Unconditional (7 page)

“Look, little girl, I hope you have enjoyed the strip show. However, if you still intend to sleep alone tonight, I suggest you get the fuck out of my bedroom,” he drawled silkily.

Rinah was rooted to the spot and couldn’t have moved if her life depended on it.

Dominic’s lips twisted in self-recrimination, as if he knew that she was in over her head. Appreciating that he must be used to sophisticated women who knew how to act in a situation like this, she was determined to brazen it out. She simply wanted to be with him.

If she had been giving advice to herself, she would have been calling herself all kinds of an idiot. She’d just met him, for God’s sake! But she had never met someone like him before. He captured her senses and made her want him even more. He was so assured of himself, but was so damn hostile as well, and obviously needing some light in his life. She wanted to be some source of brightness for him.

He muttered under his breath. The only words she made out were “damn women”.

“I’m going in the shower.” He was almost glaring at her now. “Come join me. But don’t cross that threshold unless you’re willing to see this shit through. No more fucking theatrics about what’s going on here!” He followed that arrogant statement by dropping his trousers and underwear, displaying an unapologetically aroused shaft that stood boldly erect.

He was definitely not ignoring her now. She was gratified by that. Since arriving at the apartment, this was the first real indication that he was not as immune to her as he had appeared.

His action was confident, unabashed, leaving no doubt about his desire for her. He allowed her full view of his response, not hiding his body’s readiness to claim her. He held her gaze.

He turned on the balls of his feet and strode into the
en-suite
bathroom, leaving Rinah with a view of his lean, muscled back and tight, chiseled ass. There was a vicious scar on his left side, but it only served to enhance the absolute sculptured perfection of his body.

Rinah soon heard the harsh jets of the shower hitting tiled walls. She swallowed, fighting the moral code she’d lived by all her life and the overwhelming desire his presence had elicited within her. She was conflicted, indecisive about taking that step. Could she live with herself if she gave her virginity to a man she barely knew? Could she live with herself if she didn’t explore a desire this intense? A confirmation that she was even capable of feeling something so erotic was invigorating and addictive—she had no choice but to explore this side of herself.

Not having ever experienced anything like it with any other man, she was reluctant to ignore what her body was demanding. She’d been convinced that her libido might be as cold and frigid as the Washington winters she’d grown up in, since she had never even shown an interest in sex. Tonight might be her one chance to experience and express such great passion.

Rinah had to be honest with herself and admit that Dominic was not the forever kind of guy. She wasn’t going to get forever. She couldn’t afford to feed herself that lie. Her flight home was set and this was going to be a one-time thing. He wasn’t going to be her knight in shining armor.
Can I live with
that?

On trembling legs, she walked to the open doorway of the bathroom. His magnificent figure was clearly visible through the glass panes of the massive shower. However, he didn’t utter a sound or move from beneath the jets. He didn’t look at her, even though she was certain he had to have heard her entrance. Nor did he encourage her in any way to join him. Not giving any further thought to what she was doing, she lowered the spaghetti straps of her pale silver dress, gently unzipped the back, and let the fabric slither down her body.

He suddenly opened the door of the shower and as water streamed down his face, his gaze boldly roamed over her body. She wondered what he thought of her lack of a bra and her plain white panties. Covering her naked breasts with her palms, she grimaced while thinking of her wide, curvy hips and round ass.

“Don’t hide from me,” he growled fiercely. “You’re beautiful.”

She immediately dropped her hands, knowing her painfully erect nipples were tightening further and her core was pulsing insistently in reaction to the hungry, feral look in his eyes.

He stepped out of the shower, reached for a packet on the counter and tore into it. She blushed fiercely as he glided the condom on his thick erection. She gulped audibly as the monstrosity reached past his navel.

“Come here, sweetheart.” He lifted her effortlessly, taking her into the shower with him.

She gasped in astonishment.

He’s so damn
strong!

She was not a small woman and he had picked her up with easy power, his strength enflaming her further.

The warm water hit her hot skin. But nothing could detract from the scalding impact of his heated flesh against hers. Desire sizzled through every nerve ending, ratcheting up to unbearable levels. Feeling dizzy from the onslaught, she clung tightly to him, legs intertwined with his, arms around his neck for leverage.

He gazed into her eyes as water cascaded over his head, making his hair appear darker and his expression seem almost sinister. He lowered his head toward her. She shivered violently in impatient anticipation. The kiss, when it came, was not what she’d expected. He was incredibly gentle, lightly brushing her lips with his, and then softly nibbling her lower lip, before fusing into a devastating kiss. He roamed his hands over her sleek skin, down her back, her waist, to settle on her ass.

Dominic held her securely against him as the drugging kiss deepened, his tongue exploring and shooting bolts of need low in her pelvis. Rinah was embarrassed by the needy, involuntary moans forced from her lips. She couldn’t control the trembling of her limbs or the gripping desire that turned the tips of her nipples into granite peaks.

He reached for the shower gel and generously lathered her body. One kiss melded into another as his soapy hands caressed every inch of her softness. The scrap of material covering her bottom was no barrier to his questing hands. He plucked at and gently massaged her breasts, before taking an aching nipple into his mouth.

Her cries grew louder and longer with each tug on the tips.

He sucked and nibbled the dark buds while trailing skillful fingers to her slick core. The sensation was too much, too intense. She convulsed in an irrepressible climax, collapsing against him weakly.

He was all that she could wish for in a lover: attentive, gentle, domineering, and sexy as hell. Still in the throes of a release so blistering, she sighed with joyful certainty that she wouldn’t regret giving him her virginity tonight. She couldn’t wait to feel him deep inside her.

That was until he lifted her up, clasping her long legs around his hips, and slid his steely length into her in an upward powerful thrust. She cried out in anguish as the bruising thickness plunged into her snug, virginal core. The muscles in her legs automatically tightened and tried to stop him from going further.

“What the fuck?”

His brutal expletive made tears roll down her cheeks. She gazed at him through watery lenses.

She was mortified by the anger she saw in his face.

Not uttering a word of sympathy, but clearly remorseful, he quickly withdrew from her resisting channel.

“Is this your first time?” he asked in disbelief.

Looking at the wall behind him, anywhere but at him, she nodded in the affirmative.

“I’ve never deflowered a virgin. This situation is not right,” he muttered as he stepped out of the shower with her now held high in his arms. Disengaging her arms from him around his neck, he began to briskly dry them both with a large towel. Moving in a concise, businesslike manner, he was already distancing himself from her.

Rinah, quiet now, was too embarrassed to say anything to ease the awkward moment.

Once dried, he covered her nakedness with his robe and gently lifted her again. She was undone by his tenderness, when he was still so obviously aroused and didn’t intend to do anything about it. He walked through his bedroom with her held against his chest. Ignoring his enormous bed, he took her to another bedroom and deposited her on the queen-sized mattress.

He looked at her through lowered lashes. It was impossible to discern his mood. She hung her head in mortification. He suddenly dropped to his knees beside her and with fingers on her chin, he lifted her head to look at him. She couldn’t prevent her eyes from pooling in tears under his warm gaze.

“Well, that was interesting,” he teased.

She bit her lip to prevent the sob from escaping. He was being too tender.

“Look, sweetheart, I don’t know what’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours. But I’m not the kind of guy you give your virginity to. The women I usually have sex with know the score. You’re obviously not that type of woman. A guy like me could only promise you a good fuck, nothing else. You deserve more than that.” His gaze pierced her.

Despite her discomfort with the turn of events, she was not even slightly dissuaded from wanting to be with him, even after his warning about his character. Her body continued to pulse with the need to be possessed. She could still feel his hardness in her core and she wanted him back there. She couldn’t look at him without wanting to feel his strong arms around her.

“Go home to Trinidad, Rinah. You’ll find that guy who’ll give you the fairy tale you deserve. I don’t do relationships and men like me won’t propose after taking what you offered. So for now, all that is on offer is a bed and a good night’s sleep.” He held her gaze for a few heated seconds. He kissed her gently again before rising to his full height in front of her.

“Do me a favor and stay the hell out of my bedroom. You’re so fucking sweet, I’m not sure I’ll have the restraint to let you go a second time.” Not giving her any opportunity to respond, he abruptly turned to leave the room.

“Dominic, I never asked you to let me go,” Rinah whispered at his retreating back.

He didn’t acknowledge her response, but instead walked out of the room, closing the door firmly behind him with a definite click.

Her humiliation was complete.

She turned restlessly on the mattress. The worst of it was that she still desired his touch. Her body hummed and tightened in agitation, refusing to forget the ecstasy of being in his arms. How could she walk away from such desire?

Sleep wouldn’t come.

Chapter Five

F
ar eclipsing the
need to protect herself or ensure self-preservation, she couldn’t stop wanting him. She tingled everywhere he’d touched and in some places he hadn’t. His scent, from the bathrobe, didn’t help her predicament, either. The rough material tormented her sensitive nipples. An hour later, impatient with her chaotic thoughts, and wanting to escape the claustrophobic atmosphere of the bedroom, she climbed from the bed.

She exited the room, still in the bathrobe Dominic had loaned her.

As she approached the front door, his voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going, dressed like that?”

She looked down at the enormous robe that swallowed her frame. “I saw the beach from my bedroom window, and just wanted to walk a little to clear my head.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Despite this being a private property and gated, the beach at night is not safe.”

“Look, Dominic, you’re not my father! You can’t tell me what to do.”

He sighed as if waiting on a petulant child to eventually come to reason.

“If you insist on going out, at least get dressed and allow me to accompany you.”

Rinah glared at him, hating the fact that he was being so reasonable while her emotions were completely volatile and irrational.

He reentered his bedroom and returned a few moments later with the dress she’d carelessly discarded an hour before. He had taken the time to put on dark sweat pants and a white T-shirt.

She stomped back into her borrowed room and quickly shimmed into her dress. She felt provocatively attired, as the cut of her garment made it impossible to wear a bra, and she was forced to go commando as her panties hadn’t survived the amorous activities in the shower.

Given his rejection of her, she was intensely apprehensive of facing him again, looking so exposed. She just wanted to get some fresh air and hopefully restore her pride.

Exiting the room, she met him at the door. He silently turned and led the way out of the apartment.

She walked barefoot on the silky white sand, inhaling the salty, clean air, and immediately felt the ocean’s calming effect. The night air flowed soothingly over her heated skin. She’d needed this, after the turbulence of the past twenty-four hours. Finally, her thoughts seemed clearer, undiluted by her desire for the man walking soundlessly beside her.

“It’s so beautiful here. The ocean breeze, the tranquility, reminds me so much of Trinidad.”

“When was the last time you were home?”

She laughed. “I haven’t been back in years.”

“I can tell. Your accent is there, but infused with a bit of the British.”

“You can’t talk! I can’t tell where you’re from. Sometimes you sound like the islanders and others, quite European. I know that you’re an American, so why don’t you have an American accent?”

He chortled at her confusion. “I’ve lived a very colorful life.”

“That’s all you’re going to say?”

“I’m more interested in hearing about you.”

Rinah saw it for the deflection it was. She let him get away with it, for now.

They walked for a mile along the beach, talking about her childhood in various parts of the world. He seemed impressed with her language skills and admitted that he spoke seven other languages to her four. Besides English, they both spoke Spanish, French, and Russian. He didn’t name his other languages. No matter how much she tried, he remained guarded about his past, only disclosing the information she’d already gained from Bianca about his parents.

Sitting side by side on the damp sand, they remained out on the beach looking out over the calm waters talking until the sun peeked over the horizon. Rinah was shocked to realize they’d been out there so long. Sometime during the conversation, she’d inched closer to him. By the early dawn hours, the cold chill of the night penetrated the thin fabric of her dress. Trying to get warm, she ended up sitting between his legs, with his strong arms wrapped around her. She was not only warm, cocooned in his masculine heat, she felt incredibly secure. Their connection seemed more intimate than the scene they’d shared in the shower hours before. She was reluctant for it to end. But as the sun rose higher, Dominic stood and pulled her up to her feet.

Her objections were forgotten when she noted the stunned look on Dominic’s face as she stood before him. She immediately realized that her pale, classically cut dress, which was elegant and innocent in the night-muted lights, had been rendered partially transparent on the bright sun-lit beach. The slight dampness from the morning dew on the fragile material also increased the visibility of her body.

She should have been embarrassed, but after the intimacy of the night and her surreal, lethargic state, nothing could embarrass her.

“Where the hell is your underwear? That damn dress is practically indecent!” Dominic blurted out, his hair tousled in sexy disarray.

“It’s not that bad.” She giggled at his disgruntled look. “Don’t you think it’s time we went back? I would also like to go home. My flight is scheduled for later tonight.” Trying to brazen it out with brave words, she still couldn’t prevent the telltale blushes that would be more visible if her skin had been of a lighter hue.

“How the hell am I supposed to take you back, looking like that?” he muttered as he marched back to his apartment.

She followed in his wake, amused by his attitude. But once they entered the apartment, her good humor soon deserted her.

“Go find the rest of your clothes and get dressed properly.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re being unreasonable. These are all the clothes I have.”

He stalked into his bedroom, returning a few moments later with one of his shirts.

“Here. Put this on.”

“You’re overreacting! It’s not that bad,” Rinah stated heatedly, bitterly disappointed that they’d lost the easy camaraderie from the beach. She stood with her arms folded, legs braced apart, and glared at him in angry defiance.

In a voice of deceptive softness, Dominic said, “Go get dressed, or I will do it for you.” He continued gazing at her from underneath lowered lashes. It was impossible to determine how angry he was. But she knew her own temper was soaring.

Rinah was not impressed with his self-righteous arrogance. She didn’t want the brotherly concern he insisted on maintaining. She wanted the lover from a few hours before. Acknowledging how breathtaking he appeared, with his jaw line darkened from the overnight hair growth, she was no longer sure what they were fighting about. He was so achingly beautiful, it hurt even to look at him without wanting to touch him, or be touched by him. The thought of having him put clothes on her was too tempting to pass up.

“If you want that shirt on me, then you’ll have to do it yourself.” She started inching the hem of her dress up, to take it off.

Dom’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you doing? Stop that!”

“But I thought you said you were going to dress me. Or was that just an empty threat?”

He gazed at her in dawning comprehension. “Don’t play with me, little girl. You
want
me to touch you, don’t you?” The color of his eyes looked like melted silver. “I’m not some young boy who you can goad into doing your bidding,” he said with deceptive softness. “When I take your virginity, it will be at my choosing.”

She sputtered, cursing mentally at his absolute arrogance and certainty.

“In your dreams buddy! You won’t be given that option again. I’ve learned my lesson, thank you very much. The next time I want to have sex, I’ll find someone more interested and skilled to complete the task.” Rinah smirked dismissively.

“What the fuck did you say?”

She had no problem deciphering his angry glare. He stalked menacingly toward her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her hard against him.

He muttered a few more words, but she was too lost in the suddenness of her softness against his hard masculinity to comprehend what was being said. It immediately fired her desire, and banked all other senses but the shocking lust of her body. The need and hunger of the night before returned with a vengeance. Their gazes collided; blistering emotions reflected in their gazes.

“What the hell?” he growled before swooping down to claim her lips in a devastating kiss that obliterated all coherent thought from her mind.

Their mouths fused over and over again, feasting and learning each other’s taste all over again. She was overwhelmed. His kisses were nothing short of incendiary. The hunger that gripped her now was like lava coursing through her veins, fanning the embers of her need from before and escalating it to blazing flames.

As hands explored and caressed, clothes were discarded in frantic, impatient movements.

“So fucking beautiful!” His voice flowed with velvet softness over her senses. “So fucking mine!”

“Yes!” She was in total agreement, wanting to be irrevocably his.

Dominic lifted her again.

I can so get used to
this!

He took her into his bedroom and gently placed her on his bed. He stretched out his massive frame on top of her. She moaned in excruciating bliss, loving the solid feel of him weighing her down.

“Oh sweet, merciful heaven.” She breathed in appreciation.

He grinned at her response before capturing her lips again. The kiss instantly heated as his tongue swirled in, robbing her of all thought. She was utterly devastated and clung tightly to him, determined that he would not stop this time.

“Please don’t stop,” she whispered brokenly against his lips.

“Not planning to,” he muttered.

In response, she gripped his silky, black hair and melded their mouths again. Her breasts ached for his touch, her stomach clutched tight, and her clit throbbed insistently. She wrapped her legs around his waist, writhing under him, aligning her wetness against the hard, velvet ridge of his cock wedged against her. With the newfound leverage, she glided her clit from the veined bottom to the smooth, broad tip, over and over again. He suddenly grabbed her hips to stop her frantic movement.

“Slow down, baby,” he admonished softly.

He held her hair, threading his fingers through the silky length. He inhaled its scent and buried his nose in the soft, dark strands. “I got you.”

She whimpered in frustration. She couldn’t seem to satisfy the piercing need that gripped her, and Dominic’s slow seduction was only exacerbating the problem. The man was determined to torture her. Skillful fingers trailed a torturous path over her sensitive skin, leaving exquisite pleasure in their wake. Nothing escaped his torment, not her swollen breasts, the slight slope of her stomach, or the soft, round cheeks of her ass.

Dom caressed her slowly and gently with his hands, and then more thoroughly with his mouth. With dexterous lips and teeth, he paid homage to her aching nipples, sucking and gently biting the hard tips. She moaned in agitation. Her fingers tunneled through his hair as his lips caressed her stomach and then moved lower to her hips. Her core was drenched, pulsing with need.

He tenderly held her legs apart as his tongue found her warm, wet center. She first tried to resist the intensely intimate assault, but his persistence and the skillful application of his tongue soon rendered her beyond thought. She was soon begging for more, allowing him access to do whatever he wanted. With her hard clit held gently between his teeth and his fingers buried deep in her, gliding in and out, she moaned helplessly in distress.

Stabbing sensations flooded her nerve endings and pushed her beyond reality. His relentless seduction made her shatter violently. She sobbed in fulfillment at the stunning, exquisite release.

He slowly covered her damp body with his large frame and kissed her until the tremors from her release lessened. The taste of herself on his lips heightened and jarred her desire further. She barely registered the brief pain that accompanied his steely length as he thrust deep within her center.

Growling in approval as he held her hips tightly against him, he sank to the root into her molten heat. He remained perfectly still while she adjusted to bruising invasion. His kiss became more sensual as his tongue probed her mouth, exploring and imitating the slow glide of his cock as he slid out and then plunged back into her, again and again. His breathing became laborious as he repeatedly drove into her in an enthralling, ardent rhythm.

Rinah whimpered helplessly, completely consumed by what he was eliciting from her. Every touch, every thrust of his hips, everything about him made her senses reel, and heightened her desire. His musky scent, his hot, damp skin, and the smooth contours of his muscles as he clutched her against him intensified her need for him. His tenderness now was in such direct contrast to his usual rough, harsh demeanor. She was captivated by this side of him.

The release she’d felt moments ago had not prepared her for this raw and primitive assault on her senses. She cried out with a, long piercing scream on the shattering release that utterly overwhelmed and incinerated her. Her entire body shook and tears leaked from her eyes at the perfection and the intensity of her orgasm.

Dom’s own long, guttural growl of satisfaction soon followed as he thrust twice more, deep into her quivering core. His fierce release sent her hurtling again into a sensual abyss, sparking renewed, violent tremors through her. Exhausted from the avalanche of emotions, she lost awareness.

She woke a few moments later to find him gingerly removing his weight from her. Sliding to her side, he pulled her against him and held her gently. She looked around the room at the carnage their passion had wrought, and then looked back at him to see him grinning devilishly at her. She blushed and ducked her head in mortification.

“Hey, don’t do that. Nothing for you to be embarrassed about. We’re amazing together.”

She raised her head then and gazed at him through the curtain of her long hair. “We were?”

He smiled. “Yes, sweetheart, we were. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” His good humor of a few moments ago had been replaced with concern.