“What?” she asked as she tried to turn her head to look at him.

Kissing the soft skin between her shoulder blades he said, “I’m serious, babe. I lose my freaking mind when I get my hands on your behind.”

She sounded a little nervous when she asked, “Do you have some kind of anal fantasy or something?”

Dominic chuckled as he pulled his heavy weight from hers. As she stood, he drew her into the loose circle of his arms. “Babe, I hate to break this to you, but every man has some kind of fantasy about that, whether he’ll admit it or not. It’s just that caveman desire to own all of you. Add to that the fact that it’s so close to the pleasure pool in front of it, and hell, it’s just a natural thing.”

Resting her head against his chest, she asked curiously, “Have you ever—done that before?”

He seriously wished he had kept his mouth shut now. In his experience, no good had ever come out of discussing past sexual encounters. He didn’t want to brush off a direct question, though, so he just simply said, “Yes,” and hoped she’d leave it at that.

Instead, she fired back a question immediately. “With more than one woman? I mean, was it just with one person, or were there others?”

Well fuck, he really needed to stop with the chattiness after sex. This whole awkward conversation could have been avoided if he hadn’t mentioned his ass hang-up. She didn’t sound upset, though, still just curious, which he could live with.

“There were others through the years—but not everyone I dated,” he added hastily least she think that he was only interested in that. If she was never comfortable with anal sex, then that was fine with him. She had more than enough to keep him satisfied.

“So—you want to do that—with me?” she asked, starting to sound nervous. What he wanted to do was run away from this conversation like a coward, but he was screwed now. He’d let it go on too long.

Sighing, he just went the honest route and hoped he didn’t scare the hell out of her. “Babe, of course I’d like to, but that doesn’t mean that I need it. If you’re ever curious and feel that it’s something you want, then let me know. Otherwise, it’s off the table. I’d never try to force that on you because not everyone enjoys it. You set the boundaries here, Gwen. I have nothing but respect for you, and if you’re not comfortable, then neither of us would enjoy it. I own your pleasure, baby, and you own mine.”

When she sagged against him, he knew he’d given her the answer she needed to hear. “I—thank you. No one has really cared about my—needs before.”

Dominic felt his hair standing on end at the thoughts of her with another man. He led her into his bathroom for a shower before commenting on her last statement. “Honey, anyone who could neglect you isn’t a man. If your needs weren’t being met, and he didn’t care, then he never deserved you to start with. I lose my mind when you’re near. If I didn’t make you come, the experience would fall flat for me. I need your orgasms more than I need my own and I’d never stop until it happened.”

In what seemed like a lightning change of mood, Gwen stepped away from him and turned on the shower. Giving him an impish grin, she said, “I’m going to need another of those orgasms you just promised me because I’m hopelessly turned on again.”

Doing his best to sound annoyed, Dominic huffed dramatically before he moved under the warm spray and extended a hand to her. “Woman, don’t you ever get enough?” When she stepped into the shower and dropped to her knees to grip his rapidly hardening length, all thoughts scattered to the wind as he threaded his hands through her hair and gave himself over to the mind-numbing pleasure that only she seemed to invoke in him.

Chapter Nine

Gwen hit the SNOOZE button on the annoying and relentless alarm clock. She rolled over, seeking Dominic’s warmth only to find the other side of her bed cold. Then she remembered him saying that he had to leave early for a trip to Charleston today. She must have been more tired than she realized because she hadn’t woken up when he left.

He had gone into the office for a few hours yesterday morning as was his usual routine and then they’d spent the day on the beach just being lazy. It had been a perfect weekend and she’d been sad to see it end. She was on the verge of dozing off when her alarm went off once again. She grudgingly left the warmth of her bed and stumbled into the bathroom to start the shower.

When she stripped her clothing off and tossed it on top of her already full laundry hamper, something caught her eye. Her heart pounded when she saw some spotting on her sleep shorts. Didn’t she have a few days until her period was due? She was normally always a few days late and rarely ever early. She dropped down onto the closed seat of her toilet and dropped her head in her hands. It seemed so silly that she was upset when she should be only relieved. She wasn’t ready for a baby, and she doubted that Dominic was either.

So why then did she feel such a crushing wave of sorrow rising up to choke her? She had a nagging feeling that it was very little to do with not being pregnant and a lot to do with her fear of losing Dominic. He seemed to genuinely enjoy being with her and the sex, well, it was nothing short of earth-shattering. But what if he had just been making the most of their time together while waiting to see if he was going to be a father? Gwen didn’t think she could handle him telling her something along the lines of, “It’s been great. I’ll call you sometime.” Despite her misgivings, she had allowed herself to become attached to him. How could she not—he was every woman’s dream.