He looked like he wanted to crush her in his arms, but instead nodded curtly, a half smile pursing his lips. "Good, because I'm not sure I meant what I said about letting you leave."

Abby caught Jake and Mrs. Duhamel watching their interaction with fascination. Neither felt guilty enough to look away. Abby decided to have a little fun. "I'm sure Mr. Walton would have arranged transportation home for me if I'd asked.”

A glint of challenge lit Dominic's eyes. "He could have tried."

"You really are a bit of a caveman, Dominic," Abby teased.

"Is that complaint?" His voice was soft as velvet as he reached for her.

She leaned upward to whisper in his ear. "Actually, I think it's kinda hot." His hands closed in, but not fast enough, she slipped away to join the enrapt audience.

Maybe she was going about this all wrong. Instead of accepting being swept away, perhaps what she needed to do was request her own oar. "Marie, could I get my own copy of the itinerary and some tour guide books? I'd like to be able to sight see a bit while Dominic is in meetings."

Jake piped in, "If you need a guide, Abby, I can come along. I know my way around pretty well."

Dominic visibly stiffened at Jake's offer, giving Abby a wicked idea. Dominic took himself a little too seriously sometimes and it wouldn't hurt him to have a little fun poked at him. She shot a conspiratorial wink to Jake and Mrs. Duhamel.

“That would be great!” she said. She amazed herself by sounding almost serious as she asked, "Did you book a suite, Marie? If there is an extra room, Jake could stay with us."

Dominic took possession of one of her elbows, his tight features revealing that he hadn't yet gotten the joke. "I won't be that busy."

His touch sent a rush of passion that nearly made her sway. Abby hid her reaction quickly with a more acceptable sympathetic laugh. "I'm kidding, Dominic.”

Dominic’s uncomfortable realization that he’d been had was a source of great amusement for Jake. His deep laugh boomed through the small room.

Jake said, "I think you've met your match this time, Dom, and she doesn't seem the least bit afraid of that twitch you get in your jaw."

Even Mrs. Duhamel chuckled. "Isn't she perfect for him? I've always thought he needed someone who could take him down a peg or two."

Dominic swore beneath his breath, which only added to the general glee.

“Careful, we have a long flight ahead of us,” he said for only Abby to hear and ran his strong fingers lightly across the small of her back, sending shivers up and down her body.

Abby was feeling brave. There wasn’t too much he could do while Mrs. Duhamel was looking on. She laughed up at him sweetly. “Promises. Promises.”

He scowled down at her. Abby felt a familiar curling warmth invade her stomach, knowing she could change his expression with one touch. The power of their attraction was heady.

Jake closed his briefcase and gave Abby a nod of approval. "Dom, I can see why you didn't want to come back to NY."

Dominic glared at his second in command and then seemed to cheer himself with a thought. "There is something you can do for me while I'm gone, Jake."

"What do you need?" Jake asked with the calm tone of a man who weathered the unexpected with ease.

"I need someone to check in on Abby's sister, Lil."

Mrs. Duhamel piped in with an offer to do it, but Dominic silenced her with a raised hand. "Just give Jake the information he needs."

Jake hedged, "Wouldn't I be much more effectively utilized in the New York office?"

Abby added. "Dominic, you've done too much. Lil already has a full time nanny."

Dominic's insistence left no room for refusal. "Jake, I'd feel better knowing that Abby's sister was being checked in on by someone I know." He leaned down and whispered with unexpected mischief to Abby, "Besides, Jake has a real baby phobia. This will be good for him."

"That's..." Abby said with a smile.

Dominic finished her sentence softly into her ear, "Exactly what he deserves."

Chapter Ten

Abby was curled up under a throw blanket, watching the clouds pass by beneath window of the plane. The lights of the city were gone and they were well over the Atlantic. She'd seatbelted herself in, but the smoothness of the plane almost allowed her to forget that they were heading away from everything she'd known so far.

Watching Dominic deal with world leaders on the phone was fascinating. He explained, yelled, threatened, but never apologized and from the way each phone call ended to his satisfaction, she guessed he didn't have to.

He stretched his arms behind him, stood, and scanned the room for her. "Come here," he said.

Every inch of her wanted to obey his sultry command, but instead she smoothed the blanket on her lap and countered, "I thought we'd discussed that I'm not a canine."

He smiled and she knew he liked that she didn't jump up to please him. He was a hunter who would have been disappointed had the prey come too willingly. "Come here," he repeated in a husky tone.

She shook her head and tried to hide her amusement. The temperature of the room went up along with the color in his cheeks. Little games excited him and she was discovering that they had the same effect on her. She couldn't resist adding, "Maybe you should come here."

A sexual stand off. Who would give in first? Who would cross the distance between them?

Abby slid her shoes off with what she hoped was the slow technique of a stripper. She let each fall with a light thud.

Eyes never wavering from hers, he removed his sneakers by stepping impatiently on the back of each. There was deliberate restraint in each of his tight movements.

Abby slowly unrolled her socks and tucked them neatly in her sneakers then looked back at him boldly. If anyone had tried to tell her that exquisite sexual tension could be amplified by the mere removal of one’s socks, Abby would have scoffed the idea. However, her breath caught in her throat as Dominic bent to remove his own, tossing them carelessly beside his discarded shoes. When he straightened, passion flared in his eyes.

Mutual need pulsed between them.

Forcing herself to maintain a painfully slow, erotic pace, Abby untucked her t-shirt from of her jeans and drew the shirt up over her head, tossing the maroon material on the floor halfway between them. The cool air of the plane felt good through the thin white lace of the bra. Her nipples hardened through the material and Dominic’s harshly drawn breath was audible above the hum of the plane’s engine.

Dominic removed his own shirt and flung it on her discarded one. The t-shirt had hinted at Dominic's glorious build, but without it, Abby was given full view of a powerful man in his prime. In another time, he would have been a warrior or a gladiator. He was all male and, at least for today, he was all hers.

Abby stood. She'd thought she'd won when she began to unsnap her jeans. He took what looked like an involuntary half step toward her, but then stopped. She stepped out of her jeans and tossed them on the growing pile of clothing between them.

She was glad that she'd taken the time to buy the kind of underwear that gave her the confidence to stand there before him, knowing she looked good in the white lace panties and bra. Thank you, Mrs. Duhamel, for the full spa treatment. She'd never been so happy that every corner of her body had been pampered and prepared.

Dominic threw his own pants in the pile with a bit of impatience. His cotton boxers did nothing to hide the effect the shared striptease was having on his libido. Seeing his excitement only heightened Abby's.

Their ragged breathing synchronized as if part of some primitive mating ritual. Abby’s body craved Dominic’s with an urgency she’d only heard about and had always dismissed as an exaggeration. Her skin quivered in anticipation. Her body moistened with desire. And amazingly enough, Dominic’s eyes burned with a matching powerful need.

The standoff was pretty equal until Abby brought a hand up and cupped her own breast, gently flicking her erect nipple with her thumb.

Dominic closed the distance between them, lifting her off her feet to rest fully against him and took her breast into his mouth. Abby wrapped her legs around his waist, wishing they'd gone one step further while stripping, but still enjoying the feel of him rubbing against her moist panties.

Their mouths met in a fevered kiss.

He cupped her buttocks in both hands and rubbed her back and forth against him until she was writhing with him. With seemingly little effort, he walked with her to his master bedroom, barely breaking the kiss to open the door.

He tossed her onto the middle of the bed and she lay there for a moment, slightly dazed. Where was he going? He couldn't take her this far and then stop.

With a wicked smile, he opened a drawer and found what Abby knew they needed but had forgotten in her enthusiasm. He stepped out of his boxers and handed her the small foil package. As Dominic stood before her like a conquering hero waiting to be serviced, Abby couldn't help but turn the tables one last time on him.

She was a modern woman. She'd perused articles on how to make these moments more memorable, she'd just never been with a man before who made her want to try out those techniques.

She took the foil package and crawled over to the side of the bed deliberately taking her time, fully aware of the effect waiting was having on him. His entire body jerked when she slid the condom on his tip and finished by applying it with her mouth. He groaned and rolled onto the bed with her, pinning him beneath her. His expert hands were everywhere, removing the last of her clothing, seeking out her wet nub. His large hands teased the inside and outside of her, rubbing with a rhythm that had her clinging and gasping.

In this merger, there was no leader, no follower. They both gave as much as they received, demanded as much as they offered. Each sought out the exact caresses to send the other beyond control and then found rapture in the pleasure of matched enthusiasm.

"Come," he said and this time she didn't argue. Wave after wave of heat engulfed her. Just when she didn't think she could take anymore, he slid inside her and the waves of pleasure started again.

They rolled so she was on top. He guided her up and down until they shared a mutual release. She collapsed on him, unashamed and completely sated.

With a slight adjustment, she was tucked against his side beneath a blanket. His strong arms allowed little chance of escape and that was perfectly fine with Abby.

She kissed his chest impulsively and said, "I suppose a little cavorting between meetings would be fine."

He chuckled and hugged her tighter even as his breathing deepened and he relaxed into sleep. Abby would have been offended by his quick slumber, but Mrs. Duhamel had shared her concern that Dominic hadn't been sleeping this week. Apparently that was no longer a problem.

She snuggled closer and remembered what he'd said about her. She calmed him. With her own heart still racing wildly in her chest every time she thought about the next few days they'd spend together, she wondered if he knew that he had the exact opposite effect on her. She’d never felt so alive.

Chapter Eleven

Two black SUVs and two limousines met them the next morning at the private airport they landed at just outside of Beijing. Abby stepped out of the plane into the hot summer air and was glad that Mrs. Duhamel had thought of everything. She was showered and dressed comfortably in a pair of light blue cotton slacks and a cream blouse.