Dominic watched her head down to her bedroom. Somehow, he was going to have to keep his hands off her tonight.
And his fists off JP's face.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sitting in the hottest club in the city, surrounded by beautiful women and hot men, Melissa felt utterly out of her element.
JP had a girl on each thigh, both trying desperately to win his attention. Melissa felt sorry for the groupies. Didn't they see that the more they vied for JP's attention, the less they got of it?
"Hey, Dom," JP said, "aren't you thirsty?"
While everyone else at the table was putting back bubbly like it was a dollar a bottle rather than a hundred, Dominic stuck with sparkling water.
"I'd rather win than drink," was his short reply.
Melissa hid her grin. It wouldn't do for JP to think she was taking sides, but he could learn a thing or two from Dominic.
The groupies had tried to cling to Dominic like Saran Wrap, but he was a forbidding, big, dark package when he wanted to be. And he was downright scary tonight. Any playfulness had been replaced by fierceness.
And damn if it didn't turn her on like crazy.
JP grinned at Melissa. "Having fun?"
She nodded. "This is great. Lots of fun." For added impact, she took a sip of her champagne. She envisioned years of accompanying JP on the party circuit, and shuddered with distaste. Not exactly what she had in mind when she'd gotten her MBA. Maybe she could hire a cute, young assistant to take over this aspect of the job. She'd rather be on her couch under a blanket in front of the TV.
The music in the club changed from quick and driving to slow and sensual. Her pulse thrummed beneath her skin, and Dominic's eyes moved to her throat.
She stared into her fizzing champagne, unable to fight the fantasy of Dominic asking her to dance. Then someone was taking her hands in his, but although the hands were big and strong, they belonged to the wrong man.
JP pulled her up out of her chair. "Show me what you've got."
"No. This is a bad idea," she said. "I get it if you're scared."
A challenge lay behind JP's words, and she knew that he was asking if she was tough enough to represent him.
She was.
Melissa raised one eyebrow. "You're the one everyone's going to be watching out there," she countered. "So you'd better bring your A game."
He threw his head back and laughed. "You look like a pu**ycat," he said, "but you act like a tiger." JP shot a loaded look at Dominic. "Watch closely, old man, and you just might learn something."
When JP pulled her close against his body, Melissa was so shocked she lost her words.
"You're not like those other girls," he murmured in what she assumed was supposed to be his sexy voice.
She forced a smile at his compliment and put a couple more inches of air between them.
"You're smart and sexy," he added.
"I'm also your agent. We need to talk about professional boundaries."
"Don't talk," he interrupted her. "Just feel."
She wasn't feeling it, and she didn't think he was, either. This was just part of his "I'm so bad" act.
"I have to pee," she said loudly into his ear.
JP jumped back several inches. "Damn, you sure know how to ruin a moment."
She turned and headed toward what she hoped were the bathrooms. Pushing aside a thick red velvet curtain, she found a perfect hiding spot.
But before she could get too comfortable, her skin began to buzz with awareness. What the hell? She reacted like this only around Dominic.
A moment too late, she realized that Dominic had followed her behind the red curtain.
And he looked every inch the warrior.
Like a man who would die in battle for his woman in a heartbeat.
"Dominic," Melissa said in a breathy voice that spoke straight to his cock.
He advanced on her, backing her into the wall, and put one hand on either side of her face. "We're leaving," he said. "Now." He knew better than to boss a woman around, especially a strong-willed woman like Melissa. But he couldn't control his mouth any more than he could control his body.
She stared at him without blinking. "No." His mouth tightened, his gaze dropping to her full, red lips. "You have two choices," he said in a low voice, not taking his eyes from her mouth.
Her tongue shot into the sweet corner where her lips came together. "I'll do what I want," she whispered.
Sweet lord, her words sounded like a come-on. He knew they couldn't be, not when he was being an overbearing, horny prick—but his c**k didn't care, growing to an impossible size beneath his zipper.
"Choice one," he said, "we leave this minute and I take you home. Choice two: I take you right here, right now, like this. Against the wall in the back of the club."
Her breath came out in a whoosh. What Dominic read in her face was that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
"You wouldn't dare," she challenged, her words raw with need.
He leaned in close, his mouth less than an inch from her ear. "Choice two it is." Then his mouth was on hers, his hands pulling up her dress.
But even in the insanity of his desire, no matter how much her body sang its need for his touch, he needed her to agree before he took things further.
He pulled back just enough to look down into her flushed face. God, she was beautiful. The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. The words I love you rushed to the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say them here. Not until they were alone. "Say the word, and I'll leave you alone." His heart pounded hard as he waited for her decision. He wouldn't use I love you to get her to agree to have sex with him in public.
"I can't," she said in a harsh whisper. "I can't let you go."
He didn't need to hear anything else. Her mouth tasted like sugar and grapes as their tongues tan gled together. Their previous lovemaking had been extraordinary, but now ecstasy warred with violence as her hands pulled and scraped at his clothes, ripping the inside seams of his jacket, her fingernails scratching his skin as she pulled him harder against her body.
Dominic knew his own strength and held on to it tightly at all times—in both anger and passion—but when Melissa's teeth nipped at his mouth, his jaw, his neck, he lost his grip.
In a millisecond her ass was in his hands and her skirt was up around her hips. Their pelvises ground hard against each other's and he felt her oncoming orgasm a moment before she did, working his finger between their bodies, rubbing it over her clit, the slick folds of her pu**y, and then all the way inside her as her muscles clenched and pulled at him.