Sex for Beginners Box Set(76)

The sense of having nothing around her triggered a falling sensation. Gripped with terror, she had to fight the impulse to fall to her knees and crawl back to the bus. Dominick must have sensed how close she was to mutiny because he held her gaze locked with his until the empty cord was hauled back up.

“Relax,” he said, rubbing her arms. “You’re with me now.”

If only, she thought fleetingly.

“Ready?” Natalie asked.

“Hang on,” Dominick said to Violet, then he knelt to inspect the mechanism that fastened the cord to the bridge. Seemingly satisfied, he stood. “We’re ready.”

Natalie smiled. “Hold up your pants legs, please.”

They obliged and the woman crouched to fasten the harnesses around each of their ankles. When she’d finished, Dominick double-checked the bindings himself. The breeze picked up, whistling through Violet’s ears. She clutched at his shoulders, now in a full panic, and the reassuring squeeze he gave her behind only made things worse. Her thighs were wet from the sensual lubrication her body was producing in response to the fear coursing through her veins. When Dominick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body snug against his, she sucked in a sharp breath at the way their bodies fit together, soft into hard.

“Put your arms around me,” he ordered.

She did, encountering lots of scary, firm muscle.

“Tighter,” he urged. “Like you mean it.”

She swallowed hard and tightened her grip. Her head came to just under his chin. She could feel his heart beating beneath her cheek, calm and steady. She sank into him, drawing on his physical strength.

“Okay, folks,” Natalie said. “This is as easy as falling in love.”

Violet closed her eyes at the irony of the comment. The notion that Dominick Burns could ever fall in love with her would be laughable—if she could pull enough air into her lungs to actually laugh.

“On one,” Natalie shouted. “Three!”

“Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God,” Violet cried, clinging to him like a vise.

“Two!”

“Some people do this naked,” he murmured into her ear.

His comment shocked her just enough to distract her for a split second.

“One—jump!”

Violet felt Dominick’s muscles bunch. She wished she could say she tried to help him propel them off the platform, but frankly, she just buried her head in his chest and fell after him. There was a heart-stopping few seconds of weightlessness, then gravity took hold and they plummeted like stones.

They were going to die. As the wind rushed by them, her life flashed before her eyes—the things that she hadn’t gotten to do…There lies Violet Summerlin, she had a well-spent youth.

Dominick shouted with pleasure. “Woo-hoo! Vee, lift your head! This is great!”

But her neck was too weak and her lungs seemed to be collapsing. Finally when all the air had been squeezed out, she opened her mouth and dragged in a breath, enough to fuel a blood-curdling scream that reverberated in her ears. His laughter blended with her shrieks. At long last, they seemed to be slowing, and Violet opened her eyes to see blotches of colors racing by. Completely disoriented, she gulped to regulate her breathing.

“Open your eyes, Vee! This is fun!”

She tried to lift her head, but centrifugal force and fear held her against his chest. They came almost to a complete stop, then she felt a tug on her ankles, and they were bouncing back up again. She dug her fingers into his back and hung onto him as if her life depended on it. Her sex throbbed as the sensation of free-falling zeroed in on her engorged erogenous zones. The rebound was short, and then they were falling again, much more slowly. Finally they settled into a light bounce, swinging back and forth, hanging upside down. She opened her eyes and slowly things came into focus, her breathing echoing in her ears.

“You did it,” Dominick said, laughter in his voice.

She lifted her head. “I did it.”

He lowered his mouth to hers for a quick, celebratory kiss that ended before she could register it. She blinked, her jaw loose with surprise. It was a spontaneous act, she reasoned. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything.

But little did he know that she had been dreaming of that kiss for almost a year, since she’d first met him. And right now it was like breathing fresh air as the fire smoldered in her body. Even as they stopped swinging and were lowered slowly onto a large air mattress, her vital signs were on the rise. When they untangled their bodies and were disengaged from the bungee cord, her heart was still racing almost as fast as when they first jumped off the platform. During the ride back to the Sunpiper Extreme Sports School parking lot, she smiled at Dominick and told him she was fine, but she couldn’t seem to calm the storm raging inside her. The memory of having her body pressed up against his, the adrenaline flowing through her, the fleeting kiss…

She was, she conceded on the ride back to the hotel, ready to blow.

“You were a trooper,” Dominick said enthusiastically as they climbed higher in the glass elevator. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Violet was bracing herself against the handrails in the elevator, facing toward the doors. Her breathing was ragged and her legs felt shaky. But she couldn’t look at him, afraid that her unchecked desire for him showed all over her freckled face. “I’m fine,” she murmured. “Just…tired.”

When the elevator doors opened, she hurried off and down the hall to their room. She had the key out and the door to the suite open before he could catch up with her. The spacious room was now bathed in low light because the setting sun had moved out of the easterly view.

“Hey, hey, where’s the fire?” Dominick asked, catching her arm before she could escape to her room.

Violet looked up at him and swallowed a groan. The man was simply too sexy for words. And this kind of proximity made her think about dangerous things.

“Thank you for being such a good sport,” Dominick said. “Taking the class helped me to see the inner workings of the school.” He reached for her hand and twined her fingers. “And it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without you, Vee.”

Her heart tripped faster and she tried to pull her hand from his, but he held her fast.

“Vee…”

When she turned back, he lowered his mouth to hers. But this time, it wasn’t celebratory and it wasn’t quick. His lips were warm and wet and hungry, unleashing the raging desire she’d so carefully kept at bay. Violet opened her mouth to him, and felt herself being pulled over the edge.

She’d already survived one free fall. This one might be a lot more dangerous, but promised to be a lot more fun.





10




VIOLET SANK INTO Dominick as the kiss became more frenzied. All the tension, exhilaration and fear of the last few hours collided with her fantasies of Dominick over the past year to fuel her mouth and her hands. She moaned and slipped her fingers under his T-shirt to knead the thick muscles along his spine. He pulled away long enough to lift his shirt over his head, then tug at the hem of hers. Without hesitation, she raised her arms and allowed him to remove her shirt. The chill from the air-conditioning raised goose bumps on her arms, sending a shiver across her shoulders.

He lowered his mouth to her neck, then to her collarbone while massaging little circles into her lower back.

Violet couldn’t believe this was happening, but didn’t want to stop to question the sensual assault on her body. When he unhooked the athletic bra that restrained her breasts, she sighed in relief at having them unbound. They were heavy with need, the tips hardened to dark pink points. He pushed his hands into her hair, freeing her ponytail and sending her unruly hair falling around her shoulders. A bout of shyness struck her when he held her at arm’s length—she was so pale she fairly glowed in the dark. But the look in his hooded eyes was gratifying.

“Vee,” he said, his voice full of wonder. “You’re beautiful. Let me see the rest of you.”

She removed her tennis shoes, then stood and held his gaze while she slowly unfastened the cargo pants, then stripped out of them along with her panties. When his eyes swept over her from head to toe in silence, she was afraid she’d done something wrong…or moved too fast…or wasn’t his type. But then he groaned and pulled her close, running his hands down her back and over her hips.

Through his pants, the hard ridge of his erection pressed against her stomach. Impatient to have him naked, she tugged at his waistband. He kicked off his shoes, then unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down. When his erection sprang free, thick and hard, she was struck with the realization that it was really going to happen—she was going to have sex with Dominick. All the times she’d fantasized about being with him, she’d never dreamed it might actually happen. Feeling his warm, naked flesh under her fingers was surreal…more amazing than anything she’d ever concocted in her head.

He stopped long enough to retrieve a condom from his wallet before stepping out of his pants. Then he picked her up, lifting her onto the kitchen bar at her back and kissed her wildly, slanting his mouth over hers and stabbing his tongue inside.

He broke away only to dip his head and draw a pert nipple into his mouth, massaging her breast. Violet moaned and leaned her head back, arching into him. The pleasure was almost unbearable…being kissed like this, and knowing it was Dominick. He gave the other breast equal, exquisite treatment. She drove her hands into his hair, urging him on. He suckled her until she cried out with pleasure. She could feel her own wetness, smell her own musky scent—her body was calling out to his.