Promises After Dark (After Dark Book 3)

by Sadie Matthews

  Then, I realise that he has lifted me up and I instinctively wrap my legs around him so that he can easily carry me to the low bed. He sinks slowly to his knees, our mouths still joined, and lowers me onto the bed. He pulls away from our kiss and lets me recline so that I’m lying on my back and he’s kneeling over me, gazing down at my body with darkly burning eyes. I reach up to run my fingertips over his chest, tracing the outline of his defined muscles, dragging a trail down to the curls of dark hair above his waistline. They lead down to where I know treasure awaits me. I stare into his eyes as my fingers meet to unbuckle his belt, and then undo the buttons on his trousers, aware of the heat radiating out from within. I can see the great bulge beneath the fabric but I’m careful not to touch it – not yet. I want to take all these delights slowly. This is not a night for games or for rushed pleasures, where we gallop breathlessly, eager for the end of the course. This is a night for slow, sensual lovemaking, just for us, for Dominic and Beth, whose bodies work so beautifully together.

  He stares back at me, panting lightly, as I push down his trousers to reveal his boxers beneath. Now I can see his gorgeous length, so strong and hard, full of desire for me. I reach inside the shorts and release it, so that it stands out proud and eager. Dominic lets out a low sigh as I touch it but I let it go at once, instead feasting my eyes on it. He’s so beautiful, and the sight makes me pulse between my legs, the throbbing tickle telling me that my sex is already yearning to feel that iron length pressing into its blood-hot, wet depths.

  But not yet . . . not yet.

  I want to give him pleasure first. I want to kiss and lick his erection, take it in my mouth and love it. He’s still kneeling before me, so I lift myself up and hold him by the hips so that I can run my tongue up his length, from the nest of his balls to the smooth head. He groans as my tongue glides over the tip of his penis, drawing a figure of eight around the tiny hole on the top before spiralling over it and pressing down. Then I’m lapping the sensitive skin, bathing it with my mouth, and then taking my lips, grazing teeth and darting tongue back down the hot taut skin to the base. I do this twice more, lingering as long as I can over each stage of the journey up and down his cock.

  I know he can barely stand it but it’s testing him in the most enjoyable manner. I can hear him breathing hard as he watches me suck him, anointing him with my mouth. His fingertips play in my hair and across my head, exerting tiny pressures when I touch a sensitive spot or move somewhere new. He groans a little when my teeth touch him, just softly enough to draw a gasp from him.

  ‘Oh God, Beth,’ he murmurs. ‘I can’t take much more. Holy hell, what you do to me . . .’

  I let go of his penis and lie slowly back down. He knows at once what to do, moving around and lying next to me so that his penis is close to my mouth and his face is at my sex, his tongue and teeth already nibbling at my thighs. I sigh with delight. I’m so hungry for him, my mouth for his cock and my clitoris for the touch of his tongue, and I want those things both at once. He knows and understands, and wants those things just as much as I do. His cock presses at my lips as he inhales my scent and darts his tongue to tickle and play at my entrance. He seems to relish licking the juices that rush to meet him, lapping slowly at my lips and running his tongue up the burningly sensitive bud at the top that’s longing for him to stroke the tip of his tongue over it. As I take as much of his length as I can in my mouth, sucking him hard, he buries his face in me, his tongue bringing me unbearably delicious sensations that are turning my limbs to liquid.

  As we work with our mouths to bring each other such delicious pleasure, I feel the excitement building, my sex throbbing under the little pulsing waves that ripple outwards every time his tongue presses down and tickles so unbearably on my clit. It wants to be stroked and petted, driven relentlessly and rhythmically to a climax, and as Dominic licks and laps, it begins to open out like a flower, delivering delectable sensations that grow in strength.

  But I don’t want to come yet. Not yet. We’ve only just begun.

  I pull away from Dominic’s erection and he understands at once. He turns his body to bring his face to mine. His lips are wet with my juices as he claims my mouth, pressing his tongue deep into me, delivering the taste of my sex that he’s been enjoying so thoroughly. I kiss him eagerly, aroused by the flavours of our lovemaking. Now neither of us can wait any longer, our bodies refuse to resist the imperative for them to join together. I couldn’t stop myself taking him in even if I wanted to delay a little longer and he is breathing hard with the need to be inside me. I feel it – the hot battering ram of his penis pressing against my entrance, the natural lubrication that’s flooding me easing his way as he takes it home.

  ‘Oh God,’ I cry out, opening to him as wide as I can to take that girth into me.

  ‘Do you want this?’ he asks. ‘Is this what you want?’

  ‘I want it.’

  ‘It’s yours, all of it . . . all of me . . . it’s all yours.’ He thrusts hard inside me. My back arches, my head tilts back. One hand grasps his bottom and squeezes hard, as if to press him further and deeper. I rake the other hand across his back, digging my nails into his skin with the force of the sensations he’s giving me, as though I need to urge him on to ever more powerful fucking.

  He’s only too happy to obey. My encouraging hands and my urgent mouth make him find a fierce rhythm, taking his cock far within me and back, returning again and again, each thrust charging the erotic force within to greater levels. I don’t know how long I can hold out before I have to surrender to this elemental need to come. I ride each piercing thrust, rocking myself against him so that I take the maximum pleasure from his body grinding into mine, and each time I climb a little higher, a little closer to my peak.

  ‘Oh Christ, Beth,’ he says. ‘Are you going to come now? Come for me, please, I want to see you––’

  His words trigger the shudder that means I’m going over the edge. I can’t fight it. It’s coming. And then I convulse, my body offering itself up to him in great, shaking waves. I can see nothing and I only know that I’m possessed by all-engulfing pleasure that judders to the end of every limb. I think I’m crying out, perhaps I’m shrieking, I have no idea, but when I return to a kind of awareness, I’m still moving under the last, luxurious waves of my orgasm. I realise that Dominic is not there yet, and I open myself to the second pleasure of being fucked hard in slippery, post-orgasmic openness. I could lie here all night, enjoying the delicious movements of his cock inside me, but I know it won’t be that long. He’s getting closer, his thrusting more rapid, my orgasm has powered an irresistible lust in him and he has to come himself. I feel his penis swelling inside me, his movements slow and grow stronger as he thrusts harder and harder to bring on the climax he needs so much. I open my eyes, willing him to taste the pleasure I’ve enjoyed, and watch as he stiffens, his back arches and his orgasm pours out in delicious jets.

  ‘Oh Beth,’ he groans as it comes.

  I hug him tight, revelling in the sweetness of his climax and the love I can hear in his voice.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  We wake at the same time, as wintery sunshine pours through the windows of the apartment. We’re lying in one another’s arms on the slippery satin sheets of his bed and we don’t speak for a while as we luxuriate in our closeness, my head pressed against Dominic’s solid chest, listening to the rhythmic thump of his heart. I think to myself idly that even though satin sheets are supposed to be so wonderful, I prefer crisp cotton every time. Cotton can be cool or warm, depending on what you want, and you never risk sliding off it onto the floor . . . While these thoughts spin lazily around my mind, Dominic is stroking my hair and occasionally rubbing my earlobe gently between his thumb and finger.

  ‘You need to tell me all about Andrei,’ he says at last. ‘I have to know how things are between the two of you.’

  I start to tell him everything that’s happened since I saw him in Paris; how Andrei appeared to have accepted
the situation with the painting and how he’d worked out a compromise agreement with the abbot.

  ‘Oh, that reminds me,’ I say, ‘I think your friend Brother Giovanni was there.’

  Dominic looks at me quizzically. ‘Really?’

  I nod. ‘I didn’t recognise him, of course, because it was dark when I met him, but I did recognise his voice. And he came up to me to ask after you.’

  Dominic’s face darkens a little. ‘Did he now?’ He frowns. ‘Brother Giovanni had a powerful influence over me while I was at the monastery. He seemed to sense my inner turmoil and he provided a willing and compassionate ear. He was so understanding, so eager to help me.’ He hugs me a little tighter and I thrill to the touch of his warm skin against mine. ‘It was Brother Giovanni who explained to me some of the tenets of his order, how the Dominicans believe that you can purify yourself with punishment.’

  I tilt my head so that I can stare into his eyes. ‘I guess that made a kind of sense for you,’ I say softly.

  He nods his head. ‘It seemed so incredibly relevant to me. I was still coming to terms with what happened to us, how I took you too far across the boundary of what you could stand when I took you to the dungeon. Punishment of others had brought me and them such pleasure – until I submitted you to a punishment you didn’t want. It made sense to me that punishing myself might purge me both of the guilt I felt, and of the desire to do it again. I’ve been the master for so long – dominating myself was going to be my biggest challenge. Brother Giovanni explained it, he helped me every step of the way. He taught me to use the knotted rope to scourge myself and for a while it helped, it really did. I thought I could beat my desires out of myself. Or, at least, my desire to hurt you.’

  ‘And did you?’ I whisper. ‘Beat it out of yourself?’

  He pauses for a while before he answers and I can see the struggle in those beautiful brown eyes. ‘No,’ he says at last. ‘Not entirely. But my attempt to taught me a lot of things. It taught me that I was going to have to lose my fear of love, and accept that love was going to dominate me. But also that it was stronger than my urges and if I had to, I could channel it into different routes.’

  ‘Rosa?’ I ask gently.

  He smiles at me. ‘Rosa is inspired, my love. She is the gentle, submissive soul I need sometimes. Chastising her gives me a deep thrill. Watching her shudder and climax under my ministrations is extraordinarily pleasing. But she only exists in the bedroom and I’ve learned that my alter ego doesn’t always need to be present. There are other ways to live and different ways to love.’

  I sigh happily and snuggle in tighter to his chest. So the dark thrills of my life with Dominic will go on – when he and I choose to enter our play world of erotic games. I’m so happy: within myself I have the capacity to surrender to pleasure, to take my body further along the road to submission and pleasure than I’d ever imagined. I know that we’re only at the start of the journey that will take us to many and varied delights, and that Dominic will be my stern, loving, protecting, disciplining guide. I shiver with the thrill of what awaits the master and his humble Rosa.

  And outside that world, there is Beth and Dominic – lovers who support and nurture one another in equal measure.

  If it weren’t for Andrei, everything would at last be perfect . . .

  The thought enters my mind, bringing with it a bitter feeling of fear and anger. ‘Dominic,’ I say, sitting up, ‘Andrei has said he wants to destroy you. He’s given you until the new year to accept his offer to return to him or he’ll crush you and your business. He even hinted at violence if you didn’t comply.’

  Dominic looks scornful. ‘He’s a thug. He won’t frighten me that way. If he thinks I’m going back to him, he must be unhinged. I’ll never work for Andrei – or anyone else, for that matter – ever again. I’m in charge now and that’s the way it’s going to stay.’

  I knew that would be his response. I can’t help admiring his utter conviction and his fearless attitude to his old boss, even though I’m scared for him. I know he won’t change his mind though, even for me.

  ‘But there’s something else,’ I say. ‘Last night he finally came clean about what he wants from me.’

  Dominic shifts and looks at me questioningly. ‘Yes?’

  ‘It’s . . .’ I hesitate. I hardly know how to say it and I can’t help being apprehensive about Dominic’s reaction. It’s not going to be good, I’m sure of that. ‘He told me in so many words that he wants me to be his life partner and have his children.’

  Dominic goes still. ‘What?’ he says in an icy voice. ‘Does he mean marriage?’

  ‘I think so,’ I say, wretched. ‘That’s what he implied. That I could share his life and create his family for him.’

  He laughs but it’s a cold, harsh sound without any joy in it. ‘Why the hell does he think you’re going to marry him?

  ‘He says it’s going to be the best thing for me, even if I don’t know it.’

  I see a look a little like fear spark in his eyes. ‘You don’t want to, do you?’

  ‘Of course I don’t!’ I declare. ‘I love you, you know that! Even if I didn’t, I don’t love Andrei and I never will. I could never marry him.’

  ‘So why does he think you will?’

  Sadness sweeps through me as I remember exactly what Andrei said. ‘He’s trying to blackmail me. He says he’ll destroy Mark if I don’t. He’ll argue that Mark authenticated the painting and use it to sue him, and he’ll make the sure the world knows about it.’

  Dominic frowns, thinking hard. Then he says, ‘That’s exactly the kind of scurrilous behaviour I’d expect from Dubrovski. But something doesn’t make sense about all this.’ He looks down at me. ‘You say the abbot was happy to take the picture back and return the money?’

  I nod. ‘He seemed perfectly fine about it.’

  ‘And there’s an end to it,’ mutters Dominic.

  ‘I thought it was odd that you and Anna were working in the same monastery as the painting was discovered,’ I say. ‘You must have been there a while, to get to know Brother Giovanni.’

  Dominic nods. ‘Yes. We used it as a base while we were working on the big deal. Andrei had a comms room set up and we stayed there on and off for quite a few weeks.’

  ‘And then he bought the Fra Angelico.’ I remember something else. ‘Did Brother Giovanni get on well with Anna? He asked after her too.’

  ‘Did he?’ Dominic thinks for a second. ‘I don’t remember him ever having anything to do with her. They all kept clear of Anna. Maybe they could sense something dangerous in her.’

  ‘Something infernal,’ I say with a smile. I try to imagine the effect that the beautiful, highly sexed Anna might have in a monastery. ‘He wanted to know when she’d be back. He seemed disappointed when I said that she wouldn’t.’

  There’s a pause while Dominic absorbs this, then he says slowly, ‘So Andrei intends to destroy Mark if you don’t do as he asks. I see. Clever of him. Most people’s weak spot is the people they love. And it’s all because of this picture.’

  I nod. ‘That’s right.’

  Dominic sits up abruptly. ‘Is your flight leaving tonight?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m coming back to London with you. I want to follow something up, something that might explain what Andrei’s game is. In fact, we’ll leave as soon as we’ve collected your things from Andrei.’

  ‘So I’m just going to leave him?’ I say, half excited and half afraid. ‘Despite his threats?’

  ‘What’s the alternative?’ asks Dominic, his dark eyes searching mine. ‘Can you go back to him and tell him that you’re prepared to marry him?’

  ‘No, of course not!’

  ‘There’s your answer. Of course you’re going to leave him.’

  ‘But you . . . and Mark . . .’

  ‘I can look after myself. In fact I’m looking forward to a final showdown with Dubrovski. He’s earned what’s coming to him. As for Mark – I don’t
think Andrei will play his trump card quite yet. Once he’s done that, you’ll have no reason to ever go back to him. And besides, something tells me that this is not as straightforward as it seems.’

  I sit up as well, my blood tingling with excitement. ‘So we’re going to go to Andrei’s for my things?’

  ‘Absolutely.’ Dominic takes my hand, slides it under the sheets and presses it against the erection that’s hard and hot against my leg. ‘Just as soon as we’ve taken care of this . . .’

  An hour later the grey sports car speeds us through the streets of Manhattan to the Victorian mansion that I left last night.

  The guard radios up to the apartment before he allows us in, and when he does, he says to me, ‘Just you to go inside, miss. The gentleman must wait outside.’

  Dominic nods. ‘Okay.’ But once we’ve driven into the courtyard he says, ‘Just let them try and stop me.’

  I put my hand on his leg. ‘Wait, think about it. I don’t want to see you men squaring up to each other over my suitcase. Let me go up. If I’m not back within ten minutes, come and find me.’

  He looks at me and then says reluctantly, ‘Okay. I see your point. But ten minutes only – then I’m coming up.’

  ‘All right.’

  I ride the lift up to Andrei’s floor and knock on the door of the apartment. Renata answers it, her face stony.

  ‘Hello, miss.’ She stands back to let me in. ‘I have your bags packed. They’re in here.’

  ‘Thank you, Renata.’ I step into the hall. There is my case waiting for me.

  ‘Is that everything?’

  ‘Yes. I don’t need anything else. I’ll be on my way.’ I step forward and grab the handle.

  ‘Beth.’ I hear the voice as Andrei steps out of the shadows and into the light of the hall. He looks awful, his face tired and drawn and his eyes dull. ‘Where have you been? I’ve been worried about you. Who was that strange woman you left with?’