Dominique & Blake 4

His gaze returned to her. She stood proudly, though her eyes were full with apprehension, and he could not help but recall the way she’d protected her brother, defended him, even when the bastard did not deserve it-he’d not missed William’s bow being lowered in the forest. Yet he’d not been wholly certain, and so he’d let it pass. Still, while he could bring himself to believe that it had been an accident-and it may well have been, though he sorely doubted it-he knew as he gazed at the woman standing before him that she was innocent of her brother’s treachery.

A vision of her hastening after him in the bailey when first she’d arrived at Drakewich, defending her brother’s honor against his insinuations and outright accusations, came back to him.

Why was it the unloved fought so hard to gain what could not be held?

The question tormented him, for he could have been speaking of himself. He cleared his throat, glancing out the window. From this side of the keep, the moon was rarely visible. Once more, the night was black, the stars too far and too few to lend their meager light. He was glad she held a taper.


Tonight he wanted to see her.
She stood unmoving; her exquisite sapphire eyes fixed upon him…as though she feared what he would do next…what he would say. Her breasts rose and fell softly. Recalling the way he’d awakened this morn, cradling her soft flesh beneath his palm, he was undone.

“Where were you going, Dominique?” he asked her hoarsely. “At this late hour.” His hear hammered against his ribs.

Her brows drew together and she shuddered, though the chamber was not cold. “I…” she glanced away, closing her eyes, swallowing.

And he knew.

Yet how could he blame her for something he could not even control in himself? He thought to put her at ease, to tell her so. “Last night happened by no fault of your own,” he told her honestly. “The fault was mine.”

She peered up at him, shaking her head, her eyes welling with tears. “Nay…” she averted her gaze to the bed. “If…if only it were so,” she replied miserably.

“Last night was inevitable, Dominique.” As tonight would be. He swallowed thickly, for betrayal was no easier the second time around. But he could not help himself. “I…” He, too, glanced away, his heart hammering. “I could not stay away,” he said with no small amount of self-contempt. For an instant the silence engulfed them, surrounded them, a silence in which the beating of their hearts ticked the seconds by, drew them out to agonizing lengths.

Her features screwed with anguish as she faced him again, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. “I-I did not want you to stay away,” she confessed softly, with trembling lips. Blake needed to hear no more.

Dominique cried out softly at the intensity in his eyes. He moved toward her with purpose, and God’s truth, she thought she would swoon. Without a word, he removed the candlestick from her hands, placing it down upon the coffer beside them. Its light shone between them, casting their distorted images upon the white-washed ceiling.

She gasped in surprise as he knelt at her feet, touching her hem. He glanced up at her as he lifted her chainse, silently pleading for her consent. She gave him a jerky nod, and her heart pummeled against her ribs as he bent and touched his lips to the bare skin of her calf. Goosebumps arose and spread, like wildfire, to her arms, her breasts, which ached for his touch.

With a soft cry, her head lolled backward as his lips began a slow ascent upon her legs, first one and then the other. Above her, the orange light of the taper played every motion against the ceiling. Erotic *italic. Every muscle in her body taunted as he moved up the length of her body, inch by inch, lifting the chainse mere fractions each time.

Merciful heaven, she thought she would die with the exquisite pleasure!
His tongue and his lips, they worshiped her, lapping and kissing, nipping at the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs until Dominique swore she could bare it no longer. Yet she could not speak to stop him when he lifted the chainse yet higher, to the apex above her thighs. Her legs trembled traitorously. Clutching the cloth of her gown within his fist, he held it at her belly as his mouth rose, finding and exploring her most secret pars. She swallowed convulsively.

And all the while she watched the ceiling seeing their shadows in motion, her heart tripping wildly.

Dominique felt her legs buckle beneath her, but he was there to catch her. Crying out, she fell to her knees, facing him.

“Shall I continue?” he asked her, his whisper harsh and rasping.

Dominique could not speak. Though she was not certain she could bear it, she nodded, and he proceeded to lift her chainse up and over her head, discarding it.
“I want to see you,” he whispered. “All of you…here by the candlelight.”

Dominique could not have spoken to refuse him, even if she’d wished to. But she didn’t. Once she was bared to his eyes, he merely stared, without touching her, his hands at his sides. And then he lifted on hand to her breast, touching it, cradling it reverently. And then the other. Dominique swallowed, moaning, unable to speak, unable to think when he touched her so tenderly. Her breathing quickened.

One hand left her breast, traveling down her side, her waist, he hip, as though measuring her, and then he retraced his path upwards, exploring her sensuously, and in that moment Dominique wanted to see him as well, give back to him what he gave her.

Her heart pounding, she reached to touch his hem of his tunic as he’d done with her chainse. Their eyes me, and he nodded, giving her leave. Her heart tumbled at her brazenness, but she would not stop. Following his lead, letting it fall from her hands on the floor to lie with her own discarded gown.

Before she could think to stop herself, before she could lose her nerve, she leaned over and touched her lips to his smooth chest. He groaned, his hands going to her waist to hold her, telling her without words that he approved. As never before in her life, Dominique was filled with euphoria.

She wanted to please him, she wanted to love him, wanted him to love her. She wanted to give him anything he desired, everything she owned…her mind, her body, her heart.

Remembering all that he’d done to her the night before, she sought, and found his nipples, lapping them, kissing him, each in turn. Her teeth closed about one peak, and his head fell back, the cords in his neck revealing the tautness of his body. Once again, Dominique felt triumph, even as his response to her touch brought her own body pleasure. Somewhere deep down within her, she reveled in the feel of his body, and it roused her as she’d never thought possible.

Eagerly she explored his chest with her hands and her mouth, rejoicing in the way that his muscles leapt at her every touch.
“Dominique,” he rasped. “I cannot bear it.” He reached out, seizing her hand, taking her fingers where he willed them most-the ties of his breeches.

Her heart leaping with the silent request, Dominique obeyed, unlacing them at once. They fell discarded to his knees, revealing him to her eager eyes. Again her heart tumbled, but for the longest time, she could only stare. He was magnificent.

Once again, he reached out, taking one of her hands from her side. Bringing it between them, his eyes never left hers; he unfolded her fingers, one by one, until she was left with an open fist. Bringing her fingers to his lips, he kissed them one by one, suckling them, wetting them, and then without a word, he lowered her hand to his shaft, guiding her fingers to close about it. She inhaled sharply, the beat of her heart quickening, but she did not resist. She held him, her own body convulsing privately with the feel of him against her palm.

Nor was he unaffected, for he closed his eyes, and his body jerking slightly, his hand falling away.

“I’ve yearned for this-” he swallowed visible “-since the day you bathed me,” he told her honestly, and then he gazed at her once more, his eyes glittering as though with fever. Dominique could not find her voice to speak. Nor could she move. She continues to kneel before him, without the first clue as to what he wished for, her breast heaving. He seemed to understand her dilemma, for he chuckled softly, richly, and the sound was as arousing as her as the feel of his body within her hand

Smiling, the first true smile she’d ever spied upon his beautiful lips, he moved within her fist, once, twice, and then again, and Dominique was undone. He body suffused with heat. “Please,” she cried out, panting softly.

He withdrew, and reached out, sweeping her up into his arms. He lifted her, carrying her swiftly to bed. Though unlike the night before, he laid her down gently, and then stood, staring down at her, slowly, fitting his body against her own. Dominique welcomed his weight, gripping the bed sheets, lifting her knees instinctively. Again he chuckled, and the sound was ambrosia to her senses. He found her, impaled her slowly, embedding himself, and then he stilled.

“Show me what you want,” he commanded her softly, lifting himself and bracing his weight upon his arms to give her room. At first Dominique could not quite comprehend what he asked of her, and then she did. She began to move beneath him, moaning with the extraordinary sensations that burst through her.

She wanted this to last an eternity, wanted to never end… at first the pace was slow, and then, though she tried to restrain herself, she quickened it, gasping aloud when he joined her movements. Instinctively Dominique wrapped her legs about his thighs, bringing him closer against her, wanting him deeper still.

She surged upwards, impaling herself further, and then the pace was lost to them as their bodies took over the mating ritual.

“I cannot bear it,” Blake growled, and then he drew back and began to thrust and withdraw without restraint.

Crying out, whimpering, Dominique met his every thrust, drawing him deeper each time. Until it seemed be touched her very core. In that instant her body shattered into a thousand brilliant pieces.

And still he did not stop. He pumped fiercely, seeking his own release, and Dominique’s heart leaped higher and higher with each stroke. Until she though she would die. He brought her yet another release, and then with a last rousing thrust, he cast his head backward, crying out savagely.

He collapsed atop her burying his face against her neck, and Dominique held him, stroking his back, running her fingers through his hair.

With all her might, she fought the yearning to tell him that she loved him.