All He Needs (All or Nothing) (20 page)

He offered drinks to Melanie and Matt first, then set the tray on a table by Kate’s chair. Lifting her up, he sat back down with her in his lap, handed her a glass, took
his, and raised it in a toast. “This is a drink Katherine and I had our first night in Hong Kong compliments of Po at the Ritz-Carlton. To good memories.” After they drank some of the martini, Dominic turned to Kate, kissed her cheek, and whispered, “The best memories, baby. Are you my girl?”

She nodded, too choked up to speak.

“You better be. You really look nice tonight,” he added softly. “I always have the most beautiful girl at the party.” Then put his mouth against her ear. “How’s the bra?”

“Uncomfortable.”

“I’ll take it off later and kiss my tits, one by one, for suffering on my behalf.” His voice dropped lower. “I suppose your nipples are all squished under that green lace. They’re going to need some consolation. I’ll suck on them until they’re happy again. And when your nipples are stiff and throbbing, I’ll spread your legs and put my hard dick inside you so slowly you’ll be begging me for more. But I won’t, I’ll make you wait until I give you permission to come. And if you’re very—”

“God, Dominic, don’t… please—your sister.” She dragged in a shaky breath as her body liquefied, melted, instantly keyed up into do-me mode.

“Sis can’t hear. Do you want me buried deep inside you? Just nod,” he softly teased.

“Jesus, stop,” she hissed, the fierce ache between her legs ratcheting up. “I mean it, Dominic! We’re not alone!”

“I can fix that, baby.”

“No! Jesus, no!” she hoarsely whispered, raw desire spiraling outward from her core, streaking up her spine.

“Can you feel me?” His breath was warm against her
ear, his swelling erection nudging her bottom. “You’d like to feel me inside you, wouldn’t you? Come on baby, say yes. There’s plenty of time.”

“Absolutely not!”

He grinned. “Now
that
they heard. God, I love when you blush. Do it for me again. They’re looking at us. Tell me how many times you’d like to come. Two, three? We might even have time for four.”

Her cheeks were aflame, her face glowing hot, her arousal visible for all to see. Jesus. She desperately tried to calm her breathing, glared at Dominic, struggled to keep from panting, and failed. “I… am… not doing this… at your… sister’s house.”

“Sure you are,” Dominic whispered, recognizing the tremulous quiver underlying her words. “You like to come, baby. Lucky I’m here. No thanks, Matt, I still have part of my drink,” he said calmly, answering his brother-in-law’s query. “No, Katherine’s good too. You like the flavor? I thought you would. Max was kind enough to get the recipe for me.” Dominic shifted his position slightly to allow more room for his erection and was gratified to hear Katherine stifle a gasp. “Ah—you’ve seen the view then.” He smiled at Matt. “I was trying to impress Katherine. You liked the view from the bar at the Ritz-Carlton, didn’t you baby?” he said, as if he were asking if she preferred one lump or two for her tea.

“Yes, very much.”

Awkwardly, her voice was no more than a whisper.

Dominic ignored the slightly stunned expressions on his sister’s and brother-in-law’s faces. Setting their glasses aside, he smoothly came to his feet with Kate in his arms,
and pleasantly said, “I’m going to let Katherine freshen up before the guests arrive. We’ll see you in five. Maybe ten,” he added over his shoulder as he walked away.

“Take your time,” Melanie called out cheerfully. “We still have twenty minutes before the guests arrive. And you certainly don’t have to be here to greet them.”

Matt grinned at his wife as Dominic walked away. “Why not just offer them our bedroom?”

“Nick’s probably going there without an invitation.”

“Jesus. Does the man have no boundaries?”

Melanie gave her husband one of those are-you-kidding-me looks.

“Okay, okay. But Nick actually seems to have feelings for Katherine. Unlike his usual arm candy who serve a purely sexual function. Definitely a first for him,” Matt said drily.

“And truly awesome.” Melanie’s glance was bright, gloating. “He can’t keep his hands off her. I’ve never seen Nick like that.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, honey. Nick’s the least likely guy to go off the deep end over a woman. He just doesn’t do that. Never has. You saw his marriage. They were fuck buddies, deep sea diving buddies, mountain climbing buddies. Need I go on?”

“I don’t care what you say. Something’s different this time. I’m a woman, I’m his sister. I can tell.”

“I just don’t want you to be disappointed when he walks away from her like he’s walked away from the other five hundred. Think about it—okay? That’s what he does. By the grace of God you came out of your screwed-up family in one piece. Dominic didn’t.”

K
ate slammed her fist into Dominic’s chest. “Damn it, I am not doing this! Do you hear me! God only knows who might see us.”

He didn’t break stride. “Relax. I’m not going to fuck you in the hallway.”

She snorted. “Oh, good, then there’s no problem.”

“Exactly,” he said, ignoring her sarcasm.

“Goddamn it, Dominic. You can’t just get up when we’re having drinks with your sister and her husband and carry me away for a fuck.”

“Baby, they don’t care.”

“I do!” she said, punching him with all her might. “I
fucking
do!”

She practically broke her hand and he didn’t even flinch.

“Keep it down,” he said, his voice as smooth as his stride, “or we’ll have a pack of kids on us. And that
will
be a problem.”

“So let me get this straight.” Suppressed fury in her voice, her eyes, in the hot edge to her voice. “I have nothing to say about this? What I want or don’t want doesn’t matter?”

He shot her a quick, mild-as-hell look. “Jesus, don’t give me that shit. You’re wet and horny and you know it. This won’t take long. We’ll both come, you probably a few more
times than me, then we’ll go back and greet all the guests who I don’t give a rat’s ass about, you don’t know, and neither of us wants to talk to. At least we’ll both be in a fucking good mood. Think of it that way.”

“Put it in such romantic terms, who wouldn’t be delighted to join you in this escapade?”

He tried to repress his grin. “
Escapade?
Should I be wearing tights and a sword?”

“Asshole.”

“Come on, baby, don’t give me shit about whether this is romantic or not. If you had a choice between a Hallmark card and an orgasm, I know which one you’d chose.”

She released a gusty sigh. “I’m not arguing the merits of coming, I’m arguing the venue.”

“And I’m telling you the venue is fine.” He stopped in front of a door, glanced up and down the hall, then leaned down, turned the knob, and kicked open the door.

Kate’s eyes widened in shock at the photos of Dominic’s nieces and nephews lining the walls. “Stop or I’ll scream! I swear I will!”

Kate’s muffled shriek ringing in his ears, Dominic came to an abrupt halt a foot into his sister’s bedroom. “It’s private,” he said casually. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

She gave him a cold-eyed stare. “What I want is to be back in the kitchen drinking my drink.”

“Bull.”

“Well, I’m not doing it here, that’s for sure.”

At least the doing it part was no longer at issue.
Softly exhaling, he swiveled around, surveyed the direction from which they’d come, then turned left and walked down
another corridor. After passing two closed doors, he stopped, scanned left and right, then pressed the levered handle with his knee, pushed the door open with his foot, and stepped inside a green marble bathroom. Setting Kate down, he locked the door, turned back to her, and smiled. “Private enough?”

He watched her survey the large, luxurious room: marble walls and floor, decorative fixtures in crystal, a tub large enough for a family, a glass shower stall that overlooked a private courtyard, the whitest towels and rugs she’d ever seen.

She swung back to him, her lips pursed. “Whose bathroom is this? It’s too far away to be your sister’s, it’s too palatial to be the children’s.”

The pause was less than a blink in time. “It’s just an extra.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

It was vaguely irritating—her peculiar way of looking at him sideways. Although it was obscenely sexy too, as if she were offering something besides her opinionated judgment. “It’s Mrs. B’s.”

She groaned. “You should have lied.”

“Christ,” he said, “give me a hint if that’s what you want. I’m trying to be a fucking Boy Scout so you don’t get pissed.”

She smiled up at him, looking triumphant. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be doing any more ass-kissing.”

He grinned back. “Sometimes ass-kissing is useful.”

“Manipulative bastard.”

“Whatever it takes, baby. You keep changing; the game
plan keeps changing.” But he liked when she smiled like that—all dew-fresh sweetness so natural it should have a sell-by date on it. “I’m open to suggestions. We have twenty minutes. More if you want. There isn’t one single party guest who interests me. The only person I want to see is right here,” he said quietly, reaching out, curling his fingers around her shoulders, pulling her into his body. Bending his head, he touched her lips with his in a barely there sensation.

A young boy’s kiss, she thought, her romantic sensibilities not entirely abandoned. Then he colored her romantic vision in pastel shades of perfect when he whispered, “You’re the only person I ever want to see—in the morning, at night, and all the hours between.”

“Good,” she whispered back, because if she said any more, if she said what she really felt, his expression would turn blank, he’d shut down, and her vacation would be over.

Good?
He bares his soul and he gets,
Good?
It struck him suddenly that her reasons for leaving him in Hong Kong could still be an issue, that his screwing around in the past had come back to bite him. God knows she wasn’t like other women who would have swooned at his feet if he’d said as much to them. But he wanted what he wanted; he always had. So he raised his head and said with unprecedented sincerity, “I can make it better than good, Katherine. I can make it anything you want.”

She smiled, understanding she was gambling with her life just being there, understanding as well the quiet power of her addiction. “I know. You’re my Svengali. You can do anything.”

That was better. He didn’t realize how much it mattered
that she smiled like that—like she had on the
Glory Girl. Maybe the time had come to retract his cardinal rule against emotional entanglement; admit his obsession with Katherine might be more than a temporary affair. He took a small steadying breath before he relinquished everything that made him feel comfortable, and he couldn’t quite disguise the reluctance in his voice. “My doing anything includes waking up with you, seeing you at breakfast, knowing you’re beside me during the day, holding you close at night.” His voice dropped to a hush. “Come live with me, work for me if you like. Or, better yet, just be with me, don’t work, make me happy.”

She wanted to stop this moment in time. His reluctance aside, Dominic had offered her paradise. An unthinkable paradise, unfortunately, for mere mortals who didn’t live in Dominic’s rarified world. For people who couldn’t just reach out and take whatever they wanted. For people like her. “Could we leave the big decisions for later and just make each other happy now?” she asked with forced calm.

He half smiled. “This bathroom’s not romantic enough for you?”

“I’m just kinda shaky right now—that’s a big agenda.”
And a huge gamble for someone who wasn’t a complete risk taker.
She wasn’t a master of the universe who had the world at her feet. She had wanted this more than anything, but the fact that Dominic had left more women behind than she could count was a scary reality. “Could we talk about it later?” Intent on ending a conversation that was likely to end in heartbreak for her, she slid her hand to his zipper and began opening his fly.

Sex was their unambiguous connection, safe from scruple or doubt.

Dominic almost insisted on a better answer because he
was
a master of the universe, who fought for what he wanted. But before he could take issue with her response, his voice of reason whispered:
She just saved you from yourself, dude.
Then any further thoughts were eradicated from his mind when Kate pressed her warm palm against the gap in his unzipped jeans and his erection spiked. Automatically moving his hands down Kate’s back, he grasped the hem of her blouse and lifted.

“No!” She shoved at his arms, panic banishing the tumult in her brain. “We don’t have time for that.”

He flicked a glance at her hands on his upper arms. “Let go.”

Her fingers instantly slid away as though programmed to obey his gruff tone. Then a heartbeat later, her rebellious instincts kicked in. “If this is Mrs. B’s bathroom, I don’t want to make a mess. Let’s do something simple, minimum undressing, nothing to clean up. Although,” she added with a small smile, “there might be an upside if I get to watch you cleaning the bathroom.” Her smile widened. “That would be priceless.”

“Or you on your hands and knees cleaning while I fuck you,” he said, drawing her hands to his chest, looking down at her with amusement. “Now that’s what I call priceless. And don’t worry about Mrs. B. She’s not a problem.”

Kate gave him a sharp look. “Don’t you dare say because you do this all the time in here.”

“Okay.”

“That’s not the answer I want.”

A lift of his brows. “Is this a lie or no lie situation? Give me a clue.”

She scowled, tried to pull away. “Fucker.”

“I just met you six weeks ago, baby,” he said with inexhaustible patience and a steely grip. “I can’t change the past.”

“In sharp contrast, I don’t have a past,” she said huffily.

“One of your many charms,” he said calmly, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “All that sexy innocence. It makes me crazy. I should lock you away. Or shackle you to my bed.”

She shot him a look of pure incredulity. “That is so fucked up.”

“Too unromantic?” he said with a straight face.

An eye roll, a delicate hiss to her voice when she spoke. “I’ve got news for you, Kemosabe. Check your calendar. We’ve moved past the dawn of time.”

“I have a news flash for you,” he said with the authority conferred by zero obligations and unlimited wealth. “I can do either one of those things. No problem.”

Her eyes suddenly lit up with temper. “I’d fight you.”

He smiled. “Even better.”

“Jesus, you’re a disrespectful shit.” Each word was a hard, pugnacious zap.

He glanced down at the prominent bulge in his unzipped jeans. “Take it out,” he said smoothly, “and we can discuss my being a disrespectful shit and your liking it. Come on.” His voice was soft as he dropped her hands and unclasped the metal button on his waistband. Opening his fly wider, he shoved his boxers out of the way. “Slow and easy now. Watch the zipper.”

She didn’t move.

He softly exhaled, ignored her filthy look. “I have all night, hell—a week if you want. You’re the one concerned about my sister. Should I turn on the TV while you’re trying to make up your mind if you want to fuck or not?” he asked mildly, as if he didn’t have a mammoth hard-on, as if he could control his dick like he controlled everything else in his world. “There’s an NBA game I wouldn’t mind watching.” He reached for the remote on the two-sink vanity.

The bathroom was as big as her living room; even the TV was pretty huge for a bathroom—and placed conveniently on the wall at the foot of the marble tub. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder as he flicked on the TV and clicked on ESPN.

“Goddamn it,” she spat. “Do you ever give an inch?”

He shifted his gaze from the TV to her. “You have no idea,” he said drily. “We’re not talking inches, we’re talking miles, fucking continents. So stop breaking my balls.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

It was part grumble, part annoyance. It was also sweeter than hell because underneath he was saying he couldn’t stay away. “I’m done breaking your balls.” Her smile was filled with possibility. “I apologize for any inconvenience.”

He laughed. “Thanks. I feel better now about you totally fucking up my life.”

“Maybe I could make it up to you.”

He hadn’t heard that pure, clear willingness before, the unquestioning consent and permission. He didn’t even
think twice. He went for it. “Maybe you could take a look at my whips.”

Her gaze came up swift and hot. “That doesn’t do anything for me.”

After a lifetime of docile women, he didn’t actually mind her intransigence. He liked the challenge. But then he was on the distant shore of fucked up. “Let me file that away,” he sardonically murmured, “for future reference. Right now, I’m waiting. He’s waiting. Move.”

“Watch it,” she snapped. “Or your dick might suffer.”

“You watch it. Or I might carry you out naked past all the gawking guests and screw you at home.”

Her eyes were huge. “You wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t take the gamble if I were you.” His gaze flicked downward, then up, his brows faintly raised.

Her cheeks flushed, her mouth firmed, but she slid her hand down his stomach, curled her fingers around his erection, and carefully worked it up past his zipper.

“There’s a good girl,” he said pleasantly, as if he hadn’t baldly coerced her. “Get on your knees, give him a little taste of your mouth, and then we’ll decide how we’re going to fuck. Your way or mine.”

She shot him a poisonous look.

“If only looks could kill, Katherine,” he drawled, his smile wicked. “I suggest you do what you’re told, or a helluva lot of people will be seeing your amazingly fuckable body.”

She lowered herself to her knees under his smug gaze, took his pulsing dick in her hands, and pulled it away from his body. His erection was hard as nails, she could feel the
torque in her wrists as she hauled him downward to her mouth and licked a path up the velvety flesh.

He groaned softly, gripped her shoulders. “Slowly now,” he murmured. “It’s not a race.”

She instinctively complied to his soft command, as though her senses were trained to respond, as though her body understood the rewards for compliance. Her nipples instantly peaked, her sex turned liquid, sybaritic anticipation coiled deep inside—ignoring all her unresolved resentments.

But his threat was real and whether she loved or hated his authority—either she did what he wanted or he’d carry her naked past all the guests.

She didn’t, for a second, question his audacity.

Straightening her spine, she stretched to fully accommodate him with her mouth. Then, dipping her head, she readjusted her grip on his rigid dick, sliding her fingers upward slightly to guide his swollen crest to her mouth. Her jaw strained as she opened wide to ease what she could of the huge erection past her lips, her sex fluttering, warmth spreading between her legs as she selfishly wished his mouth were doing her, or better yet his dick.