Craving HIM Read online

  After a moment, she finally murmured her answer, “Yes, I do. There’s nothing good down that road, Dominic.”

  After another frustrating moment of silence, I gave her a short nod. “I need to know more about him, but I won’t make any plans to hunt him down for a quick bite to eat or anything. I’ll hold back for now.”

  Chapter 7

  Aleena

  I’d learned several things over the past few days. One of those things was that I’d never make it working as a paralegal. All the legal mumbo-jumbo and jargon irritated me and gave me a headache that seemed to grow and pulse and expand with every “The Company Holds Responsible…” section.

  Contracts held that phrase pretty often—or at least one like it.

  I’d also learned that Dominic had just turned twenty-nine and I’d completely missed it. I supposed it had been on the list of important dates Fawna had given me when I'd first started this job, but considering everything that had been going on since then, it wasn't surprising that Fawna and I had both missed it. I was just surprised Jacqueline hadn't made a big deal about it.

  I wasn't going to let it go though. He wasn't just my boss anymore. Wanting to surprise him, I casually asked him if he’d like to go out on Friday after work. He’d agreed and I’d spent the last few days trying to find a present for him.

  It wasn't easy buying a gift for the man who had everything. He wasn’t particularly enamored with reading, books, music…the one thing that grabbed his attention was business. Well, and me.

  I hoped he’d like the present I decided on. I hadn't been able to think of anything else, especially not on short notice. I wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without the help of my best friend, Molly.

  Now, as I hurried into my dress, I checked the time.

  Stuart had told me he’d let me know when Dominic was on his way up. I already knew he’d left the office. Max had shot me a message as soon as Dominic had gotten into the car. I was on borrowed time. The day had gotten away from me, which wasn't anything new. Sometimes I wondered how I’d ever had a chance to be bored with my life. Then again, that had been another life.

  My phone buzzed and I groaned when I saw the message from Stuart.

  On the way up.

  Shoes in hand, I jogged down the stairs and looked over to the long, gleaming length of the counter that separated the kitchen from the living area. There was a cake, elegant in its simplicity with a thin ribbon of red that ran across it in soft swirls. And then there were the pictures. Three of them.

  Molly had taken them two days ago and we’d spent yesterday deciding on which ones to use. We’d settled on the three propped on the chairs I’d turned to face the door.

  Panic seized me by the throat and I realized what a stupid idea this had been. Terrible idea. Very, very bad. Hurrying across the polished wood floor, I went to grab them, but before I got there, the door swung open.

  Dammit.

  Turning, I forced a smile onto my face as Dominic came inside.

  He stopped just inside the doorway, his gaze moving from me to the pictures. Emotion flickered across his face while heat flooded mine.

  I was such an idiot.

  “What’s this?” His voice was soft.

  “Ah…your birthday present?” I bit my lower lip as my cheeks burned. “You…um. Well, your birthday slipped by and I didn’t know. I thought we should celebrate.”

  Dominic was still staring at the enlarged portraits. Done in black and white on an isolated background, they were softly focused and rather lovely. Or at least I'd thought so. “Do you…”

  Dominic swung his head around to stare at me, his eyes intense. “They’re beautiful.”

  As he moved closer to study them, I blew out a breath and closed my eyes. Relief washed over me. He didn't think they were stupid.

  When I opened my eyes, he was standing in front of the picture on the far right, his fingers brushing down the arch of my shoulder. I’d taken one of his dress shirts from the closet, a black one, and put it on. That and nothing else. Molly had me face away from the camera and let the shirt drop down so that my upper back was bared, while the material covered my butt. My legs were visible, but only from about the knee down.

  The second one had me wearing that same shirt, only facing the camera this time. It hung open, revealing a strip of flesh while still covering my breasts. That strip of flesh was like an arrow, leading the eye right to the curls between my thighs. Dominic moved toward that image and when he brushed his fingers over the shadow of curls, I had to clench my knees together.

  The final image showed me naked, completely. Molly had loved that.

  It was a shot with me sitting down, my legs drawn to my chest as I gazed at the camera. My hair fell in crazy riot of curls down my back, one lone curl falling forward to tease the curve of my breast.

  My nipples were hidden by my legs, but the outer curves of my breasts, my hips, my thighs, all of that was left bare.

  “These are beautiful,” Dominic said, his voice rough. He turned to face me, his gaze running down the length of my body, taking in the sight of me in the dress I’d bought for our night out. “Though I do have to wonder who took those pictures.”

  I couldn't help but smile at the edge of jealousy that clung to his words. “Molly.”

  He visibly relaxed. At least the jealous part of him did. “Good. Because no one gets to see you like that but me.”

  I shivered.

  “Fuck, Aleena,” he breathed my name. “I want to strip you naked and have you here, right in front of them.”

  I laughed even though his words had my stomach twisting. “I’d feel a bit weird seeing my own face while we were having sex.”

  “We won’t have sex. I’ll fuck you. I’ll make you scream. I’ll make you cry. What we have is far more than sex.” He took a step toward me, his eyes dark.

  But I backed up. Just one step, but it was enough to have him cocking his head, a puzzled expression on his face.

  “We have reservations,” I reminded him. “I want us to go out and celebrate.”

  Now Dominic narrowed his eyes and then, to my surprise, he started to laugh. “Wait, you had me make reservations for my own birthday dinner?”

  “Well…” I shrugged. “Yeah. You know all the best places. And you didn’t know it was for your birthday dinner.”

  He sucked his lower lip in and then slowly let it roll from between his teeth. “You’ve got a point.” He sighed. “I suppose I should go change.”

  ***

  During my teenaged years, I hadn't really dated much. There'd only been a couple of other biracial kids in my small town, but none my own age. When it had come to dating, I hadn't been black enough for the black kids or white enough for the white ones. The first man I'd had sex with—the only man aside from Dominic—had only gone out with me for revenge and to find out how “girls like me” were in bed. Not exactly the stuff dreams were made of.

  Dominic had once told me that he was determined to make up for all of that, and he was definitely fulfilling that objective.

  Now, as I stood at the mirror, wearing my shimmering red dress, he came up to stand behind me. “I want to see this on you tonight,” he told me, his voice husky.

  The diamond and platinum necklace hung from his fingers.

  “You look amazing.”

  His breath was warm against my neck as I held my hair out of his way. His fingers brushed against my skin as he adjusted it, smoothing it into place. The metal was cool against my skin, but I knew it would warm soon enough, especially given how hot my body got around Dominic.

  I took a look at myself in the mirror. Something about the way the diamonds and platinum sparked gave me an elegance, an unapproachable aloofness. They were lovely and serene and cool, complementing the rest of my outfit perfectly.

  The dress I’d chosen for tonight was pure, sheer sin. The neckline went lower than anything I’d ever owned and it clung to my curves. It ran close to the line of being too
sexy for a dinner, but I’d wanted something special for the night and judging by Dominic’s reaction, it was perfect. The looks he kept giving me made my knees weak.

  “We need to go.” His voice was brusque, rough.

  His hands went to my hips, gripping me with a hard, almost bruising force as he pulled me back against him. I could feel his cock through the layers of fabric and my pussy throbbed in response.

  He bit my ear and said quietly, “If we don’t leave now, I’m going to bury my dick inside you and we won’t be going anywhere.”

  I was considering rethinking my idea of a birthday dinner, but he’d been teaching me about how pleasurable it could be to draw things out. So I gave him a slow smile and slid away.

  He practically stalked after me, catching me against the door. I pressed my hands flat to the surface behind me and stared up at him.

  He brushed his mouth lightly against mine. “Later.” The word dripped with enough promise to make me wet.

  Shit.

  ***

  Dominic's car was waiting at the curb and we both smiled at Stuart as he handed over the keys. Stuart had been the doorman at the penthouse since Dominic first moved in and he'd been one of the people who helped Dominic keep an eye on me when things first started getting...personal.

  As he opened the door for me, he reached out and ran his finger across my necklace. He pitched his voice low enough that Stuart couldn't hear. “I can’t wait to see you wearing nothing but this again.”

  My nipples tightened at the heat in his words. “I’m looking forward to it, Sir.”

  Ducking into the car, I settled on the luxurious leather as I waited for him to join me. Normally, Dominic used one of his drivers in the city, but lately, if we were out on a date, he did the driving. I had to admit, I liked that. There was an intimacy to it, just the two of us. And while I enjoyed the benefits that came with having money, sometimes it was nice to feel like a normal couple. Well, as normal as I could feel with platinum and diamonds around my neck.

  As we sped through the city, I watched him. Possessiveness and pleasure curled inside me. This man was mine. I could still hardly believe it.

  He caught sight of me studying him. “What?”

  All the emotions churning inside me made my heart pound harder than needed. “I like looking at you.” I reached up to trace the diamonds at my neck. It wasn't my collar, but it served the same purpose. “I like knowing that I’m yours. That you’re mine.”

  He reached over and put a hand on my thigh, squeezing. As his fingers dug into my inner thigh, I closed my eyes, a shiver going through me.

  “Keep talking like that, Aleena, and we’ll pull over at the next hotel. Fuck dinner.”

  I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. But I lapsed into silence for the rest of the drive, just letting myself enjoy the heat of his hand on my leg. I wanted him to have his birthday dinner.

  The restaurant he'd chosen was small, tucked away in a quiet, secluded place, but when we went inside, I felt like I’d been transported to a different time and place. Light, ethereal music was playing and tiny little lights were strung from the ceiling, giving it in a surreal sort of glow. The tables were small, with delicate lamps providing the only other illumination. Conversation was muted and low, the servers moving around with a quiet discretion that made them almost invisible. In the very center of the room, a small fountain burbled while lights played below the surface of the water.

  “Wow.” A sigh escaped me as I looked around one more time. “How do you keep finding these places?”

  His only response was a smile as the maître d’ approached us.

  “Mr. Snow.” The middle-aged man gave me a warm smile as well. “Your table is ready. Right this way.”

  I expected to be led to some place quiet and tucked into the corner. Dominic usually preferred privacy, but that wasn’t the case this time.

  The restaurant, small as it was, was practically packed. More than a few people greeted Dominic as he walked by, either by way of simple nods or with low murmurs. I recognized several of them. To my surprise, Jefferson Sinclair was sitting at a table with a pretty lady. Judging by how closely they sat, I had to assume they were on a date. He gave us each a quick smile before turning his attention back to his date.

  We were led to a table at the far end of the restaurant and the maître d’ waited as Dominic and I both took our seats. He gave us a soft smile as Dominic's hand brushed against my back while he pushed in my chair.

  Once we were settled, the man asked, “May I offer you some wine?”

  Dominic looked at me and I nodded. A few moments later, the wine steward approached. While they discussed wine, I looked around, fascinated with the décor.

  I had never been to Italy, but if I had to make a stab at what this place reminded me of, it would have been an Italian grotto, tucked away in some small, privately owned vineyard. Or at least what I imagined a place like that would be like. It was beautiful, quiet and romantic and I couldn’t think of a better place to spend the evening with the man I loved.

  Well, unless I spent it under him. But that would come later.

  The wine steward brought out the wine and, after Dominic approved it, he poured a glass for each of us. I took a sip, enjoying the cool tartness as it broke over my tongue.

  A few minutes later, the server appeared to tell us about the specials and then, with a smile, he added, “The chef would like to offer you a special dinner, Mr. Snow. If you’d be willing to let him prepare something not on the menu?” He glanced at me and added, “For both you and the lady?”

  Dominic nodded after glancing at me, but as the server walked away, I leaned forward. “I’m not going to end up eating anything too adventurous, am I?”

  “What’s too adventurous?” He traced a finger along the back of my hand.

  “Um…” I swallowed and wondered how unsophisticated I’d look if I started listing all the things I had no desire to try. After deciding that I didn’t care, I blew out a breath and said, “I don’t like innards or organs of any kind. I don’t care how they're prepared. And I have no desire to try anything that crawls on the ground.”

  Dominic stared at me for a minute and then he started to laugh, one of his rare, real laughs. I loved the sound, but still stuck out my tongue.

  His chuckles faded and he leaned over, kissing me high on the cheek, close to my ear. “Don’t worry, Aleena. He’s not going to feed you es cargo or surprise us with some sort of pre-dinner appetizer that consists of bull testicles or anything like that.”

  “Good.” Pretending to be miffed, I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “See what I get for trying to surprise you with a birthday dinner?”

  “I knew we were going out to dinner, remember?” He toyed with my hair. “You told me you wanted to go. I made the reservations.”

  “I know.” Then I lifted my chin, knowing he was going to balk at what I was going to say next. “But this is my treat. I’m paying tonight.”

  Dominic ran his tongue along his teeth as he studied me. We’d argued over money before. Okay, maybe it wasn’t an argument, but when I’d come to work for him, he’d been dismissive of my protests over him paying for my wardrobe. That had been work though, and while I still had issues regarding paying for things, that had been business. This was different. I wasn’t struggling anymore and I could afford to buy him a dinner for his birthday.

  “This is important to you, isn’t it?” He took my hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it.

  “Yes.”

  He nodded. “Okay, Aleena. Buy me dinner.”

  I would have said something else, but somebody I didn't know stopped by the table. As the stranger's eyes kept straying to me, I decided I didn’t want to know him.

  Fortunately, after less than two minutes of small talk, Dominic said, “Anthony, I hate to be rude, but Aleena and I are here for a late celebration of my birthday. I promised her I wouldn’t be talking business.” />
  “Of course.” He slid me a look, his eyes dropping to linger on my breasts. “Aleena. A pleasure.”

  He lost himself in the crowd while next to me, I heard Dominic made a low, angry noise in his throat.

  Shit. He’d noticed.

  “Son of a bitch,” he muttered. He started to push back from the table.

  I placed a hand on his arm. “Please don’t.” Looking over at him, I managed a weak smile. “I have to deal with men staring at my tits fairly often. It’s annoying, but when you’re a woman who's...built like me, you deal with it. I don’t want you getting into a fight because some asshole's a letch.”

  His muscles vibrated under my arm, but after a long moment, he nodded.

  After a few awkward seconds, we slipped into familiar small talk and I sipped from the glass of wine until the knot in my belly relaxed.

  When I finally put the now-empty glass down, I looked up and caught a woman across the room staring at me.

  The moment our eyes locked, she looked away. After a few seconds, I looked away as well, but from the corner of my eye, I saw her lean over and say something to the man with her. He glanced at me, then Dominic and snorted, waving a dismissive hand.

  My gut began to crawl. I didn’t have to hear her to know she was talking about me. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for me.

  “Mr. Snow.”

  I looked up as the server approached and put a plate in front of us. A few minutes ago, the bruschetta would have been more than welcome. I hadn’t eaten much today, but now I wasn’t very hungry. I took the piece Dominic offered though, smiling at him as I lifted it to my lips.

  It was very good and I slowly ate the one piece, concentrating on the man in front of me instead of the woman I’d seen staring at me.

  I might have done okay, might have gotten through the meal just fine, as long as I kept watching Dominic. But his eyes kept straying off to the side. Unable to resist, I glanced backward and surprise jolted through me at the woman I saw sitting off to my left.

  I knew her.