Neither should they be tearing away at each other"s clothes, but they were doing that, too. She hadn"t forgotten what this was like. An intense desire to mate. Nor had she forgotten the feel of wanting him with such a raw, primitive need like what she was feeling now.
One part of her mind was saying this was crazy, totally insane. They weren"t thinking rationally. All she had to say to that was, yes, probably not. But at that precise moment she was happier than any one woman had a right to be. She was having a baby. A baby that she had created with the man she loved. She would have plenty of time tomorrow to be reminded that he didn"t love her. Right now he desired her and that was enough.
He broke off the kiss, mainly to give them a chance to breathe. And then he pulled her back into his arms to finish removing her clothes. But in her opinion that wasn"t going fast enough. "Hurry, Dominic."
Once he had her completely naked, he began removing his own clothes at a fast pace. She wasn"t helping matters when each time he exposed a portion of naked skin, her mouth and lips were there, wanting to taste him all over, practically everywhere.
It seemed at that moment he made the correct a.s.sumption they would never make it to the bedroom and pulled her down with him to the carpeted floor. He then shifted his body for her to straddle his.
She stared down at him. "You know since I"m already pregnant there"s no earthly reason for us to be doing this," she said in a rushed and fevered voice.
"Is there an unearthly one?" he asked in a voice so hoa.r.s.e she could barely hear him.
"None that I can think of."
"Good. Do you want me to stop?" he asked and then leaned up his head to give the hardened tip of her breast one tantalizing lick.
"Ah, no. Don"t stop. Whatever you do, please please don"t stop." don"t stop."
"I won"t," he muttered against her other breast and flicked a lick to it before pulling and giving it a tug with his lips.
She threw her head back and let out a deep moan. It was shameless. It brought to life every sensual part of her. And when she felt the hard, moist tip of his erection, right there at the entrance of her feminine core, she only knew but one way to go. Down.
She pressed her weight down on him and the hands he"d used earlier to wipe away her tears held her hips in a tight grip. And when she felt him inside her, all the way to the hilt, she knew what she had to do. What she wanted to do.
Ride him.
And since he seemed amenable to letting her be in control, she took it. She slowly eased up, just an inch or so short of their bodies disconnecting and then she eased back down, then up again, repeating the process as she slid up and down on him, over and over again, hearing his sharp indrawn breath every time her hips shifted back and forth over him.
"Taylor..."
She didn"t want to focus on the tortured way he was saying her name. Instead she stared down at the expressions on his face. The look was intoxicating her senses, practically blowing her mind. The slow, steady heat between her legs where their bodies connected suddenly seemed filled with an electrical charge that sent shock waves frolicking through her body.
She arched her back and released an intense scream. Dominic quickly pulled her mouth down to his and kissed her with a hunger that splintered her body in a million pieces. And then she felt him explode inside her while his hands kept a tight grip on her hips.
She became lost in sensations she had been certain she would never feel again. But she was feeling them now, thanks to Dominic. What they were sharing was perfect, so unerringly flawless, it was as if they were the only two living souls in the entire universe. It was as if she couldn"t get enough of him and he couldn"t get enough of her.
And as she clung to his shoulders as yet another o.r.g.a.s.m struck her, she couldn"t help but wonder just where would they go from here?
"You"ve bewitched me, Taylor."
They had moved from the living room floor to the bedroom an hour or so ago. Taylor lay beside Dominic but didn"t turn her head to look at him. The truth of the matter was that she didn"t have the strength to move even if she wanted to. Instead she reached out and touched his erection that hadn"t gone down. "And I could give you a list of all the things you"ve done to me, Dominic."
She then reached out and brought his hand to her stomach. "But putting your baby in here, I think, is the most precious of them all."
Her words must have touched him because he shifted his body and lowered his lips to hers. Like all the others, this kiss was hot, s.e.xual and sent a flaming sensation all through her. Moments later, to her disappointment he pulled back and met her gaze.
"I want to take you out to dinner to celebrate."
"Tonight?"
He gave a low chuckle and leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. "Yes, tonight."
"I"m not sure I can move."
"Um, you were doing quite nicely a while ago," he pointed out as he placed his arm around her and drew her into the curve of his body.
"Yeah, well, that"s why I can"t move now, thank you very much."
His expression turned serious. "No, thank you you very much, Taylor. I owe you a wealth of thanks. I"d be the first to admit when you suggested that I father your child, I had a number of misgivings. But now since it"s official that you"re pregnant, I can only feel elation." very much, Taylor. I owe you a wealth of thanks. I"d be the first to admit when you suggested that I father your child, I had a number of misgivings. But now since it"s official that you"re pregnant, I can only feel elation."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I can"t wait to tell my parents."
Taylor forced her head to move to look at him. "How are you going to tell them? How will you explain the situation between us?"
"Not sure yet, but they are fully aware that I"ll never marry again. They"re hoping that I"ll change my mind although I"ve told them on countless occasions that I won"t."
Well, that was that, Taylor thought. What he"d said had effectively removed any hope she"d been harboring that he saw what they"d shared as something other than l.u.s.t. "You could just tell them the truth, that you and I both wanted a child and so we entered into this business agreement to share one."
"Yes, I could do that but they wouldn"t buy it. They would try their hand at getting us together. Unfortunately, they are die-hard romantics. They are in France now and won"t be returning for a week or so. I will have thought of something by then."
Taylor was curious as to what he would come up with but decided they were his parents and he would have to deal with them. She, on the other hand, would be busy dealing with her own family. Now it seemed Cheyenne wouldn"t be the only one announcing plans of motherhood next weekend when the family got together for Marcus"s graduation.
"But one thing is for certain, cherie, cherie," he said in a raspy tone.
Tiny flutters went off in her stomach. It always did something to her when he called her in French what was the equivalency of the word sweetheart sweetheart in English. Although she knew it was a term of endearment that probably had no special meaning to him, she still felt something when he said it. in English. Although she knew it was a term of endearment that probably had no special meaning to him, she still felt something when he said it.
"And what is for certain, Dominic?"
"No matter how or why the child was conceived, they will look upon its existence like I will, as that of a special gift we"ve been given."
Taylor had read in a pregnancy book that emotional changes were one of the side effects. Maybe that was the reason she suddenly wanted to cry at what Dominic said. His words had touched her deeply.
"Thank you," she whispered, fighting back the tears in her eyes.
He reached out and ran the tip of his finger along the side of her jaw. "And what are you thanking me for?" he asked in a husky tone.
"For wanting this baby. For wanting it to be a part of your life, your parents" life."
"Did you think I would not, Taylor? Did you honestly a.s.sume that I would settle for anything less?"
No, she hadn"t a.s.sumed that. He was living up to her expectations. Instead of answering him, she leaned forward and touched her lips to his. He then gently gathered her into his arms, took over the kiss and devoured her mouth with a hunger she was used to.
As he proceeded to kiss her senseless, she fell deeper and deeper in love with him.
Chapter 11.
Vanessa Steele stared at her two younger sisters. Pregnant and unmarried-the both both of them-they seemed happy, so she was happy for them. She knew who had fathered Taylor"s child, but Cheyenne was keeping a tight lip as to who had fathered hers. The only thing Cheyenne would say was that he was someone she had met one night while doing a photo shoot in Egypt but wouldn"t be seeing again. Vanessa couldn"t help wondering if Cheyenne"s one-night lover had been an Egyptian native or an American she"d met who, like her, had been visiting the country. of them-they seemed happy, so she was happy for them. She knew who had fathered Taylor"s child, but Cheyenne was keeping a tight lip as to who had fathered hers. The only thing Cheyenne would say was that he was someone she had met one night while doing a photo shoot in Egypt but wouldn"t be seeing again. Vanessa couldn"t help wondering if Cheyenne"s one-night lover had been an Egyptian native or an American she"d met who, like her, had been visiting the country.
"I hope the two of you know we"re going to have to celebrate, don"t you?" she finally asked. Taylor and Cheyenne were doing a sleepover at Vanessa"s house. They had just watched a Tyler Perry movie that had finally come out on DVD-for the fourth time-while munching on popcorn.
Marcus"s graduation had been beautiful and had brought out a lot of tears from those who recalled how it seemed just yesterday he was taking his first steps and now he was heading off to college-an Ivy League college at that, something Chance had always wanted for his son. Chance was proud of Marcus and everyone knew that if Cyndi had lived she would be proud of Marcus, as well, and more than satisfied at the fine job Chance had done in raising their son. Now Chance was married to Kylie, and had a seventeen-year-old stepdaughter named Tiffany and a baby son named Alden, who would be celebrating his first birthday soon.
Although surprised, the members of the family took both Taylor"s and Cheyenne"s pregnancy announcements well, and for once the cousins hadn"t bothered asking a lot of questions. After all, Taylor and Cheyenne were grown women, financially secure and able to take care of themselves. But Vanessa knew everyone had to be mildly curious about the men in their lives since no one had ever met either of them.
Vanessa was more than mildly curious but knew there was no need wasting her time on Cheyenne. Trying to get anything out of her would be like getting blood from a turnip, so she turned her concentration on Taylor.
"So, will you and Dominic Saxon have joint custody of your baby?" she asked Taylor, since she wanted to know.
Taylor shook her head. "No, I"ll have full custody, but he"ll get visitation rights."
Deciding to play devil"s advocate, she asked, "And what if he changes his mind later and wants full custody? What will you do then?"
"It won"t happen."
Vanessa raised a brow. "You seem certain of that."
Taylor shrugged. "I am. I trust Dominic to do what he said he would do."
Vanessa decided to make an observation. "You also love him, don"t you?"
At first Taylor didn"t say anything and then after taking a sip of her lemonade, she said, "Yes, I love him. But it doesn"t matter."
"And why doesn"t it matter?" Cheyenne wanted to know.
Taylor smiled at her two sisters. "Because falling in love with him wasn"t part of the deal. I may never have his love but I will have his baby."
"And will that be enough for you?" Vanessa asked softly, hearing the pain in her sister"s voice.
Taylor toyed with her gla.s.s a second or so before saying, "It has to be enough, Van, because that"s all I"ll ever have."
Later that night Taylor couldn"t get to sleep so she lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn"t help but recall the night when Dominic had dropped by her condo so he could be there when she found out whether or not she was pregnant. They had made love several times, and he had taken her to dinner later and ended up spending the night.
The following morning had been like all the others on the island when she had awakened in his arms...and to his lovemaking. He left the next morning for a business meeting in Australia. He hadn"t made any promises about when he would see her again, but had promised to call to check on her and he had, practically every day. She enjoyed receiving her daily phone calls from him, although she knew he was calling more for the baby"s sake than for hers.
When she had spoken to him earlier today he had mentioned that he had told his parents about the baby and they wanted to meet her. He hadn"t said how he had explained their relationship and she didn"t ask.
She heard her cell phone ring and glanced over at the clock. It was almost eleven. Wondering who would be calling her at this hour she got out of bed to grab the phone off the dresser. Caller ID indicated it was Dominic. Her heart jumped at the thought that he was calling her and wondered if anything was wrong, since they"d talked already that day.
"Dominic?"
"Yes, cherie? cherie?"
"Is anything wrong?"
She heard his soft chuckle. "No, nothing is wrong. It was only after dialing your number that I remembered there"s a three-hour time difference between us. I"m back in L.A. visiting my parents."
"Oh." Earlier that day when she had spoken with him he had been in Italy. He was definitely a jet-setter, but she knew that Dominic had investment interests all over the world.
"And how are your parents?" she asked.
He gave another soft chuckle. "They"re doing fine and are still walking on cloud nine at the thought of becoming grandparents. You have made them happy, Taylor. And they like the names we"ve picked out."
Taylor smiled. "I"m glad."
There was a slight pause and then he said, "I miss you, Taylor."
She closed her eyes at the s.e.xiness in his voice. "I miss you, too, Dominic."
And she did, although she knew the reason she was missing him was vastly different from the reason he was missing her. She was smart enough to know that the s.e.x between them was good, practically off the charts. Men got used to something like that. They began craving it. The reason she missed him was because she loved him and because she loved him, she enjoyed being with him whether s.e.xual or not.
"When are you returning to D.C.?" he broke into her thoughts and asked.
"In a few days. In fact, I fly out Sunday morning."
"Call my secretary and give her your flight information. I will be at the airport to pick you up."
"You don"t have to do that."
"I know, but I want to," he said smoothly in a soft voice.
"Okay then. I"ll call and let her know."
Moments later after hanging up the phone she got back into bed. Her fleeting happiness was somewhat fractured by the fact that the only thing between them was s.e.x. Good, hot, pa.s.sionate s.e.x.
And yes, of course, there was the baby.
"You"re kind of antsy, aren"t you, Nick? Ms. Steele"s flight doesn"t arrive for a full hour."
Dominic was roused from his thoughts by Ryder"s observation. He glanced toward the front seat where Ryder was expertly driving the sedan toward the airport. "I didn"t want to take a chance on traffic this morning," he said.
"On a Sunday morning? Who are you trying to kid? Just admit you"re anxious to see the woman."
Dominic frowned. "I will admit no such thing."