Page 94 of Sinner's Vows

“Show you what, sweetheart?” he murmurs back, his gaze on my lips, a finger brushing a light circle in my palm.

“Show me what you do? We have time.” Alone. In that bedroom with a long-haul flight that’s still going to take hours. “Please.”

Dominic doesn’t say anything. Instead, he closes his laptop screen, signals something to the air hostess which probably meansdo not disturb, and leads me down the short corridor to the bedroom.

50

ARIANA

As soon as the door shuts behind us, nerves rake down my body. They’re following his gaze’s exact route as it sweeps over me where I’ve come to a standstill a meter from the bed. I’ve been so bold just a minute ago, but now my heart beats with more than anticipation. Every beat is laced with fear that has so many layers, I can’t count them. They range from the fear of rejection to the fear of physical pain and everything in between.

When he doesn’t close in on me, I turn away so I don’t need to face him, panic rising.

“Easy, sweetheart. Just breathe.”

I hear him step up to me, my stomach clenching with nerves. Then he’s right here, his body flush with mine as he gathers my hair away from my neck.

“I know what you need,” he murmurs as he presses his lips to my ear and his hands settle on my hips. I lean into him, into this pillar of a man and his body’s strength. “Just take a deep breath, Ariana.”

I drag in a deep inhale, and on a slow exhale, unclench my fists. “Dominic…”

He gently turns me around, and I look up at him. “Do you trust me?”

I don’t even have to think about it. “Yes.”

“And are you sure you want to do this? With me?” he asks softly.

“Don’t you want to?”

He gives me a half-smile as he caresses my cheek with his thumb. “That’s not the answer I’m looking for, sweetheart.”

Heat pools in my core at his soft touch. “Okay. Do we…do we need paperwork?”

“We’re way beyond paperwork, sweetheart.”

He brushes a slow, gentle caress over my lips with his thumb, his fingertips points of heat resting on my cheek, but burning a path right to my sex. The very promise of each fingertip, the magic of his touch, fires up such a deep-seated yearning in me, I have to shift on my feet.

“But I need you to understand this isn’t about me. Not in the traditional sense people have of sex. My needs are being met by me meeting yours, and I don’t—” He sighs. “I just need you to trust me and relax, okay?”

“Okay.” I take another deep breath, not sure how relaxing comes into the picture because I’m wound up so tight, my whole body strains with the pressure, begging for release.

Ever since this morning…ever since… Ever since he first touched me in that warehouse, it’s as if he’s been untying the myriad of knots I’ve tied in my body since that night with Franco, wrapping myself in a hopeless tangle nobody wants to deal with, myself included.

Now I’ve been sitting on this need that just seems to build and build. What happened in the shower was only a prologue to tease me. Now I need the whole book, chase to this chapter where I can drown myself in the words he’ll write on my skin with his fingertips, erasing that night, that one encounter, whilerewriting over every tear and scratch that monster made on my blank, virginal pages. He’ll make me whole again as I lose and find myself over and over in him.

He drops his hand away, and I immediately miss the warmth of his touch. He shrugs off his jacket and tosses it to the side, never looking away, our gazes locked.

“I have a laundry list of things I want to do with you, sweetheart, and none of them involves penetrative sex. We can work towards that. See where you’re at and take it slowly.”

I blink away from his intense stare that seems to reach into my soul. Once in Italy, this is going to be over. I’m still not sure how I’m going to do it as I have no idea about the level of security he has arranged, but I need to get away fromIl Consiglio,from Dominic, and this flight might be the only chance I’ll ever get to be with him. And I want tobewith him.

When I say nothing, too overwhelmed to respond coherently, he touches me again, this time tugging at my bottom lip. His touch is so sensual, so tender, that tingles rush from this one connection point down to my sex where the tension is only building. I want more…I want it all with him, tonight.

“It’s yes, sweetheart. The word I’m looking for is yes. But no is an option, too. Let me ask you again, are you sure you want to do this with me?”

“Yes,” I whisper without hesitation.

“Good girl. I have a few other words you might want to use. Repeat after me: more.”

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