Irresistible Forces (12 page)

He’d said it as though he was right up the street. “Will you be arriving tomorrow?”

“No, I’m on my way to your place now. I’ve been in D.C. staying at the Saxon Hotel for the last two days. I wanted to be close by when you called and figured it would be soon,” he informed her.

“Oh.”

“I’ll see you in less than an hour, Taylor.”

“Okay.”

And then he ended the call.

Chapter 10

T
aylor glanced at herself in the mirror one final time after hearing the sound of the doorbell. A surge of anxiety swept through her. How was she supposed to act when she saw Dominic again? He wasn’t just any man, but was someone she had spent an entire week making love with more than eighty percent of the time. The last four days on Latois had been the most intense. It was as if they were counting down the hours, minutes and seconds and wanted to make each one count.

She glanced down at her outfit, a pair of shorts and a tank top. She had wanted to appear casual, right at home and had taken a shower and put on a little makeup and sprayed on her favorite cologne.

She crossed the room and inhaled deeply, hoping and praying she would be able to keep things together when she saw him. She opened the door and whatever words of greeting she planned to say died on her lips. All she could do was stand there and stare at him.

For a few split seconds it seemed neither of them was capable of speaking, since he was staring back at her. Then, he finally spoke in a deep, raspy voice that sent shivers all through Taylor’s body.

“It’s good seeing you again, Taylor.”

She inhaled deeply once more. “It’s good seeing you again, as well, Dominic.” She had to admit that she sounded slightly hoarse to her own ears. “Won’t you come in?”

She took a step back and he entered, closing the door behind him. He glanced around a second before returning his gaze to her. “You look good.”

“Thanks, and so do you.” And she meant it. He was wearing a dark gray suit and white shirt and looked gorgeous as ever. “Would you like something to drink?”

“What do you have?”

“Whatever you want.” Too late she realized how that may have sounded.

He chuckled softly. “In that case, a glass of wine would be nice.”

“No problem. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be right back.” She headed toward the kitchen but couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder and saw that he was removing his jacket, exposing those broad shoulders she remembered so well.

A tingling sensation flowed through her as she recalled a number of other things, and they were things she wished she wouldn’t remember right now. Her body was heated enough already.

Once she got to the kitchen she let out a deep breath. The sexual chemistry they’d shared hadn’t been just confined to the island. It was here in her apartment. She’d felt it the moment she opened the door and saw him standing there. There was no way he hadn’t felt it, too.

With nervous hands she poured him a glass of wine and poured a glass of apple juice for herself. “I can do this,” she murmured softly before leaving her kitchen.

He was standing by the window, looking at the beautiful view of the Potomac and turned when he heard her enter the room. His gaze met hers and she actually saw the heated lust in his eyes. Suddenly, she felt hotter than before and could actually feel dampness form on her forehead. With all the strength she could muster, she made it across the room to him without dropping the glasses out of her hand.

“Here you are. I hope I wasn’t too long.”

He smiled before taking the glass from her trembling hand. “No, you weren’t.”

Their fingers touched and she felt a sizzling sensation all the way to her toes. All she had to do was reconnect with his gaze to know he’d felt it, as well. Thinking the cold apple juice would certainly cool her off, she quickly took a sip. It didn’t do any good. Heat was still trickling through her.

“So how have you been feeling?” he asked, breaking into the silence that had surrounded them.

“I’ve been fine. Busy as usual. I had a lot to catch up on when I got back.”

“So did I.”

“The stock market has looked good for the past couple of weeks,” she said, leading him over to the sofa to sit down. He sat on one end and she on the other.

“Yes, I saw that.”

The room plunged back into silence and she began racking her brain for something else to say. She thought about a recent news article and brought it up. He made a comment or two and that was it. Deciding she was dragging things out for no reason at all she said, “I’m sure you have a lot to do this evening, so if you want we can find out if I’m pregnant or not right now.”

“I don’t have anything to do this evening,” he said smoothly. “Do you feel pregnant?”

A smile touched her lips. “If you’re asking if I’ve had morning sickness or anything like that, then the answer is no. I feel wonderful. But I have missed my period by a few days.”

“Oh.”

Too late she wondered if she had said too much, then decided no, she hadn’t. While on the island they had talked about a number of things, personal things regarding changes that would take place to her body once she became pregnant. She had felt comfortable discussing them with him then and there was no reason she shouldn’t feel at ease talking about them with him now. Although most of the time they had held the discussions while both of them had been wrapped in each other’s arms, naked and satiated after having just made love.

“What about your breasts?”

Desire sparked in the center of her, right below the waist, between the legs. “What about them?” she asked softly.

He took a sip of wine before leaning forward. “Are they tender? You said that would be one sure-tell sign.”

Yes, she had said that.
“Ah, yes. They are somewhat tender.”

“I see.”

He was staring at her, more specifically her breasts. They had definitely become the subject of his intense assessment. A part of her wanted to take her hands and cover them, not that he could see anything through her blouse. But then she felt her nipples harden and didn’t have to glance down at herself to know that he probably saw how the tips were pressed against her blouse.

She quickly got to her feet, feeling somewhat shaky and still feeling hot. “I-I’ll go in and do the test now.”

He got to his feet, as well. “There’s no hurry, Taylor. I’m enjoying your company. Come on, let’s sit back down.”

He reached out and touched her arm and they both discovered within seconds it had been a mistake. Suddenly, it was as if the two weeks’ separation hadn’t happened and they were back on the island, in their suite, where getting naked and making love had become as normal to them as breathing.

Her heart began racing when she saw him lower his head toward hers and she knew what she was in for. However, she also knew what she couldn’t have. She loved him but he didn’t love her and she refused to be one of those women who pined away for a love that would never be.

With all the strength she could muster, she pulled her hand from within his grasp and took a step back. “I—I think I need to go and do that test now,” she said with a quiver in her voice as she steadily backed away from him.

His eyes bored into hers. She could still feel the sensuous heat. “Need help?” he asked in a voice that sent more shivers up her spine.

“No, thanks. I can handle things.” And then she turned and quickly rushed off toward the bathroom.

Dominic placed his hands in the pockets of his slacks as he walked back over to the window. He hadn’t meant to make Taylor feel uncomfortable, but seeing her again had done something to him. The moment she had opened the door he had wanted to reach out and sweep her off her feet and kiss her with all the intensity that he felt. He had firsthand knowledge of just how wonderful she would feel in his arms and just how delicious her taste was. He had missed both over the past two weeks.

He’d had to constantly force himself to accept that he couldn’t call her and she wouldn’t be calling him. What had been between them was nothing more than a business agreement. He wasn’t supposed to start having these intense emotions. Nor was he supposed to think of her during every waking moment, remembering what they had shared on that island.

But the fact of the matter was that he couldn’t forget. Neither his mind nor his body would let him. He would wake up during the middle of the night actually inhaling her scent. It was during those times when his senses would get stirred to a degree that he thought he was losing his mind. Never in his life had any woman affected him so deeply, made him want her so badly.

The sound of footsteps had him turning around and his gaze immediately latched onto her face when she came back into the room. His heartbeat kicked hard in his chest when he saw the tears that glistened in her eyes. Were they tears of joy or of disappointment? What if she hadn’t gotten pregnant as he had so arrogantly assumed?

Somehow he made his body move and crossed the room to her. Automatically he reached out and wiped one of her tears away with the tip of his finger. When she didn’t say anything for the longest time, just stood gazing at him, he asked in a near-quiet tone, “Are you or aren’t you?”

As he watched her face, he saw a smile touch the corners of her lips. Then she nodded. “Yes, I am. Oh, Dominic, we’re having a baby,” she said in such an awed voice that to him it was like a match thrown in a box of bone-dry tinder. The blaze within him had flared into a full flame.

He was going to be a father.

The realization of that hit him and he hadn’t known just how much he’d wanted that until now. He could no more stop himself from kissing her at that moment than he could stop the day from turning into night. He reached out and pulled her into his arms and in one smooth sweep, captured her lips as if doing so was the most natural thing.

There was something in knowing the man whose hot and hungry mouth was insistently eating away at hers, was the man whose child she carried in her womb. Coupled with the fact that she loved him with all her heart she forgot that the last thing they should be doing was sharing a kiss.

Neither should they be tearing away at each other’s clothes, but they were doing that, too. She hadn’t forgotten what this was like. An intense desire to mate. Nor had she forgotten the feel of wanting him with such a raw, primitive need like what she was feeling now.

One part of her mind was saying this was crazy, totally insane. They weren’t thinking rationally. All she had to say to that was, yes, probably not. But at that precise moment she was happier than any one woman had a right to be. She was having a baby. A baby that she had created with the man she loved. She would have plenty of time tomorrow to be reminded that he didn’t love her. Right now he desired her and that was enough.

He broke off the kiss, mainly to give them a chance to breathe. And then he pulled her back into his arms to finish removing her clothes. But in her opinion that wasn’t going fast enough. “Hurry, Dominic.”

Once he had her completely naked, he began removing his own clothes at a fast pace. She wasn’t helping matters when each time he exposed a portion of naked skin, her mouth and lips were there, wanting to taste him all over, practically everywhere.

It seemed at that moment he made the correct assumption they would never make it to the bedroom and pulled her down with him to the carpeted floor. He then shifted his body for her to straddle his.

She stared down at him. “You know since I’m already pregnant there’s no earthly reason for us to be doing this,” she said in a rushed and fevered voice.

“Is there an unearthly one?” he asked in a voice so hoarse she could barely hear him.

“None that I can think of.”

“Good. Do you want me to stop?” he asked and then leaned up his head to give the hardened tip of her breast one tantalizing lick.

“Ah, no. Don’t stop. Whatever you do,
please
don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” he muttered against her other breast and flicked a lick to it before pulling and giving it a tug with his lips.

She threw her head back and let out a deep moan. It was shameless. It brought to life every sensual part of her. And when she felt the hard, moist tip of his erection, right there at the entrance of her feminine core, she only knew but one way to go. Down.

She pressed her weight down on him and the hands he’d used earlier to wipe away her tears held her hips in a tight grip. And when she felt him inside her, all the way to the hilt, she knew what she had to do. What she wanted to do.

Ride him.

And since he seemed amenable to letting her be in control, she took it. She slowly eased up, just an inch or so short of their bodies disconnecting and then she eased back down, then up again, repeating the process as she slid up and down on him, over and over again, hearing his sharp indrawn breath every time her hips shifted back and forth over him.

“Taylor…”

She didn’t want to focus on the tortured way he was saying her name. Instead she stared down at the expressions on his face. The look was intoxicating her senses, practically blowing her mind. The slow, steady heat between her legs where their bodies connected suddenly seemed filled with an electrical charge that sent shock waves frolicking through her body.

She arched her back and released an intense scream. Dominic quickly pulled her mouth down to his and kissed her with a hunger that splintered her body in a million pieces. And then she felt him explode inside her while his hands kept a tight grip on her hips.

She became lost in sensations she had been certain she would never feel again. But she was feeling them now, thanks to Dominic. What they were sharing was perfect, so unerringly flawless, it was as if they were the only two living souls in the entire universe. It was as if she couldn’t get enough of him and he couldn’t get enough of her.

And as she clung to his shoulders as yet another orgasm struck her, she couldn’t help but wonder just where would they go from here?

“You’ve bewitched me, Taylor.”

They had moved from the living room floor to the bedroom an hour or so ago. Taylor lay beside Dominic but didn’t turn her head to look at him. The truth of the matter was that she didn’t have the strength to move even if she wanted to. Instead she reached out and touched his erection that hadn’t gone down. “And I could give you a list of all the things you’ve done to me, Dominic.”

She then reached out and brought his hand to her stomach. “But putting your baby in here, I think, is the most precious of them all.”