Volatile Chemistry (Billionaires' Secrets Book 1) (17 page)

Which was exactly the point.

Yes, he wanted to kiss her and touch her and flirt with her. Now her mom was out of the hospital and recovering, and the pressure was off Bella to “save” her, he didn’t feel guilty about enjoying Bella’s company.

But there was an ulterior motive. He wanted Tarrant to see
him
with her. To know that while he may be his biological father, that did not give him the right to tell him what to do.

If he was going to take the reins from Tarrant he’d do it on his terms, no compromise.

Tarrant had raged and ranted the Monday after he’d been told about Bella. After contemplating an enemy in his keep over a solid weekend, he could think of nothing more than flushing her out and feeding her to the crocodiles in the moat.

Even Fiona, who obviously enjoyed being a thorn in her father’s side, had been disgusted that someone could work for the company with the underlying intention of suing it, and had said that Bella should be sued for breach of contract.

It took all of Dominic’s persuasive powers to keep Bella from being frog-marched from the building that very morning.

And now it gave hi
m
bittersweet pleasure to run his fingers around the strings of her gold halter dress and along the bare skin of her back, under several sets of disapproving eyes.

My way or the highway, “Dad.”

The rhythmic refrain of Chic’s “These Are the Good Times,” pumped through the club and he had to resist a satisfied smile.

Business was great; his absentee father had come crawling back to his mother begging for absolution; that same father had handed over the stores he swiped from under Dominic’s nose with an apology...and right now he was dancing with a gorgeous brunette whose slinky dress chafed the palms of his hands.

What’s not to like?

Yes, Bella was trouble, but damn if that wasn’t part of her appeal. He’d always played it straight, been the good son with perfect grades who worked hard to make everyone proud. In her own way, Bella had done exactly the same thing—and it had taken her down a crooked path.

He wanted to get her back on the straight and narrow where she obviously belonged. It was a quest, a mission that stirred his blood and gave deeper meaning to the pleasures of seduction.

And if his methods involved an element of pleasure-laced punishment, he could reason that she deserved it. She’d have fooled him as easily as the others, if he hadn’t caught her red-handed at the copy machine.

A white strobe hit her face, glinting off a smile. She’d relaxed enough to enjoy the dance, and let her luscious body swing to the beat. Swing being the operative word. At that moment it was deliciously apparent there was no bra under her strappy top.

Heat jolted through him and almost deprived him of his voice. “Come with me,” he rasped, after clearing his throat. He took Bella’s hand and they wound through the tight mass of swaying bodies. “We’ll go up to the balcony.”

Her arm stiffened. “I’ve heard about the things that used to go on up there.”

“Yeah.” He glanced up. “I was probably conceived up there.”

“Dominic!” Her eyes glittered with disapproval.

“Doesn’t bother me. I guess when it comes right down to it, I’m just glad to be here. If Tarrant and my mom hadn’t hooked up, I wouldn’t be standing here gazing at the way that gold fabric drapes over your...” He let his eyes drift to her curvaceous backside.

“You’re terrible.”

He sighed. “Yes. And don’t forget, I have a Xerox copy of your ‘assets’ to use as bribery.”

She lifted a dark brow. “Do you have no scruples?”

“Possibly not.”

“Dominic!” Tarrant’s voice boomed out through the music. Dominic felt Bella freeze.

Tarrant, all smiles, gripped Dominic’s upper arms with his tanned, bony hands. “How do you like my re-creation of heaven on earth?”

“I think I’ll be disappointed when I get to the real one.”

Tarrant raised a brow. “Such delightful confidence of a journey through the Pearly Gates. I suspect I’ll be dancing somewhere hotter. Either way, I’ll find out soon enough.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Dominic protested. “You’ll outlive us all.”

Tarrant turned to Bella, who seemed to shrink under his aqua gaze.

“Maybe if Bella here can invent something that will make the inside of my body look as young as the outside. I’m wearing our ReNew right now—what do you think?”

Bella obviously couldn’t resist peering closely. “It looks great.”

“I’m sure my son thinks I’m a freak. Dominic doesn’t seem like the type to fuss over a few fines, does he?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Bella gave him a wary glance.

Dominic laughed. “He’s right. I’m not. I might be up for a cloak of invisibility though, if you perfect that. I could see that having some very interesting applications.”

“Cloak of invisibility, eh?” Tarrant’s brows lifted. “What exactly is going on in that lab of yours, Miss...Andrews?”

Bella blanched.

“We’ve been working nonstop on ReNew. No plans to research invisibility, I’m afraid!” Her voice sounded tight.

“Shame, I could think of quite a few places where I’d like to be the proverbial fly on the wall, can’t you, Dominic?”

“Sure can.”

Bella glanced at him, eyes wary.

Dominic enjoyed having them both where he wanted them. Tarrant playing nice for once, since he was willing to do almost anything to placate his newfound son and heir, and Bella under pressure to stop doing something that could screw up her life.

If this worked out right, everyone would end up right where he wanted them.

“Bella and I are heading to the balcony to rest for a minute.”

“Indeed.” Tarrant’s gaze seemed about to issue a challenge, then apparently he thought better of it. “Don’t stay out of the action too long. There are some people I’d like you to meet.”

Dominic just smiled.

As Tarrant walked away, he took Bella’s hand. It was ice cold. “What’s the matter?”

“What are you doing? What was that thing about the cloak of invisibility?”

“Wasn’t that one of your dad’s pet projects?”

“No! Well, yes, it was, but I never told you that.” She blinked rapidly.

“I’m good at reading between the lines. You’ll need to work on that cloak if you don’t drop your plan of suing Tarrant.”

Her pretty eyes narrowed. “Can we drop the subject? I told you I’m leaving the company.”

“And I told you you’re not.”

Her eyes widened. “What makes you think you have the right—”

“Raw nerve.” He grinned.

“You mean being a bully.”

“Have I ever bullied you?”

“No, but...” She pressed her lips together.

“You’ve spent your whole life in an ivory tower. You don’t have any experience with the real world, so it’s no surprise that you think every story has a happy ending. You trying to get your dad’s work back from Tarrant is a story that does not end happily. Trust me on this.”

She put her hands on her gorgeous hips. “You think I’m just being a spoiled brat?”

“Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but maybe you could use a good spanking.”

Her mouth flew open, and for a second he thought she was going to slap him. Her breasts strained against the shimmering fabric of her dress and her cheeks flushed pink.

Beautiful.

“You’ve got a lot of fire in you. You don’t need to beg or borrow or steal stuff back from someone else. You’re sharp and young and you can do anything you want.”

She spoke between gritted teeth. “Right now I’d like to—”

“Finish what we started on that copy machine?” He tilted his head and let his gaze roam shamelessly over the hot, angry skin of her face and neck. “That picture does bring back sweet memories.”

“You’re a beast!”

“I know. Sad isn’t it? Do you think you can tame me?”

Her breathing came faster, creating a shimmering ripple in the clingy dress that made his blood pound with desire. He might be way beyond taming.

“I’d like to wring your neck.” Her eyes were narrowed to stormy slits.

“Go ahead and try.” He squinted. “It’s pretty big, so I’m not sure you’ll be able to get your hands around it. But you never know.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and went for it. He had no idea what was really going through her mind, presumably not a public strangulation at his dad’s party. Maybe she couldn’t turn down the challenge that her hands wouldn’t fit around his neck.

Naturally, he took advantage of the opportunity to grab her around the waist. She wriggled and her silky dress slid under his fingers. Her high heels raised her hips to just below his, so her pelvis crushed delightfully against his thickening flesh.

“Let me go!”

“You let me go first.” His voice turned gruff, as blood rushed from his brain and vocal cords to more southern parts of his anatomy.

Her cool fingers pressed into the back of his neck. “See, they do fit!”

“Not enough to get a good squeeze going.”

Her face was about two inches from his and the sweet scent of her skin drove him crazy.

Her lip curled. “You’re right. Neanderthal!”

“Tell me about it. I have to get my shirts specially made.”

Her lips now hovered about a half-inch from his. She still didn’t have a lick of makeup on, which was downright arrogant, given her job.

No wonder he couldn’t resist her.

Her hands still rested on his neck, her fingers warming against his skin. They stared each other down, eyes glittering in the semidarkness.

He stared down and she stared up, since he still had several inches on her. Which made it somewhat imperative that he make the first move.

Happy to oblige.

He dusted her lips with a kiss so light their skin barely touched.

Her lips parted. She released her fingers from around his neck, and he braced for her to push back, but instead she surprised him by sliding her hand down over his shoulder, and along his bicep. She gave it a squeeze.

“You are solid, aren’t you?”

Her slim fingers pressed against his skin through the cotton of his T-shirt and made his hairs stand on end. Her straining breasts bumped against his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs.

“You’re driving me out of my mind,” he muttered with the last shreds of coherent thought in his brain.

“Good.” Bella flashed a smoky-gray gaze at him, then stood on tiptoe, closed her eyes, and planted her lips firmly on his.

He held her tight in his arms as they kissed, pressing her sumptuous body to his, as shock waves of sensation rippled through his muscles.

He hugged her closer, enjoying the warm, soft feel of her as their tongues tangled. He reveled in the cool satin of her cheek against his, the silky fall of her unbound hair.

He loved the way she didn’t try to fight him off because she felt she should, out of misplaced propriety or feminine cunning. She didn’t “play nice.”

And now he knew the reason for the shadows in those big gray eyes. He understood that her furtive quest to sue his father was driven by deep love for and loyalty to her family.

That touched him in a way he couldn’t put into words.

Dominic dragged in a deep breath as Bella’s hands roamed over the muscles of his back. His own fingers crept around to the front to enjoy the fullness of her beautiful breasts, unbound inside their shimmering dress.

Oh, Bella.

He wasn’t sure if he said it out loud, or just thought it. That stopped him in his tracks. He needed to keep his head.

He pulled back, blinking in the reflected strobing of the lights from the dance floor. She frowned at him, her eyes dark with passion and her lips moist. The halter strings of her dress had gotten twisted, and the front revealed rather more cleavage than the designer had intended.

Dominic sucked in a breath, trying to send blood and oxygen back to his brain, which apparently only had enough to fuel the one track that was working right now.

Bella’s cheeks were flushed pink, which gave her far more radiance than any slap-on preparation sold at Hardcastle Enterprises. He fumbled with her golden strings, trying to make her decent. Which was a challenge, when all he wanted to do was loosen their knot and enjoy the simple pleasures of making her entirely indecent.

A prickling sensation on the back of his neck made him look past the glowing skin of her cheek. In the shadows about thirty feet away, he could make out the slim, white-clad form of Samantha, his father’s wife.

Watching.

Chapter Seventeen

D
ominic frowned. He couldn’t figure out Samantha’s angle. The press mocked her as a gold digger for marrying an older man with a terminal illness. But from what he’d heard, she was behind the whole push to find Tarrant’s lost children, who would then presumably be rivals for the gold she was digging.