“Allow me.”
A hint of a smile played along his arrogant mouth as he tugged gently at the knot holding her halter top up. She could swear she saw a dimple as the knot finally gave way and the front of her dress cascaded down over her bare breasts.
“Wow.”
She couldn’t help laughing at the way his eyes raked hungrily over her bare skin. Apparently the “courtly gentleman” act was over. “You look like a kid in a candy store.”
“I feel like one. Can I have a lick?”
“Help yourself.”
She shivered slightly with pure anticipation as his greedy mouth approached her breast.
She pushed her fingers into his thick, black hair. The expression on his face was so serious—reverent, even—that she tried not to laugh as desire bubbled up inside her.
Her nipples tightened as he laid a soft but sure kiss on each one. His tongue followed, then he drew each nipple into his mouth and sucked until the tips were pink. Bella’s breath came in unsteady gasps.
“Better than a Juicy Drop Pop.” His voice was husky.
“And doesn’t rot your teeth.”
He grinned, showing those wicked-looking white teeth. “Yeah, but sometimes eating candy on an empty stomach can make you even more hungry.”
He tugged at the tie around the waist of her dress. The knot loosened and slid undone. Heat pooled in her belly as he tugged her dress down over her legs.
She’d worn silky gold bikini underwear, an impulse buy in the Hardcastle lingerie department after Risa gave her the dress.
“It matches.” Dominic appeared to be transfixed by her skimpy undergarment.
“I do my best.” The area under her bikini was in danger of overheating under his intense gaze.
“Shame I’ll have to take it off.” He looked up, his eyes black and smoky. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
The arrogant tilt to his mouth dared her to object.
“Be my guest.” She lifted her hips as he shimmied the gold fabric down over her thighs.
Her arousal was evident in the moisture already gathering between her thighs. Dominic slid her panties down past her ankles, leaving her completely naked on the vast, round bed. She felt like an odalisque in a nineteenth century harem painting.
“One of us has way too many clothes on.” Her voice sounded disembodied, maybe because she was mesmerized by the way his black T-shirt draped over the thick muscles of his chest. “I think we need to rectify the imbalance.”
“That certainly sounds like a good scientific approach.”
Dominic hauled his T-shirt over his head in one swift motion. Bella’s breath caught at the sight of his hard, flat belly, dusted with black hair. The angled overhead light picked out the roping, tanned muscles of his chest and arms.
His big fingers deftly undid his belt buckle and the button on his pants. Bella was too entranced to even think about moving. As he lowered his black slacks she realized she was holding her breath.
Not a good idea. She was already in danger of passing out.
He pushed his black cotton boxers down at the same time, revealing that he was every bit as aroused as she was.
“Wow.” She propped herself up on her elbows to get a better look. If she didn’t already know he fit inside her as if they’d been custom-made for each other, she’d be worried.
“Are you sure you don’t want a microscope to see more detail?” He was laughing at her.
“Was I staring?”
“That’s one word for it. Lucky thing I’m not self-conscious.” The bed shifted as he settled his solid weight on it.
Fire licked at her muscles as he moved closer. She’d never seen him without clothes on before. At least not when she was in her right mind. “I don’t think a microscope would be much use,” she managed. ‘They’re usually for looking at stuff that’s really small.”
“People have called me a lot of things, but ‘small’ isn’t one of them.” Dominic grinned.
His fingers brushed the length of her thighs, and rose to settle in the crook of her waist. His thumb skimmed her belly, causing a whirlpool of sensation inside her.
With both hands he lifted her and slid her to the middle of the bed, then he climbed over her and lowered his face between her legs.
She couldn’t suppress a whimper of delight as his tongue swept over ultra-sensitive, swollen tissues that had been aching for his touch. He sucked gently, until her whole body shivered. His low moan reverberated against her quivering flesh and she realized her hands were fisted in his hair again.
Lucky thing he didn’t have a sensitive scalp. She pried them out, which took considerable effort, since what he was doing with his mouth made her body spasm and jump in an alarming way.
“You have good reflexes,” he murmured. “Either that or you’re really, really homy.”
“Or both,” she rasped.
“We’d better do something about that.”
“Not yet.” She wanted to prolong the wicked torment of being aroused almost to the brink of madness. And she wanted to bring him there too. “Lie on your back.”
His eyebrow raised and a smile crept across his mouth. He climbed off her and extended his long, muscled body along the mattress. His broad shoulders settled into the soft covers and he stared at her, his eyes dark slits of passion. “Your wish is my command.”
“Good.” She couldn’t hide the smile that spread across her face at the sight of him laid out before her, bronzed perfection against the soft, white cotton of the bedspread.
First she kissed his torso, taking her time, inhaling the rich, musky scent of his skin, enjoying the line of rough, dark hair along the centerline of his hard belly.
His erection pulsed as she drew near, and she could feel his anticipation in the beat of his blood. Slowly she lowered her mouth to the tip, and licked it. A bead of clear liquid whetted her appetite, and she took him into her mouth.
Dominic ground his hips into the mattress as she sucked hard. Her breasts brushed the skin of his broad thighs and her own breath came in ragged gasps.
A low groan made her glance up and she could see his hands fisted in the luxurious bedspread. An expression of pained ecstasy tightened his handsome features.
She rose and climbed over him. He pulled her up, then tipped them both onto their sides, facing each other. He looked into her eyes, his gaze sure and steady. “I want to make love to you, Bella.”
Her lips parted, but her brain was frozen. This was all so thoughtful. So careful. So planned.
I want to make love to you.
Her heart squeezed. His words cut far deeper than he intended. She wanted to make love to him. Not just sex, but something deeper and more powerful.
He leaned into her, grazed her cheek with his thumb. “Do you think we should?”
He wasn’t going to let her just fall into his arms. To take what he offered, then blame him later.
If she said “yes” there was no turning back. No regrets, no shame, no recrimination later when the fog of lust had lifted.
“I do.”
She flushed at the embarrassingly bridal sound of her affirmation, but Dominic didn’t see it because his eyes had already closed, his thick black lashes brushing his cheeks, then hers, as he claimed her mouth in a rough kiss.
There was nothing rushed, desperate or reckless about their lovemaking. It was slow, deliberate, and breathtakingly sensual.
They made love.
Bella felt so safe in Dominic’s warm, firm embrace, so cherished by the gentle caresses of his strong hands. She could feel his emotion in his caresses, in the catch of his breath, in the way he said her name as he climaxed, and then again, afterwards as they lay in each other’s arms.
“We’re going to get everything sorted out.” His breath was hot on her ear. “You and Tarrant, me and Tarrant, and you and me.”
You and me.
His pledge echoed in every chamber of her own heart.
Did she dare believe
he was right?
His voice reverberated with conviction. With hope. She allowed that hope to bloom in her chest and grow into a vision of the future that was so beautiful as to be downright frightening.
This man had already wrought changes in her life that rivaled the nanotechnology breakthroughs in her lab. Shifts in the way she perceived things, transformations in underlying structure, new possibilities that she would never have previously imagined.
Dominic was falling in love with her. She could sense it in his touch, hear it in his voice, feel it reflected in the strange, new and astonishing feelings she now felt for him.
But he had developed feelings for his long-lost father. He loved Tarrant Hardcastle too.
And if he was forced to choose between them, this night of tender passion could be their last.
Chapter Twenty
Dominic stepped off the elevator in the corporate offices to find Tarrant standing in the area between the bank of elevators and the reception desk, holding a folded newspaper.
“What the hell is this?” Tarrant lifted the paper. “I knew I should have crushed her like a bug when I had the chance.”
“Tarrant,” Samantha clung to his arm. “Don’t overexcite yourself. You know how the media can be.”
“What’s going on?” Dominic held out his hand and Tarrant gave him the paper.
The headline smacked him in the face—Hardcastle Hijinks: Heir in Secret Affair
Dominic squinted then read it again.
This was not good.
“Your girlfriend is what’s going on,” roared Tarrant. “She put a story in the paper about how I screwed her poor genius father out of his life’s work. It goes on to add that she’s blackmailing my newfound heir to keep her secret, seducing him with sex while she develops her scheme to sue the company.” Dominic scanned the front page article.
Damn. He wasn’t exaggerating.
‘“Flamboyant egomaniac?”’ Tarrant slapped at the paper with his fingers. “That’s defamation of character. They’re damn right someone’s going to be getting sued around here.”
Dominic reread the final paragraph.
Tarrant Hardcastle’s empire has long been the flagship for luxury retail. Known for his ruthless treatment of competitors and friends alike, the thrice-married ladies’ man is famous for a heart as flinty as the Manhattan bedrock. Now terminally ill, the flamboyant egomaniac has laid his empire open to siege by placing his trust in an illegitimate son he once rejected. So anxious is he for dashing retail maverick Dominic Di Bari to take his place at the helm, that he can overlook anything, even dirty dealings beneath his nose that strike at the heart of the Hardcastle empire.
“How did they get this information?” Dominic glanced up.
Tarrant’s aqua eyes glinted with fury. “You’re asking me? You know how. From that Mata Hari in white polyester you convinced me to keep on even after you found out she wanted to sue me.”
“No.” Dominic looked back at the paper. “Bella would never do this.”
“You’re blind. Of course she did. Who else would know enough?”
Dominic glanced at Samantha, who shrugged, her shoulders tense.
“Mr. Hardcastle,” the receptionist behind them spoke up. “You wanted to know when Miss Andrews arrived. Sylvester said she’s just entered the building.”
“Wait until I get my hands on that little—”
“Tarrant!” Sam plucked at his sleeve.
“Let me talk to her,” said Dominic. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll see what she knows about this. She won’t lie to me.”
‘That’s what you think,” muttered Tarrant.
“Let him try,” pleaded Sam. She turned to Dominic. “We’ll go into your father’s office. Bring her there when you’re ready.”
Dominic took the elevator down to the lab. He got there first and was standing outside her elevator when the doors opened. He couldn’t help a rush of excitement at the thought of seeing Bella, even in the current crisis;
As expected, she was a breathtaking vision. He tried not to be distracted by the fitted black dress she wore with a demure strand of pearls. “Have you seen this?”
Her smile of greeting faded. “What?”
She took the offered newspaper and read the headline. “Oh my God.” Her eyes were wide when she glanced up. “I guess someone saw us at the party?”
“It’s someone with a little more inside knowledge, I’m afraid.” He took the paper back and read aloud. “‘Bella Soros, daughter of Lanark Award-winning physicist Bela Soros, has taken a secret identity and insinuated herself into a position at Hardcastle Enterprises in a quest for vengeance against the man she blames for stealing and destroying her father’s legacy.’” He kept his voice calm.
Bella’s hand was clapped to her mouth. Her unpainted fingernails turned pink from the pressure. “Who told them?” she breathed.
‘Tarrant thinks you did.”
“Never! Why on earth would I?” Her forehead crumpled into a frown.
“To galvanize public opinion in preparation for your lawsuit. The article is unflattering to Tarrant, so you come out looking like a hero. And it gets worse.” He read on. “Tarrant’s newfound son and potential heir, Dominic Di Bari, has been seen getting up close and personal with the lovely Miss Soros.’”
He avoided the picture of them in a sensual liplock, his hand buried in the folds of her gold dress. He glanced up in time to catch Bella’s blush. “‘Rumor has it that Di Bari discovered Soros’s underhanded dealings and has risked scandal to pursue a little sensual blackmail.’”
His voice growled a bit on the last line, injecting an uncomfortable air of truthfulness.
Bella snatched the paper and scanned it. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her black dress—conservative with its high neck and knee-length hem; devastatingly erotic in the way it molded to her stunning body.
“I had nothing to do with this.”
“That’s what I tried to tell Tarrant, but I think he needs to hear it from your lips.”
Those rose-colored lips pressed together, her cupid’s bow making two sharp points. He wanted to kiss them, and cursed himself for his total lack of perspective. Maybe he was foolish enough to believe anything that came out of that breathtakingly sensual mouth, regardless of whether it was true. “Do you promise me you had nothing to do with this?”
“I promise,” she gasped. “I can’t believe you think I would—” Her eyes flashed as she stared at him. “I could never do something like this.”
Her raw indignation speared his gut and strengthened his already powerful feelings for her. “That’s what I told Tarrant. Come. We’ll go see him.”
She froze. He could tell she’d rather jump off Niagara Falls than go up to the corporate offices right now. “What will he do?” Her voice shook.
“Nothing. You haven’t done anything wrong. You’ve performed your job more than adequately, and when you tell him you don’t plan to pursue any action against him, he’ll have to forget the whole thing.” He narrowed his eyes. “Since you no longer plan to sue.”
“I just want to leave in peace.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” She didn’t get a chance to respond as he tugged her into the still-open elevator and hit the button for the corporate offices. He could almost hear her pulse pounding beneath her strand of pearls.
“Who do you think is behind this?” Her eyes searched his face.
“Someone who wants to stir up trouble. Which, knowing Tarrant Hardcastle, could be any one of a thousand people he’s ticked off over the years.”
The door opened. Bella hesitated and he half pushed her out into the foyer of the corporate offices, then grabbed her elbow to balance her when he realized she was wearing dangerously high heels. Why on earth did women dress like this?
She turned to frown at him and caught him admiring the bare, tanned skin of her toned calves. She raised an eyebrow. “Hello?”
“What?” he scowled back. “You d
ress to impress and now you’re pissed when I am?”
The hint of a smile flickered across her mouth. Then it vanished. “I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be.” He guided her past the receptionist and down the corridor.
Dominic strode with such confidence that Bella had to keep convincing herself this was a make-or-break situation. Tarrant Hardcastle could break her—literally—with a suit designed to bankrupt her whole family and possibly even put her behind bars.
She gulped as Dominic rapped on the tall mahogany door of Tarrant’s office.
“Come in,” he barked.
Dominic ushered her in first. Bella tried to plaster a confident expression on her face, but she wobbled in her heels when Tarrant blasted her with that famous aqua gaze that had intimidated far tougher opponents.
“I had nothing to do with the article,” she stammered, saying anything that came to mind to fill the tense silence throbbing in the large, bright corner office.
Tarrant rounded his desk and stalked toward her across the gray carpet. “It is true, though, isn’t it?”
“Um,” she hesitated, terrified of saying the wrong thing and souring Dominic’s relationship with his father.
“Sure, it’s true,” Dominic cut in. “But she’s done planning to sue.”
“Well, I can’t live with a traitor under my roof. I’ve tried, and it’s not working out. Miss Soros will be escorted from the building as soon as this meeting is over.”
Movement in the corner caught Bella’s eye. For the first time she noticed Samantha, standing in a corner, her face taut with worry. Samantha’s eyes were fixed on Dominic.
Who didn’t budge. “If Bella goes, I go with her.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Tarrant walked up to Dominic and clapped a hand on his arm. “You’ll forget her in no time. The world is full of beautiful women. I’m only sad I didn’t get to know more of them.”
Dominic scowled, and Tarrant obviously realized he’d said the wrong thing. “But then, as I’ve said before, I can see that you’re different from me, and that’s one of the many things I admire about you.”
“Bella is a fine scientist and an asset to the company. Her actions were driven by loyalty to her family, and if you have an ounce of compassion you’ll be sympathetic and look to the future, not the past.”
Volatile Chemistry (Billionaires' Secrets Book 1) Page 15