by KD Jones
He finished getting dressed. He meant what he had said to Nigel: he would do anything and everything he could to make Sam want to stay. He smiled at all the delicious ways he planned to convince her.
*****
“Dish!” Amelia demanded.
Sam glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Dom couldn’t hear her out on the balcony. “Amelia, he’s so amazing.”
“That good in bed, huh?”
“It’s more than that, Amelia. It’s the way he looks at me. It makes me fell like I’m the only woman in the universe for him. He holds me and I feel safer than I ever felt in my life.”
“But…”
“I’m terrified that we’re moving too fast, though.”
“Be honest with him. He just talked to Nigel. I couldn’t hear what they said but I gather that he’s serious about you.”
“I hope so, because I feel like I’m falling hard here, and I would hate to be the only one.”
“I know it’s scary to trust someone when you are starting a new relationship, but it so worth it. Nigel would die for me and I would for him. He’s the other half of my soul.”
God, she wanted that so much with Dom. “He’s not used to any kind of serious relationship other than friendship. What if it’s too much for him to handle?”
“If that happens, you slow it down a little. Trust him to tell you what he needs, just like you have to trust him enough to tell him what you need.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
Amelia snorted. “Hell no, it’s not easy, but it’s worth whatever you have to go through in order to be together.”
“Thanks, Amelia, I’ll call you later.” She hung up feeling excited and anxious about what the future might hold. The first thing she had to do, though, was get that money situation fixed for the GCFA. Then she could put all her energy in starting this relationship with Dom.
Chapter 9
One hour later
Sam and Dom had gone down to have breakfast at the hotel’s expensive restaurant. The waiter was a good-looking man in his early twenties. When he bent over her seat to point out the specials to her, Dom growled his displeasure. The young man scurried away to place their order.
“Was scaring him necessary?”
“He was too close to you.”
She shook her head at him. “He was not.”
“His fingers were on your chair so he could brush against your shoulder. I would have hurt him if he touched you.”
She blinked in surprise. “Are you serious? You would have beat him up if he simply touched me?”
He hesitated. “I don’t share what’s mine. Does that scare you?”
It should have, but it didn’t. She smiled at him and gave him a wink. “I think it’s sexy. Just an FYI, I don’t share what’s mine either. So if I see Lydia or any other woman rubbing themselves against you, I will rip out their hair and make sure they limp for a week.”
Dom chuckled. “You are one bloodthirsty woman.”
“You’re not the first person to tell me that,” she laughed.
They ate and talked. She told him all about growing up with her grandfather and he told her about living on the streets. She probably asked him about a thousand questions, but he answered each one patiently and without complaint.
When they were done Dom called for a hover taxi to take them to the bank. He reached for her hand and they gazed into each other’s eyes. It seemed like he wanted to say something to her, but he didn’t. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her softly. “Did I tell you how lovely you look this morning?”
Just like that, she was in love. It hit her hard and fast. Also, the realization that he could devastate her without a second thought scared her. That kind of hurt was nothing she was used to and she didn’t know if she would recover fully from it.
“Did I say something wrong?”
She must have been too silent or frowned. Sam smiled at him warmly. “Nothing’s wrong. You did tell me twice before we left. I like hearing you say it.”
“Good.”
The taxi stopped and Dom opened the door and offered his hand to help her get out. She had her computer in her tote, but she hoped that using it would only be a last resort. Hacking into a bank was a federal galactic violation. If she got caught prior to finding the money, she would be taken in by the IDJ, just like Davidson.
They entered the bank. Of course all the women turned to give Dom a smile, but to her surprise, some of the male bank agents looking from their desks to give her a look as well.
Dom growled, putting his hand possessively against her back. “Did I tell you how much I love that short skirt?”
She smiled secretly. “Do you?”
“I do. I’m just not sure I like all these other men seeing so much of your gorgeous legs.”
“Let them look. This is all for you.”
They walked over to the customer desk. Dom took the lead. “Excuse me, I need to speak with one of your bank managers.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but I’m with the Galactic Cage Fighter Association and we’re looking to find a new financial institution to do all our business with.”
The clerk spoke into a headset, then jumped up quickly. “Right this way, sir.”
She was simply amazed at the power Dom had by simply mentioning the GCFA. Dom motioned for her to sit and wait for him. She sat down in the waiting area.
Pulling out her handheld computer, she opened the hacking program she had started earlier. It still wouldn’t allow her in. She always left herself a backdoor to get in whenever she helped design the security for a bank, but they must have taken her recommendations to increase their security and made it so that no one off their servers had access. That meant she was going to have to use an internal bank computer.
She put her handheld computer away and looked around. She caught sight of one of the bank agents who had been checking her out. He was still looking, in fact. He quickly turned away and blushed at having been caught staring. That might work.
This was totally out of character for her, and before Dom, she wouldn’t have even attempted the flirty vixen approach. But being with Dom made her feel like a sexy, beautiful woman, and it brought out a different kind of confidence in her. She channeled that sexy woman now.
Sam stood up and allowed her skirt to ride up a little as she walked over to the man now attempting to hide behind his computer screen. She had on a white button-up blouse that was quite tight, so she quickly unbuttoned several of the top buttons for good measure. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she had on her glasses. Hope he likes sexy librarians.
Stopping at the edge of the man’s desk, she cleared her throat. “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could help me?”
The man looked up in surprise and knocked over something on his desk. “Y-yes, ma’am. What can I do for you?”
She leaned over, exposing more of her cleavage. “All the teller stations are busy and no one is at the customer service desk. I was trying to access my account from my handheld, but for some reason, it won’t work in here. I was wondering if I could use your computer to access it. It won’t take but a minute or two.”
The man jumped up before she had even finished. “Of course.” He pulled his chair out for her to take a seat.
“Thank you…”
“David...David Sony.”
She smiled wide at him. “David, could you get me glass of water? It was extremely hot outside.” She fanned herself and licked her lips.
The man almost tripped over himself in his haste to go get her something to drink. She didn’t have much time. She opened up the net link for the bank and typed in her backdoor code. Bingo!
Sam was in. She just needed to find where that money had gone. Just a little more...gotcha!
She glanced up to see David coming toward her with a cup in his hand. She quickly backed out of the system and cleared the history so that no one would see what she had done. She stood up
.
“All done. Thank you so much for letting me do that.”
“That was so fast. I have your water.”
She took the cup. “Thank you.”
“I get off work at five. Could I take you out for dinner?”
Oh my God, it was like the moment she had a boyfriend, other men wanted to date her. Not that Dom was her boyfriend. Was he?
“That’s sweet, but…”
“She’s taken.” Dom took the cup and drank the water in one gulp, his eyes on poor David the entire time, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and walking them out of the bank.
“That was kind of rude.”
“I leave you alone for ten minutes and I find some sweaty man worshipping you.”
She giggled. “He was very sweet and only a little sweaty.”
He growled. “Sweet?’
She shrugged. “Not really my type. How did it go with the manager?”
“They wouldn’t tell me anything about the transfer or any the owner of the account, stating that they have client confidentiality clauses that prohibit them from sharing that information.”
“Well, that’s true, they do. Fortunately, David, the sweaty guy, let me use his computer while he fetched me water. The owner of the account is Gerald Vargas.”
“Were you able to transfer the money or put a freeze on it?”
“No, the account has security set to require a signature by Vargas before making any changes.”
“You said his name is Gerald Vargas?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds familiar. I think he worked for Davidson. I’ll check in with Nigel when we get back to the hotel.” He waved their taxi back over from where it had been waiting for them.
Dom opened the door for her and waited for her to scoot in. He surprised her by lifting her into his lap after he got settled next to her.
“Dom?”
“That man is not yours. I am yours and you are mine.” He took her lips in a fierce kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to show him her enthusiastic assent. He pulled back and breathed deeply. She did the same.
“Yes, Dom, I’m yours and yours alone.”
Chapter 10
Dom didn’t know what had come over him. When he saw the man at the bank flirting with Sam, he had suddenly been filled with possessiveness. Everything inside of him called for him to claim her as his. And then she didn’t argue or fight with him when he told her that she was his and that he was hers! He couldn’t get enough of her. He wanted more.
He kept her on his lap and in his arms for the entire ride back to the hotel. Holding her calmed him. He found himself wishing the ride had lasted a little longer so that he could keep her in his arms. When they arrived at the hotel, they got out and walked up to their hotel room holding hands. He had never been a hand-holder before, but now he found he just needed to keep contact with her. They entered their suite and he reluctantly let her go, missing the contact immediately.
“I need to call Nigel.”
She nodded and walked in the room, putting her purse down. She went over to open the balcony doors. He wanted to go to her, but this call needed to be made first. He took out his cell phone and dialed his friend, who answered on the second ring. He put it on speaker phone.
“Do you have any news for me?” Nigel asked.
“We went to the bank today. The bank refused to tell me anything about the transfer and account owner, but Sam managed to get into their computer system and found out that the owner’s name is Gerald Vargas.”
“Vargas? Isn’t that the accountant that works for Davidson?”
“Yes, it is!” Amelia yelled out.
“I thought his name sounded familiar,” Dom admitted, feeling frustrated that he hadn’t remember him right away.
“Was Sam able to transfer the money?” Nigel asked.
“No, there’s some kind of failsafe requiring Vargas’s signature for any changes done on the account. I’ll make an attempt to locate Vargas. Should I call in the IDJ?”
“That won’t work,” Sam said from the balcony. “I wasn’t able to print out a copy of the date of transfer and without that we can’t show a direct line tracing the money from the GCFA to Vargas. We either need his physical signature or an electronic one to show access the account and transfer the money back or freeze it. If we call the IDJ right now, they would require us to get a legal order to obtain access to Vargas’s account.”
“That might tip him off and he could make a run for it,” Dom noted.
“Dom, you can’t let him do that,” Nigel said emphatically.
“I won’t. Let me make some calls and see if I can find the male. He must have a residence close by.”
“He might only have a vacationing spot and may not be there right now,” Sam said with concern.
“Let me know if you need me and I’ll come out,” Nigel offered.
“I will. Talk to you later.” Dom ended the call.
“So you’re going to be busy making calls and tracking Vargas down.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I had other plans for us, but they’ll have to wait.”
“Okay, I guess I could go down to the pool.”
“I’ll come down and join you as soon as I finish with my calls.”
She nodded as she went to her backpack and pulled out her bikini and lacy cover-up. She changed in the bathroom and came out wearing her cover-up, wondering what his reaction would be. He was already on the phone talking to someone, though, so she just bent to kiss him on the cheek and left.
*****
Dom watched her leave their hotel room and longed to call her back or leave with her. He listened to the operator on the phone as she told him that the number for Gerald Vargas was listed as private, as well as his address.
Fuck that! He checked the online phone listings, and called around to some people he knew on the planet. He lucked out with the last call he made, to a female friend he hadn’t seen in a few years.
“Dom, darling. How are you?”
“Tamara, I’m fine. How are you?”
“Much better now that I can hear your sexy voice again. It’s been ages.”
“It has.” Tamara Richter was one of the few friends besides Nigel that he had. They’d had a brief affair, but, like all of Dom’s previous relationships, it had fallen quickly into nothing more than friendship.
“I’m here on business and was wondering if you had heard of a man named Gerald Vargas.”
“Oh, I wish I didn’t know him. He came here a few years ago, vacationing, but now he says he’s retired. He’s such new money, and is really doing whatever he can to take advantage of the social elite here. He’s spending his money on expensive cars, houses, and fast women. He throws one lavish party after another. It’s a shame someone like that has the means but not the brains.”
“Could you give me his contact information?”
“I can do better than that, I can give you invitations to the party he’s throwing this evening.”
“Thank you, Tamara, I’ll owe you.”
“Nonsense. I would like to see you before you leave.”
He walked over to the open balcony doors and looked down at the pool. Sam was coming out of the water and looked like a gorgeous goddess in that way-too-tiny bikini. Her pale skin glowed with health. His hands itched to explore every inch of it silky smoothness.
“I would like to see you, too, you’re one of my oldest friends. I may bring someone with me.”
“You’ve finally met someone, then?” she asked with curiosity.
“I did.”
“Is it serious?”
Was it? For the first time, he answered with total honesty. “I’m in love with her.”
“Then I’ll look forward to meeting her! I’m happy that you found someone. It’s about time. You deserve happiness, Dom.”
“Thank you. We’ll be by your place around seven-thirty.”
“See you then.”
He hung
up the phone and went to his suitcases. He had packed swim trunks, hoping that they would get a chance to enjoy the beaches and pools the planet was famous for. Dom changed quickly and left to head down to the pool. He was going to take every opportunity he had to show Sam that she was his.
*****
Sam stretched out, loving the feeling of the sun warming her. She should have put on sunblock but had forgotten about it after not having to worry on the GCFA ship. She’d have to be careful and head back inside soon or she’d start to burn. She leaned over to grab a drink that one of the poolside bar staff had brought her and caught sight of Dom walking out.
He had on a pair of swim trunks and his body glistened in rich, reddish-brown tones. Dom was everything that a dominant, sexy man should be. He held himself with absolute confidence, his body was perfectly toned and muscled, and intelligence shone in those dark eyes of his. Her heart raced when their eyes locked. She couldn’t stop herself from licking her lips.
He stopped at the edge of her lounge chair held up a tube of sun block. “I thought you might need this. Your skin is delicate.”
She marveled that he had noticed such a small thing. “Thanks, I was about to go inside because I forgot it.” She sat up and took the tube from him, putting some sunblock in her palm and quickly smoothing it over her face, arms, stomach, and legs.
He sat down behind her. “Let me help you with your back.”
She handed him the tube and he put some on his hands, rubbing them together to warm it before applying to her back and shoulders.
“Oh, that feels lovely.”
“You have such soft skin.”
She was enjoying it so much but then he stopped and stood back up. He offered her his hand. “Come swim with me.”
She took his hand and let him help her get up. “What did you find out?”
“We’ll be going to a party tonight, one of Vargas’s parties.”
“Wow, you did good. How did you get an invitation?”
“An old friend of mine donated them.”
“That’s generous of them.”