Knight's Mistress (22 page)

Collecting Miss Hart’s dress and shoes from his dressing room, he gently kissed her awake. ‘Lunch, I’m afraid,’ he murmured.

She groaned.

‘We have to go down or she’ll come up.’

Kate instantly sat up, tried to open her eyes, didn’t succeed.

‘Just sit there, I’ll dress you,’ he said. Pulling away the blanket, he dragged in a breath of restraint at her sumptuous nudity. He was like a horny teenager around her. ‘Hold out your arms,’ he said gently.

Still half asleep, she automatically obeyed and he dressed her like one would a dozing child, sliding first one arm into her dress, then the other, tugging the soft fabric over her plump breasts, buttoning the amethyst buttons with dispatch. ‘Feet,’ he murmured, and she dutifully raised them. Slipping on her black leather heels, he lifted her from the bed, placed her on her feet, said, ‘Don’t move,’ and straightened the dress over her hips and legs. A quick glance to see that the buttons were all shut. ‘Wake up, Katherine,’ he said, deliberately brisk. ‘Do it and I’ll fuck you in an hour.’

He smiled as her eyes snapped open. But the lambent heat in the incandescent green of her eyes wiped the smile from his face, punched him in the gut. And he rapidly ran through possible options for avoiding lunch.

All hopeless, of course. They had to make an appearance.

‘I’ll make it under an hour. Did you hear me?’ Her eyes were almost shut again.

‘Yes, yes under an hour. Thank you.’

At least she was semi-conscious – he smiled – and polite.
‘You don’t have to answer any of my mother’s questions. If you don’t I will. Got it?’

She nodded, gave her head a shake and finally looked up to meet his gaze. ‘Save me. You promised.’

‘I will, don’t worry. Wait – I forgot your hair.’ Grabbing his hairbrush from the dresser, he smoothed out her tangles, pronounced her perfect, tossed the brush on the bed and took her hand. ‘Now, listen …’

As they moved out of the room, down the corridor and stairs, he filled her in on her fictional conference call, gave her a few names and a topic she could discuss if necessary. ‘You needn’t go into any detail. You can say it’s all confidential.
I’ll
say it’s confidential. I’ll cover for you if you get flustered.’

‘Why am I doing this?’

‘So my mother doesn’t make your presence here into a scandal. I don’t want your reputation compromised.’

She shot him an amused look. ‘Is this the nineteenth century?’

‘The twenty-first century’s just as bad, believe me. I’m just being cautious.’

‘Except for renting the entire top floor of the Ritz-Carlton.’

‘They were paid to protect my privacy.’

‘Are you sure?’ She thought of the bartender.

‘If they don’t, I’ll sue their ass off. Here we are. Smile. This won’t last long.’ He pushed the dining room door open and propelled her in with a hand at her back. ‘I
dragged Miss Hart away from the phone, Mother. The Stone-hall Group had enough of her time today.’ He turned to Kate, his expression bland, his voice urbane. ‘Could I have some food brought up for you, Miss Hart? I’m afraid we’re on coffee and dessert.’

‘Dessert will be fine, Mr Knight.’ She looked up at him with impeccable innocence. ‘I had an excellent breakfast, more than ample.’

He suppressed his smile at her allusion to breakfast, escorted her to a chair, spoke briefly to Zhu, took his seat and glanced up as the servant left the room. ‘Zhu will get your dessert, Miss Hart. Tell Mother about your initial interview with Max at MIT. We have Max to thank for recruiting Miss Hart, Mother.’ His gaze swivelled back to Kate. ‘I believe you said you thought he was a spy.’

‘I’m totally embarrassed about that.’ Kate smiled demurely.

She had a real flair for drama. He should have known: she was a quick study when it came to sex. ‘I had to explain to Miss Hart that Max was actually a physicist.’

‘He looks like someone from MI6,’ Kate said, wide-eyed and slightly breathless. ‘He could have come directly from central casting.’

‘Max’s family is English gentry, ancient and titled.’ Letitia’s voice was condescending, as if someone like Kate required a tutorial on class rank. ‘His family and estate go back to William the Conqueror. Sussex, I believe. Isn’t that so, Dominic? You’ve been there often enough.’ Letitia
Knight offered her son a glossy smile before addressing Kate again. ‘I’m trying to make Dominic understand that a wife from such a refined background would be useful in his business. He needs to find some nice young lady from a
good
family.’

Why not just use a hammer, Mother?
‘I’m not sure a wife’s antecedents count for much in my world,’ Dominic said instead. ‘Deal-making’s about money, not class.’

‘You couldn’t be more wrong, my dear,’ Letitia said with the complacency of her narrow world view. ‘Good breeding is
always
important.’

‘Why don’t I check out
Burke’s Peerage
and see who’s available? Any special age group I should consider? Child-bearing age, I suppose. That’s another of your requirements isn’t it, Mother? That I procreate.’

‘Mock me if you wish, Dominic,’ Letitia said with a sniff that fluttered her thin nostrils, ‘but pedigree still matters and you’re not getting any younger. You’d do well to consider both. Your father had money, but it was through
my
family that he gained entry into the right clubs and met notable and distinguished people. An aristocratic wife could be very helpful to you.’

‘You’re right, Mother.’ There was no point in arguing. His father could have bought his way into any of those clubs with or without his mother’s family. As for children, his parents weren’t exactly models of parenthood. The word ‘shallow’ was coined for his mother, and while Charles Knight was a successful financial trader, Dominic
found his father’s cavalier view of ethics and legalities objectionable. Not to mention his father’s serial marriages to increasingly younger women, and the fact that his father hadn’t spoken to him more than ten times in as many years.

‘Tell me about
your
family background, Miss Hart,’ Letitia said now, her gaze razor sharp. ‘Dominic mentioned you were from the Midwest.’

‘My family is quite ordinary, Mrs Knight. My parents died young and I was raised by my maternal grandparents in a small town near the Canadian border. My grandfather owned a canoe outfitters. My grandmother was the grade-school principal. That’s about it.’

A small silence ensued because Letitia Knight had no idea what a canoe outfitter was, nor a small town, and the word ‘ordinary’ was to be avoided at all costs.

‘Miss Hart’s grandmother is interested in infusing liquors.’ Dominic broke the silence, offering up the information just to see the expression on his mother’s face.

Letitia Knight’s lips pursed like she’d sucked a lemon.

Kate’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

Dominic smiled at Kate. ‘Max’s brief, Miss Hart. Personally, I find your grandmother’s hobby interesting. We recently bought two small firms that infuse liquors – one in northern California, one in Oregon. Their products are exceptional. Does your grandmother have a favourite flavour?’

Stunned, Kate’s mind was blank.

‘Blueberry, perhaps?’ Dominic prompted. ‘I understand they grow wild in Minnesota.’

‘Yes,’ Kate shakily replied, wishing she could disappear into the floor.

Dominic looked up as Zhu returned, followed by Leo. ‘Leo – I’m not sure I want to know why you’re interrupting us,’ Dominic remarked with counterfeit affront.

‘Sorry, sir.’ Leo leaned down to whisper in Dominic’s ear.

Dominic nodded, spoke quietly for a moment, nodded again, then said, ‘Thank you, Leo. Have a car brought up.’ Dominic glanced down the table at his mother. ‘There’s always some emergency, Mother. We’re going to have to leave Hong Kong earlier than expected.’ He offered Kate a polite smile. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Hart. We’ll find you something to eat on the plane.’ He pushed back his chair and came to his feet. ‘Leo will take care of you, Mother. It was nice to see you again.’

With escape in sight, Kate was on her feet a second later. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Knight.’

‘Yes, I’m sure,’ Letitia dismissively murmured, then waved a finger at Zhu. ‘More coffee.’

Dominic was already walking away from the table.

Kate didn’t precisely run after him, but as near to it as courtesy allowed.

As they moved down the corridor to the entrance hall, Kate asked, ‘Are we really leaving?’

‘Not Hong Kong, just this house.’

‘I left my messenger bag upstairs.’

‘It should be in the car.’

‘What if it isn’t? I’ll check.’

‘Leo’s efficient. Don’t worry.’

It amazed her how smoothly his life advanced, every wish and whim anticipated, every concern attended to by a staff of minions, every expectation satisfied. It was a different world, rarefied, insulated, impervious to the variety, hiccups and irksome snags that gave life its flavour. Although he wasn’t a man to be pitied. He lived an enviable life.

On reaching the door, Dominic said, ‘Thank you, Leo. I owe you.’

‘Not a problem. Have a pleasant holiday.’

‘We’re good?’ A cryptic look passed between the two men.

‘Everything’s fine, Nick.’

Dominic smiled. ‘Perhaps we’ll come for dinner one night.’

‘An would enjoy the opportunity to cook for you and Miss Hart.’

‘We’ll see. I’ll call you.’ Dominic dipped his head.

Leo nodded at the houseboy standing at the door and the door was opened.

‘There, that wasn’t too bad, was it?’ Dominic took Kate’s hand and moved through the open doorway.

‘It could have been worse.’

‘I wouldn’t have let it get worse. I don’t want you unhappy.’

She smiled up at him as they walked down the stairs. ‘Lucky me.’

‘I’m the fortunate one. Watch your step.’ They reached the car, the back door held open by another staff member.

Dominic followed her in, pointed out her canvas bag on the seat, saw that the privacy glass was up as ordered and the moment the door shut and the car moved off, he unzipped his slacks and reached out for her. ‘We both need a reward for surviving lunch.’ Lifting Kate onto his lap, he quickly swung her around to straddle his thighs, brushed her skirt out of the way with a brisk sweep of his hand, raised her just enough to deftly align himself. Once the tip of his cock was nuzzling her sex, he eased her down his erection with a low, grateful sigh.

Blissfully impaled, Kate wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbed her cheek against his and whispered, ‘How do you always know what I want?’

‘Because you always want the same thing.’

There was a smile in his voice.

She lifted her gaze and wiggled her hips. ‘Complaining?’

‘Uh-uh. I’m happy.’

‘Me too.’ Deep down, uncomplicated happy.

Her simple reply was like an antidote to loneliness, when Dominic had never thought of himself as lonely. ‘Good,’ he said, because he didn’t want to look at the collective bargaining that had become his life. The frantic pace, the emptiness. Instead, he held her by the waist, raised her up his rigid length and pressed her back down, slowly,
leisurely so they both felt the silken friction register in every obsessed, devoutly expectant nerve ending clear down to their toes.

He didn’t rush. The drive would take twenty minutes, maybe more with traffic. He saw to it that Kate didn’t rush either, although that took all his considerable skill to keep her from climaxing. And when he finally let her come, he did as well with a razzle-dazzle turbulence that matched her wild scream. She lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at him, and he felt as though life had given him a present.

‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to screw another man without feeling deprived. Damn you – and damn this world-class equipment’ – she moved her hips on his barely diminished erection. ‘It’s going to be hard to duplicate.’

‘Don’t forget these.’ He held up his hands and flexed his fingers.

‘And this.’ She ran the pad of her finger across his smiling mouth.

‘We have a full arsenal of equipment, babe.’ His smile widened. ‘You need us.’

‘Such smugness practically screams for payback.’

His brows rose. ‘And you can do that?’

‘Maybe,’ she purred. ‘Have you ever seen those naughty librarian commercials?’

‘I haven’t.’ He grinned. ‘But I have a feeling I wish I had.’

‘You have a lot of late fees, mister,’ Kate recited in a
low, breathy, luridly sexy tone. ‘Maybe someone should teach you to return your library books on time.’

Dominic laughed, the blue of his eyes filled with delight. ‘Anytime you want to play, Miss Hart, count me in.’

‘See, that’s the problem,’ she grumbled. ‘I’m going to miss all that. Maybe I could stop by once a month and we could spend a day in bed fucking.’

Or other places, fucking.
‘You might have yourself a deal,’ he said softly, his brain rapidly ticking through the logistics necessary to make it happen. ‘Call me and I’ll send a plane for you. In the meantime though, don’t go. Stay. Work for me.’ He had a brief moment of panic as he heard himself vocalize what would have been unheard of three days ago. On the other hand, he wanted what he wanted – for now. ‘You should have taken my job offer from the beginning.’

She squirmed a little so she could feel the full extent of his swelling cock. ‘The fringe benefits
are
awesome.’

‘You could be my ADC, work closely with me – very closely,’ he said, smiling faintly. ‘Max could go home every week instead of every two weeks. You could fill in.’

‘Tempting, Mr Knight. Especially if you promise to fill me in return.’

‘With pleasure, Miss Hart.’

‘Only for fun,’ she said softly, knowing she’d have her heart broken in the end.

‘I’m serious.’

‘We’ll talk about it.’ She had six more days; she wasn’t going to ruin them fighting.

‘Agreed.’ He knew better than to argue now. But he intended to keep Miss Hart – at least temporarily. ‘If you want to come again before we get there,’ he said smoothly, ‘we have time.’