Irresistible Forces (10 page)

He placed a finger to her lips. “No,
chérie,
I don’t think that at all. In fact I think it’s rather sweet that you care for your sibling so much. But then I find that you are a very caring person.”

He had given her the tea to calm her but she wondered if he knew the turbulence going through her at that moment being so close to him. In a way she felt she was out near the ocean, steadily getting pulled in by the tide. The man had that sort of effect. Even after what they had been doing that afternoon, she still wanted more of him. His heat was reaching out to her, warming her in one instant and sending shivers through her body in another.

“We’ll make sure she’s okay,” he was saying. “And then we’ll return to the resort later tonight.”

“All right,” she said, taking a sip.

His eyes seemed to have turned another shade of green, almost emerald. And there was a deep meaning in their dark depths. It was one she understood. He still wanted more of her, too. That thought sent more shivers through her and stirred her all the way down to her toes.

“Come here for a second,” he said in a ragged breath. “Lean closer.”

Placing the teacup aside, she leaned closer to him. When Dominic connected his mouth to hers, she thought that his kiss was like a drug. Highly potent. Very effective. It was electrifying every nerve in her body, uncoiling sensations she only felt when they were together.

“Buckle up, folks. We’re about to land.”

The pilot’s voice intruded and she pulled away, reluctantly, from his hot and hungry mouth. “We will finish this later, right?” she couldn’t help but ask, breathing the question against his moist lips.

“You can count on it, Taylor,” was his quick response and she had no reason not to believe him.

Cheyenne Steele placed a faint smile on her face when she met Taylor’s intense gaze. “I can’t believe you came to check on me just because I fainted.”

Taylor had found Cheyenne at the hotel where Roz had told her she was staying. After getting checked out by a doctor, Cheyenne had returned to her room to rest for the remainder of the day and had been surprised to open the door later that evening to find Taylor and a man she knew to be Dominic Saxon. After Taylor had officially introduced them, he had left to wait downstairs in the lobby.

“Believe it,” Taylor said, frowning. “You just better be glad Vanessa and I decided not to mention anything about it to Mama. I noticed you didn’t look well when we were home a few weeks ago and have been concerned about it ever since. I figured you’re working crazy hours and not taking proper care of yourself. So tell me what the doctor said. Am I right? Are you not eating enough for that vigorous schedule you’re keeping? Starving yourself to keep your weight down?”

Cheyenne waved off her words. “I’m fine. Just got a little overheated. Now enough about me. Tell me how things are going with you and Dominic.”

Taylor knew Cheyenne was trying to shift the focus off her and onto Dominic, but she refused to let her. For some reason Taylor didn’t believe Cheyenne’s story about heat exhaustion, although with the island’s hot temperature, getting overheated was a possibility. Taylor had a feeling that there was something else, something Cheyenne wasn’t telling her. She could feel it. And for one thing, Cheyenne was looking everywhere but at her.

“Forget about me and Dominic. What’s going on, Chey?” she asked softly “You’re lying to me and I don’t like it. Are you on an anorexia kick or something? I know how crazy you get sometimes about keeping your model figure and how you—”

“No, that’s not it,” Cheyenne said quickly.

Taylor breathed in deeply. “Then what is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

The silence that suddenly descended upon the room was unnerving. And just when she thought Cheyenne would not say anything, her sister opened her mouth and spoke. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you must promise not to tell anyone. Not Van or the cousins and especially not Mama. I’ll tell everyone when I come home for Marcus’s high school graduation in a few weeks.”

Taylor’s brows drew together in a frown. “Tell them what?”

“You have to promise.”

Taylor rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, I promise. So what are you going to tell them?”

Cheyenne’s eyes, a color so dark they looked black, stared straight into hers when she said, “That I’m pregnant.”

“Are you all right, Taylor?”

Taylor glanced up at Dominic. “Yes, I’m okay.”

The plane had landed and they had returned to the resort. After getting over the initial shock of what Cheyenne had told her, she had talked her sister into going out to dinner with her and Dominic at one of the restaurants near the hotel. The three of them had had a nice time and she could tell that Cheyenne liked Dominic. When it came to men Cheyenne could be downright nitpicky, which made Taylor wonder about the identity of the man who had fathered Cheyenne’s baby. He’d certainly had to have been someone Cheyenne had been quite taken with. When she’d asked Cheyenne about the man, she had refused to talk about him, only saying that he was someone she had met once and would probably never see again.

“Are you still worried about your sister? She seems to be doing okay now,” Dominic said, breaking into her thoughts.

If only you knew, she thought. Of course she hadn’t mentioned anything to Dominic about her sister’s condition, and didn’t want to think what the family would have to say when Cheyenne dropped her little bombshell. Although Taylor had made plans to do the baby thing solo, her family wouldn’t have been surprised if she was to pop up pregnant without the benefit of a husband because they all knew how much Taylor loved children, and with her methodical mind, having a child without a husband would seem like something Taylor would do.

But Cheyenne was another matter altogether. Besides being the baby in the family who got all the attention, Cheyenne was never a person to fawn over babies and had never mentioned that she wanted any of her own. Her modeling career was the only thing she really cared about and the thought of gaining weight was simply a no-no.

But when Taylor had inquired if she was contemplating getting an abortion, Cheyenne had surprised her by saying under no circumstances would she consider such a thing. That made Taylor proud of her baby sister’s desire to accept full responsibility for her actions and accept whatever sacrifices that had to be made.

Once again, Taylor’s thoughts shifted to the man who had gotten Cheyenne to lower her guard. Cheyenne was one to get annoyed with men easily, especially those who got stuck on her features. She said she would never know if the man loved her for herself or her looks. Since she had been oohed and aahed over most of her life, to Cheyenne a man loving her for herself and not her beauty was important. Although Taylor wasn’t sure about the mystery man’s feelings, she knew her sister well enough to know that during their brief encounter, Cheyenne must have fallen in love with him.

“Taylor?”

She then realized she hadn’t answered Dominic’s question. “I worry about Cheyenne out of habit,” she said. “Vanessa and I both do, although Cheyenne has shown us time and time again that she’s quite capable of taking care of herself. She’s traveled more places than I ever have or probably ever will, and lives in Jamaica, a long way from home. I’m also her wealth and asset manager so I know that she’s doing very well financially.”

“But?”

Taylor chuckled. “How do you know there’s a
but
in there?”

He smiled down at her as they stepped onto the elevator that would take them up to their suite. “Because I’m beginning to know you, Taylor. With you, some things are easy to figure out.”

She wondered at that. Had he figured out how much she wanted him? Or even worse, had he figured out that she had fallen head over heels in love with him? She had been bordering on the edge since the first time they had made love, but had gotten a pretty big shove when he had seen how much she’d been worried about Cheyenne and had chartered a plane and whisked her to the island where her sister was, to calm her fears. She didn’t know too many men who would have done that. Most would have been annoyed that she was letting worrying about her sister infringe upon their time with her.

“You’re right, there is a
but.
However, the last thing I plan on doing is getting into Cheyenne’s business. I let my sisters deal with their own issues, but they know I’m there if they need me.”

Dominic nodded. “You must be exhausted. When we get up to the room, I’ll run bathwater for you. A good hot soak will do you good.”

She turned toward him and placed her arms around his neck, glad they were the only people in the elevator. “Um, that sounds nice, but what about you?”

He smiled and that full smile on such a pair of sensual lips that showed beautiful white teeth started a slow, aching throb in her center. “I’ll take a shower later.”

She shook her head. “We agreed that the next time you got in the shower I would be there with you.”

He chuckled. “Yes, but you’re too tired tonight and I understand.”

She knew he did understand, and that’s what made him so beautiful in her eyes. He had such an understanding spirit when it came to her. “But I’m not too tired for that, Dominic,” she said softly.

What she didn’t add was that she needed him tonight in a way she had never needed him before. Now that she knew that she loved him, she wanted not only his seed to get her pregnant, nor just his body that always gave her pleasure. What she wanted more than anything was everything that was him. They had only five days left and she wanted to spend each and every moment intimately with him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, staring down at her. His eyes had changed to a soft green and were looking straight into hers.

“I’m positive.” When it came to him, there was no way she could or ever would be not sure of anything. He was the first man she could admit to loving and probably would be the only man she would ever love. It was just her luck that the one man who had finally captured her heart would be someone who was dead set against ever marrying again, a man intent on not allowing his heart to ever belong to another woman. A man who was still in love with his dead wife.

“Why are you frowning,
chérie?
”

His gaze burned into hers with an intensity that seared her skin, made her want him just that much more. “No reason, other than I need to make sure it’s what you want, too,” she decided to say. “After all we’ve done today, are you sure you’re not too tired? If you are, then I can certainly understand.”

She suddenly found herself whisked off her feet into strong arms and when he leaned down and kissed her, he practically drew the breath from her lungs. The scent of him surrounded her, practically oozed from wall to wall, panel to panel, in the elevator. It was warm, musky with a whiff of the sea that still clung to him, as well.

Only when he withdrew his mouth from hers, leaving the taste of him on her tongue, did she allow herself to breathe. And only when the elevator door swooshed open to their floor, and he stepped out, still carrying her in his arms, did she speak, barely breathing his name against his neck.

“Dominic…”

When they stopped in front of their door and he shifted her in his arms to pull out his passkey she realized that something hot, heavy and passionate was taking place between them, had been taking place since they had arrived on the island. Shivers of anticipation raced down her spine, sensitized every nerve and sent an uncontrollable urge to her brain, making awareness flow rapidly through her body.

When he opened the door, placed her on her feet before closing and locking it behind them, she released a long, ragged breath. It was past midnight already, but time was not a factor here; it could never be a factor between them. The only thing that mattered was that she was about to make love yet again to the man she loved.

He leaned back against the door and stared at her and she felt it like an intimate caress. She may not have his love but she definitely had his desire. And it was a potent thing, like a stimulating drug that actually had hot blood flowing through her veins, making her head spin, logical thoughts disintegrating and making the throb between her legs become an ache that he needed to take care of.

Only him.

Without thinking about what she was doing and knowing that he was watching her every move, she began undressing as she slowly walked backward toward the bedroom. First came her top and she tossed it aside. She paused long enough to kick away her sandals before continuing her trek backward. By the time she reached the bedroom door her clothes laid a trail on the floor and only her panties remained.

He stood there, still leaning against the door, not having moved an inch. But something on him had definitely grown…not that it hadn’t been big before. She had felt it when he had picked her up in his arms and again when he had slid her body down his when he had placed her on her feet. But now as her gaze zeroed in on the crotch of his shorts, she saw him enlarging before her eyes just the way she wanted. And just the way she needed.

“Dominic…” She breathed out his name on a sigh, and that’s when he moved, slowly walking toward her, pausing to undress, as well. By the time he reached her in the bedroom doorway, he was totally and completely naked.

It was then that she watched as he got down on his knees to remove the final piece of clothing from her body—for the second time that day—a pair of skimpy black lace panties. But he didn’t stop there once he had removed them and had tossed them aside.

Dominic felt the need for Taylor all the way to the bone. He knew her scent, and after spending an afternoon making love to her on the boat, his tongue was practically drenched with her taste. He leaned forward and rested his face against the warm skin of her thigh and inhaled the essence of her femininity, so close to his face.

He felt the hands she had placed on his shoulders as if she was depending on his strength to hold her up. In his position, kneeling on the floor in front of her, he was just where he wanted to be, up close and as personal as he could get.