All He Needs (All or Nothing) (13 page)

T
he family’s great,” Justin said. “Mandy’s at her book club. The baby’s in bed—not that Adam will be the baby long with Mandy due in three months. I’m having a drink and watching Manchester United get creamed.”

“How old is Adam?”

It took a fraction of a second for Justin to answer. The Nick he knew wasn’t interested in children. “Adam’s nineteen months—this coming Thursday as a matter of fact.”

“Is he blond like Mandy or dark like you?”

Justin wanted to say, What’re you smokin’?
“He has my coloring. Needless to say, my parents were pleased.”

“I imagine. Is it going to be a girl or boy this time?”

Seriously, Nick must be high.
“A girl.”

“And Mandy’s out buying frilly pink things, I suppose.”

“Yeah, for months. I hope we’re not under surveillance,” Justin said drolly. “Frilly pink things? Not in your usual vocabulary.”

“My sister has six kids. I’ve seen it all.”

And never mentioned it before.
“So you’re an uncle.”

“Yeah. They’re great kids. In fact, we’re on our way to San Francisco now for my sister’s birthday.”

“We?”

“Max said you called him,” Dominic said. “So I’m guessing you know who ‘we’ is.”

“Just checking. Actually, that’s why I called you. Bill McCormick raved about Miss Hart’s white hat hacker skills. He has another job for her but I thought I’d better check with you first. I figured you’d want to know.”

“What’s the assignment?”

“Something in London. Your lady’s a real hotshot and apparently in great demand. Strictly in a business sense, okay? Cool down. I can smell the smoke coming out of your ears from here.”

Dominic frowned at the accuracy of Justin’s gibe, then asked in a deliberately neutral tone, “Do you have details?”

Justin explained what he knew of the project as described to him by Bill McCormick. Someone was doing proprietary trading on their own; not much yet, but CX Capital was concerned after the big whale at J.P. Morgan London had cost the bank six billion. “Or at least that’s the amount J.P. Morgan acknowledged,” Justin added drily.

“Or detected,” Dominic drawled.

“Which is why CX Capital is anxious to have your clever Miss Hart on board. Although a word of warning, they’d like her for a six-month consult.”

“Tell McCormick it’s probably a go. I can’t speak for Katherine. She has a mind of her own. But either way, he has to wait a week. We’re on vacation.”

“You’re kidding!
You’re
on vacation?”

“I am,” Dominic said coolly. “Any more questions?”

“Nope.”
Not with that don’t-get-too-personal tone.
“I’ll tell Bill to contact Miss Hart in a week.”

“Have him text her a proposal now. That way I can get back to you once I know Katherine’s feelings on the
subject. I’m guessing she’ll want the assignment. If that’s the case, I’d appreciate your help in buying a flat for her. Something near my house in Eaton Place. You can explain to her, should she accept, that you have a sublet available. Put the lease in the name of one of my fringe companies so it’s not recognizable. Talk to Roscoe. He’ll help you out. Clear?”

“Any special price range?”

“I don’t care. Something nice.”

“Everything’s nice in that area.”

“Why don’t you look for a two-bedroom? Anything bigger, Katherine might get suspicious. Ask Mandy for her opinion. She has a good eye. And if she doesn’t mind or even has the inclination, I’d like her to furnish the place. I understand it’s asking a lot considering the limited time and her condition, so I expect her to invoice me accordingly for her assistance. Tell Mandy to hire a decorator either to help or do most or all the work; I’ll set up an account in her name at your bank. I’ll see that Katherine understands there’s a possibility that the flat is for sale at a fire sale price. Some lowball number that might entice her. She’s making good money now.”

“Not enough for a flat in Belgravia.”

“That’s where I come in,” Dominic said with exquisite understatement.

“To explain that a five-million-dollar flat actually costs—”

“Five hundred thousand, because someone died in it and wasn’t discovered for two weeks. Also, I’m willing to be her banker. So don’t worry about the explanation. I’ll handle it.”

“Don’t bite my head off now, but I gotta say, she must be something special. You’re the guy who sends his driver to pick up his dinner date. And nine times out of ten, gets to the restaurant an hour late, if at all. What am I missing?”

“You’ll see if Katherine comes to London. She doesn’t fit into any of the normal boxes. She talks back to me all the fucking time, a precedent-setting event for which I have no reasonable explanation. So don’t ask.”

“Now you’ve really intrigued the hell out of me.”

“Keep your distance. She intrigued the hell out of me first.”

“You don’t have to warn me off, Nick. I don’t even look at other women anymore. No joke. Who woulda thought?”

“Certainly not me. But congratulations. Happiness is a rare thing.”

“Sounds like you’re starting down that road.”

“Maybe. It’s too early to tell. I’ll call you in two, three days with an update on Katherine’s decision.”

Dominic had just ended the phone call with Justin and turned on his computer when his brother-in-law called.

“I didn’t forget.” Dominic leaned back in his chair. “I’m on my way.”

“Just checking,” Matt said. “I know your schedule is tight.”

“Never that tight.”

“Melanie worries that’s all. I’ll reassure her you’re alive and well and on your way home.”

“Tell her I’m bringing a guest.”

The cheer in Dominic’s voice was startling. “Anyone she knows?” Matt asked, curious as hell.

“A girl… actually a woman I hired as a consultant a month or so ago. She worked for me for two weeks. I just bumped into her in Singapore. You’ll like her.”

“Good. Looking forward to meeting her.”

“Her name’s Katherine Hart.”

“I’ll tell Melanie.”

“Mother met her in Hong Kong. Tell Melanie that too.”

“I think she might have already heard of her.” When Dominic mentioned Letitia and Hong Kong, Matt suddenly recalled his mother-in-law’s vulgar comments.

“No surprise there, I suppose. But Mother was so fucking rude in Hong Kong it still pisses me off.”

“Just in Hong Kong?” Matt’s voice was amused.

“Yeah, right. What was I thinking? By the way, I have that jade you wanted for Melanie,” Dominic said, dismissing issues of his mother’s impossible behavior.

“I was just going to ask.”

“Sis will love it. Seventeenth century. One of those mountain slash hermit pieces. The craftsmanship is unbelievable.” His sister collected jade objets d’art. And Matt was rich enough to indulge her; his family construction firm was one of the oldest and largest in the Bay Area. “So, eight tomorrow?”

“Come earlier. We’re having a family celebration at six with just us and the kids.”

“Tell the kids I brought some good stuff.”

“You always bring good stuff.”

“That’s why they like me,” Dominic said lightly.

“Not true, Nick. They like you ’cause you actually listen to them.”

“I listen to them because they’re interesting. So we’ll see you at six.”

“Sounds good. I’ll show you my new cruiser.”

“Another one?” Matt restored vintage Chris-Crafts.

“This one’s a beauty. I’ve tons of before and after photos.”

“Looking forward to it. Give Melanie a kiss from me.”

Dominic spent another hour dealing with his most pressing e-mails. He didn’t even want to think about the havoc a week’s vacation would cause. Roscoe was already freaking out because Max was also on leave.

Dominic called Roscoe in an effort to soothe his panic and after patiently listening to his CFO complain about the impossibility of leaving all the decision making to him for an
entire
week, Dominic politely acknowledged his concerns. “It’s a lot to ask, I know. Delegate more. It’s not as though we don’t have several tiers of qualified management. And you know damned well I’ve never taken a real vacation since we started this company. You could always reach me online or by phone. So I’m not apologizing for taking time off. I’ll still be available for emergencies. But only if they’re real emergencies. Everything else can wait.”

“Everything’s a fucking emergency!” Roscoe roared, as if Dominic hadn’t politely indicated his feelings on the subject. “You gotta answer your phone!”

Since Roscoe spoke at a full volume most of the time, Dominic was inured. And in this case indifferent to Roscoe’s frustration. “Not this week, Roscoe.” Dominic’s voice was brusque. “There’s no such thing as an emergency unless I’m losing every penny I have. That’s my only red
line, okay? Nothing else fucking qualifies. Not. One. Goddamn. Thing.”

“Jesus Christ, who the hell ever thought you’d fall in love,” Roscoe grumbled.

Dominic went silent for a moment. “That’s not germane, Roscoe. And it’s none of your business anyway.”

“Sorry, Dominic.” Roscoe’s chastened tone was only marginally lower than a bellow. “You’re handing me a real shitload of work on short notice, that’s all.”

“I apologize. But this is important to me.”

Roscoe sighed. Even after two divorces, he still didn’t totally discount the notion of love. And in Roscoe’s opinion, Dominic had never even come close before. His marriage to Julia had been a friends-with-benefits relationship. Julia shared Dominic’s love of extreme sports, their bond deep and intimate, but in Roscoe’s estimation, curiously platonic. “Okay, kid, I understand. Forget what I said. Everything’s copacetic. Have a nice vacation.”

“Thanks, Roscoe.” The warmth was back in Dominic’s voice. “I owe you.”

“Damn right you do,” Roscoe gruffly replied. “One week though? Can I count on you being up to speed after that? Just asking.”

“Count on it,” Dominic said, smiling at Roscoe’s soft-spoken query. “See you in a week.”

But Roscoe’s comment about love was doing a number on Dominic. He must have heard that from Max. Jesus, was that what Max thought?
That this was about love?
Fuck no.
No!
It was just pure, unadulterated lust.

Sex with Katherine was fantastic; she was fearless, eager, impatient.

And she wanted only him.

There was a concept.

He relaxed and felt the tension in his shoulders melt away.

Felt his old familiar world of sexual play restored.

No longer in the mood to work, he turned off his computer and pushed away from his desk.

But he stood outside the bedroom door for a long time before he finally went in. Then he stood by the bed watching Katherine sleep. Was there a chance in hell he knew what he was doing? Where this was going? Did he even want it to go anywhere? Could it be possible that it was more than sex?

Sensing his presence, Kate’s eyes fluttered open. “Come hold me,” she murmured, her voice soft with sleep.

“I’ll be right with you.”

She smiled at the familiar phrase, then pursed her lips in a reply that didn’t quite make it past her drowsy senses.

Dominic battled the magnetic pull of her soft pink lips. He wanted to grab a fistful of her hair, tip her head back, make use of her mouth, conquer her, possess her. Mark his territory.

He beat back the reckless impulse, reminding himself she’d only just returned to him. Backing away from his violent urges as if from fire, he took a deep breath, then reached up, pulled his T-shirt over his head, and dropped it on the floor.

By the time he climbed into bed and drew her close, she was deep in sleep once again. Her breath was a faint whiffle across his chest, her silken curls tickled his throat, the slow rhythm of her heart against his ribs oddly tranquilizing.

He felt strangely divorced from the desolation of his life: his unfortunate history and unforgiving memories, old resentments and older family drama. And the world around him shrank to this bed on this plane with this woman in his arms. The wasteland of his memories faded and he decided that if feeling a little unbalanced about love and intimacy was the price he had to pay for this sweet, invisible peace, he’d pay the fare without complaint.

And tip the mythical gods to boot.

He inhaled deeply. The flowery scent that rose from Katherine’s skin was weirdly therapeutic. Like aroma therapy, he decided with a smile. Calming.

Delicious.

He closed his eyes and slept.

H
e thought he was dreaming. Then he realized he was inside her. He didn’t know how long the boundaries of dream and real life had merged, but his dick was rock hard, buried deep, and Katherine was softly purring as he lazily moved in a smooth, silken drift, in, out, in… oh fuck—that was so intense it made his jaw ache. Pulling her closer, he wrapped his arm around her waist as she lay curled against him, her back to his chest. Splaying his fingers over her stomach, he tugged her into his erection, drove in a fraction more, and smiled as her sleepy purr turned into a breathy little gluttonous gasp.

Moving his hand upward, he ran his palm slowly over the soft curve of her breast, filled his hand, then flexed his fingers and gently squeezed. The moan coming from deep in her throat was unbound pleasure. “Feel that little ripple slide down to my dick?” he whispered, thrusting his long, rigid length deeper, then deeper still.

“Ummm.… ummm—oh God… don’t move, don’t move…”

“What if I do?”

“I’ll die,” she breathed.

“We can’t have that.” The amusement in his voice was unmistakable. “It would ruin our vacation.” Slipping his hand downward, he gently stroked the pressure cooker of
her clit with extraordinary delicacy and subtlety, the pad of his finger almost weightless.

Her response was immediate and predictable: breath held, coiled and shaking.

Dominic moved then, but in a good way, in a way that sent a thrilling little frisson up her spine, jolted every strung-out pulsing nerve, brought her in brief, trembling moments to the hovering brink of climax, and when his massive arousal cleared a path to that perfect zero spot, she gasped, then screamed as orgasmic bliss exploded.

“Happy vacation,” he whispered against her ear, flooding her sex with a spiritually attuned white-hot river of cum. It was near enough to morning to no longer worry about unintended consequences. Immune from liabilities now, he was free to fuck to his heart’s content.

When Kate’s last bone-melting, heart-pounding spasm waned, she sleepily breathed, “I don’t know if that was a dream, but it was super nice…”

“Ummm…” he agreeably murmured, not entirely awake either after a month with little sleep. Lifting the hair on the back of her neck, he gently kissed her nape and tugged her closer, still partially erect inside her. “Go to sleep, baby. I’m here…”

Hours later, coming out of a dead sleep, Dominic squinted at the light edging the window blinds.

“Are you awake?”

“Getting there,” he mumbled, the soft demand in her voice dragging him up from the depths of slumber.

She wiggled her bottom in a little undulating rotation.

He sucked in a breath as his dick surged in size and
length. “That’ll do it,” he said in a normal tone of voice. “I’m up.”

Then she reached between her legs, found one of his testicles with her fingertips, and gently tugged on the sensitive flesh at the same time she pushed her little ass backward and whispered, “I need you. Deeper.”

“You’ve got us, baby,” he murmured. “We’re
all
up.” And following instructions, he drove forward with a thrust that
really
woke him up and resulted in Katherine’s high-pitched gluttonous cry, which always added inches to his dick. As if her ravishment ramped up his libido. As if her wanting him with equal recklessness was their justification and intent, the razzle-dazzle splendor that shaped their willful desires.

It was over soon and she gasped, “I hope—you don’t mind—but I’m going to be making up—for lost time tonight or morning—or whatever hour it is. My apologies—in advance.”

“No need to apologize, baby.” He kissed her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.” He shifted his hips slightly. “I like it here.”