Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Dominic’s fingers were pumping inside her, stroking her clit. Playing her body like an instrument. Sylvie had never felt anything so fucking good.
It was going to happen.
She was going to come.
God, she could feel it. So close. So close.
He knew it, too, if that naughty grin was any indication. She felt his erection against her hip. It had slipped out of her hand. But what if his cock was inside of her instead? Wouldn’t that feel even better?
No, she had to focus on this moment. She’d said no getting naked for a reason.
Don’t get distracted.
His fingers were all she needed. His talented, long fingers. Tension was building inside of her, begging for release.
Yet she’d been here before. So many times. And it had never worked.
Stop thinking that.
Sylvie closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. Was she taking too long? Was his hand getting tired?
“Ow.”
“Sorry, is that too much?” He slowed down.
“It’s, um…” Shit. She’d gone dry.
Dominic pulled his fingers away and sucked on them, then replaced them just as fast. She felt the extra moisture, but her body wasn’t cooperating anymore. The friction had suddenly turned painful. Like some switch had flipped.
“Want me to get lube? I have some in my bedroom.”
Embarrassment rushed through her, drying her out even more. “No. It’s okay. I’m done.” She wrapped her fist around his cock again. “I almost forgot about you.”
“But you’re not finished.”
“I’m good. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not.” He kissed her neck. “We can take a break, but don’t worry. I’ll get you there. I’m not in a hurry if you’re not.”
“I’m getting sore. It’s not your fault.”
“Give me a chance.” He licked the corner of his mouth. “Couldn’t we bend the rules and take off your jeans? I could do so much better with my tongue.”
Gah. That idea made her breath catch. But it wouldn’t work. Nothing would work.
He must’ve seen the agony on her face. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have said that. You made your rules clear.”
Sylvie sat up, tugging her jeans back into place.
“Whoa, wait a second. Come back. I’ll behave.”
“I’m not in the mood anymore.”
“Sylvie.”
She walked over the table, eyes stinging.
He was adjusting his clothes. “Can we please start over?”
“I’d rather not. This was a mistake.”
“Okay. I’m not sure what just happened, but if you don’t want to do this, then we don’t have to.” Dominic stood, rubbing his hands against his jeans. “Not like I go around forcing myself on women.” Annoyance was sneaking into his voice.
“I told you, it’s not your fault. Nobody was forcing anyone. You’ve been perfectly nice.”
“I wasn’t really going for nice.”
“You’re right, my apologies. No one should ever accuse Dominic Crane of being nice.”
“Did you just now remember who I was? You forgot you were fooling around with a degenerate wearing an ankle monitor?”
“Trust me, I didn’t forget that for a second.”
Why wouldn’t he let this go? She’d been trying to give him a hand job, and she’d had every intention of finishing him off regardless of her own limitations.
Sylvie checked the programs running on her laptop. The diagnostic hadn’t finished yet. Dammit. She couldn’t leave.
He crossed the room, going after her. “Was that the whole point of this? You wanted to even some score between us?”
She whirled on him. “Jesus, how conceited are you? How many times do I have to say it? This is not about you.”
“Then what is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Would you just tell me what I did?”
“I can’t have an orgasm,” she shouted.
Oh my god. I just said that out loud.
“You can’t…” He blinked at her. “Really? You’re serious?”
She covered her face with her hands.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “I think I get it now.”
“I promise you don’t.”
“I do have some experience. I know it’s not as easy for women as it is for men. It’s not a big deal.” Dominic had followed her to the table. She felt the warmth of him just inches from her back.
“I decide what kind of deal it is. It’s my problem, not yours.”
“Who said it’s a problem? Not everyone’s built the same way.” His hand rested on her arm, kneading the muscle. “Why don’t you show me how you touch yourself? Show me so I can learn. I think that would be hot. I could touch myself, too.”
In spite of her embarrassment, her blood heated again at his suggestion. But there was no point. Sylvie shrugged away from him. “You don’t understand. I can’t have an orgasm. Not with anyone.”
“Not even… Are you saying you’ve never had an orgasm?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying.”
Sylvie sat in one of the hardbacked chairs by the table. She begged her computer to hurry up so she could get the hell out of here.
She didn’t even know this man, and now he was privy to intensely private information about her. Even Ethan had no idea about her issues.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You could’ve told me earlier.”
“I was hoping…” She shook her head. “Hoping it wouldn’t be an issue. With you.”
“Oh.” He pulled up the chair next to hers. “Then maybe it’s better I didn’t know. That’s a lot of pressure.” He smiled tentatively.
“Exactly.”
In Sylvie’s experience, most men didn’t care if she came. They didn’t seem to notice. But a couple of times, she’d admitted to boyfriends that she didn’t climax with them. The guys always got self-conscious about it. Just like Dominic was doing right now.
“But you were enjoying yourself with me? And at some point, you stopped?”
She really didn’t feel like petting his ego. “Don’t ask me to explain. I don’t understand why I’m like this, either.”
“Have you experienced…trauma?”
“Nothing like that.”
“Have you seen doctors? Could it be physical?”
“I’ve seen plenty. They tell me the problem is in my head.”
“Sex therapists?”
“Seen those, too.” They’d told her to try different devices and masturbation techniques.
No luck. “It didn’t work for me. But I really—” She was going to say she didn’t want to discuss this.
But he was being pretty low key about it.
Maybe talking it through wasn’t the worst thing.
The more they discussed the problem, the more her immediate mortification was fading.
He rested his arms on the table, humming as he thought. “You said you’re from a small town. Were they really conservative about sex? Could it be a guilt thing?”
“Don’t psychoanalyze me. It’s rude.”
“I don’t mean to be. But if it’s not a physical barrier, there must be a mental solution. That’s a good thing, right?”
That was the same hope she’d been clinging to, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
She raised her eyes to meet his. She didn’t see any judgment there. His smirk hadn’t made a reappearance.
“I want there to be a solution. But I don’t know how to find it.”
“Then you need more data. I could help with that.”
“More data is usually good. But you don’t strike me as a scientifically minded person. No offense.”
He clutched a hand over his heart. “That’s harsh. Maybe I’m not usually into science stuff, but I do like to experiment. I’ll try anything once.”
Now the smirk was back, but he was looking at her like he was already dreaming up ways they could gather this “data.”
Dominic’s legs nudged hers beneath the table. He reached for her arm and dragged his fingertips across her skin. “So you’ve tried touching yourself, and it hasn’t worked?”
She nodded. How did he do that? Keep his voice so even and soothing. Hypnotic. She was getting turned on again. Desire had rushed back to all her sensitive parts.
He kept stroking her arm. “Have you been with women?”
“I don’t have any sort of issue with my sexuality.”
“Have you tried porn?”
She opened her mouth, then hesitated. “Occasionally.”
He leaned forward to whisper, his lips brushing her ear, his cheek against hers. “What makes you get hot when you think about it? Do you want a man to dominate you?”
She squeezed her legs together. He was lighting up every one of her nerve endings. “I like communication.”
“We’re communicating right now.” Dominic’s hands moved to her thighs, gently massaging, while he kissed along the line of her jaw. “Come back to the couch. I want to make you feel good. No expectations.”
“I can make you feel good, too.” That was something she enjoyed. Making a man come apart for her.
He took her hand and brought it to his crotch. She felt the hard length of him tucked against his fly. “You turn me on, Sylvie. Let’s see how close we can get to the edge without going over. How long we can make it last.”
Now, she knew she was in trouble. She’d worried she couldn’t trust him before, and maybe she still shouldn’t.
But she had the feeling he could convince her to do anything if she gave him the chance. Her clothes weren’t going to stay on for long if he kept talking like that. It wasn’t like her to surrender so much control. Yet she didn’t want to say no, either.
He led her back over to the couch and tugged her down into his lap. Dominic kissed her, taking long pulls from her lips.
Sylvie unbuttoned his jeans. “Can I touch you for a while?” She’d been so distracted earlier she hadn’t even gotten a good look at him.
His smile was lopsided. Dominic reached for his zipper.
Then her computer dinged. She almost ignored it, but the laptop rang out again with another notification.
Sylvie groaned. “I should check on that. One of my programs is mad about something.”
“Do you have to?”
“I’m supposed to be working.”
That thought made her feel sheepish. Max probably wouldn’t appreciate the way she’d been spending her workday. Which had made this tryst all the hotter, but still.
She went over to the table and paused, expecting to see a notice about her diagnostic. Maybe the program had detected the source of the problem with Crane’s security system.
But it wasn’t the diagnostic.
Sylvie stared in horror at the screen. It showed an old-school, 8-bit animation of a dragon breathing fire. Something she’d thought was funny when she coded it for the firewall she’d designed for this machine. But she wasn’t laughing.
Alert the villagers! the notice window read. The castle is under attack!
“Oh, fuck.”
Downstairs, Maureen screamed.