her compact and surreptitiously snapped a photo of the scene around the long table in the dining room. The wedding party, wearing dark glasses to hide their eyes which were bloodshot from too much partying the night before, raised mimosas in a toast to the bride and groom.
Glasses clinked together and everyone called out, “Kiss. Kiss!”
But when Roderick leaned toward Courtney, she turned her face and his mouth just skimmed over her cheek. She was pissed. Taylor wasn’t certain which twin the bitchy bride-to-be was mad at though. The only one not wearing glasses, Courtney glared at her and Dominic as much as she did Roderick.
There was no mistaking the fact that she was mad at Taylor. Since Taylor was ignoring all Roderick’s blatant flirting, Courtney’s only reason for being mad was jealousy that Taylor was with the man the bitchy bride had finally realized she really wanted.
Roderick, with Courtney in tow, had awakened them this morning, pounding on the door until Dominic had answered it. They hadn’t had to stage their state of undress or the fact that they’d had sex. The room smelled like it. They smelled like it.
If they’d only had it the one time, maybe it wouldn’t have been so noticeable. But they hadn’t been able to stop reaching for each other throughout the night and early morning hours. Taylor’s body ached in places she’d never ached, not even after an hour and a half of hot yoga. But it was a delicious feeling ache – an ache she wanted to experience again and again.
But she only had this weekend. So she would make the most of it and get the most out of it. And not just photos...
She would get the most of Dominic. She felt him returning to the table even before she saw him. So she snapped the compact closed and turned toward the empty seat. She’d felt that emptiness when he’d left to use the restroom. The minute he’d drawn close again, her body had begun to heat and tingle. She’d never had a connection like this to anyone else.
And that made her uneasy. What was this between them? It was more than sex.
“Hey,” he said as he settled onto the chair beside her. He leaned close and nuzzled her ear, whispering, “Stop looking in that compact. You’re gorgeous.”
And he probably thought she was vain. She turned her head, and his mouth brushed over hers. Their lips caught and held, and they instinctively deepened the kiss. Their breath mingled, their tongues tangled.
And applause broke out around the table. “Now that’s how a bride and groom should be kissing,” one of the groomsmen called out.
Taylor felt heat rush to her face and panic to her heart. She never intended to be a bride. This was crazy. This whole thing. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
Dominic owed Michelle. She’d had a great idea. Dominic hadn’t felt this happy in a long time, and it had nothing to do with the obvious jealousy on his twin’s and his ex’s tense faces. He’d never been this satiated before. But even after all the orgasms he’d had last night, Dominic wanted Taylor again. His body hardened, his cock pressing against the fly of his dress pants.
He’d escaped to the bathroom moments ago in order to hide the effect of her closeness. Just sitting beside her at the table affected him, had his body tense with desire for her. But that brief separation had only cooled him down for a little bit. The minute her lips touched his, the tension re-wound his body up tight, and his cock began to pulse in his pants again.
“Damn, woman,” he murmured as he slid his mouth from hers. “You make me crazy. Are you done with breakfast yet?” He wanted to bring her back to their room – to their bed.
But before he could even rise from his chair again, his brother was there – with his hand on his shoulder, holding him down. He could have pushed Roderick away. He was tempted to do that, but his twin wasn’t worth causing a scene.
Taylor was though. And when Roderick leaned close to her, Dominic clenched his hands into fists. He didn’t feel like just shoving him back; he felt like slugging him.
“Do you play?” his brother asked her, his voice deep and suggestive.
Her brow furrowed, and she frostily asked him, “What are you talking about?”
Roderick’s face flushed. “Tennis,” he said. “Do you play tennis?”
She just stared at him.
“What – what are you doing?” Courtney asked as she rushed to her fiancé’s side.
He barely turned his head to glance at his bride when he told her, “I’m inviting Taylor and Dom to play tennis with us.”
“Tennis?” she parroted. “I’m sure she doesn’t play...” And she looked down her skinny little nose at Taylor.
And now Dominic wanted to slug her. Taylor looked like she was tempted as she turned toward the snobby bride. Anger flashed through her eyes, and she lifted her chin with pride. “I play,” she frostily informed the bride.
“I knew it,” Roderick said with a lusty sigh.
“Tennis,” Taylor added, her voice even colder.
And Dominic smiled with pride in how classy she was. He was about to lose his temper completely. But she reached for him and grasped one of the fists he’d clenched in his lap. Then she winked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Courtney dismissed her. “We already have a match set up.”
“Anton canceled on us,” Roderick said. “His head is hurting too much.” He snorted. “Lightweight.” He gave Dominic a pointed look, pretty much implying the same thing of him.
Dominic sighed over his brother’s immature attempt to goad him into competition. “I don’t think Anton’s hung over,” he said. “I think he just remembers how you get...”
Roderick tensed, and his green eyes chilled almost as much as Taylor’s voice had. “What do you mean?”
“You get a little competitive,” Dominic pointed out.
“What?” Roderick asked. “You afraid you’re going to lose?” He looked at Taylor now, as if he was referring to her instead of the tennis match.
Dominic shook his head. “Not a concern at all about that...”
Taylor was not Courtney. But who was she really? He knew very little about her – except that she was a friend of his sister Michelle. And she worked as an escort for a madam who was also his sister Michelle. And because he knew she was a friend of Michelle’s, he knew there was no way she would ever fall for his brother’s smarmy charm.
She
laughed. “Darling,” she told Dominic as she leaned closer to him, “you don’t know how I play...”
“So you’re not that good,” Courtney remarked with a snobby sniff of disdain.
“So you haven’t even played together yet?” Roderick asked, as if he’d made an important discovery.
Taylor laughed. “Oh, we’ve played together,” she said. “Just not tennis ...”
Dominic laughed as his brother’s face flushed. “Maybe it’s about time we tried tennis then,” he mused. “Since we’ve tried just about everything else...”
And they had the night before and in the early hours of the morning. They’d been in every position. He could still feel her on top of him, before she rose – sliding up and down his cock. Then she’d leaned over the bed, and he’d taken her doggy style, his hands cupping her breasts so they didn’t swing free as he thrust inside her. They’d tried side by side and standing up.