54

Vivian's POV

I was on the brink of a pleasant dream. The warm, languid air, the soothing murmur of the pool lapping at the deck’s edges, and the quiet made it a perfect moment.

Then, a shadow fell over me.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Dorian’s voice cut through the calm.

I yelped and jolted upright as Dorian popped the strap of my bikini top. I instinctively crossed my arms over my chest to prevent any accidental exposure. “What are you doing here?”

More precisely, why was he looming over me like a grim reaper? His frown and narrowed eyes suggested he was less than pleased with my afternoon attire.

“I’m trying to figure out why you’re nearly naked by my pool.”

“I’m not naked. I’m wearing a swimsuit.”

“I’ve seen you naked. I know what it looks like.” His green eyes scrutinized my body. “It looks a lot like this.”

I uncrossed my arms and lay back down. My back might have been slightly more arched than before. No one could be sure.

“It’s called a bikini, Dorian.”

He knelt beside me, his gaze intense. “It’s called ‘twenty-four-hour surveillance.’ Do you have any idea how many guards have been watching you out here in your ‘bikini?’” He drawled the last word with a sarcastic edge that even Leonora would have admired.

I rolled my eyes. “If you can’t control your employees, that’s your problem, not mine.”

A moment later, a towel landed awkwardly on my head.

“Hey!” I threw the towel to the ground and stood up. “Last I checked, I’m free. Unless you have handcuffs and a prison jumpsuit you want me to wear, I’m going to wear whatever I please.”

“Handcuffs.” His eyes flashed. “There’s an idea.”

I shivered despite the warmth. “It was a joke. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

He closed the distance between us, wrapping an arm around my lower back so I couldn’t escape. “As long as men on my payroll are in the guard shack watching you, you’re not going to run around in nipple pasties and a thong. Cover yourself, or I’ll do it for you.”

I slapped my hands against his chest. He was as immovable as a brick wall, but after a moment, he released my waist and stepped back.

“What’s the new rule, then? Is this like a school dress code? Maybe you should write down everything I can and can’t wear so I can keep track.”

I placed my hands on my hips. Facing off with Dorian was almost laughable. His broad frame filled my entire field of vision.

“How about I make it easy for you to remember?” A dark strand of hair fell over his forehead, and my fingers itched to smooth it away. “If I’ve put my mouth there and made your knees buckle, no one but me should see it.”

I gulped. It seemed like I’d be wearing a circus tent from now on.

“My body doesn’t have a ‘you break it, you buy it’ rule,” I snapped, pushing past the embarrassed knot in my throat. “You’ve touched me, but you don’t own me.”

I shoved against his chest with all the strength I could muster in a wild impulse to dunk him in the pool. But he didn’t budge, not even a hair.

Dorian wrapped his massive hands around my wrists and peeled them off him with a cruel chuckle. “Nice try, princess.”

I scowled. “It seemed like you needed to cool off.”

“If I need something, I’ll let you know.” His hands slipped to my waist. “You, however, are burning up.”

“No! No, I’m not.”

He ran a finger along my neck. “Dripping with sweat.”

“It’s tanning oil, Dorian.”

He shook his head, a dangerous amusement flickering in his eyes. “No. You’re burning up, Vivian. Very, very hot.”

Dorian picked me up and spun me towards the pool.

“No! Stop! Don’t—!” I shrieked and flailed, but there was no loosening his hold on my waist. So I did the only thing I could: I clung to him. I threw my arms around his neck and hooked my legs around his waist just as he readied to throw me.

It brought everything to a standstill. Emphasis on the “standstill.” With his body pressed against mine, the minimal fabric I wore felt like nothing. Especially when I felt the hard length of him against my inner thigh.

Dorian’s eyes were dark, as if he was starving and I was the only thing he craved.

I shouldn’t have liked it as much as I did.

“Checkmate,” I said, my voice trembling.

“You think I can’t still get you wet?” he rumbled.

Holy hell. Either that was a significant double entendre or my mind was in overdrive.

“Not without soaking yourself too.”

He smirked, and I felt the heat of it from my toes to my fingertips.

“Oh, solnyshka… that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

Then Dorian turned and jumped into the pool.

We soared through the air for what felt like an eternity, but I was snug against Dorian’s chest. Even when we crashed into the water, he didn’t falter. We sank down together and quickly surfaced, his arms still tightly around me.

When we reached the surface, I didn’t even have time to inhale before Dorian’s mouth was on mine.

His hand curved around my neck, possessive and brutal. He parted my lips with his tongue and slid deep. It felt like I was still underwater, sinking into him, happy to drown in this.

He tugged on the tie around my neck, and my flimsy bikini top fell away. Dorian brushed his thumb over my ribs, shifting higher with every stroke. If he kept heating me up like this, the pool water would start boiling.

His hand moved to the tie at my hip, and reality broke through.

“The guards,” I breathed, pulling back to look at him. “You said the guards—”

“No one is watching. My men know better.” He sucked on the soft curve behind my ear while his hands kneaded my ass.

“But… you said there were guards watching me.” He walked me to the edge of the pool and pinned me between the tile wall and his body. The brush of his cock against my inner thigh made it hard to think. “I thought I was under ‘constant surveillance.’”

His voice went hoarse. “You are. But I warned all of them what I’d do if they looked at you for any reason other than what was strictly required for protection.”

“You told them not to look at me?”

“They were probably breaking their necks trying to look away when you walked outside in this.” He undid the tie around my back, freeing me entirely.

“Why?”

He knew exactly what I meant. Why would he bother to tell his men not to look at me?

“Because,” Dorian explained, massaging his hands up my thighs until his thumbs stroked the last thin strip of fabric covering me, “no one else gets to enjoy what is mine.”

I wanted to tell him I wasn’t his. Actually, I wanted to want to tell him that. The reality was that every word he said was a nail in the coffin of my dignity.

At least it had died for a good cause. A good-looking cause, rather.

“How do you do that?” I whispered. “You say things like that… Things that should terrify me. But instead, they just…”

His thumbs circled higher, closer. He was sweeping over my slit, dragging delicious friction over my clit. “Just what?”

I licked a drop of water from his neck and pressed my lips to his ear. “They make me really, really wet.”

A growl rumbled through his chest. He tugged my bottoms to the side and pressed the tip of his dick to my entrance. “I know what you want, Vivian. And you know only I can give it to you.”

Then the time for talking was over. He pressed into me slowly, allowing me to adjust to his size. I tipped my head back against the edge of the pool and let out a long, broken sigh. He kept going for what felt like an eternity.