Amos inclined his head. “Of course. I’ll just be at the barshould you need my… assistance.” With a brief clearing of his throat that seemed as though he was trying to withhold a chuckle, he took his leave.
Once Lexie was alone with Dominic, he started to speak, but she did so first. “It’s Lord Lindley.”
Dominic frowned. “What do you mean?”
Her expression changed from avenging angel to one of abject concern. She rubbed the sides of her covered arms. “The man in the park. It was the Earl of Lindley.”
He stilled. “Are you quite certain?”
She nodded her head. “The description suits him.”
“As it does most of the men in London.”
“Isawhim one morning.”
At this, Dominic felt a shiver of disquiet settle over him. “Go on.”
“It wasn’t long after I’d made my way to London. I was walking along the same bridge he mentioned over the Serpentine. I glanced up and saw a man standing in the shadows and thought he looked rather menacing. It must have been Mr. Dartmouth.”
“And the earl?” he prompted when she hesitated.
“It was foggy that morning and difficult to see. He nearly ran me over with his horse. It was how we initially met.” She visibly shuddered.
Dominic scrubbed a hand down his face. “I would be lying if I said it didn’t make perfect sense. But I was so blinded by my jealousy of him trying to win you over that I missed the signs that were right in front of me.”
Her blue eyes were shining with moisture that he couldn’t discern when she glanced at him. “You were?”
“I was,” he admitted. Slowly moving closer to her, he added softly, “I nearly went out of my mind, consumed with thoughts of you night and day. I still am.”
He was granted a slight upturn of her lips, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “I was worried about you today.”
He reached out to cup her cheek with his hand. “I am sorry about that. But Mr. Dartmouth caught me unaware as I’d left the cottage and I knew I couldn’t let him go until I had gained the information I needed from him.”
She nodded. “I understand that now, but—” She turned her head to the side and moved away slightly. Ice abruptly trailed in his veins and clenched over his heart. “Being here, seeing howrealAvalon actually is—I’ve learned something.”
He swallowed hard over the lump clogging his throat. “Oh? And what is that?”
She reached up and slowly removed the hood of her habit, and then she slowly removed the rest of the covering until she was standing before him in nothing but that tempting, thin chemise. “I find it all rather… erotic.”
This abrupt turn clenched Dominic’s chest until he found it difficult to breathe.
She returned to him and lowered her hand, allowing it to trail across the front of his trousers. He was instantly aroused, his cock pulsing with interest.
Not until she started to remove the buttons and slipped her hand inside to tease him with her bare hand did he find something to grasp onto. Thankfully, his desk was nearby and he clutched the edge. No doubt his knuckles were already white because all the blood had drained from his body to pool in the vicinity of his manhood.
“I should like to suck the cock of such a powerful, domineering man.”
He wasn’t feeling very powerful in that moment, but neither did he care. “As my lady commands.”
As she dropped to her knees, he ground his teeth together, and when her lips surrounded his length and slid with perfection, he groaned.
CHAPTER 19
Ever since Dominic had pleasured Lexie with his mouth, she had been eager to do the same to him, but she hadn’t been sure if she could be that bold.
However, there was something so dangerous and… forbidden about Dominic in that moment—or ratherAvalon—that had warmed her midsection with surprising intensity. Perhaps it was the nun’s habit she wore that was so taboo, but she was on fire for him when she ought to have been abhorred by his harsh behavior. Then again, the man he’d captured had tried to murder him, so perhaps his retaliation was mild in comparison to some.
Knowing that he had cheated death once again was enough for her to appreciate that he was standing there in front of her, healthy and virile, and the overwhelming urge to pleasure him had taken hold and refused to let go.
