Knight's Game (23 page)

‘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. You want my stiff prick deep, deep inside you? Just nod,’ he teased softly.

‘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 whispered hoarsely, raw desire spiralling outwards from her core, streaking up her spine.

‘Can you feel me? My dick’s really hard.’ 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 it 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, 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 some of my drink left,’ he said calmly, answering his brother-in-law’s query. ‘No, Katherine’s good too. You like the flavour? 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 was asking her whether she’d like 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 said pleasantly, ‘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.

‘OK, OK. 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, OK? That’s what he does. By the grace of God you came out of your screwed-up family in one piece. Dominic didn’t.’

Kate slammed her fist into Dominic’s chest. ‘Dammit, 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 tone. ‘I have no say in 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 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 choose.’

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 it open.

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 an issue. Softly exhaling, he swivelled round, 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 was offering something besides her opinionated judgement. ‘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 coloured 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 in 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. But the equivocating
maybe
and
might
required a small, steadying breath before he relinquished his life-long principles 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, or, more sensibly, take back what she’d heard, because, his reluctance aside, Dominic had offered her paradise. An unthinkable paradise, unfortunately, for mere mortals who didn’t live in Dominic’s rarefied 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. And 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 result 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 either got what he wanted or fought for what he wanted. But his voice of reason snidely observed,
She just saved you from yourself, dude
, at precisely the moment Kate pressed her warm palm against the gap in his unzipped jeans and his spiking erection immediately eradicated any competing messages in his brain. 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’ve done this in here before.’

‘OK.’

‘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.’

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

‘In contrast to you, I don’t have a past,’ she said huffily, not reasonably, but with the legions of women he’d known – all vying for his favour, smiling at him, flirting with him, goddamn
fucking
him – reason wasn’t even in the ball park.

‘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 me being a disrespectful shit and you 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.’