Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Dominic was merciless, all right. The way he was staring at her, his breath on her neck… She was so aware of him she struggled to concentrate on the code in front of her.
He was just trying to get back at her for the violin.
But she didn’t have the same stamina he did for fucking with somebody’s head.
This tension was unbearable. She’d done a decent job of pretending in the music room that she didn’t want him, but her willpower was cracking.
Any minute, and she’d give herself away.
He was a client. And a mobster under house arrest for a murder charge. Completely off limits in every logical way.
But with each insult that passed her tongue, she somehow only wanted him more.
He should just get it over with. Either leave her alone or pull her into his arms and kiss her. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to stop playing his game, either.
Sylvie’s fingers were getting sweaty on her keyboard.
“Is there a table I could set my computer on? I want to run some more diagnostics and antivirus software.” She had some special programs she’d written that might identify if Dominic had sophisticated malware on his network.
“How about upstairs? There’s a workspace you could use that’s close to the other panel.
It’s nice and quiet. I can show you.” His tone was full of innuendo.
Yet there was something boyish about him, too.
Like he half expected her to say no and was holding his breath, hoping she wouldn’t.
Like his feelings might actually be on the line.
“Sure. Upstairs is fine.”
Upstairs. Where the bedrooms would be.
What the hell am I doing?
This was such a bad idea. Right? But then, why did the thought of going upstairs with him make her skin flush and her belly swoop in the best possible way?
She grabbed her bag and the laptop and headed toward the staircase. He gestured for her to go first, as if she had any idea where they were going. As Dominic followed, she felt his eyes all over her, and she wished she didn’t like it so much.
Sylvie went to the upstairs security panel she’d installed the last time. There shouldn’t have been any differences from the one downstairs, since they worked together in a unified system, but she went through the motions of plugging in her laptop once again. She was just stalling at this point.
“Do you need to leave it plugged in?” he asked.
“Not really. I could just use the Wi-Fi.”
Dominic pointed at a doorway. She unplugged the laptop and joined him.
They went into a game room. There was a round table with four armchairs circling it, probably for playing cards. A foosball table stood in a corner, plus a gigantic TV and several video gaming systems that looked untouched.
A couch dominated the center of the room. Another oversized sectional, with plenty of space for someone as tall as Dominic to lie down comfortably and still allow a second person beside him. Which she should not be thinking about, because her heart rate had just spiked once again.
Dominic shut the door, then sat on the couch and stretched his arms along the back.
I am not going to end up on that couch with him. It’s not happening. Though her inner voice would’ve been a lot more convincing if dirty images weren’t already flitting through her imagination.
Like going onto her knees in front of him.
Oh. My. God. Stop.
She set her computer on the table. “You don’t have to stay here.”
“I know. But I keep hoping you’ll answer my questions from earlier. Don’t think I forgot.”
It probably wouldn’t hurt to tell him more about herself. She just needed to get her mind off the overpowering physicality of him. She always found it easier to deal with a situation when she was fully inside her head. It was one of her strengths, and likely the source of her pleasure problem.
Whenever she felt insecure or didn’t know what to do, she retreated to her mind. That was part of why playing an instrument was so good for her. It forced her mental talents to work with her body, instead of separating the two.
But she didn’t practice anywhere near as much as she should as an adult. She was usually far too busy with work.
Her finger tapped a key, and a new window opened on her screen.
“I started violin lessons in elementary school. My third-grade teacher knew how to play and had some instruments of her own, so she offered private lessons. I lived in a small town. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for musical training otherwise. ”
“A small town? Where is it?”
“Central Texas. I grew up on a cattle ranch.”
Dominic grinned wide, but she didn’t get the sense that he was laughing at her. “I wonder what they think of you, with your tattoos and attitude?”
“They don’t think much of me at all.” Whichever way he interpreted that sentence, he probably had it right. “See? I’m really not very interesting.”
“Oh, I disagree. Tell me more. How’d you end up stuck as Max Bennett’s underling?”
The guy was bored, and it was no wonder. He was just passing the time with whoever happened to be near. And right now, that was her.
“I really don’t see why you care.”
“I find you intriguing.”
“Really. And what do you find intriguing about me?”
“Your tattoos. Your obvious intelligence.” His voice had dropped lower, and his tone was intimate. “The skin at the back of your neck, the shape of your mouth when you’re annoyed… Should I keep going?”
Oh, boy. Her whole body was blushing and tingling. “That won’t be necessary.”
It annoyed her that he could coax such a strong reaction from her with just a few compliments. Okay, more than a few compliments. Being the focus of Dominic’s attention was a heady experience.
She wasn’t looking at him, yet every inch of her was aware of him. The way he crossed his legs. Tilted his head.
“You didn’t tell me how you ended up working for Bennett Security.”
“It’s just a job. I was looking for more responsibility, a challenge, so I applied.”
“You’re in charge there?”
“Of my department? Yep. Max is the only person I have to report to. But that also means I have a lot to do.”
Sylvie forced herself to ignore him while she set up her diagnostics to run on the laptop. And he just sat there watching her work, with that same smoldering intensity in his gaze. Like he would sit waiting for her all day if needed.
“I keep thinking about the day we met,” he said. “I assumed you hated me.”
Her fingers stilled on the keyboard. “What makes you think I don’t?”
“If you do, you’re being nicer about it. Which I appreciate.”
“I wouldn’t want to be predictable.”
Dominic laughed. “No, you’re not that.”
“But I’m not here to entertain you.”
He groaned. “That was stupid of me. A lame joke. What I really meant is, we could entertain each other.”
She snorted. “Oh, can we?”
“Yes. I’ll bet you don’t mind that idea.” His grin was back. “Even if you hate me, I’m pretty sure there’s something you want from me. And it has nothing to do with my security system.”
“What do you think I want?”
“You’re from the uptight security company, and I’m the degenerate criminal. But I see the way you look at me. You want what you’re not supposed to want. Just like I do.”
She shrugged, as if his words—and the sexy rumble of his voice—didn’t make her blood course faster through her veins.
“So? Doesn’t mean I’ll act on it.”
“You never do things you’re not supposed to? You’re missing out.”
A tiny whimper snuck out of her throat. Her clit was so swollen that her every movement rubbed her jeans against it, jolting her with another surge of arousal.
“I break rules all the time,” she said.
“Then you know how fun it can be.”
Yes, her body whispered. It was fun. And it was hot.
That was the reason bad boys did it for her, wasn’t it? The knowledge that they weren’t good for her. That she was doing something she shouldn’t.
Her brain could deny it all day, but she’d been fantasizing about Dominic for weeks. She’d walked into his house wanting this to happen. Wouldn’t it be a relief to give in? To just admit it?
Her diagnostic was running happily. No more excuses.
Sylvie pushed back her chair and stood up, her heart thumping. Dominic’s eyes widened slightly. Like he hadn’t expected her to make a move.
She started toward him and stopped in front of the couch, standing between his knees. For once, he was looking up at her instead of the other way around.
“You’re right. I do want you.” A sense of power raced through her at owning her desire this way. “Even though I don’t like you.”
Dominic’s eyes moved over her like she was already naked.
“Then you have a decision to make,” he said. “Will you be a good girl and do what you’re supposed to? Or will you come a little closer and see how much fun it is to be bad?”
When he put it like that…
Nobody at Bennett Security would ever—ever—know. No one in the world would know, except maybe Maureen. Sylvie had the feeling the housekeeper wouldn’t be too surprised. Maureen had worked for Crane for a while, after all.
Sylvie didn’t want to date the guy. This was the exact opposite. They didn’t like each other, and they both knew it.
She just needed to get him out of her system. Fool around with him, then move on. The faster, the better.
And there was an eager part of her that kept thinking… What if he’s the one?
Whenever she was really into a guy, Sylvie felt the same naive optimism that he could give her what she’d been craving for so long. Not that her pleasure was the man’s sole responsibility. Not at all. But Sylvie had tried so many things already to break through that barrier.
She couldn’t even say why she couldn’t climax. No number of therapists had been able to enlighten her. But maybe there was some special alchemy that she’d been lacking with her previous partners.
Maybe Dominic would be different.
She’d never been with anyone this forbidden. She was already overheating with need, and the man hadn’t laid a hand on her yet.
She knelt on the couch in between his knees. His grin turned downright wolfish.
“That’s not nearly close enough.” His arms circled her hips and pulled her onto him. She straddled his thighs, not yet close enough to feel his hard-on, though she could see its prominent outline.
I’m in Dominic Crane’s lap. His hands are on my ass. So, so bad. But so good.
He had the same smell she remembered from before. Salt and sex. The urge to lick his neck was almost overpowering, but somehow, she held onto her control. She didn’t want him to know how much he’d gotten to her.
“I was telling you all the things I find intriguing about you.” He touched the frame of her glasses. “Like these. Can you still see without them?”
“Up close.” The words came out breathy.
Dominic slid the frames away from her face. He was a little blurrier. She inched forward to see him better, which was perhaps the whole idea. His scent was even stronger in her nose, drawing even more desire from her belly. Her pelvis rocked slightly against him.
His features weren’t as flawless close up, yet they were somehow even more arresting.
Dark eyebrows and ample lashes, a small hump in the bridge of his long, sloping nose.
She ran her finger down it, then touched his cheek.
There was a hint of stubble already growing in.
His eyes were gentle and thoughtful as they studied her right back.
“You’re pretty,” she whispered. “As you already know.”
“Not as pretty as you.”
“Liar.”
“Sometimes, yeah. But not about this.” He kept glancing at her mouth.
“Wait.” Hesitation surged through her, forcing her to pump the brakes. Her body was in charge at the moment, but her brain was very insistent on a few points. “I have ground rules. Ones I won’t break.”
This was really a conversation they should’ve had a few minutes ago. She needed to rein herself in before she did something not just forbidden, but stupid.
He nodded. “Tell me.”
“I’m not ready to get naked with you.” She didn’t know Dominic Crane, and she didn’t really trust him. Not enough to give him that much access.
“If you’re concerned, I tested clean a month ago. The government was nice enough to allow me a doctor’s visit.”
“I’m clean too, but that’s not what I mean. I’m not up for oral sex, or genital-to-genital contact.”
“Okay.”
She exhaled, relieved he’d agreed so readily. If he hadn’t, she would’ve used some of her self-defense moves and gotten out of there.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And I can touch you under your clothes, right?”
“Yes.” Oh, please, yes.
“I can work with that. I happen to find consent very sexy. Even when we’re otherwise being bad.” The corner of his mouth raised. “Now come here.”
She braced her hands on either side of him against the couch. Her body rocked forward again, this time meeting the bulge in his jeans. He gripped her hips, stopping her forward motion.
“Tell me about your tattoos.”
She grumbled. Now he was tapping the brakes, and it annoyed her.
“I started on them when I moved to L.A. I was nineteen.” She pointed at the black silhouette of a dove with outstretched wings on her bicep. “This was my first. The symbolism is far from subtle, but I still like it.”
He touched the dove. “And what about these?” His fingertip moved over patterns of thorny vines, flowers, and leaves. Tingles of pleasure spread over her skin.
“Sometimes I ask for a specific image. Sometimes I’m just the canvas.” She trusted her artist completely, so she didn’t always have anything particular in mind. The surprise was part of the fun, waiting to see what he’d come up with. Somehow it always matched her mood and personality.
“What’s this one?”
Her newest. “A heron.”
“You sure? I think it’s a crane.”
She scowled. “It’s a heron.”
His eyes danced. “If you say so.” His fingers strayed beneath the straps of her tank. “Wish I could see the rest of them. But maybe another time.” Dominic leaned forward to kiss her shoulder. The touch was soft, softer than she’d imagined he could be.
Sylvie sighed, tipping her head back.
Then he sat up and cupped the back of her neck, those dark eyes hooded and intense.
He brought his lush mouth to her lips. And those last threads of rational thought disappeared. Her mind checked out completely.