Sex for Beginners Box Set(83)

She had a smudge on her chin and her ponytail sagged, with tendrils of red-gold hair pressed to her moist temples. Dominick thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “Good,” he managed to say, rubbing at his breastbone.

She noticed his movement. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just…indigestion, I think. I’ll be…fine.”

She stepped closer. “Dominick, behind you is a guy wearing a yellow T-shirt. I noticed him when I was stowing my gear. His shirt says ‘Cambrian.’ Isn’t that the name of the company interested in buying Sunpiper?”

The company mentioned in Vee’s research packet. Dominick pursed his mouth and nodded. “Yeah.” He turned and nonchalantly took in the man wearing the yellow T-shirt. The guy seemed to be conferring with another man, who was wearing glasses and designer “outdoorsy” clothing—the guy was a financial squint if he’d ever seen one.

He looked back to Violet. “Good eye, Vee. Looks like I’m going to have to make my move.”

“So you’re still interested in buying the school?”

He nodded. “Enough to set up an appointment to meet with the owners before I leave town.”

She smiled, obviously pleased that she’d taken part in the “research” that had led to his decision. On his part, he was relieved that a legitimate business issue had emerged to justify what had been a flimsy excuse for a business trip.

Violet had the names of the owners stored in her PDA, so when they were let off at Sunpiper, Dominick asked the receptionist if they could make an appointment to see one or both men. He explained why, then handed over a business card. The woman checked with the owners’ respective assistants and informed him that both men would be back in the office the day after Christmas. “How about first thing the morning of the twenty-sixth?”

“Sounds good,” Dominick said. “Thank you.”

As they left the building and climbed into his rented convertible, Violet was animated—and so, so sexy. “I can help you with any additional research between now and then. The local library might have—”

“Vee,” he interrupted. “You don’t have to be here for the meeting.”

She blanched even whiter. “I didn’t mean…that is, I didn’t presume you would include me in the meeting.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He hesitated, hating to give her an opening to leave, but knowing it was the right thing to do. “I was thinking that if you wanted to go back to spend Christmas Eve with your folks, you still can. I’ll fly you back myself, in fact. It was selfish of me to take you away from your family simply because I don’t have much use for the holiday.”

She was quiet for several long seconds, staring at her hands. “Thank you for the offer, but that won’t be necessary. My parents aren’t home.”

“Did they make plans to go out of town after you told them about the business trip?”

She shook her head. “They had an opportunity to go on a cruise to Panama with some new friends and asked if I cared if we skipped Christmas.” She looked up and tried to smile, but failed miserably. “It was an all expenses paid trip—it would’ve been silly for them to pass it up.”

Dominick’s heart squeezed. Her parents had dumped her on her first Christmas without her grandparents? Damn, that was cold. A fierce sensation of protectiveness welled in his chest. He wanted to pull her into his arms and offer his shoulder for her to cry on, but that seemed a little too…personal.

But he had other means of offering comfort.

Dominick reached over to cover Vee’s hand. “Their loss and my gain. Without you, I wouldn’t be sitting here contemplating buying this sports school and expanding my business.”

She nodded and almost smiled this time.

An overwhelming urge to make her happy plowed through him. He couldn’t offer anything in terms of a relationship, but he could fulfill the fantasies she’d written about in the letter to herself.

“In fact…” He picked up her hand and kissed her palm. “I think we should go back to the hotel and celebrate our successful research trip.”

* * *

VIOLET’S ARM TINGLED from Dominick’s kiss. Her libido was so worked up from the day’s activities, something from his direction as subtle as an eye twitch would have had the same effect.

But she appreciated the effort.

And she was grateful that he hadn’t quizzed her about her parents’ casual dismissal. It was embarrassing enough to admit it without belaboring the point. And the distraction he was offering…

She wanted to be wanted, needed to be needed. When she was with Dominick, she felt alive and special. He had a way of pulling her out of herself…. With this man she could be bold.

She smiled in response. “Hurry.”

He broke every speed limit getting them back to the hotel, then tossed the keys to a valet driver. They hurried through the lobby like horny teenagers, then rode up in the glass elevator, which only kicked her pulse higher.

Dusk was setting when they burst into the suite. He was kissing her before the door closed. The thought of taking a shower flitted through her mind, but she discarded it as being too…romantic. The only thing that was keeping her from falling head over heels in love with this man was the fact that the sex was fast and raw. She could pretend it meant as little to her as it did to him.

They left a trail of shoes and clothes from the door, down the stairs and into the sitting area. When she realized that he was leading her out onto the balcony, her heart raced wildly. He unlocked the sliding door and pushed it open, then backed outside and pulled her along with him. She wore only her underwear—black panties and a black underwire athletic bra. The wind swirled around her as if to remind her that at this height, she was susceptible to being plucked up and blown away. Her leg muscles contracted to ground her to the gritty tile floor beneath her feet.

“I got you,” he murmured.

She clung to him and forced herself to look.

The sun was setting, leaving behind just enough radiance to light the clouds hovering on the horizon, casting a teal-colored glow over the water and the sand.

She sighed, overcome by the majestic scene—before her and next to her. Dominick was barefoot, and naked from the waist up. His muscular shoulders and powerful chest gave way to a flat stomach. His gray-colored khaki pants hung low on his lean hips, revealing the waistband of his boxers. His dark hair was being tousled by the wind, falling over his forehead. When he lowered his gaze to hers, his blue eyes reflected the hunger pulsing through her body.

He turned her until her back pressed against the railing. Then he removed the clasp from her hair and the wind picked up the ends. The emptiness of space around her shoulders and neck made her stomach flutter.

“It’s okay,” he murmured against her ear. “Did you know that we’re all born with the fear of falling?”

She shook her head.

“Go with it,” he said. “Use it. Feel how good the air is on your body.” He reached around and unhooked her bra. Her breasts fell free and the tips instantly grew hard when the wind kissed them. She arched into him and back over the railing as his warm mouth closed over a nipple. When starbursts of sensations reverberated through her body, she cried out, but the noise was carried away on the breeze.

He laved both breasts and rolled her panties down to her knees. She pulled at the waistband of his pants, unfastening the fly and releasing his thick erection into her hand. Dominick moaned and surged against her palm, then fumbled in his pocket for his wallet and a condom. He rolled it on quickly, then turned her around to face the railing. He bent over her, bracing his arms on either side of hers.

The ground tilted, falling away some thirty stories below.

“I got you, Vee,” he murmured in her ear. His chest was warm on her back, his chin tucked into the curve of her neck. He pushed his cock into her from behind, an inch, then two inches. She contracted around him, trying to pull him deeper inside, but he resisted. Then he reached around with one hand to find her clit and matched a slow circular rhythm with his thrusts.

The sensation was beyond incredible. Between Dominick and their breezy, sky-high backdrop, her body was being stroked inside and out. The climax sleeping in her belly for most of the day, nudged by looks and touches from Dominick as they rode through the treetops, roared awake and began to engulf her body. Responding to her moans, Dominick thrust deep inside her. Violet’s head spun from the sensory overload. And when the orgasm claimed her, her legs threatened to give way. She felt as if she were falling…tumbling over and over on the wind…

Dominick surrendered to his climax scarce heartbeats later, his body contracting around hers. He groaned her name as he drove into her, deeper and deeper, until his shudders slowed, then ceased.

When Violet opened her eyes, moist blue-black air enveloped her. The light on the horizon had all but slipped away, but lights on the ground far below twinkled. A long line of tiki torches had been lit on the beach, perhaps to commemorate the holidays.

She remained still, astonished by her body’s intense response to his. Her limbs sang with exhaustion. He pulled her hair away from her neck and left a kiss there. She closed her eyes briefly, wanting to buy into the fantasy that they could continue like this.