As they moved down the corridor to the entrance hall, Kate asked, ‘Are we really leaving?’

‘Not Hong Kong, just this house.’

‘I left my messenger bag upstairs.’

‘It should be in the car.’

‘What if it isn’t? I’ll check.’

‘Leo’s efficient. Don’t worry.’

It amazed her how smoothly his life advanced, every wish and whim anticipated, every concern attended to by a staff of minions, every expectation satisfied. It was a different world, rarefied, insulated, impervious to the variety, hiccups and irksome snags that gave life its flavour. Although he wasn’t a man to be pitied. He lived an enviable life.

On reaching the door, Dominic said, ‘Thank you, Leo. I owe you.’

‘Not a problem. Have a pleasant holiday.’

‘We’re good?’ A cryptic look passed between the two men.

‘Everything’s fine, Nick.’

Dominic smiled. ‘Perhaps we’ll come for dinner one night.’

‘An would enjoy the opportunity to cook for you and Miss Hart.’

‘We’ll see. I’ll call you.’ Dominic dipped his head.

Leo nodded at the houseboy standing at the door and the door was opened.

‘There, that wasn’t too bad, was it?’ Dominic took Kate’s hand and moved through the open doorway.

‘It could have been worse.’

‘I wouldn’t have let it get worse. I don’t want you unhappy.’

She smiled up at him as they walked down the stairs. ‘Lucky me.’

‘I’m the fortunate one. Watch your step.’ They reached the car, the back door held open by another staff member.

Dominic followed her in, pointed out her canvas bag on the seat, saw that the privacy glass was up as ordered and the moment the door shut and the car moved off, he unzipped his slacks and reached out for her. ‘We both need a reward for surviving lunch.’ Lifting Kate onto his lap, he quickly swung her around to straddle his thighs, brushed her skirt out of the way with a brisk sweep of his hand, raised her just enough to deftly align himself. Once the tip of his cock was nuzzling her sex, he eased her down his erection with a low, grateful sigh.

Blissfully impaled, Kate wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbed her cheek against his and whispered, ‘How do you always know what I want?’

‘Because you always want the same thing.’

There was a smile in his voice.

She lifted her gaze and wiggled her hips. ‘Complaining?’

‘Uh-uh. I’m happy.’

‘Me too.’ Deep down, uncomplicated happy.

Her simple reply was like an antidote to loneliness, when Dominic had never thought of himself as lonely. ‘Good,’ he said, because he didn’t want to look at the collective bargaining that had become his life. The frantic pace, the emptiness. Instead, he held her by the waist, raised her up his rigid length and pressed her back down, slowly, leisurely so they both felt the silken friction register in every obsessed, devoutly expectant nerve ending clear down to their toes.

He didn’t rush. The drive would take twenty minutes, maybe more with traffic. He saw to it that Kate didn’t rush either, although that took all his considerable skill to keep her from climaxing. And when he finally let her come, he did as well with a razzle-dazzle turbulence that matched her wild scream. She lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at him, and he felt as though life had given him a present.

‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to screw another man without feeling deprived. Damn you – and damn this world-class equipment’ – she moved her hips on his barely diminished erection. ‘It’s going to be hard to duplicate.’

‘Don’t forget these.’ He held up his hands and flexed his fingers.

‘And this.’ She ran the pad of her finger across his smiling mouth.

‘We have a full arsenal of equipment, babe.’ His smile widened. ‘You need us.’

‘Such smugness practically screams for payback.’

His brows rose. ‘And you can do that?’

‘Maybe,’ she purred. ‘Have you ever seen those naughty librarian commercials?’

‘I haven’t.’ He grinned. ‘But I have a feeling I wish I had.’

‘You have a lot of late fees, mister,’ Kate recited in a low, breathy, luridly sexy tone. ‘Maybe someone should teach you to return your library books on time.’

Dominic laughed, the blue of his eyes filled with delight. ‘Anytime you want to play, Miss Hart, count me in.’

‘See, that’s the problem,’ she grumbled. ‘I’m going to miss all that. Maybe I could stop by once a month and we could spend a day in bed fucking.’

Or other places, fucking. ‘You might have yourself a deal,’ he said softly, his brain rapidly ticking through the logistics necessary to make it happen. ‘Call me and I’ll send a plane for you. In the meantime though, don’t go. Stay. Work for me.’ He had a brief moment of panic as he heard himself vocalize what would have been unheard of three days ago. On the other hand, he wanted what he wanted – for now. ‘You should have taken my job offer from the beginning.’

She squirmed a little so she could feel the full extent of his swelling cock. ‘The fringe benefits are awesome.’

‘You could be my ADC, work closely with me – very closely,’ he said, smiling faintly. ‘Max could go home every week instead of every two weeks. You could fill in.’