"Thank you, Marie." Abby wasn't sure what to
say.
"I gave your passport to Dominic," Mrs.
Duhamel said.
"Shouldn't I have it?" Abby asked.
Mrs. Duhamel shrugged in place of an apology.
"Where do you want your overnight bag?"
Falling back on caution, Abby directed the
young man to place her things in one of the spare bedrooms, easy
enough to discern from the huge master bedroom. She felt the heat
of Dominic’s attention on her as if he'd heard her instructions. A
shiver of anticipation ran down her back at the intention she read
in his eyes. She could put her luggage where she wanted, but she
doubted she'd be sleeping anywhere but beside him tonight.
The idea was both tantalizing and mouth
drying scary. Sure she wanted to step outside of her predictable,
staid life for a day; but she was being swept into a world where
she had little to no control and that was more terrifying than
leaving the country for the first time.
How crazy would everyone think she was if she
politely excused herself and ran for the nearest taxi? Her eyes
darted to the open door and then back to Dominic who seemed to
tense even though she'd made no overt move toward the open
hatch.
He pushed out of his chair and strode over to
her. Mrs. Duhamel excused herself to join Jake at the meeting
area.
Surely, he couldn't read her thoughts?
Dominic nudged her chin up gently with one
finger, until she met his piercing gray eyes. "Jake is half
convinced that I've kidnapped you. Are you going to bolt out the
door and confirm his fears about my sanity?"
"No," she said with less certainty than she'd
attempted.
Dominic's hand moved down the curve of her
neck, caressing the tension he found in her shoulders. "You don't
sound sure."
Abby's fears poured out of her. "China! I've
never even flown until today. I don't know what kind of business
you're in or who we're going to meet or where we'll even land." Her
hands shook as she continued. "I don't know what my role is on this
trip. Am I some form of entertainment you keep in the background
and cavort with between business deals?"
"Cavort? Do people even use that word
anymore?" he joked.
Angry tears filled her eyes. "Do not mock me,
Dominic." She turned and picked up her small purse, the only thing
of hers that was on this plane anyway, with every intention of
following her initial instinct getting off the plane now while it
was still possible. "I knew this was a mistake."
Some of Dominic's arrogance faltered. "Stay,"
he said.
Abby took a step toward the exit. "I'm not a
dog. I don't do well with one word commands."
He stepped in front of her. "What will it
take for you to stay?"
Abby bristled in memory of a similar
conversation they'd had the day before. "I swear to God, Dominic,
if you offer me money I will belt you."
He put his hands up in mock defense, but
there was nothing but determination in his expression. "What do you
want, Abby? Just say it."
Put on the spot like that, her requests felt
ridiculous but something told her that this was a pivotal moment
for them. She could maintain her pride, conceal her fears, and
avoid this awkward conversation, but in doing so she would lose any
chance of feeling part of his world. "I need to know why you want
me to go with you."
Her request rocked him back onto his heels.
"I don't know what you're asking."
She gathered her resolve. "Is it just sex? If
so, inconvenient as it seems now, I'd rather stay on American soil
and meet up with you after this trip."
His gray eyes darkened as his hands slid into
the pockets of his jeans. Had she been too blunt? Would he be
relieved to let her go now?
She'd almost given up on receiving a response
from him when he said softly, grudgingly, "Yes, I want you. Getting
you into my bed has been damn near all I've thought about since I
met you yesterday. But..."
"But?" she prompted.
He ran a frustrated hand through his already
disheveled hair. "You also calm me."
It was the furthest from what she'd expected.
"Calm you?" and definitely not what he did for her.
"I can think straight when I'm around you.
That's why I need you on this trip."
Being with her was helping him during this
difficult week? Not exactly a romantic declaration, but she doubted
she would have believed one from him at this point anyway. There
was sincerity in the simplicity of his words. He needed her! The
revelation was humbling.
As she absorbed his words, his frustration
grew. "Listen, if you don't want to come, say it now. Duhamel can
arrange for you to be on the next first class flight back to
Boston. I have no idea how negotiations are going to go in Beijing.
This is not a vacation. We may be there a few hours or the whole
week. I'm going to be busy most of the time. It was crazy to ask
you to come in the first place."
Suddenly knowing the name of the hotel they
would be staying in didn't seem as important. Dominic wanted her
with him. That's all that mattered. She returned her purse to the
couch behind her and turned back to him, her insecurities replaced
by the confidence that she meant more to Dominic than he was able
to express at this time. "Ok, I'll go."
He looked like he wanted to crush her in his
arms, but instead nodded curtly, a half smile pursing his lips.
"Good, because I'm not sure I meant what I said about letting you
leave."
Abby caught Jake and Mrs. Duhamel watching
their interaction with fascination. Neither felt guilty enough to
look away. Abby decided to have a little fun. "I'm sure Mr. Walton
would have arranged transportation home for me if I'd asked.”
A glint of challenge lit Dominic's eyes. "He
could have tried."
"You really are a bit of a caveman, Dominic,"
Abby teased.
"Is that complaint?" His voice was soft as
velvet as he reached for her.
She leaned upward to whisper in his ear.
"Actually, I think it's kinda hot." His hands closed in, but not
fast enough, she slipped away to join the enrapt audience.
Maybe she was going about this all wrong.
Instead of accepting being swept away, perhaps what she needed to
do was request her own oar. "Marie, could I get my own copy of the
itinerary and some tour guide books? I'd like to be able to sight
see a bit while Dominic is in meetings."
Jake piped in, "If you need a guide, Abby, I
can come along. I know my way around pretty well."
Dominic visibly stiffened at Jake's offer,
giving Abby a wicked idea. Dominic took himself a little too
seriously sometimes and it wouldn't hurt him to have a little fun
poked at him. She shot a conspiratorial wink to Jake and Mrs.
Duhamel.
“That would be great!” she said. She amazed
herself by sounding almost serious as she asked, "Did you book a
suite, Marie? If there is an extra room, Jake could stay with
us."
Dominic took possession of one of her elbows,
his tight features revealing that he hadn't yet gotten the joke. "I
won't be that busy."
His touch sent a rush of passion that nearly
made her sway. Abby hid her reaction quickly with a more acceptable
sympathetic laugh. "I'm kidding, Dominic.”
Dominic’s uncomfortable realization that he’d
been had was a source of great amusement for Jake. His deep laugh
boomed through the small room.
Jake said, "I think you've met your match
this time, Dom, and she doesn't seem the least bit afraid of that
twitch you get in your jaw."
Even Mrs. Duhamel chuckled. "Isn't she
perfect for him? I've always thought he needed someone who could
take him down a peg or two."
Dominic swore beneath his breath, which only
added to the general glee.
“Careful, we have a long flight ahead of us,”
he said for only Abby to hear and ran his strong fingers lightly
across the small of her back, sending shivers up and down her
body.
Abby was feeling brave. There wasn’t too much
he could do while Mrs. Duhamel was looking on. She laughed up at
him sweetly. “Promises. Promises.”
He scowled down at her. Abby felt a familiar
curling warmth invade her stomach, knowing she could change his
expression with one touch. The power of their attraction was
heady.
Jake closed his briefcase and gave Abby a nod
of approval. "Dom, I can see why you didn't want to come back to
NY."
Dominic glared at his second in command and
then seemed to cheer himself with a thought. "There is something
you can do for me while I'm gone, Jake."
"What do you need?" Jake asked with the calm
tone of a man who weathered the unexpected with ease.
"I need someone to check in on Abby's sister,
Lil."
Mrs. Duhamel piped in with an offer to do it,
but Dominic silenced her with a raised hand. "Just give Jake the
information he needs."
Jake hedged, "Wouldn't I be much more
effectively utilized in the New York office?"
Abby added. "Dominic, you've done too much.
Lil already has a full time nanny."
Dominic's insistence left no room for
refusal. "Jake, I'd feel better knowing that Abby's sister was
being checked in on by someone I know." He leaned down and
whispered with unexpected mischief to Abby, "Besides, Jake has a
real baby phobia. This will be good for him."
"That's..." Abby said with a smile.
Dominic finished her sentence softly into her
ear, "Exactly what he deserves."
Chapter Ten
Abby was curled up under a throw blanket,
watching the clouds pass by beneath window of the plane. The lights
of the city were gone and they were well over the Atlantic. She'd
seatbelted herself in, but the smoothness of the plane almost
allowed her to forget that they were heading away from everything
she'd known so far.
Watching Dominic deal with world leaders on
the phone was fascinating. He explained, yelled, threatened, but
never apologized and from the way each phone call ended to his
satisfaction, she guessed he didn't have to.
He stretched his arms behind him, stood, and
scanned the room for her. "Come here," he said.
Every inch of her wanted to obey his sultry
command, but instead she smoothed the blanket on her lap and
countered, "I thought we'd discussed that I'm not a canine."
He smiled and she knew he liked that she
didn't jump up to please him. He was a hunter who would have been
disappointed had the prey come too willingly. "Come here," he
repeated in a husky tone.
She shook her head and tried to hide her
amusement. The temperature of the room went up along with the color
in his cheeks. Little games excited him and she was discovering
that they had the same effect on her. She couldn't resist adding,
"Maybe you should come here."
A sexual stand off. Who would give in first?
Who would cross the distance between them?
Abby slid her shoes off with what she hoped
was the slow technique of a stripper. She let each fall with a
light thud.
Eyes never wavering from hers, he removed his
sneakers by stepping impatiently on the back of each. There was
deliberate restraint in each of his tight movements.
Abby slowly unrolled her socks and tucked
them neatly in her sneakers then looked back at him boldly. If
anyone had tried to tell her that exquisite sexual tension could be
amplified by the mere removal of one’s socks, Abby would have
scoffed the idea. However, her breath caught in her throat as
Dominic bent to remove his own, tossing them carelessly beside his
discarded shoes. When he straightened, passion flared in his
eyes.
Mutual need pulsed between them.
Forcing herself to maintain a painfully slow,
erotic pace, Abby untucked her t-shirt from of her jeans and drew
the shirt up over her head, tossing the maroon material on the
floor halfway between them. The cool air of the plane felt good
through the thin white lace of the bra. Her nipples hardened
through the material and Dominic’s harshly drawn breath was audible
above the hum of the plane’s engine.
Dominic removed his own shirt and flung it on
her discarded one. The t-shirt had hinted at Dominic's glorious
build, but without it, Abby was given full view of a powerful man
in his prime. In another time, he would have been a warrior or a
gladiator. He was all male and, at least for today, he was all
hers.
Abby stood. She'd thought she'd won when she
began to unsnap her jeans. He took what looked like an involuntary
half step toward her, but then stopped. She stepped out of her
jeans and tossed them on the growing pile of clothing between
them.
She was glad that she'd taken the time to buy
the kind of underwear that gave her the confidence to stand there
before him, knowing she looked good in the white lace panties and
bra. Thank you, Mrs. Duhamel, for the full spa treatment. She'd
never been so happy that every corner of her body had been pampered
and prepared.
Dominic threw his own pants in the pile with
a bit of impatience. His cotton boxers did nothing to hide the
effect the shared striptease was having on his libido. Seeing his
excitement only heightened Abby's.
Their ragged breathing synchronized as if
part of some primitive mating ritual. Abby’s body craved Dominic’s
with an urgency she’d only heard about and had always dismissed as
an exaggeration. Her skin quivered in anticipation. Her body
moistened with desire. And amazingly enough, Dominic’s eyes burned
with a matching powerful need.
The standoff was pretty equal until Abby
brought a hand up and cupped her own breast, gently flicking her
erect nipple with her thumb.
Dominic closed the distance between them,
lifting her off her feet to rest fully against him and took her
breast into his mouth. Abby wrapped her legs around his waist,
wishing they'd gone one step further while stripping, but still
enjoying the feel of him rubbing against her moist panties.