Page 51 of Mourner for Hire

FORTY-ONE

DOMINIC

Heat blooms like fire as all my desire for her manifests itself in my body.

She strokes me once, then twice. Her eyes sparkle as she takes in the sight of me.

She moves slowly, teasing me and running her thumb over the tip, just as I drag my index finger down her neck and over the curve of her breast, taking a nipple in my mouth.

Her movements stop completely, and she tosses her head back.

My palms brace her abdomen, and I push her back against the hot tub so she’s sitting on the edge.

Her fingers dig into my hair as I take her other nipple in my mouth.

She opens her legs for me without me having to ask, and I trail kisses from her breasts to her navel, then lower, lower.

My mouth salivates the closer I get to tasting her.

I look up at her. Droplets of rain are running down her face and dripping off her lips, but she stares down at me in disbelief. I run my fingertips gingerly under the hem of her bikini bottom.

“Yes?” I ask.

I watch her swallow.

“Yes,” she breathes.

I run my thumb down her center, staying outside the fabric, and she pulses forward, just enough to let me know it’s the right spot. I slip my fingers under the panty line and touch her. A soft circle. Teasing her the way she teased me.

“Dominic,” she whispers, a plea on her lips.

I push two fingers inside her and rest my thumb on her clit.

“Dominic!” she gasps this time, loud against the rainstorm.

I keep my hand in motion and untie the side of her yellow bikini, letting it fall into the water below us. Replacing my thumb with my mouth makes her buck toward me, crying out as her heels dig into my back and pull me closer, her legs draped over my shoulders.

I remove my fingers and let my mouth cover her, tasting her, devouring her until there’s no question she just came all over my tongue.

Her legs are wobbly with the aftershock of her orgasm, and her breathing is subdued, her eyes sleepy. I whisper kisses on her inner thighs as she laughs.

Within moments, the pouring rain turns into thunder and lightning in the distance. We meet eyes. A silent agreement that it’s time to go inside.

I scoop her into my arms and stumble through the back door. Her bikini is somewhere behind at the hot tub, and I press her naked body against the wall and kiss her.

“Over there,” she breathes, gesturing to the couch, but unable to completely stop kissing me.

Desire pulses in my veins as she pushes me down into a seated position, raking her fingers down my chest and planting kisses down my stomach while dipping into the waistband of my boxers.

Just the sight of her, kneeling between my legs, soaking wet and covered in tan lines and secret tattoos, makes me feel like I’m about to combust.

When she takes me in her hand, she looks up at me with the slightest smile before putting me in her mouth.

“Fuck—” I buck my hips, and my head falls back. Her hand. Her mouth. The noises she makes while she takes me past her lips. I grip her hair and pull her head back. “Get up here now,” I say, my voice low and rugged.

She’s on me in an instant, pulling a condom out of her purse that’s sitting on the end table.

“Good thing you threw these in my cart last month,” she breathes, and I laugh against her lips.

“You wouldn’t have anything to worry about—I haven’t been with anyone since the last time I was tested.”

The sexiest laugh falls out of her mouth, making her toss her head back and her long dark hair tangle in my fingers as I hold onto her waist.

“That wouldn’t matter. I’d be asking for your Patient Portal password before believing you,” she says while she rolls on the condom.

“You’re insane.” I can’t help but laugh, even as I curse under my breath.

“You love it.”

“I do,” I admit as she sinks down on me.

We moan simultaneously, and I watch her pretty mouth as she closes her eyes.

“Vada,” I whisper, running my thumb under her chin. “Look at me.”

Her eyes flutter open, and she looks at me.

All previous emotions of humor and teasing are replaced with completely unadulterated desire.

She leans forward, brushing a ghost of a kiss over my lips.

Once. Twice. Nipping gently along my jaw while she grinds slowly against me.

Her lips trail to my ear and she whispers, “I’m going to make you stop hating me. ”

I glide my hand up her chest and along her neck, taking hold of her jaw and tilting her face so her lips are barely a breath away from my lips. “You’re doing a good job so far, sweetheart.”

Her lips crash into mine. The kiss deepens as reckless heat binds our bodies together.

Everything about her is overwhelming, every sensation, catching every nerve ending on fire until I’m blind with ecstasy.

But it’s more than that. Not just the sex.

Not just the white flag at the end of a long, petty war.

It’s that once upon a time, she meant something to me, and maybe time hasn’t changed that.

I cup my hands around her face. “I don’t want a truce, Vada.” She pauses her movement, and her eyes gleam in the low-lit room. “I want you.”

I watch her swallow and trace a finger down her chest bone, making her abdomen tighten.

“Don’t make promises you aren’t willing to keep, Dominic.”

“It’s not a promise. It’s a desire. It’s you. All the time. Every second of every day. You consume my thoughts.”

She leans forward, her hair falling over her shoulder and touching my chest. Her lips brush against mine once and then twice, slow and tantalizing. My fingers sink into her hip bone.

“Tell me you want me, too,” I tell her, her movements making me wind up until I’m about ready to snap.

There’s only a split-second of hesitation before she hushes me and says, “I just want this.”