by Maggie Cox
‘Sexy little Sophie.’ He smiled, and touched his mouth experimentally against hers.
It was a mere brush, but as soon as the unrivalled taste of him exploded on her lips Sophie groaned a little and opened her mouth beneath his. The unpremeditated movement was as natural and as essential to her as breathing. Dominic needed no further entreaty or encouragement from her to take what he so voraciously longed for. He dived in without apology or hesitation, captivating her with his tongue, his ministrations ruthlessly exquisite, making her drown in desire as he explored the softly velvet surfaces inside her mouth.
As his hands caressed Sophie’s body, acquainting themselves unhindered with her breasts, her hips, her bottom, he cupped the cheeks of her derrière in his palms and pulled her hard against his own aching manifestation of desire. She was in no doubt that he wanted her, and wanted her with the kind of passion and ardour that made her legs almost buckle in disbelief.
She stumbled a little as he guided her across what seemed to be miles of plush deep-pile carpet to the large, inviting king-sized bed with its plump cream duvet and crisp cotton sheets which the maid had turned down for the night. She heard the rustle of clothing being removed as Dominic slipped out of his jacket, tore at the buttons on his silk shirt, and bent his head to her neck to suckle on her exposed flesh. Feeling his teeth nip her, she put her hands up to grab onto the broad muscular banks of his shoulders for fear of falling, barely registering that his hands were unzipping her dress and dragging it down her body along with her jacket.
Time seemed to slow, taking on an almost unreal quality.Oh, God…since when had she become so terrifyingly weak in the face of a man’s desire? So weak that she’d consider giving him anything he wanted?She didn’t do this. She didn’t sleep with men on a whim—no matter how attracted she was. But the man guiding her purposefully onto the bed was no whim. He set her blood pounding in her veins, like a throbbing, searching river, making her ache for him right down to her very marrow.
Falling with her onto the bed, Dominic covered Sophie’s trembling flesh with his hard, impressive musculature, making her body burn wherever it came into contact with his. He kissed her deeply and voraciously, impatiently releasing the fastening on her bra and just as impatiently disposing of the flimsy garment altogether.
Feeling cool air awaken the naked flesh of her breasts, teasing her nipples into stinging buds of acutely sensitive steel, Sophie reached up and wrapped her arms around Dominic’s neck, then slid her fingers through the thick blond strands of his hair, silently thrilling at the sensuous contact. She was desperate to touch him, and her longing knew no bounds. Feeling hungry and daring, she let herself explore the tempting outline of his hard body, feeling the taut flesh of his buttocks tense beneath her eager hands and his burgeoning desire press ever closer into the apex of her thighs.
Barely able to contain his rapidly growing lust, Dominic found the silky scrap of lace she wore that passed for panties and, pushing it aside, slid his finger into the searing moist flesh between Sophie’s slim thighs. She arched her body against him like a cat and he drove deeper, withdrew briefly, then continued his lustful exploration with two fingers. Her scent undid him, hitting Dominic hard with its powerfully provocative sensuality and its erotic promise of pleasure unmatched. So much so that he found himself shaking with need as he endeavoured to find the sealed condom he had slid into his trouser pocket and undo it with any kind of finesse. That he managed it at all was a miracle, and as he unfurled it onto the throbbing, aching length of his manhood he was almost dazed by the fierce, ravenous hunger that ruthlessly possessed him.
How could she entrap him so?he asked himself heatedly, as he positioned himself at her entrance and thrust inside. Her soft moans almost finished him there and then.How could this slim, fiesty scrap of a girl turn him on almost past bearing?
Right then, Dominic wasn’t actually looking for answers. But as he lowered his eager lips to her exposed breasts, palming one as he suckled the other, filling her with every hard inch, he did wonder how he had survived without this amazing and wild gratification for so long.
The pleasure he had received from his previous sexual encounters was like a calm breeze in comparison to this stormy cyclone. How had he possibly been satisfied by such soulless forays when it was clear to him now that he had an ache inside him for profound contact withpassion so deep that it scarcely bore thinking about? That he had accepted mediocrity in his love life, and had laid aside the search for something more compelling in preference to becoming more and more successful in his work, truly astonished him.
But now that he had much more of an insight into what he really wanted sexually, Dominic had no intention of relinquishing it any time soon.If Sophie imagined that this tumble in a hotel-room bed was the mere whim of a rich man who could have anything he wanted, then her assumption was very quickly and earnestly going to be proved wrong.
‘Dominic,’ she breathed wildly as she writhed beneath him. ‘Dominic, you’re making me crazy…I can’t…I can’t stop myself from…’
‘Let go, Sophie.’ Thrusting harder and deeper, Dominic revelled in the sweet joy of feeling her velvet muscles enfold him, contracting fiercely again and again as though she would never let him go. Her gaze was stunned and her body trembling uncontrollably as Dominic lowered his mouth to hers once again. Then, with one more savagely possessive, searing thrust, he heard himself cry out in amazement and joy before sinking down onto her trembling figure, his hands combing through her short dark hair as tenderly as if she were someone very important to him. Her dewy skin was so soft and her body so warm and inviting that Dominic wanted to spend the whole night making love to her, extracting every drop of pleasure he could, knowing that even then his desire for her would not be sated.
‘You are glad you did not go home?’ he teased, his expression somewhere between a smile and a frown.
Had she ever been so acutely conscious of every single thing before? So minutely and exquisitely aware of her heart beating with such untrammelled delight? As though every molecule of air she breathed were infused with wonder?Closing her eyes momentarily, to stop herself from crying, Sophie knew she had not. It wasn’t as though she had never experienced moments of great pleasure or joy either. It was just that she had never known what she had been missing, what her body had been secretlyyearning for, up until now.
Dominic might be able to get up out of this bed and carry on with his life without feeling as though a glimpse of heaven had just been snatched away from him, but Sophie seriously had to wonder if she could do the same.
CHAPTER SIX
TO SAYhe was surprised to wake up and find the space beside him in the bed empty again would have been to seriously understate the power of the shock that pulsated through Dominic at the realisation. Rising up out of bed, checking the bathroom and finding it empty, he could not believe that Sophie had not woken him but had got up, instead, showered, and gone about her day as if the verythought of his own needs or wants had not even crossed her mind. He was unaccustomed to such cavalier treatment by a female, and for long moments he couldn’t contain his anger.
As far as his own memory of the night before went, they had made love until the early hours of the morning when reluctantly, but out of necessity, both of them had finally succumbed to sleep. Used to waking early, and knowing that he had some unfinished business from yesterday’s unsatisfactory meeting to take care of, he’d fully intended to let Sophie sleep on undisturbed, then join her for breakfast at around nine.Had he not told her as much?
It was hard to deny his fury at the thought that she had rebuffed his suggestion, and now, as he paced the floor outside the cosy and intimate dining room, Dominic wished that he’d stated his desire for her company more firmly. His body throbbed and tingled in the aftermath of last night’s wild and urgent passion, and he was impatient to see her again this morning.
But even as the thought surfaced, something told him that Sophie Dalton was a law unto herself…a
woman as surprising and unpredictable as a snowfall in summer.He had—after all—pursuedher .Not the other way round, as was often the case as far as he was concerned. But, that being true, Dominic was still anxious to assert who held the upper hand in their fledgling relationship. He was totally unaccustomed to being on tenterhooks around a woman, and did not like it one bit. He certainly did not intend to allow it in the future.
Sophie walked with her head down, barely noticing the pretty white swans that swam in the river alongside the lane that she was heading down. She barely noticed anything at all, in fact. Not even the luxurious scent of blossom that hung in the air—a perfume that she normally revelled in, come the spring.
There was no way she could have faced Dominic across the breakfast table this morning.
Pass the marmalade, please—and, oh, by the way…thank you for the three orgasms.
An embarrassed groan escaped her as she walked.What had she done? And what was she supposed to do now, when she’d compounded the folly of sleeping with him not just once, buttwice ?And with such inhibition and reckless passion too?
She had no idea what was going to happen next. This whole unbelievable scenario was so out of her day-to-day experience that she barely knew what to think. She had never slept casually with a man before simply for sex, then walked away as if all they’d done was have tea and a platonic chat together. How did some womendo that?
If her bags hadn’t been back at the hotel she would have found the nearest station and made her way home by train. She could have left Dominic a note sayingthanks for a lovely evening and see you around some time —or something equally casual, to let him know she was a woman of the world who understood this kind of lightning attraction that flared one minute and burned out the next.
Only Sophie had the niggling feeling that what she felt for Dominic wasn’t very likely to burn out in an instant. In fact, the opposite was most likely true.
By the time she decided to head back to the hotel she couldn’t honestly say she felt one bit better about things. The truth was, she was even more troubled than ever.And what on earth was Diana’s reaction going to be when she found out that her best friend had slept with her boss while she and Freddie were on their honeymoon?
Her expression preoccupied as she pushed open the door and encountered the welcome warmth of the hotel foyer, Sophie didn’t immediately see Dominic, sitting in a cosy alcove nearby drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. He, on the other hand, saw her instantly, and put down his paper and his cup of coffee and strode across the deep blue carpet towards her with unquestionable purpose.
‘Did we not have an arrangement to meet at nine for breakfast?’
The admonishing glance he bestowed upon Sophie was so devoid of warmth that she literally shivered.He looked so good, too. Lean and muscular and handsome in his dark blue sweater and black jeans. For a moment she was completely distracted. Even though the clothes he wore were undoubtedly casual, they were stamped with an irrefutably expensive air that conveyed to whoever glanced his way that for their owner money was no object.
‘You said you were going to work first! Anyway…I wanted to go for a walk, so I just had a quick cup of tea and a slice of toast. Sorry.’
‘You might have asked me if I was in agreement with such a decision. When I make an arrangement I am not accustomed to having it broken without so much as a message to let me know that things have changed.’
He sounded so serious and irate that for a moment Sophie wanted to laugh out of sheer embarrassment. Not many people could make her feel like one of the five-year-olds she taught at school.
‘And I am not accustomed to having to report my movements, or indeed ask for permission to go for a walk should I so desire!’ Her blue eyes flashed up at him with little sparks of fury in their cornflower depths.
‘I did not say that you needed to ask my permission. Where did you go?’ Dominic caught the male receptionist throwing them an inquisitive glance, and sliding his hand beneath Sophie’s elbow, deliberately moved her out of earshot, back to the alcove where his coffee and newspaper sat waiting.
Glancing resentfully back at him, Sophie shook her arm free of his hold and dug her hands deeply into the pockets of her coat.
‘I don’t knowexactly where I went! To tell you the truth I didn’t pay much attention to it. I just needed to get out and get some fresh air. Is that such a crime?’
‘Do you normally overreact to such a simple and innocent question?’ His calm voice—although tinged with irritation—made Sophie feel slightly stupid.
To tell the truth, she didn’tknow why she was reacting to him so badly. She only knew that she had no idea how to handle the passionate intimacy that had taken place between them. Even now, when there was obvious dissent between them, her breasts were tingling like crazy, wanting to have him touch them, to have him squeeze and pull and—
‘Sophie?’
Heat suffused her in a gushing torrent, and she had to wrench her glance away before he read the pure naked need that she knew must be reflected in her eyes.
‘I’m feeling a little on edge. I’m sorry.’
‘Why don’t you take off your coat and sit down? I’ll order us some more coffee.’
Not answering, Sophie did as he suggested, leaning back into the soft velour chairback, the idea of coffee suddenly sounding like the best idea in the world. Her bloodstream needed a shot of something, that was for sure!
When Dominic returned to the alcove after speaking to the receptionist, arranging his fit, muscular body in the chair opposite with relaxed ease, Sophie was finally forced to face him. To be honest, she was surprised that he seemed to want to linger. On the way back from her walk she’d convinced herself that he would be more or less ready to leave and anxious to return to London when she got back. He was a busy man, in much demand, and clearly his time was at a premium. Or so Sophie believed.
‘Perhaps you would like to tell me why you are so on edge?’ he suggested calmly,
‘I really don’t have any experience of this kind of thing, if you want to know the truth. It’s not something that I do very often,’ Sophie responded, her voice soft. ‘Well…I mean when I say not very often I mean—what I mean is…never,really.’
‘You mean making love with a man you have only just met?’
Licking her lips, Sophie nodded.
‘I am glad to hear it.’
There was definitely a proprietorial air in his tone, and Sophie’s head snapped up in surprise. As Dominic studied her, trying vainly to tamp down the desire that was quietly but indisputably rising like sap in his veins, he experienced a sharp sting of jealousy at the mere idea of her sleeping with anybody else but him. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him, and for a long moment he simply let the thought sit and gather quiet purpose, running with it as he characteristically did when the excitement of a new challenge beckoned.
‘But you have had boyfriends, yes?’
‘Yes but I didn’t—that doesn’t mean that I—’
‘Are you telling me that you need commitment before you sleep with a man, Sophie?’
That wasn’t what she was telling him at all! Sophie thought, a little desperately. This was the very thing she had wanted to avoid! Dominic believing that she felt the right to make some kind of claim on him now, because they had slept together. She might not be afemme fatale by anybody’s standards, but she wasn’t completely naïve.
‘I’m not telling you that at all. Can we change the subject?’
‘You are uncomfortable talking about intimacy?’
Dominic couldn’t believe she was actually blushing after what they had done last night! The observation made him warm to her even more…not to mention made him hungry to have her back in bed with him. Already in his mind he was rapidly going over his schedule for the week, trying to work out when and how soon he could steal a couple of hours away from matters of business to be with her.
‘I think—Oh, coffee…great!’ Saved by the sudde
n appearance of a slim young waiter arriving with their coffee, Sophie busied herself placing cups on saucers and arranging the sugar bowl and cream on the table in front of them. She sensed that Dominic’s gaze very rarely left her, even to thank the waiter for the coffee, and tiny prickles of intense awareness skimmed up and down her spine in quick succession. ‘Shall I pour?’
‘Sophie?’
The glance he gave her was both insistent and commanding, and Sophie stopped fussing with the coffeepot and put it down again on the tray. When she returned his glance her eyes were very blue and very wide.
‘What?’
‘I am getting the impression that you believe that after today I will not want to see you again. Is that right?’
It was not only right but so spot-on to what she’d actually been thinking, at that precise moment, that Sophie had to shake off the uncanny feeling of someone walking over her grave.