He shook himself and decided that the best way to keep such forbidden thoughts at bay was to keep himself busy, so he gathered a few pieces of coal from a nearby bucket and began to start a fire in the modest hearth. As he bent down, he glanced over his shoulder, indicating the parcel he’d tossed on the chair. “If you’re hungry, there is some salted pork. I’m afraid it’s not the best fare, but it will keep the gnawing in your belly at bay until I can procure you a proper meal.”
Lexie was at a loss.She truly didn’t know what to do. On one hand, she was excited about the prospect of being alone with Dominic in such intimate surroundings, but on the other, her mind was racing with other possibilities. How long was she to remain here? Was she prepared to return home so soon if her absence was noted and she was cast out of her aunt’s house in disgrace?
Rather than attempt to focus on any of those unanswered questions right now, she headed for the parcel and took a deep breath before she untied the simple twine that held it together. She ignored the clothes, both simple and fashionable, that were neatly folded and spied a small wrapped package that held the promised salted pork. She had heard of the common fare that was offered to sailors on long journeys across the ocean but had never tried it herself. She ripped off a section of the meat with her teeth and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing it.
“What do you think?”
She turned to see Dominic had just finished with his task. He had removed his jacket and without a cravat or waistcoat, she could clearly see the defined lines of his arms and chest silhouetted by the light from the fire. Her mouth instantly went dry.
“It’s… fine.”
His lips quirked, and her stomach did a little flip. “You don’t have to lie. I know it’s terrible. But it’s something to eat.”
Attempting to regain her voice, she rasped, “Would you happen to have something to drink?”
He uttered a curse and headed into the small kitchen area before returning shortly with a glass. “Sorry. I forget I’m supposed to be a proper host.”
She took a restoring drink of the wine, feeling the cool liquid slide down her throat and pool in her belly. She sighed, because it helped to ease some of the fire that continued to burn after their lingering kiss. His lips were still branded on her mouth, and she licked them to regain some of the previous taste.
His gaze dipped to her mouth, and it was as if time itself stood still.
All at once, Lexie set the glass down as Dominic crossed the room. They came together in a mix of hungry abandon, kissing and caressing each other as if the world were about to end and they had this single moment to expend their energy.
He wasted no time in scattering the pins that held up her hair. It tumbled around her shoulders, and he gathered it up in his fist and pulled her head back slightly. He raised his head and looked at her long enough to whisper, “You’re so beautiful,” and then he started to nuzzle the side of her neck, moving in a torturous path up to her ear where he sucked at her delicate lobe.
Lexie’s body was glowing like the coals in the fireplace, she was sure of it. Dominic had that ability to make her come alive and feel things that she’d never felt before. She had been right tochoose him as the one to offer her pleasure. It was obvious that he was adept at the art of seduction.
Each intake of breath became more difficult to control, each exhale a pant of desire as his wicked hands continued to explore her body. He moved his palms over her breasts, the coarse material of her gown rubbing the sensitive buds and adding to the rush of wet heat that was pooling between her legs. As his kisses continued to torture her, she dared to hook one of her legs around his firm upper thigh. Moving closer, she slid along the hard length behind his trousers. She thought it might ease the ache that was threatening to split her apart from the inside out. She moaned, because the friction was definitely welcome.
“I have to taste you.”
Lexie wasn’t sure what he might be referring to—until he bent down and disappeared beneath her skirts. He kept the material bunched around her hips and she glanced down just as he placed his mouth on her mound. White hot sparks immediately zinged through her body, and she had to cling to the back of the chair to keep herself upright. When his tongue darted out to lick the seam of her exposed sex, Lexie was sure that there couldn’t be any sight more erotic. It caused her head to spin and she closed her eyes, absorbing all the pleasure that he was willing to give. She ran her hands through his hair and grasped his head, holding him in place as he teased her until her hips bucked with a natural movement.
It was too much.
The tightly coiled passion that had flared inside her burst open, and she cried out his name as wave after wave of ecstasy poured over her. For an endless span of time, it flowed through her until it seemed as if her body was no longer her own. It was a tide of something otherworldly, something beyond space and time. It held her in its clutches and refused to relent its sweet embrace.
When Lexie’s head finally ceased to buzz, she slowly allowedher eyes to flutter open. Dominic rose to his feet in front of her, and she reached for him. He didn’t move forward; instead, he covered her hands with his own. One of them was over his steady beating heart. “I have to keep my distance or else things will go further than I intend. And with the way I’m feeling right now, I can’t promise that I will be as gentle as you need me to be.”
Lexie wasn’t frightened. She moved toward him. “I want it all.” She brought one of his hands to her breast. “I want this.”
“You’re an innocent,” he rasped. “You don’t know what you want.”
She lifted her face toward him. “I set out to seduce you the moment I saw you walk into that ballroom. Trust me. I know what I want and that is you.”
CHAPTER 10
She was sorely testing his resolve. Dominic was doing his best to be a gentleman and not take advantage of the situation, but she was making it deuced hard to retain his distance. It didn’t help matters that his cock was pulsing with a demanding urgency that almost surprised him. Not since he was a young man out trying to turn every woman’s skirts upside down had he felt this all-consuming need to possess another human being.
But Lexie wasn’t just anyone, was she? She was incomparable to anyone else he’d ever met and part of this reason his body was a raging inferno whenever she was near.
He recalled their first meeting with vivid clarity. He had noticed her regard and had taken it upon himself to watch her from afar. She had instantly captivated him with her beauty, but it was so much more than that. It was like she’d cast a spell over him and ensnared him in her web and no matter what he did to try to break free, she merely spun the web around him even tighter.
He wanted nothing more than to sink himself into her wet heat. He had never pleasured a woman to the point he’d nearlylost control of himself at the same time, but he had come perilously close to doing just that. Every bit of her was perfection.
He wanted all of it.
Daring to reach out a hand, his fingers had nearly reached her when there was a knock at the door. He froze midair and abruptly recalled how perilous their situation was. Anyone could have burst inside and he wouldn’t have been aware of the danger. He shouldn’t have allowed his guard to slip for one moment, and yet, he’d allowed lust to overrule his sense. It could have been a deadly mistake and was an error he couldn’t repeat.
