‘No thanks,’ Kate said, still concentrating on the movie.
‘That wasn’t really a question,’ Dominic said, brushing her nose with the tip of his finger as she lay in his arms.
Reaching for the remote, she put the movie on pause. ‘Ask me if I care whether it was or not,’ she said, looking up and smiling.
‘You’ll like surfing.’
‘No I won’t.’
‘How do you know unless you try?’
‘I can visualize; the water’s cold and the waves are high.’ The corporate headquarters weren’t at Santa Cruz just for the hell of it. Her view of the beaches was prime. And the tide charts and weather radio Dominic kept in his office were a constant reminder of his passion for surfing. ‘Look, I’ll watch. You surf.’
‘No, come with me.’
She gave him a grumpy look. ‘Are we going to fight about this?’
‘I’m not. Try on your wet suit.’ He leaped out of bed and walked to the closet. ‘I had it custom made.’ It and five others.
‘Jeez, Dominic. Must you always be a bulldozer?’
He grinned. ‘Spoilsport. I’ll take you up on my board. It’ll be fun.’
‘Then you have to come shooting with me.’
‘Sure,’ he said, turning around with a lime green and black wet suit in his hand.
Oh shit. She thought he’d baulk.
‘Come on, try it on. Maybe you’d like to … you know – play around afterwards.’
‘Damn you,’ she muttered. He’d been resisting sex – as in intercourse – wanting her to be fully healed while she’d been whining about making love for days now. ‘That’s not fair.’
‘Oh, yeah, that’s me, a fucking Boy Scout,’ he drawled. ‘Always fair, that’s my motto.’
‘What do you mean play around?’
‘I mean I’ll fuck you.’
Oh God, she felt that little lightning bolt hit right on target. ‘Now?’
‘If you promise to go surfing with me tomorrow.’
‘OK.’
‘There you go. A cooperative wife. I love it.’
‘And I’d love for you to finally perform. It’s not as though I haven’t been asking you for, let’s see – seven days, ten hours, fifteen minutes. Roughly.’
He laughed. ‘I’ve been waiting too, baby.’
‘So this is just a calculated move?’
‘I wouldn’t say calculated exactly.’
‘What exactly would you say?’
‘I was just waiting. It’s not as though I wanted to.’ Then his voice went soft. ‘Seriously, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.’
‘You won’t, OK. And right now the wet suit can wait. I can’t.’ She stripped off her pyjamas in seconds flat, lay back on the bed, held out her arms and wiggled her fingers.
He didn’t move for a second, a million restrictions jostling in his brain: the doctor’s instructions, the fact that Katherine hadn’t had a period yet, the unknowns about how long real healing took. The unrelenting fear that he might harm her, that he might have contributed to her miscarriage.
‘Jeez, you’d think this was your first time. Look, I won’t hurt you,’ she said with a grin. ‘I’ll be gentle.’
But it was Dominic who was gentle, slightly phobic even. He made love to her, with tenderness and moderation, with unselfish benevolence and what she resentfully characterized sometime later as a maddening calm.
‘If only, baby.’ He was wound tight as a spring, each plunging thrust worrisome, his rhythm of penetration and withdrawal cautious and wary.
‘This isn’t working for me.’
She’d come twice already, but on his best behaviour on this goddamn maiden voyage as it were, he said, pleasantly, ‘You need a little more excitement?’
‘Just a little more of your dick, if you don’t mind,’ she said, mimicking his mild tone.
‘Bitch.’ His voice was low, teasing.
She ran her fingernail down his cheek so it left a mark. ‘So what are you going to do about it, Mr Knight?’
‘Teach you a lesson, I suppose.’
Dismissing most of his reservations, or temporally overruling them, he stopped her complaints by giving her what she wanted, deeper and faster, deeper and harder, meeting her frenzied need until she was trembling, straining towards her impending orgasm, panting for air. Then he went motionless inside her.
Her eyes flew open, her mouth formed a little O.
‘Beg for it, baby,’ he said, softly.
Her nostrils flared, her lips firmed.
His erection swelled, hostility did that to his dick. ‘For the nail mark, Katherine.’
‘God damn you,’ she hissed.
He smiled. ‘Just beg a little. So you don’t scratch me again.’ Then he plunged deep, deep, for a second before withdrawing slightly, felt her low, strangled moan on his throat and whispered, ‘Sounds like you’re almost there.’
She bit her lip, shut her eyes, took a deep, shuddering breath before opening her eyes. ‘Please, Dominic.’ The words were almost inaudible.
‘I didn’t hear you.’
‘God damn you!’ she repeated
He grinned. ‘I heard that.’
‘Please, please, please, please!’ Her green gaze was seething. ‘Did you hear that?’
‘I did. Thank you. Now hang on, baby, we’re taking you home.’ And he did, smoothly, deftly, with expertise, his sexually talented dick and her raging hot libido. He took her over the edge as only he could, once, twice, three times more – and when she finally gasped, ‘No, no, stop,’ he didn’t.
Because he was horny as hell.
Since he’d suppressed his orgasm through all her screaming climaxes, it was a few overwrought moments more before he was able to consciously disengage, take off the brakes on his dick. And another few seconds after that before he abruptly jerked out of Kate’s slick sex and climaxed on her belly so incredibly hard he couldn’t breathe, didn’t know where he was, hung for endless moments in some wild, brain scorching limbo.
Katherine’s punch dragged him back into the world.
‘What are you doing?’ she screeched.
He sucked in a breath and snapped, ‘Waiting for you to have a normal period.’ Rolling off her, he grabbed his T-shirt from the floor. ‘Or any period.’ He tossed the shirt on her stomach. ‘You heard the doctor. Fucking relax.’ Reaching for his sweats, he sat up and wiped off his dick.
‘That’s not fair.’
‘For whom? You came often enough. And stop with the “fair” shit. Raised in my family, that word’s not in my vocabulary.’
She scowled at him. ‘You’re being difficult or stubborn. I don’t know which. For no good reason.’
‘Jesus, baby,’ he said, in a low grumble, wiping off her stomach and dropping the shirt on the floor. ‘You gotta wait. Follow the goddamn rules. Let’s not screw this up.’
‘Again. That’s what you mean, isn’t it. I screwed it up.’
‘What I mean is you and I both heard the doctor.’ He ran a hand through his hair, held it at the back of his neck for a second before he dropped his arm. ‘Wait for one normal period, she said. So let’s just do that, baby,’ he said, quietly. ‘It probably won’t be much longer anyway. Right?’ Sliding up against the headboard, he pulled her limp-as-a-corpse body up on his lap and smiled faintly. ‘What are you, a pouty two-year-old?’
She gave him a sulky look. ‘I thought you liked obedience. Me doing what you want.’
His mouth twitched. ‘I might if you actually could do it.’
‘Fuck you.’
He laughed. ‘Two seconds. A new record.’
She stuck out her tongue. Then, suddenly, as if a cloud had obscured the sun, she was overcome with the unspeakable loss that had made this argument necessary. Throwing her arms around Dominic’s neck, Kate slowly exhaled in a soft woeful sigh. ‘Do you think I’ll ever be healthy again?’ she whispered. ‘So you don’t have to be so careful and I don’t have to worry? So neither of us ha
s to worry.’
‘Sure you will, baby.’ His hand caught her chin and lifted her face to his, his voice, when he spoke, comforting. ‘You just need a little patience. You’re not good at that, so it’s up to me.’ He dipped his head, kissed her gently, then let his hand drop away. ‘So let me be the control freak. I do that pretty fucking well.’ His smile warmed his eyes. ‘Now, did you make the appointment with Melanie’s OB/GYN? If you didn’t, you should. Or if you like, I will.’
CHAPTER 24
It was a warm Saturday in June, the temperatures on the coast slightly cooler than inland. Dominic had their gear sent ahead to his apartment in Half Moon Bay since his Tesla sports car only had room for two.
He’d been up for hours, practically pacing, although he hadn’t rushed Kate after he woke her other than to mention that the waves were better early in the morning.
It was still dark when they left the house.
Leaning against the car door, her legs resting on the console, Dominic driving one handed while idly stroking her bare feet, Kate gazed at the stunningly beautiful man opposite her. The fine contours of his face were illuminated by the glow of the dash lights, his faint smile visible even in profile. ‘You’ve missed this, haven’t you?’
He shot her a glance, gauging his reply after their argument last night over surfing. ‘Yeah, it’s been a while,’ he said, neutrally.
‘It usually isn’t?’
‘I surf all over the world. So,’ he shrugged, ‘generally I’m in the water more than I have been lately.’
‘My fault?’
He gave her his finest bad-boy grin. ‘Let’s just say I had better things to do when you were around.’
‘And now you don’t?’
‘Don’t start with that, baby. Get a passing grade from the OB/GYN and we’re back on track. I’m just more cautious than you.’
‘And patient.’
He shot her another grin. ‘Always, baby. That’s no contest, and no problem,’ he quickly added to curtail any unwanted retort.
‘You’re quick.’
‘Fucking A.’ He laughed. ‘Survival.’
‘Am I really that temperamental?’
‘Nah,’ he lied, when, in fact, women had only said yes to him his entire life.
‘Maybe Nana and Gramps did spoil me a little,’ Kate said. ‘So if you’d like, I could—’
‘Baby, you’re everything I want. OK? Don’t change a thing.’ He wasn’t questioning personalities or nuances of behaviour when he was happy for the first time in his life. ‘Seriously, don’t even change the colour of your lipstick or your nail polish,’ he added, brushing his fingers over her crimson painted toenails.
‘God damn, you do know how to make a woman feel good.’
‘One woman,’ he said, gently, reaching out and brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers. ‘End of story. Now hang on. We’re going to haul ass. The breaks are better at dawn.’
He drove far too fast on the freeway, but smoothly, like a race driver, switching lanes effortlessly, moving past slow traffic at speeds so high the other cars looked like they were parked, and then really hitting it once they outdistanced the city snarl, a chronic condition in San Francisco. And when they reached the two-lane ocean road that skirted the high shoreline cliffs way too close for comfort, he reached over to check her seat belt, then floored it.
Kate shut her eyes at that point in order not to scream and possibly startle the driver and cause him to careen into the ocean. Had she opened her eyes, she would have seen that Dominic was smiling, relaxed, unperturbed by the curvy, roller-coaster terrain. He’d driven this road thousands of times; he knew it blindfolded.
The sun was just beginning to lighten the horizon, he was with his girl, he was going surfing – no way life could get better.
Twenty minutes later, slowing down as he approached the outskirts of Half Moon Bay, Dominic gave Kate a grin. ‘You can open your eyes, baby.’
‘I should have a T-shirt made,’ she muttered. ‘I survived Highway 1.’
His smile was totally boyish. ‘Fun, hey?’
She gave him a quelling glance. ‘We have different ideas of fun.’
‘That reminds me.’ He held up one finger. ‘My apartment here is pretty basic. So don’t expect much. It’s always been just a place to sleep between waves.’
‘Fuck. And I’m used to the Taj Mahal.’
He grinned. ‘You’re just itching for a spanking, aren’t you? Tell you what. Be a good girl about surfing and I might make it worth your while.’
‘Now we’re talking fun. How much worth my while?’
‘Depends how accommodating you are with surfing.’
‘I won’t whine.’
‘There’s one point.’
‘I won’t make you paddle me out.’
‘Christ, five points.’
‘What if I actually get up on my board and don’t fall?’
‘Then you get—’
‘Everything?’
‘Almost everything. We still need the doctor’s stamp of approval. But, hey, baby, don’t pout. That’s all but one percent of the game.’
‘OK. You’re on.’
He loved her for a thousand reasons, but her competitive spirit was right up there at the top. Katherine Hart Knight didn’t give an inch unless she had to. It was that had to part that pleased him most and on numerous highly stimulating occasions, seriously blew his mind.
The apartment was small, simple, one bedroom, furniture that had been well lived in, boy’s stuff everywhere: surfing posters on the walls, boards leaning against the walls, bongs in every size and colour of the rainbow, a huge TV, an even huger refrigerator filled with beer and very little food. But its best feature was the beach right outside the window.
‘We’ll go out to eat,’ Dominic said, when Kate opened the refrigerator and stared at the rows of beer bottles. ‘Patty keeps it stocked for my friends who crash here when they surf. Now, come on, let me help you with your wet suit. The waves don’t wait.’
He kept up a steady stream of instructions as he helped her into the skin-tight suit until she said, ‘I’m in overload, Dominic. Just show me. OK?’
‘Sorry, baby. It’s been a while since I’ve been here. I’m a little wired. Sit a minute while I dress and we’ll hit the water.’
He slid into his wet suit with the speed and deftness of considerable practice – plastic bags on his feet, talc on his arms and legs – the whole process ten times faster than Kate, then picked up both their boards and nodded. ‘Ready?’
‘As I’ll ever be.’
‘That’s all I need, baby.’ He grinned. ‘Lukewarm cooperation still gets you in the water with me. And I’ll take it from there. You’ll have fun.’
She actually did have fun when she hadn’t been sure she would. Dominic was super patient, taking her up on his board the first few times and holding her tight as they rode some medium shore breaks all the way in. Then he showed her how to paddle out herself, somehow kept his board alongside hers when he got up, then lifted her up on her feet and steadied her as she slid in on the beach breaks smooth as silk.
He saw the elation on her face as they reached shore and felt as though the universe had suddenly turned to gold. ‘Like that?’ he said, unclasping her surfboard leash and scooping up her board when she jumped off.
‘Wow.’
‘It’s a good wow, right?’ Sliding the boards under one arm, he wrapped his other arm around her shoulder and dragged her close. ‘One of life’s great pleasures.’
‘No kidding,’ she breathed, smiling up at him. ‘You’ve got a convert.’
Abruptly dropping the boards on the beach, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the hard length of his body. ‘I knew it.’ Raising one hand, he slicked back her wet curls, brushed his dripping hair away from his face and bending low, first kissed her, then whispered against her mouth. ‘Welcome to my world, baby. We’re gonna have fun.’
And from Dominic’s
point of view, the weekend was pretty much up there with celestial wonders to the nth degree. Kate actually managed the smaller shore breaks almost immediately and consistently improved over the course of their weekend stay, the sex was better than ever, which was saying a lot considering their history, and his friend Eddy came down on Sunday to join Dominic surfing the big, bad-ass waves – a relative term in the summer but still not for the faint of heart.
On the drive home late Sunday, fighting traffic the entire way, Kate dozed and Dominic kept mentally replaying his super fine weekend memories. Half Moon Bay had always been his sanctuary and paradise, the juxtaposition not without its occasional mind fuck. But it was mostly paradise and now he had Katherine to share it with. He knocked wood on his head about a hundred times on the way home, just in case.
Life was going way the hell too good.
Then when they reached home, Kate came awake, sat up and suddenly smiled a brilliant smile. ‘Ohmygod, Dominic! My period started!’
Oh fuck. ‘The wait’s over then,’ he said in that provisional tone a demolition expert would use when saying, If it’s not the red wire, it’s been nice.
‘You don’t sound very excited.’
‘Sorry, baby. I am.’ He put the relevant emphasis and expression into his next words. ‘That’s really good news.’ But he was thinking, Life had been going way the hell too good.
Now what the fuck was he going to do?
CHAPTER 25
The next week Dominic was noticeably tense. So much so, that Max remarked on it. ‘What the hell’s going on? You on someone’s hit list again?’
‘I wish it were that simple.’
‘And?’
‘And I’ll deal with it.’
Max knew better than to continue the discussion.
Even Kate finally asked, ‘Did I say something to piss you off?’
‘Sorry, baby,’ Dominic said, forcing a smile. ‘Just some deal driving me nuts.’
‘Can I help?’
Oh yeah, big time. ‘Nah … it’s manageable. But thanks.’
Then Kate went for her appointment with Melanie’s doctor with Melanie. Dominic’s sister had just said, ‘Let me take her, Nicky. She’s worried and you might not get it. So don’t argue.’