His Forbidden Passion Page 17

  ‘Gee, thanks,’ she said, trying not to show how small that made her feel. ‘Well, I guess I was the last resort.’

  Dominic scowled. Despite the way he felt about her—and right now he wished her any place else but here—he didn’t like hurting her.

  Dammit!

  Not that she didn’t deserve his contempt, he reminded himself savagely. She’d practically robbed him of any desire for living. And that was a heavy burden to shift.

  ‘Look,’ he said wearily, ‘let’s not pretend you wanted to come back here. And don’t for a minute imagine that I knew in advance what my mother intended to do. I didn’t. And if I had known, I’d have stopped her. Why can’t she just leave me alone to get on with my life?’

  ‘With your death, your mean!’ exclaimed Cleo passionately, and Dominic gave her an incredulous look. ‘Well, it’s true,’ she went on. ‘What are you doing to yourself?’ Her voice broke on a sob. ‘What have I done to you?’

  The car braked abruptly, and the small pick-up that had been following them along the coast road skidded wildly, almost swerving over the cliff.

  The driver raised an angry fist as he went by, but Dominic wasn’t paying him any attention. His eyes were fixed on Cleo’s tormented face, and when she looked up and met his furious gaze, he shook his head.

  ‘Oh, boy, she really did a number on you, didn’t she?’ he exclaimed. ‘What the hell has she been saying? It must have been something pretty drastic to bring you back to San Clemente.’

  Cleo fumbled in her pocket for a tissue. But she’d stuffed her denim jacket into her hand luggage before leaving the plane. Her sleeveless T-shirt and tight jeans left little room for extras.

  Finally, abandoning her search, she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. Then she ventured unevenly, ‘I wanted to come back. I’ve wanted to come back every day since I left here.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ Dominic was sardonic. Then, leaning forward, he rummaged in the glove compartment and pulled out a small pack of tissues.

  He handed them to her and she was shocked to find his fingers were icy. ‘You’re good, Cleo, I’ll give you that,’ he said, his smile as cold as his flesh. ‘Who came up with that explanation? No, don’t tell me. It was my mother.’

  Cleo felt the prick of tears behind her eyes. ‘It wasn’t your mother,’ she retorted tightly. ‘It’s not made up. If—if you’d only listen to what I have to say—’

  ‘Oh, yeah. And I’m supposed to believe that you were only waiting for an invitation to come back?’

  ‘Not an invitation, no.’ Cleo sighed. He was so hard; so unforgiving. ‘Can’t you at least try and look at things from my side for a change?’

  ‘Why should I?’ Dominic’s expression darkened. ‘You’ve got a bloody nerve, coming here, expecting me to feel sympathy for you. I didn’t ask you to come back. And you’ve only got my mother’s word that I’d even want to lay eyes on you again.’

  ‘Oh, Dominic!’

  Cleo gazed at him with tear-wet eyes. She wouldn’t have believed he could be so cruel. And the disturbing notion that Lily might have been wrong in her interpretation of events hit her with a mind-numbing blow.

  ‘You—you have to understand how I felt when I left here,’ she ventured huskily. ‘All right. We’d slept together, and that was—that was amazing—’

  Dominic’s disbelieving gaze turned in her direction for a second, but then he forced himself to resume his contemplation of the ocean.

  She didn’t mean that, he assured himself. This was just another ploy on his mother’s part to try and control his life.

  ‘—but I—I couldn’t be your mistress.’

  Dominic’s eyes raked her anxious face again. ‘Had I asked you to be my mistress?’ he demanded savagely. ‘You’d better refresh my memory. I don’t remember that at all.’

  ‘No.’ Cleo groaned. ‘No, you hadn’t actually said that—’

  ‘Thank heaven for small mercies!’ He was sarcastic.

  ‘—but—but I was sure that was what you wanted.’

  ‘Really?’ He stared at her now, his eyes dark and dangerous. ‘And you presumed to know my mind about this, just as you presumed to know better than me that night at Turtle Cove, right?’

  Cleo blew out a nervous breath. ‘I’ve explained about that.’

  ‘Have you?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her tongue circled her lips. ‘Can’t you see I’m struggling here? I thought—I thought I had to get away from you before…before I did something I’d regret.’

  ‘Like going to bed with me again?’ Dominic’s mouth curled. ‘Yeah, I can see how that might have been a problem for you.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be so stupid!’ Cleo glared at him through her tears. ‘I was in love with you, all right? And I was afraid of getting hurt.’ She pressed her palms to her hot cheeks. ‘You can blame my mother, if you like, but that was the problem.’

  Dominic’s eyes darkened. ‘Why would you think I’d hurt you?’

  ‘Because of Sarah,’ she answered simply. ‘I thought you might be planning on marrying Sarah, and I couldn’t have borne to live with that.’

  Dominic was steeling himself against the urge to comfort her. Her tears tore him apart, but he still couldn’t ignore what Sarah had said…

  ‘So how do you explain what you said to Sarah at Nassau Airport?’ he asked harshly.

  ‘Sarah?’ Cleo blinked, scrubbing the heels of her hands across her cheeks. ‘What am I supposed to have said?’

  ‘You didn’t happen to tell her that you hoped you’d never see me again?’

  ‘Or course not.’ Cleo was horrified.

  ‘But you don’t deny you had a conversation with her?’

  ‘It was hardly a conversation,’ protested Cleo. ‘And your name wasn’t even mentioned. Oh—except when she told me you’d sent her to meet some business colleague of yours, but that was—’

  ‘Say what?’

  Dominic’s expression was incredulous now and suddenly Cleo realised that her suspicions about the other girl were all true.

  ‘There was no business colleague, was there?’ she breathed. ‘Your mother told me Sarah had left the island, but I didn’t put it all together.’

  ‘Put what together?’

  ‘The fact that she wanted me to think you two were still a couple.’

  ‘But how could you think that?’ Dominic was struggling not to allow the feeling of euphoria that was building inside him to take control. ‘You saw what happened between me and Sarah. Dammit, you must have heard something when you were hiding out in the bushes beneath my deck.’

  ‘I wasn’t hiding out in the bushes,’ murmured Cleo unhappily. She shook her head. ‘Oh—I’m no good at this at all.’

  ‘You’re better than me,’ muttered Dominic, half turning in his seat towards her. ‘I should have known Jacob’s sudden frailty was too convenient. I guess he knows how weak and vulnerable I am.’

  Dominic, weak and vulnerable?

  Cleo didn’t believe it. His brooding profile was very dear, but also very remote.

  She wanted to reach out to him; to plunge her fingers into the silky dampness of his hair; to cradle his solemn face between her palms and make him see that her life wouldn’t be worth living if he wasn’t in it.

  But she wasn’t that courageous.

  There was silence for a long time and then Dominic said softly, ‘So you came back because my mother put the fear of God into you.’

  ‘No.’ Cleo held up her head. ‘I came back because she convinced me you needed me.’

  ‘And do you still think I do?’

  ‘I don’t know what to think,’ she confessed huskily. ‘But—but now I’ve seen you—’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘—I think she might have had a point.’

  Dominic grimaced. ‘I look that bad, hmm?’

  And suddenly, she couldn’t take any more.

  Uncaring what he thought, she reached out and grabbed the hair at the back of his neck, jer
king him towards her. Then she recklessly pressed her mouth to his.

  It was the first time she’d ever done such a thing, but she knew she had to do something to break through his iron control. And, although his lips were only warm to begin with, they quickly heated beneath the sensuous pressure of hers.

  She heard Dominic utter a savage protest, but the chemistry between them was undeniable. Despite any lingering resentment he might feel because of her prolonged absence, the instantaneous hunger of his own response made any kind of resistance futile.

  ‘Dammit, Cleo,’ he said hoarsely, and then his hands came almost convulsively to grip her shoulders, and he took control of the kiss.

  Crushing her back against the leather squabs, he angled his mouth so that he could plunder the sweet cavity of hers with his tongue.

  Her tongue came to meet his, a writhing, sensuous mating that gave as much as it took. And Dominic felt the anger he’d been nurturing all these weeks dissolving beneath the delicious vulnerability of her warm body.

  Cleo’s own relief was overwhelming. She’d been so afraid he wouldn’t forgive her. Winding her arms about his neck, she pressed herself as close as the central console would allow.

  But it wasn’t close enough.

  Finding the collar of his jacket, she pushed it off his shoulders, relieved to find that his skin was now much warmer to her touch. But she wanted to be even nearer and her fingers fumbled frantically with the buttons on his shirt.

  Dominic sucked in a tortured breath when he felt her hands on his body, and his mouth dived urgently for the sensitive curve of her neck.

  He felt hungry, feverish, and when she gave a little moan of pleasure he felt his own needs threatening to explode inside him.

  ‘We have got to get out of here,’ he muttered, covering her face with hot, addictive kisses. His hands slid down her arms to find the provocative thrust of her breasts, and he longed to tear the T-shirt over her head.

  He wanted to touch her, much more intimately than their present situation would allow. And, although right now he was crazy enough not to care, she meant so much more to him than a tumble in the back seat of his grandfather’s car.

  Pushing her back into the seat, he shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it into the back seat. Suddenly he was sweating, and it was such a good feeling.

  ‘Where are we going?’ asked Cleo, half-afraid he was going to take her to Magnolia Hill, and Dominic gave her a wry look as he started the car.

  ‘Well, not to see your grandfather,’ he said a little ruefully. ‘The old devil can stew for a bit longer.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  Cleo looked at him, her dark brows raised, and Dominic’s foot pressed harder on the accelerator.

  ‘He knew what he was doing when he asked me to come and meet you,’ he said drily. ‘He swore he was too tired to make the trip himself. And Serena was conveniently absent.’

  ‘And did you mind?’

  ‘Yes, I minded,’ said Dominic honestly. ‘He knew how I felt about you, and I couldn’t conceive of any way you might want to see me again.’

  ‘Dominic!’

  ‘It’s true.’ He grimaced. ‘I thought you’d come back because of something my mother had said. And I didn’t want your—pity.’

  ‘My pity!’ Cleo caught her breath. ‘Oh, darling…’

  Dominic let out a tortured breath. ‘Anyway, naturally he didn’t want to ask Lily again, so—I was his only option. Or so he said.’

  ‘Thank God!’

  Cleo’s response was fervent and, spreading her fingers over his thigh, she squeezed provocatively.

  Dominic almost choked then. ‘Please,’ he said hoarsely, ‘don’t do that.’

  ‘Why?’ Cleo’s smile was mischievous. ‘Don’t you like it?’

  ‘I’ll answer that when we get to Turtle Cove,’ said Dominic, his look promising a delicious retribution, and Cleo shivered in delight.

  The journey seemed to take forever. But at last Dominic turned between the stone gates that marked the extent of his property and drove swiftly up to the house.

  They left the car on the forecourt, where a fountain sparkled brilliantly in the late-afternoon sun. But even before they reached the entry, Cleo was in Dominic’s arms.

  Ambrose, Dominic’s houseman, appeared briefly in the open doorway, but he quickly made himself scarce. He could see his employer had everything he wanted for the moment, and his smile was a sign of his satisfaction, too.

  They paused in the foyer only long enough for Dominic to haul Cleo’s T-shirt over her head and to shed his own shirt. Then with his mouth still on hers they stumbled along the corridor to his bedroom.

  Cleo thought it was odd seeing the place in daylight, but it was just as beautiful as she remembered. Dominic was just as beautiful, too, and her head swam as, between more of those soul-draining kisses, they peeled one another’s clothes off.

  Then he tumbled her onto the bed, and she felt his hot, aroused body between her legs.

  ‘I want you—so much,’ he muttered in a husky, impassioned voice.

  And with her body throbbing with the uncontrolled hunger only he could assuage, Cleo gave herself up to the physical needs of passion…

  Epilogue

  CLEO’S hair was still damp.

  A silky strand was lying on the pillow beside Dominic’s head and he coiled it round his finger.

  It was so dark; even darker than his own, with a bluish tinge that gave it a lustrous vitality. It was so essentially her, and he loved it.

  He loved everything about her, he thought, bringing the strand of hair to his lips. He inhaled, smelling his shampoo, and he liked the intimacy of that, too.

  After their first frantic coupling, they’d taken a shower together. And he’d delighted in soaping her hair and her body, in covering every inch of her skin with his scent.

  But, despite the smell of expensive lotions, he could still smell himself on her, and that pleased him.

  It was hardly surprising, after all. Rubbing his hands all over her had aroused them both once again, and they’d made love beneath the cooling spray of water. He had pinned Cleo against the wall of the cubicle, and she’d wound her legs around his hips.

  Amazingly, they’d made love again when they’d got back into bed. Dominic hadn’t known he had it in him, but just thinking of making love with Cleo made him harden with desire.

  She was the woman he loved, his soulmate; and he was never going to let her go. They belonged together; they always had. And he could even feel grateful to his grandfather: without the old man’s intervention, he might never have known her.

  Cleo was sleeping now.

  She was probably exhausted, he reflected. He was pretty tired, too. But he didn’t want to miss a minute of the bliss in knowing they were together at last. He’d have plenty of time for sleep when they were married.

  Married!

  Cleo Montoya. He experimented with the name. Mrs Dominic Montoya. Yeah, that sounded really good.

  It was getting dark outside, but he hadn’t bothered to close the curtains. If anyone—his mother, Serena or his grandfather—chose to come and peer in at his windows, he really didn’t care. He had nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. He and Cleo were a couple.

  And how amazing was that!

  He stirred and Cleo’s eyes flickered. Long, silky lashes lifted, and then she turned her head and encountered his gaze.

  ‘What time is it?’ she asked sleepily, and Dominic pulled her closer.

  ‘About six,’ he said softly. ‘Are you hungry? I can have Ambrose fix us something to eat.’

  Cleo’s lips parted, and a dreamy expression entered her eyes. ‘Is this really happening?’ she whispered. ‘Are we really together? This isn’t just a dream, is it?’

  ‘If it is, I’m having the same dream,’ said Dominic, nuzzling her shoulder. ‘No, sweetheart, it’s not a dream. You’re here, at Turtle Cove. In my bed.’

  ‘Hmm, I like that,’ she mu
rmured, loving the feel of his stubble against her skin. ‘But I suppose I’ll have to go and see…our…grandfather. He must be wondering what’s going on.’

  ‘Oh, I think he has a fair idea,’ said Dominic drily. ‘I must have convinced all of them that I was in love with you. Why else would my mother have swallowed her pride and gone to see you?’

  ‘Do you think he was worried?’ asked Cleo anxiously. ‘I wouldn’t like to think I was to blame for any relapse in his condition.’

  Dominic grinned. ‘If Grandpa was worried, it was only over his part in the situation,’ he said firmly. ‘He was so sure you’d realise what you were giving up—financially, I mean—and come back.’

  ‘But I never wanted his money!’

  ‘Well, he knows that now,’ agreed Dominic. ‘And I dare say it did him good to sweat for a while.’

  Cleo hesitated. ‘But he is all right, isn’t he?’

  ‘He’s OK.’ Dominic was reflective. ‘No one really knows how his condition will develop.’

  Cleo drew a trembling breath. ‘Well, I’m glad I’m going to see him again. I realised—I’m very fond of him.’

  ‘That’s good to know.’ Dominic’s eyes darkened. ‘And how about me?’

  Cleo gazed at him with her heart in her eyes. ‘You know I love you,’ she breathed. ‘So much. That was why I had to go away. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you and Sarah together.’

  Dominic deposited a kiss on her nose. ‘There was no way I could have married Sarah feeling as I do about you,’ he said solemnly.

  ‘No, but there were so many similarities between our relationship and that of my mother and father. I was afraid of what might happen next.’

  ‘That you might get pregnant? You’re not, are you?’ he asked, raising his brows, and she giggled.

  ‘Not yet,’ she conceded, happily, and he pulled a wry face.

  ‘Well, that’s OK, I guess,’ he said after a moment. ‘I would like to have you to myself for a little while first.’

  Cleo touched his cheek. ‘I don’t deserve you.’

  ‘No.’ Dominic grinned. ‘But I’ll forgive you.’

  There was silence in the room for a few delicious moments and then Cleo stirred again.