Sex for Beginners Box Set(82)

Winslow, too. As Dominick walked up on the beach, the dog was jumping up and down like a spring and barking like mad. She rattled his leash to shush him.

“I thought that was you,” Dominick said, shaking his arms. “You’re up early.”

“I felt like taking a walk. The beach is so nice this time of day. Someone with my complexion can’t afford to be out here when the sun is strong.”

He gave her a thorough once-over. “You look like you’ve gotten some sun this week.” Then he grinned. “Or at least a few more freckles.”

“I have plenty of those,” she agreed.

He grinned. “Careful, Vee. If I start thinking about all your freckles, I’ll have to get back into that cold water.”

She squirmed and looked away. He was teasing her. No man could find her speckled, white skin sexy. It made her feel even more ridiculous for having these feelings for him.

“Care if I walk back with you?” he asked.

“Not at all.” Winslow growled, but she silenced him with a finger.

“Let me get my shirt and shoes.” Dominick walked up into the dunes to retrieve a towel roll he’d stowed there. He dried off hurriedly, then leaned over and scooped up his shoes and jogged back to her. Violet noticed that every female head in the vicinity turned to watch him, and she felt a thrill that he was with her.

Well, not with her, really, but—

“Are you up to more research today?” he asked.

She wet her lips, ultra aware of how the last two days of “research” had ended. “What did you have in mind?”

“If we hurry, we can do a canopy climb. It’s an all-day class because there’s a bus ride involved, but it should be interesting.”

“What’s a canopy climb?”

“It’s where you move through the tops of forests by a zip-line cable.”

She angled her head. “Ever since I told you I was afraid of heights, you’ve had me dangling in the air.”

He grinned. “Most extreme sports incorporate heights. Besides, you seem to be holding your own.” He fell into step next to her. “Have you always been afraid of heights?”

“Ever since I was eleven.”

“What happened when you were eleven?”

“I climbed a tree.”

“And you couldn’t get back down?”

She rubbed her lips together. “Actually, it was a tree I’d climbed lots of times, but my parents were leaving on a trip.” She smiled. “I climbed it and pretended to be stuck, hoping my dad would forget about the trip and climb up to rescue me.”

Dominick’s mouth tightened. “But he didn’t?”

She shook her head. “My parents left anyway, and then for some reason, I couldn’t get down and my grandmother had to call the fire department. Ever since, I’ve had an aversion to heights.”

“Understandable,” he said, with a nod. “But there’s one big difference now.”

“What’s that?”

He reached up and tugged on the end of her ponytail. “If you’re stranded in a tree, I’ll always come up to get you.”

His eyes twinkled, but his voice was half-serious…or perhaps that was just wishful thinking on her part. Violet’s chest suffused with emotion, entertaining the fantasy for a few seconds that she had the security of Dominick’s big shoulder to lean on. When they returned to Atlanta, he’d be taking that sexy shoulder elsewhere, but while they were here…

“I’ll go on the canopy climb,” she said, letting out a deep breath. “If we can make arrangements for Winslow to stay at the spa.”

Dominick grinned, then nodded to her feet. “We can, although I think he’d rather spend the day with you.”

She looked down to see Winslow humping her leg. She reprimanded the dog and reached down to extricate him.

Dominick laughed then leaned close and murmured, “In the dog’s defense, I know how he feels.”

Violet blushed and tried to tamp down the excitement already building in her stomach. Her body knew how the day’s activities would likely end…and every inch of her was looking forward to every inch of him.





14




DOMINICK CLICKED a Carabiner from Violet’s harness to a pulley on the metal zip line. They stood with a group of people on a platform high in a burgeoning tropical forest east of Miami. He wanted to kiss that worried look off her angelic face. Instead, he gave her hip a pat. “There. You’re not going anywhere except where you want to go.”

Beneath the helmet she wore, her eyes were wide. On this adventure, they wouldn’t be hooked together.

He gave her a wink. “I’ll always be a few feet behind you.”

But guilt plucked at him. It was great to have the experience of three classes to get a better idea of how Sunpiper operated, but the whole research angle was wearing a little thin. He couldn’t keep putting Violet in risky situations simply to get her worked up enough for him to swoop in and save the day with an amazing orgasm.

Then Violet gave him a tremulous smile that made his stomach clutch.

Or maybe he could, he thought crazily. Maybe he could buy the school and hire Violet to go on an extreme sports activity every day under the guise of business, and he could be there when she got home to relieve the tension in the most erotic ways.

Dominick winced and put a hand to his head. His mind was obviously still fuzzy after too many vodka tonics last night. Again. All he’d really wanted to do when they’d gotten back to the hotel was haul Violet into his bedroom for some thorough lovemaking…. But she’d written in her letter so disparagingly about having sex in bed that his ego wouldn’t let him. He wanted her to remember their time together as exciting and thrilling, something that no other man would be able to top.

He exhaled as he clicked his own harness onto the zip line. Okay, it was conceited, but there it was. He didn’t want another man to make love to Violet more…well.

But when the image of another man examining her freckles entered his mind, he frowned. He didn’t like the idea of another man making love to Violet, period.

“Okay, here we go!” the instructor shouted. “Ease off the platform one at a time, leave several feet between you and the person in front of you.”

When Violet’s shoulders tensed, Dominick experienced a rush of protectiveness. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and make her feel safe. Instead he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “Just keep thinking what a good time we’re going to have afterward.”

Her lips parted in a gasp, but before she could respond, it was her turn to go. She bunched her body up and closed her eyes as she stepped off the platform. Dominick held his breath, poised to fling himself off the edge after her if by some fluke her equipment failed. When her weight settled safely on the cable, he released a sigh.

Her body froze and for a few seconds, she gripped the zip line with her gloved hands as if it were a lifeline. But when she realized she was stable on the line, she opened her eyes. Then, as the trainer had instructed, she leaned back and crossed her legs at the ankle, and began moving along the line on her pulley.

“Good girl,” Dominick whispered, his chest filling with pride. She had guts.

When she had advanced along the cable far enough to put enough distance between them, Dominick grabbed on and swung down, enjoying the rush until his weight settled, then traveled after Vee.

The canopy tour was excellent. The instructor had done a good job on the bus ride over to educate the class about Florida’s mandate to increase the state’s tree foliage by twenty percent to combat global warming and to provide more habitat for threatened species. The guides who were spaced out among the students were also adept at pointing out sights along the way, both in the tree canopy and on the ground that changed from grassy to marshy. Chestnut-fronted macaws and white pelicans were plentiful, as well as migratory songbirds. Golden panthers sporting white chests were common in this area, both on the ground and in trees, but not at heights that endangered the people on the zip lines. When they traversed an area where three alligators were sunning themselves beside a brackish pool, Violet turned back to look at him over her shoulder, her eyes wide.

He gave her a comforting smile, troubled by how much he wanted her not just to be safe, but to enjoy herself. He’d been doing extreme sports for so long—jumping off mountains and going faster than a human being was meant to—he’d forgotten the simple enjoyment of a more tame experience, like this one. Seeing adventures through Violet’s eyes had been a good lesson for him too, a reminder that even in extreme sports, there was room for all levels of daring and expertise.

And the accomplishment of mastering a feat wasn’t as important if a person didn’t enjoy the process. The fantastic sex notwithstanding, he’d had more fun with Violet these past couple of days than he’d had in…

A long damn time.

That strange feeling reminiscent of indigestion burned inside his chest again, and lingered until after the two-hour tour ended and they were back on terra firma.

“What did you think?” Dominick asked.

Violet’s cheeks were pink with sun and excitement, her aqua-colored eyes bright. “It was fun!” She laughed. “My arms are tired and my legs are a little shaky, but I think I’ll live.”