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  He didn’t answer, and she must have told the truth about her verbosity because she just filled in the gap with more words.

  “Fine. Don’t answer. I’ll figure it out anyway. Can’t be soccer. They don’t have your height and bulk. That would slow them down. Swimmer, then? You don’t have to tell me. I’ll nail it sooner or later. I’m really good at this. It’s what I do. I facilitate communication. We need that in today’s web-driven world. That’s what I went to Shawn Elliot for. His money. I needed a guarantor for the bank loan. You don’t think I’d be with him for the pleasure of his company, do you? I’ve got it. You’re a dancer with a mean sense of rhythm and—.”

  “Warrior.”

  If the lifted eyebrows and open lips were an indication, he’d surprised her. Dominick watched where she sat, her words momentarily halted. Then something changed. Her face took on a blank look as she regarded him silently. It didn’t last.

  “Warrior? Oh, please. Let’s just pretend that occupation didn’t disappear with what? The Trojan Wars? Roman conquests? Oh! I get it. You’re a Special Forces kind of dude. That’s what you mean. And you can just stop there.”

  His fingers froze on the knotted tie while he looked across at her.

  “What? I’m supposed to be too stupid to notice you’re setting up a seduction here? Give me a break. No. Give me two of them. Come on, Dominick, say something else. I’m really feeling awkward and nervous over here. And I just told you that keeps me talking. I’m called ‘motor-mouth’ for a reason. Heaven knows what will happen if I get scared.”

  He yanked the drapery tie apart, making the entire bed structure creak. He regarded her through the sheer curtain, blurring the view. She did look a bit scared, with wide eyes, hair that haloed her head, while both hands were clasped at her breast.

  She didn’t know what she asked. If he made any sound, it would contain the raw primitive emotion he was suffering. If she felt nervous now, she’d be in allover fright. He didn’t dare speak. So he kept his steady regard on her, fully and completely. He moved out an arm and lifted the drape, lowered his chin, and called on his skill to mesmerize and enthrall; concentrated to bring on the humming sensation that hypnotized and froze his prey…and got nothing.

  Dominick blinked on the proof before his eyes. He should have known his power wouldn’t work. For centuries now, he’d been able to wield it. But not now. And not with her. If anything, it looked to have the opposite effect. He watched as she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and started breathing shallowly and quickly. The panel could just stay where it was.

  The next moment he was at her side, rocking the mattress with the force of his entry as he gathered her into his arms.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Her words halted, and every thought behind them. He had her pressed against him, held in the curve of his body, while the most amazing vibration emanated from where her nose pressed, right beneath his chin. It spread from there until it encompassed her entire frame, sending her against him in a continual set of surges she hadn’t any control over. Or maybe it was his movements engendering the same response. It was incredible. Stirring. Sending myriad images in lightning progression through her mind, all of them featuring naked, entwined limbs. On this bed.

  Nothing could have prepared her. Especially for what happened next.

  He put a finger beneath her chin, using it to tip her face to his, slanting his head down slightly at that same time. She wasn’t given any choice save to look right into his shadow-enhanced gaze. The result was breath-stealing. Heart-stopping. Enough to stop time and make it cry defeat. Courtney was ensnared. She couldn’t blink. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. She didn’t know if she’d be able to take her next breath. Dominick had beautiful eyes of darkest brown. Deep, and bottomless, and sending her senses into overdrive. A flicker happened, coming from the depth of black she stared into. It was snuffed the moment it happened. The resultant shockwave jolting her entire frame wasn’t as easily extinguished. Or endured. And since there wasn’t a particle of air space between them, there wasn’t any way to hide it.

  Except to open her mouth and say something. Anything. Before she dove right into the pit of sensual ecstasy his look promised.

  Words didn’t happen. Dominick lifted her, the same moment he dipped his head, and took her lips, restarting her heart with such a kick of fury, it pained. Heat infused her, ratcheting everything to an even higher level. There was a long drawn-out moan happening and he stole it with a kiss that weakened not just her knees, but every muscle in her body.

  He didn’t give her any time to assimilate any of it before shimmying his body upward slightly, sliding hard male against her, bowing about her, enclosing and protecting…and possessing. He moved the kiss to her chin, gaining a murmur from her, as he licked his way along her jaw-line. A thigh curled up, splitting her legs beneath it, while his hands moved to cradle her shoulder blades, lifting her without expending one ounce of effort. Courtney’s head lolled back, gifting her blessed space for air, as he slid his tongue to where the bandage should have been protecting her scratch.

  His body arched more and his fingers tightened, gripping fabric that hadn’t any prayer of staying whole, and then solid absolute pain hit her right in the throat. Agony raced through every portion of her, chased there by each pulse beat. Courtney stiffened in shock and surprise. Every bit of her choked cry carried it. And then something changed. Stings of sensation erupted, spurting outward from where he sucked at her neck, blurring the pain into a riot of wanton, lustful, overwhelming need. She was soaring. Thrilling.

  Courtney’s eyes slammed shut while her mouth stretched wide to let the longest, throat-tearing cry out.

  “Agapimeni.”

  Movement accompanied the gruffly whispered word, unlatching him from her neck to trail the kiss back to her lips. What felt like a razor sliced along her inner lip, paining to such a minor degree, it didn’t rate worry. There wasn’t any time before the pleasure hit again. Sweet heaven! Her body arched in reflex, planting her right against him. This time she was more than soaring. She was flying. And this time, her senses erupted with such amazing ecstasy, her entire being reveled in it.

  She was lowered back to the mattress, still gulping solid enchantment from his lips as he did hers. He settled atop her, accommodating his bulk between her split legs, and she wrapped those about him, clamping to linen-covered hips and thighs to rub all along hardness his trousers didn’t do anything to mitigate. His other hand meandered from where her neck was throbbing with remembered bliss, down her arm, taking her clothing with it. Then he was above her, in a push-up that just put masculine perfection in perfect view. That black t-shirt thing was useless as covering once a light source got behind it. It was see-through. What a waste of clothing.

  This guy should be forced to walk about shirtless. Her hands moved to mold around his pecs, supporting him while he studied her. The entire time he wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t blinking. He wasn’t doing anything other than focusing entirely on her while her heart sent every beat with force. Then he dipped his head, touched a kiss to her nose, and actually said something.

  “I am asking.”

  She was going to swoon. Literally. That had to be what the rush of ice-cold sensation portended, before it was followed by heat, and all of it chased with goose bumps that flew everywhere.

  “Asking?”

  Her whisper didn’t make sound, but it didn’t matter. He sent a look to where her hips straddled him, imprinting shivers without even touching.

  “Yes. Asking. And now…I am waiting.”

  His loins pulsed at her and then one side of his mouth lifted in a slight smile. Courtney felt her heart swoop with another physics-defying move to pound from her lower belly, where it joined the throb of need and lust and passion already there.

  “You need it…in words?” She panted through the disconnected words. “Please say…you’re joking. Come on, Dominick. Really.”

  He grinned, revealing the
sheen of blood-red hued liquid as well as really sharp spikes. That just wasn’t possible. Or real. Or anything other than such over-kill, it was laughable. Shawn Elliot truly expected her to believe this guy was a vampire now? It was exactly what he’d need for his prank. Laughably, so. Her body couldn’t seem to find that reaction however, as Dominick lunged upward, unlatching her legs to yank off his shirt and toss it somewhere behind him.

  Wow!

  Courtney’s mind went blank on a view of masculine perfection that came close to strangling her with the sucked-in breath. It seemed to create a like reaction in him, and now the open mouth exhibited fangs that looked even longer than before. Her heart wasn’t just reacting; it was attempting a leap right out of her breast. She clamped both hands there as he shoved backward to the floor, unhooked his pants and dropped them, without releasing her unblinking gaze. Not once.

  Her jaw dropped fully, especially as he stretched, as if preening for her gaze. The guy was strutting now? Was she that obvious?

  Of course you are, Courtney . She tried to tell herself any woman would be, and shoved that thought aside the instant it surfaced. He wasn’t with any woman. He was with her. The guy was perfect, he was definitely locked, loaded and ready, and she was the woman here. And if he wanted her to believe he was some sort of vampire, it was fine with her. She didn’t care. Not one bit.

  “You did say yes?” He tipped his head slightly.

  She gulped, nodded, and then he leapt atop her. The bed rocked in submission, her gown had the same issue as he literally pulled it apart down the front, and her entire form wasn’t far behind. Courtney’s mouth latched onto his, devouring the kiss with a fervor born of need. Passion. Absolute craze. She was drowning without one drop of water involved.

  Harsh breath filled the enclave. Her lip split and she tasted blood…evaluated, and then reveled in it. Her fingers flew over his back, the fingernails sliding against flesh. Her legs wrapped about him, holding him to her, the position matching her earlier erotic vision. All of her pulsed toward him in an endless series of lunges. Desiring. Striving. Demanding. And wherever she touched sent sparks.

  He moved the kiss down her chin and to her throat, feeling like it opened flesh, and then he latched onto her again, sucking and licking and sending nothing of pain, and everything of ecstasy. Courtney rocketed with it, the canopy above her rotated before wide eyes, and then descended into raging red-colored want. Need. Hunger. The emotions pounded through her; rampant, base, overwhelming.

  His hands were hard, commanding, gripping to her hips to hold her pinned in position for his entry. It was Courtney who lunged up to join them, embracing and enwrapping, and taking everything he was, over and over, in an increasing volley of give and take. His hair had come loose, dropping strands of it to join hers, mingling dark and light about them.

  There was no control. There was only joining. The mattress rocked beneath them, assisting the wild movements. Heat built as fire-like flickers consumed the area. Throbbing pressure built, along with heart pounding, breath stealing need. Light infused the entire area and it didn’t emanate from any candle. She tried to clamp her eyes shut to all of it, but then such beauty hit, her eyes flew wide on everything. She was in a bow of absolute wonder, her mouth stretched to accommodate the cry as everything careened into a time-consuming vortex of ecstasy.

  The keen died away, absorbed into the deeply-voiced grunts that accompanied Dominick’s movements. Muscles bunched and retracted, his face scrunched in concentration, pumping in an ever-increasing motion that just kept building. Harder. Faster. Another spark ignited, flared, grew, and consumed, sending her into another realm of amazement, accompanied by another harsh, throat-tearing cry. And again.

  The man was a machine. A wonder. A complete mystery. Where Courtney gripped, she slipped; her arms, legs and entire frame alternately tightening and then going limp, and still he filled her, giving absolute pleasure, and total satisfaction, and then it changed. Dominick turned into a churning monster of motion, shoving into her with hard thrusts that kept rhythm with the deep grunts that accompanied them, and then he moved his head, speared her with a dark look that completely stole her heart, and dropped his head.

  This kiss stole. And it stunned. And then it warped, changing her entire reality as he went ram-rod stiff, his loins pulsing against her as he emptied into her. He shook, moving her with it. She wasn’t just tasting life fluid; she was slavering in it, sucking and licking, and for the first time in her life Courtney knew absolute and complete fulfillment. His movements slowed, stilled, and then he sank into the embrace she’d kept on him the entire time.

  His weight was crippling but she wouldn’t change a thing. One hand lazily stroked at his lower back, and then his buttocks, following hills and valleys of skin-covered sculpture. Wow. She’d never felt like this. Ever.

  And then a loud alarm thing went off, making them both jump.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Looks like I’m interrupting.”

  Amusement colored the words. Dominick didn’t move his eyes from a screen that showed a shadowed desk fronting a stone fireplace. Nothing more.

  “I’d apologize but that’s just not my style. Aside from which, you’ve been ignoring my messages. I only use the alarm when I need to.”

  “State your business. I am busy,” Dom finally replied.

  “Wrong answer, St. Guis.”

  Dominick pulled his hair back and circled the tail with a band, taking his time. Waiting. Then he smoothed down his shirt. Wonderful material. Didn’t wrinkle. The same couldn’t be said of his pants. Definite crease marks showed where they’d lain crumpled on the floor. For what hadn’t felt like hours, but must have been. He didn’t take his eyes off the screen the entire time.

  “What do you wish of me?” he finally asked.

  “What? No pleasantries? No inquiries to my health?”

  “I pity the fool who worries over your health, Akron.”

  “Hmm. You? Pity anyone? Never. You want to tell me what happened?”

  Dominick pursed his lips and waited. Such a question had too many answers, all of them meant to entrap. It was Akron’s usual method. And Dominick didn’t waste words if he didn’t have to.

  “You want me to fill in the gaps?”

  “You are the one calling this meeting.”

  “I’ve got a problem. It deals with you. And that means, you’ve got a problem. Me.”

  Dom nodded and waited again. Akron finally sighed.

  “It’s about a little thing called media attention. I avoid it at all costs. I thought we were in accord about it.”

  “We are.”

  “Well, we’ve got a lot of it now. Messages circling the globe. Speculation. Investigation. Inquiry. Rampant publicity. A soon-to-be-recognized widow who is very annoyed and not leery of texting over it. Using her toss-away, untraceable cell-phone to my unlisted and now vacated number. Silly woman. Everything leaves traces and I don’t give refunds.”

  “You have woman troubles?”

  “We’re not discussing me.”

  Dominick grunted a reply.

  “There’s been a vessel lost at sea. A rather large yacht belonging to a fairly prominent and wealthy man. Happened during a pleasure cruise. Disappeared without a trace sometime last night.”

  “So?”

  “The search is on. They’re using all resources. Military. Civilian. Mercenaries. All sorts of riff-raff looking for an opportunity to cash in on the publicity… Hunters .”

  Dom stiffened without meaning to.

  “Taking a kill this close to your home was a risk. Taking the entire crew was even more so.”

  “It was an accident. I was not responsible.”

  “You take an assignment. It gets screwed up. You’re responsible. Got it?”

  Dom nodded.

  “This gives me a very nice conundrum. I now have to waste time watching as they widen their search. Perhaps close in on your secrets…and that could lead to mine.”


  “They will never find me.”

  “You fulfill the contract?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many involved?”

  “Six. No. Five.”

  There was a chuckle at his slip. Dominick’s hand clenched. He didn’t let it be seen.

  “You want to elaborate on that loose end?”

  “I do not have a loose end.”

  “You really should try putting contractions in your speech sometimes. You sound archaic, along with foreign. Both very identifiable features. Romantic. Considering you’re already very memorable when seen in person, it’s too much.”

  “I am never seen.”

  “Keep it that way. There’s not a woman around who wouldn’t remember you to a finite degree. Probably most men, too.”

  Dominick flushed. He could feel it. “Your point?”

  “You were paid well for this assignment.”

  “I am always paid well.”

  “Four-point-three-million. In full.”

  “So?”

  “So…I’m in a quandary here, Your Highness. I need to decide whether to launch an offensive against your island or not. There’s sensitive information that could get leaked. This means I have to take a chance and I don’t gamble. You’re not giving me enough information to make a decision. Perhaps you could find some communication skills and start talking.”

  Dom sighed. “I found her, Akron.”

  “Who?”

  “My mate .” His voice slipped on the word, revealing too much. He couldn’t help it. He still couldn’t believe it.

  A long whistle sounded. “You sure?”

  Dom leaned back in his chair as if considering an answer. Or the stupidity behind it. “Yes.”

  “This is a definite complication. She’s from the yacht?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmm…reported missing is internet sensation Shawn Elliot, his personal secretary, three crewmen, and a rather uninteresting figure listed as Courtney Dwyer. That her?”